Last week, I shared a few of the
activities and behind-the-scenes events from the recent Santa Fe Trail
Association Symposium held in Olathe, Kansas.
This week, I’m continuing coverage of the gathering with a focus on the
happenings at the historic Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farm. On October 18th, I’ll
finish up the highlights with a look at our trip to the Steamboat Arabia Museum
and the Fort Leavenworth Frontier Museum.
Each of these settings provided an amazing backdrop for studying
America’s early trail and transportation history.
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On the National Register of Historic
Places, the Mahaffie home served passengers traveling with the ‘Barlow,
Sanderson and Company’ stagecoach line during the nineteenth century.
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As we arrived at the Mahaffie farm, the mud
wagon was just leaving the barn.
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Stagecoach rides are a popular part of
the activities at the Mahaffie farm.
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While commonplace on the Santa Fe and
other trails, the process of yoking and driving oxen is a rare sight
today.
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Don Werner of Werner Wagon Works demonstrated the art and science involved in
hot-setting wagon tires.
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The Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and
Historic Farm is located just across the street from where the formal
presentations took place in the Olathe Community Center. Friday, September 29th, a host of
activities were on tap for the symposium attendees. Don Werner of Werner’s Wagon Works shared a
wealth of information related to the design and construction of wagon wheels. Tim Talbott, Mahaffie Site Director,
discussed the process of yoking oxen and Rawhide Johnson gave a particularly
interesting firsthand account of stage coaching. Turns out that his dad had purchased a stage
coach line (complete with coaches) in the early part of the twentieth century. What an amazing opportunity! Doug Hansen followed up with more details on
various accoutrements of staging and wagon driving while Greg VanCoevern shared
aspects of his army ambulance and Jeff McManus and Cameron Bean conducted
blacksmithing seminars. It was a full
day of demonstrations which also included tours of the historic Mahaffie farm
and period home. The Mahaffie farm was a
stage stop for passing travelers as early as the Civil War. Today, the home stands as one of the few,
surviving stage coach stops on the Santa Fe Trail. The preservation of the facilities allows
visitors from all over the world to learn more about U.S. frontier travel as
well as life on an 1860’s-era farm.
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An emigrant camp with Dutch oven cooking
was also part of the event.
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Part of Doug Hansen’s on-site presentations included highlights on braking
methods used on early western vehicles.
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Rawhide Johnson’s insights into
stagecoaching were both humorous & educational.
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During the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries, the U.S. Army employed a number of different styles of horse-drawn
vehicles. Greg VanCoevern shared some of
those details as they related to his army ambulance.
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Next week, I’ll wrap up our coverage of
the 2017 Santa Fe Trail Association Symposium with a look at our visit to the Steamboat Arabia Museum and Fort
Leavenworth Frontier Museum. Both
locales provided a great deal of insight into early freighting, travel on
American trails, and the vehicles used throughout the frontier.
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