The Route 66 MEGA Compilation | From Chicago to Santa Monica

0:00 All right.

0:12 Well, I just got back from the beaches of Normandy and uh I

0:19 will admit that right now I'm a little bit out of my element.

0:24 Uh I am in the city of Chicago, Illinois.

0:28 It's kind of crazy.

0:29 Uh, but it's summertime and I thought

0:32 that we would do something a little bit different.

0:35 We are going to take the ultimate road trip over the next several episodes.

0:42 And if you're going to take the ultimate road trip,

0:46 well, you have to go on the ultimate American road.

0:50 Uh we are going to be starting here

0:53 in Chicago and traveling the entire length of Route 66.

1:33 All right.

1:34 Well, if you look right here behind me at this intersection,

1:38 this is the start of Route 66.

1:41 As a matter of fact,

1:41 they have a a sign right here uh denoting the beginning of the mother road.

1:46 And on this uh epic journey that we're going

1:49 to be taking across the United States on Route 66,

1:53 uh we're going to have three main rules.

1:55 Uh actually, we're going to have four rules.

1:57 The first rule is to get out of Chicago.

1:59 Uh but after that, uh rule number one is that where we can, we stay on Route 66.

2:07 Uh there are places where it's been torn up

2:10 or discontinued and you have to get on the interstate,

2:12 but but where we can uh we stay on the uh Route 66.

2:18 Second rule, we're only doing like small town diners

2:22 and things like that as far as places to eat.

2:25 So no chain restaurants.

2:27 And the third rule is similar to the second.

2:30 Uh any place that we stay is not going to be like a chain hotel within reason.

2:35 And I'm giving myself a little bit of wiggle room

2:37 on that because if we get to an area that's kind of sketchy,

2:40 well, I don't want to stay someplace where I'm going to die or get a disease.

2:44 So, I'm giving myself some wiggle room on that.

2:46 But anyway, we're going to go ahead hop in the car and uh hit the road.

2:53 All right.

2:54 Well, here we go.

2:55 Uh we are ready to set off on our trip here.

2:59 And I already established that our second rule is

3:03 that we don't eat at any fast food places.

3:07 Uh well, son of a gun.

3:09 Look at the temptation that they are uh

3:13 that they are throwing my way right off the bat.

3:17 They got a Chick-fil-A right here at the uh the beginning of Route 66.

3:24 Now, here as you start your journey along Route 66,

3:29 one of the more historic restaurants that you'll come

3:33 across right off the bat is this one right here.

3:36 Uh, this is the Berghoff.

3:38 And I know what some of you might be thinking right now.

3:41 Different Birhoff.

3:43 Uh so the roots of this restaurant go back to 1870 when a man

3:47 by the name of Herman Bhoff immigrated

3:49 to the United States from Germany and he had

3:54 actually worked in Buffalo Bill's Wild West

3:56 show and uh when the World's Fair came

3:59 to Chicago in 1893 well he set up a little beer tent uh did pretty good.

4:05 I think he sold his beers for a nickel and they came with a sandwich for free.

4:10 Uh it it did so well that he ended

4:12 up opening up a restaurant right here in downtown Chicago.

4:17 Uh during prohibition rather than shutting down his restaurant,

4:23 uh he started selling uh or brewing what was

4:25 called near beer and also had different kinds of soda.

4:30 Uh and then the the restaurant expanded from there.

4:34 Uh we're not going to eat here today because for me

4:37 to park for half an hour uh is costing $35.

4:41 So to stay here and eat, I I would have to go to the bank and take out a loan.

4:45 Uh but we're going to make our way down

4:48 the road and uh hit another restaurant and then uh got

4:50 a pretty interesting spot that we're going to take a look

4:52 at to uh to start our trip down the road.

5:42 All right.

5:43 Well, we have got out of Chicago and moved down the road a bit and uh

5:47 we're getting ready to make our first food

5:50 stop on the way to our first history stop.

5:53 And uh we decided to come to Del Rey's Chicken Basket.

5:58 Now, the story with this place is that in the late 30s, early 40s,

6:02 it started off as kind of like a lunch counter at a gas station,

6:06 and a couple of women in town who knew how to cook fried chicken

6:11 uh offered to help this guy out and uh taught him how to cook chicken,

6:17 became very popular.

6:18 They ended up converting the carb

6:19 bays into additional seating for the restaurant.

6:22 And then in 1946, well, they opened up this location right here.

6:29 And this is supposed to be like some dang good chicken.

6:32 And I happen to be uh I I consider myself

6:36 to have some refined taste when it comes to fried chicken.

6:38 Uh my family did quite a bit of damage

6:40 to the poultry population as I was growing up.

6:43 But anyway, we're going to go in and uh check it out.

6:47 All right.

6:48 Now, as we're walking in, uh already getting

6:51 some some good Route 66 vibes for this trip.

6:55 And uh here they have some additional

6:58 information about uh the the Delray Chicken Basket.

7:03 Uh let's see.

7:05 So, here uh you can see some of the the neon sign.

7:10 Uh some additional information.

7:12 when I-55 opened up.

7:15 Uh it says here that the chicken basket fell on hard times

7:19 and a Chicago businessman by the name of Delbert or Dell Ray uh

7:23 bought the chicken basket in 1963 and then reinvigorated it with an advertising

7:29 campaign and now it's a really big stop for people traveling Route 66.

7:37 And and I love how they've maintained the the classic look of this place.

7:43 I mean, that is just awesome.

7:45 Okay, we're going in for real now.

7:50 All right.

7:50 Well, the chicken basket is quite the happening place as you can see.

7:57 Uh, a lot of lot of chatter, a lot of music going on.

8:01 That's great.

8:02 All right.

8:02 So, they they've got a pretty extensive

8:05 looking menu with a lot of chicken items, but if I'm at the chicken basket,

8:09 I think I'm going to have to go with the famous fried chicken basket,

8:14 which is half of a chicken uh with French fries.

8:17 And I'm going to substitute the kleslaw

8:19 for homemade mashed potatoes because kleslaw is nasty.

8:23 There is no such thing as as good kleslaw.

8:26 I don't care who's making it.

8:28 All right.

8:28 So, I'm going to put my water in and uh yeah, we'll see what we got.

8:33 All right.

8:33 Our chicken basket just came out.

8:35 Uh first thing that we need to do is get

8:37 rid of that right there because that is not necessary.

8:41 And uh I think we're going to start with the thigh.

8:47 All right.

8:47 Now, I'm tearing into this thing with a fork because it is crazy hot.

8:53 It's right out of the fryer.

8:55 Uh, it doesn't appear to be just like overly greasy, which is always good.

9:00 All right, here we go.

9:13 That is some good fried chicken.

9:42 All right.

9:42 So, I just stopped in Dwight, Illinois,

9:45 and we're here at the old Texico gas station.

9:48 And in Dwight, we met some fellow travelers here.

9:52 And what's your name?

9:55 Dwight.

9:54 Dwight.

9:54 So Dwight and Robin are here in Dwight.

9:57 And they have something pretty cool that they're doing.

10:06 So we collected this car in n about 25 years ago.

10:11 Finally finished it about a year and a half ago.

10:14 And we're traveling from Oregon.

10:16 We traveled to uh Chicago.

10:19 Went downtown, seen a Route 66 sign and we're

10:22 on our first day of travel down Route 66 back to California.

10:27 You said it's a 56 Chevrolet, right?

10:29 56 Chevrolet Bell convertible.

10:31 Oh man, I'm doing it in a rental car.

10:32 You guys are doing it right.

10:34 Yeah.

10:34 Well, it's probably yours a little quicker.

10:38 Oh, awesome.

10:39 So, in the day, this is where your gas goes in.

10:44 Really?

10:44 Yeah.

10:46 Do that again.

10:49 Holy cow.

10:49 So, it was always fun to pull up to a gas station and the guys, where's it go?

10:54 I wonder why they did that.

10:55 Was it maybe just so that there's not like a a gas?

10:59 Yeah.

10:59 57 had one here and 55 had it on the side.

11:03 I guess that makes it look a little bit cleaner.

11:05 It does.

11:06 Yeah.

11:07 You can make fancy ones that slide out

11:08 on a track and turn on their own and everything.

11:11 Kind of crazy.

11:13 Awesome.

11:13 Well, I'll let you guys get back on road.

11:14 You go have a good trip.

11:15 Thanks for meeting you.

11:21 All right.

11:21 Well, that was kind of cool and unexpected.

11:23 Uh meeting some uh new friends.

11:25 All right.

11:25 We're going to go ahead and make our way on down to uh Pontiac now.

11:46 Okay, we've just made our way into Pontiac, Illinois.

11:50 And when you get to Pontiac,

11:53 you really start feeling the uh I guess history and enthusiasm for Route 66,

12:02 especially when you see this big giant mural right here.

12:05 Now, this mural is on the back side of the Route 66 Museum and Hall of Fame.

12:12 So, I thought that as far as historic sites,

12:14 this would be a good place for us to start off

12:17 and and kind of get a a foundation for the rest of our trip.

12:28 All right.

12:29 So, uh, we just rolled in to the Route

12:31 66 Museum and Hall of Fame here in Pontiac, Illinois.

12:35 And I can already tell there is a bunch of cool stuff in here.

12:39 And I know a little bit about Route 66.

12:42 But I have someone here who knows a lot more.

12:47 This is John.

12:48 John is the You're the curator here?

12:50 Yes, I am.

12:50 Okay.

12:50 So, John John is the curator.

12:52 Uh so he's going to kind of help us lay the the foundation

12:56 of where we are going to be traveling over the next several days.

12:59 Well, Route 66 got started as a result of the lack of highways,

13:06 lack of paved highways, and in 1926 that they got together,

13:13 the states got together and they created the highway

13:16 system and mapped out the major roads including Route 66.

13:22 And then on November 11th, 1926, Route 66 was named Route 66.

13:28 Um it came out of the fact that cars were

13:31 coming along and there were so many dirt roads they

13:34 they needed hard roads and this was to try

13:38 to get those roads paved the states to pave those roads.

13:43 Now Illinois was the first state to have

13:46 a highway completely paved from Chicago to St.

13:49 Louis.

13:51 They had paved it a few years earlier.

13:52 It was Route 4.

13:54 And when they created Route 66, they just made Route 4 into Route 66.

14:01 After that, over the years, there were some modifications of the route,

14:05 but essentially followed the Route 4.

14:07 You get down by Springfield, Illinois, and it splits.

14:10 There's one version Route 66 that kind parallels the interstate,

14:15 and the other is Route 4 that goes down through Chadam and down

14:19 toward uh Mount Olive and And then after the highway was established,

14:27 the question I always got was what makes it so famous?

14:30 It's just a road.

14:32 Well, it is just a road, but there were a number of things

14:35 that happened that contributed to it getting famous.

14:39 Um early on the 18 right after the road was established um

14:47 CC Pow had a foot race from Los Angeles to New York

14:53 and the winner would get something like $20,000 and the first part

14:57 of the route from Los Angeles to Chicago would be on Route 66.

15:03 Some of it was paved, some of it was still dirt.

15:06 And along the way, it was promoted and the local

15:11 newspapers and local radio stations and the media,

15:14 all the media picked up on it and the people heard about it,

15:17 heard it on the radio station went to come

15:19 out and see it and it was on Route 66.

15:22 He pile said he would make Route 66 famous with that road.

15:27 Well, it contributed uh in Illinois.

15:31 One of the promoters for pio was Red Range,

15:35 the the University of Illinois football star and to me Chicago Bear.

15:42 Also adding to the aspect of being famous was

15:49 the u John Steinbeck when he wrote the grapes of wrath.

15:55 in it.

15:56 He referred to Route 66 as the mother road.

16:00 And that took on a a feeling among

16:05 people that it was really a valuable important thing.

16:10 Later on, uh you had um after World War II,

16:14 Bobby Troop when he wrote Get Your Kicks on Route 66 became popular.

16:22 He wasn't writing about and singing about Route 20 or Route 30 or anything else.

16:26 Route 66.

16:28 And that song became famous.

16:30 It was it's been recorded I don't know how many times by different people,

16:34 different groups of people that helped the fame of Route 66.

16:38 Then of course in 1960s in the prime of Route 66, uh the TV program Route 66,

16:46 even though most of the episodes were not ever on Route 66,

16:49 that opening scene where the two guys in the Corvette convertible,

16:53 driving down the open road mountains,

16:55 just gives you the feeling of freedom and traveling and what have you.

17:06 So, here in the Route 66 Museum and Hall of Fame,

17:10 they have all kinds of items that are specific to Illinois.

17:15 And and what they've done is they've kind of divided things up

17:19 by some of the the major stops in Illinois along Route 66.

17:23 So, here we're starting off in Chicago.

17:25 Uh earlier we saw the Berghoff.

17:28 So, the Berghoff is part of the Route 66 Hall of Fame.

17:32 And here you can see some of the items from there.

17:36 Uh we mentioned how during Prohibition, you know, they found ways to stay open.

17:41 So here's some of the uh Bhoff famous root beer back there.

17:46 Uh and then they have just all kinds of other little

17:49 things uh dedicated to different places along the route and also people.

17:55 So we we'll pick out a few of them and and take a look.

18:00 Here are a few little items from the town of Dwight that we just passed through.

18:06 So there you can see some photos from the Amler Beckler uh Texico gas station.

18:13 Uh and then here's like a little Christmas ornament.

18:16 So when it became kind of an iconic spot where people would get little

18:19 souvenirs and and I'm always fascinated

18:22 by things that that people save as momentos.

18:25 Uh here's a uh a chunk of the intersection uh

18:29 from Route 66 that was taken from the town of Dwight.

18:34 Uh and then again, as you move through here, well,

18:40 there are just all kinds of little odds and ends.

18:44 There's, you know, pins.

18:46 Uh there are old programs and different things like that.

18:52 And one thing that I really, really enjoy are all of the the old photos.

18:59 Um, here's a shovel that uh that was used

19:08 by one of the men who helped to build Route 66.

19:13 And then right back here, again, I really like this.

19:17 They just have tons of old photos and ads

19:24 and things like that from uh from the old road.

19:30 Now, here in a few days where we are going to end

19:33 up uh as we leave Illinois is the chain of rocks bridge.

19:37 Really looking forward to seeing that.

19:39 And here's a a piece of the old chain of rocks bridge.

19:46 You got a hunk of concrete here.

19:48 And uh just below it, I noticed that they have a uh a core sample from old 66.

20:01 And there's pieces of concrete, pieces of brick.

20:03 So, this this kind of shows how important this road was to people.

20:08 Uh everybody wanted to to have a a piece of it to remember.

20:13 Here in the museum, they have this really impressive mural

20:18 showing all of the sites along Route 66 in Illinois.

20:22 So, you can see it starts up there in Chicago

20:25 and then goes all the way down to St.

20:28 Louis and, you know, has like all of these little,

20:32 you know, sites like gas stations and restaurants and things like that.

20:36 Well, I'm I'm learning all kinds of new things today.

20:39 This was painted by a guy who was part

20:42 of the Route 66 Hall of Fame named Bob Waldmire.

20:46 He was kind of an old hippie type,

20:47 was a big Route 66 enthusiast and created a lot

20:50 of art that was inspired by the Mother Road.

20:55 And you probably have more of a connection with Bob Waldmire than what you might

21:01 think or you might know something about him

21:04 uh more than than what you might think.

21:06 If you look right here, well,

21:10 this was Bob Waldmire's bus that he traveled around in.

21:15 It's an old 1972 VW micro bus, and uh it's got all kinds of character.

21:23 Uh now if you ever watch the movie Cars, the character of Filillmore,

21:28 who was voiced by George Carlin,

21:31 uh well Bob was the inspiration for that character.

21:36 So if you go and you watch that movie, well you can see this bus and he's kind

21:40 of a hippie type character in in the film.

21:44 Uh but anyway, yeah, that was inspired by Bob.

21:47 Uh, now Bob Waldmire passed away in 2009 and he didn't quite finish the mural.

21:56 And right here in this spot, you can see a little bit of a a pencil sketch right

22:03 there where he had sketched in this car going underneath that arch,

22:08 but didn't quite finish it.

22:22 I want to show just a little bit more

22:24 on this bus because I think it's so stinking cool.

22:28 Uh, so here on this side, well,

22:32 you can see where Bob put some of his art onto the van and showed

22:41 the entire length of the road right here on the van that he traveled on.

22:47 That is really, really cool.

22:49 Like when you're talking like World War I, World War II,

22:51 I'm into like helmet art, you know,

22:53 art that people put on different pieces, trench art.

22:57 Uh this is this is some uh some bus art.

23:00 Uh and I also like the sticker that he has

23:02 here that the gene pool could use a little chlorine.

23:06 I tend to agree with that.

23:08 Uh anyway, if we go around to the other side, well,

23:16 we get a look inside of Bob's bus that he was living in.

23:22 And uh yeah, it is um it has character, we'll put it that way.

23:29 And I'm sure that he was a character himself.

23:51 All right.

23:51 So, I'm finding this Bob Waldmire guy to be a a very fascinating character.

23:57 And I've just come upstairs in the museum,

23:59 which I'm finding they have all kinds of things here at this museum,

24:02 not just connected to Route 66, but a lot of other pieces of history.

24:06 Uh, but anyway, this room is dedicated to the art of Bob Waldmire.

24:12 We aren't going to be able to look at every single art piece in here,

24:17 but I I am just really, like I said,

24:21 finding this fascinating and and I really uh like the the style.

24:27 So, look at this.

24:28 Like, here's a thing called a a brief history of Illinois.

24:33 And apparently um he he did one of these for all

24:36 of the states that Route 66 ran through.

24:39 And there are all these little details on the state map.

24:43 I mean, just think about how much time it would have taken to do all of this.

24:48 And then uh he would the way he made his living by was by selling his art.

24:54 So he would make, you know, these little postcards.

24:57 Here's one uh again for Dwight, Illinois.

25:00 So he would make little postcards and he

25:02 would make posters and different things like that.

25:07 Huh.

25:08 Um, let's see.

25:09 If we go over here, you can see some other little Route 66 items.

25:18 Yeah, this is this is just really, really incredible.

25:26 Okay, just one more and then there are a few things outside

25:29 that I want to show before we move on down the road.

25:32 Uh here is uh one of these big art pieces in Waldmire's style

25:37 showing the whole route of uh or the whole length of Route 66.

25:42 So again, you see some of these sites up here around the Illinois area

25:47 and then going on to the west until you finish out in Santa Monica.

25:55 And then it kind of talks about, you know, here you can look at Arizona.

26:00 says in Arizona much of old 66 was buried beneath I40

26:04 uh the second third longest stretches of unavoidable Interstate R 44 miles.

26:09 Okay, so it gives a little bit of the the history.

26:12 So this is a man who was not only

26:14 passionate about art but uh also passionate about history too.

26:29 All right, we just walked out of the museum, which by the way is incredible.

26:44 It's a free museum.

26:46 Uh, but we bought some things while we were in there.

26:48 One of them was this packet of Bob Waldmire's postcards.

26:52 I always encourage people when they go to museums like this to either

26:55 make a donation or or buy something to help support them.

26:58 Now, Bob didn't just have the the van that served

27:02 as the inspiration for the character in the movie Cars.

27:05 He also had this big wild looking bus.

27:14 Seriously, look at this thing.

27:19 This is absolutely wild.

27:22 Uh, you have to really be an eclectic

27:26 person with one heck of an imagination to have,

27:31 I don't know, this in your head and then make it a reality.

27:35 So, this is a 1966 model bus that Bob Waldmire got a a hold of.

27:40 Uh, this is called his his road yacht.

27:42 Uh, so he would go up and down Route 66 in this thing,

27:45 I guess, and he would haul his van behind it.

27:49 Uh because obviously this thing can't just go everywhere.

27:54 But if you go up here, you can see all these little bumper stickers and stickers

28:03 here on the side of the bus just adding to it,

28:06 giving it a little bit of character.

28:09 Uh, so this was kind of like his home

28:12 on the road complete with a covered porch on the back.

28:22 Wow.

28:24 Where else are you going to see something like this?

28:27 Uh, now here in Pontiac, they not only have this wild looking road yacht,

28:32 uh, but they also have a bunch of really amazing wall murals.

28:57 There's one more mural here in town that I want to show.

29:01 So, the city of Pontiac had commissioned Bob

29:04 Waldmire to create this huge mural here in town.

29:12 Unfortunately, as we mentioned earlier,

29:14 he became sick and was unable to complete the project,

29:17 but he had sketched it out.

29:19 And after he died, they took the image, projected it up here,

29:23 and his friends and family completed this mural for him.

29:27 And something that's kind of neat is it's exactly 66 feet long.

29:32 So anyway, that is the first in this series

29:36 of videos that we're going to be doing along Route 66.

29:39 I am legit excited about this trip.

29:42 We're going to be learning a lot.

29:43 We're going to be seeing all kinds of cool historic sites.

29:45 Uh so anyway, right now I'm going to shut the camera off.

29:49 I'm going to take a drink from this black cherry soda

29:52 uh roadside route 66 that I picked up in the museum.

29:56 And then uh we're going to head on to the next place.

30:16 In the last episode of History Traveler,

30:20 we kicked off the biggest history summer road trip across America on Route 66.

30:26 Started off up in Chicago and uh where where Route 66 begins,

30:31 made our way all the way down to uh Pontiac, Illinois,

30:36 where we kind of laid out the foundation of what we are

30:39 going to be doing and learn some of the history behind Route 66.

30:42 I happen to be standing right on a decommissioned portion of Route 66 right now.

30:48 I'm in Lexington.

30:49 We're headed to Springfield, Illinois to check out some history sites there.

30:53 But there was something that I wanted to stop and show in this spot.

31:29 As you're driving along Route 66, well, all along the road,

31:32 you'll see these signs letting you know that you are on the historic route.

31:37 And in some spots, you'll also see these signs

31:42 at the bottom showing you a couple of different paths.

31:45 So, Route 66 went through a number of different changes and realignments.

31:51 And right up ahead where you can see the decommissioned road off to our right.

31:56 Uh you can't drive on that.

31:58 Uh but here it shows you that off to the left

32:01 is the section of road that existed between 1926 and 1930.

32:06 And then ahead of us going straight is the section of road from 1930 to 1977.

32:11 Well, here in Lexican, they have something called memory lane where you

32:15 can actually drive this old section of the road.

32:34 As we're making our way down the road,

32:36 we're going to stop from time to time and show little odds and ends.

32:40 So, I just happened to see this and they have a little roadside marker here,

32:48 a little information panel talking about the motor police.

32:52 So, the Illinois State Police was formed in 1922 to protect

32:56 motorists who are going to be traveling along these roads.

33:00 Uh, it says that 20 officers patrolled

33:02 the state on surplus World War I Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

33:06 And then in the 1930s, uh, it was updated with radio communication.

33:11 Uh, yeah.

33:12 So, all kinds of little cool bits of information here.

33:56 Quick stop in Atlanta, Illinois, which is the land of the giants.

34:05 And they have an American Giants museum all

34:09 about these big figures that were used in advertising.

34:13 But well, unfortunately, uh, we're rolling through when it is closed.

35:01 All right, we have made our way down to Springfield, Illinois.

35:06 And and when you come to Springfield, Illinois,

35:09 everywhere you look, you see stuff on Abraham Lincoln.

35:12 We're actually going to be checking off a few boxes today.

35:14 In addition to helping to meet the goal of traveling Route 66,

35:18 we're also going to visit the tomb of Lincoln.

35:21 I have a goal, it's kind of goofy,

35:23 of visiting all of the presidential grave sites.

35:26 But first, we're going to go right

35:28 here to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum.

35:33 Uh I've never been here before.

35:34 Uh, so this is going to be kind of a new thing for me.

35:37 I know that this is also the home the place where Lincoln's home

35:40 is located and we just don't have time to hit all of it today.

35:44 So, since I've never been here before, we're going to check this out.

35:51 All right, so we just got into the museum here.

35:54 And as you enter this main receiving area,

35:59 well, you have the the Lincoln family welcoming you.

36:03 Uh so here of course we have Abraham Lincoln and uh

36:07 Mary Todd Lincoln and their three sons uh Robert Tad and Willie.

36:14 Uh they had another they had a fourth son

36:16 by the name of Eddie who had died prior

36:19 to Lincoln going into the White House and their son

36:23 Willie uh would also die uh while Lincoln was president.

36:28 So they have some different like little galleries and things to to walk through.

36:32 So, we're just going to kind of make our way

36:34 through the museum and yeah, see what they have.

36:38 So, here in the museum, as you start learning about Lincoln's life, well, uh,

36:43 of course, you're going to start at his humble beginnings, uh, in a log cabin.

36:50 And over here, they they have a pretty

36:52 good overview of the early years of Abraham Lincoln.

36:57 Okay.

36:57 So, he is born in 1809 uh near Hodgegden, Kentucky.

37:02 Here you can see, you know, depiction of the the log cabin that he was born in.

37:06 This was going to be kind of a a big deal uh in his life.

37:10 Uh and then they moved to Knob the family moves to Knob Creek, Kentucky.

37:14 He has a brother uh who dies in infancy in 1812 uh 1815.

37:21 He briefly attends a log schoolhouse with his sister Sarah.

37:25 Uh Lincoln actually largely taught himself how to read.

37:28 So he's kind of a a driven individual.

37:32 Um 1816 he almost drowns and then family ends

37:38 up moving to a one room cabin near Pigeon Creek, Little Pigeon Creek, Indiana.

37:43 And 1818 uh gets kicked in the head by a horse

37:47 and it was said that he was apparently killed for a time.

37:49 Also in that same year, uh well, his mother dies and this is going to kind of be

37:58 the the beginnings of a life that is beset with tragedy for Abraham Lincoln.

38:07 So, we just walked into the first room uh here showing this one room log cabin.

38:14 And you can just imagine an entire family living in here.

38:20 Uh so, the the way that it worked is, you know, after Lincoln's mother died,

38:26 well, his father uh remarried uh remarried to a woman named Sarah Bush Johnston.

38:33 And uh they would in this one room log cabin, well they would sleep in the bed.

38:38 Uh the boys would sleep upstairs and then

38:43 the girls would sleep downstairs under the covers.

38:48 And then here they're showing uh young Abraham Lincoln by the fireplace.

38:54 And it looks sounds like there's some snoring going on.

38:56 Uh, and he's right here by the dog uh doing one

39:00 of the things that he loved to do the most, which is to read.

39:03 Uh, again, he largely taught himself how to read.

39:06 So, yeah, pretty amazing.

39:11 As we move through the exhibit,

39:12 we start getting into the life of Lincoln as a young man.

39:16 And here they have two uh silver Liberty half dollars.

39:20 And Lincoln had got a job uh fing passengers on the Ohio River.

39:26 And uh he recalled making his first dollar.

39:30 And he he says that he could hardly believe

39:33 that he had earned a dollar in less than a day.

39:37 And here they have another one of these panels

39:42 that kind of go through the the life of Lincoln.

39:48 And uh here you see from 1820 to 25 he attends school a little

39:52 bit and then here's his job in 1827 fing passengers on the Ohio.

39:56 Uh and then in 1828 he takes a flatbo

40:02 down the Mississippi uh running supplies down towards New Orleans.

40:06 And it is during this time that he

40:09 probably was exposed to slavery for the first time.

40:16 and uh he he later said that there was no time

40:21 when slavery didn't have the power to just make him feel miserable.

40:28 So yeah, this was going to be kind of a a pivotal

40:31 time that was going to heavily influence Lincoln's future.

40:37 Here in this next room,

40:38 they have a quote by Lincoln that kind of encapsulates his feelings on slavery.

40:42 He says as I would not be a slave so I would not be a master.

40:46 This this expresses my idea of democracy.

40:50 Whatever differs from this to the extent of the difference is no democracy.

40:55 So during Lincoln's time the one issue that just was constantly

41:03 at the forefront of this country was the issue of slavery.

41:07 Also here they talk about the Missouri compromise in uh that came

41:12 to fruition in 1821 um and also the compromise of 1850.

41:20 Again these are all compromises regarding slavery.

41:23 So people who say that slavery wasn't a root cause

41:27 of the Civil War are are really kind of ignoring history.

41:30 It's not like it's kind of weird that slavery is the main issue all the way

41:35 up until the Civil War and then all of a sudden it's not an issue anymore.

41:38 Uh here they talk about the uh the Kansas Nebraska Act and then

41:44 here uh they are depicting these individuals

41:48 being sold on a slave auction block.

41:51 So, it was Lincoln's first trips down to New Orleans that were going to be very

41:58 fundamental in shaping his ideas uh that would

42:02 come to play later on in his life.

42:05 So, Lincoln would have several different jobs in his lifetime.

42:09 He was a a shopkeeper and also a postmaster, a surveyor.

42:15 He actually served with the US military in the Blackhawk War.

42:19 Uh but his greatest ambition was to become a lawyer.

42:24 So he eventually moves to Springfield, Illinois.

42:29 Um and it's while he is here that he is

42:33 going to meet his future wife, uh Mary Anne Todd.

42:38 Uh he was kind of drawn to her, uh because of her, you know,

42:43 wit and also her interest in politics.

42:46 they had kind of a a common bond there.

42:49 Um their marriage would be kind of tumultuous.

42:53 Uh it's probable that she may have had some mental health issues and um yeah,

43:00 it it was said that their marriage uh could be a little bit rocky at times.

43:08 They have several artifacts here in the museum.

43:11 We're not going to be able to show all of them.

43:13 Uh but this one in particular is the original headstone for one of their sons.

43:22 Uh this is the headstone for Edward.

43:25 Uh he died of tuberculosis um in 1850 and the headstone

43:36 uh was kind of repurposed after the the body of Eddie

43:40 was moved to the current location at Lincoln's tomb and uh

43:45 and then was later rediscovered and now it's here in the museum.

43:54 Here's something that's kind of interesting.

43:56 Uh this is a sund dial that was owned and used

44:02 by Lincoln's grandfather uh whose name was also Abraham Lincoln.

44:06 So Lincoln was named after his grandfather.

44:09 Uh his grandfather was a Revolutionary War veteran

44:13 and likely used this sundial in his work.

44:16 uh moved to Kentucky in the 1780s and there was

44:21 some conflict with the indigenous people there and he was

44:24 actually killed uh by some of the the Indians uh

44:28 in front of his son Thomas who was Lincoln's uh father.

44:35 All right, we just walked into Lincoln's law office and uh this is a dang mess.

44:41 Uh this is really uh kind of wild actually.

44:45 Uh so this is depicting his sons Willie and Tad who I guess were kind

44:49 of uh well pretty spirited uh individuals

44:55 and Lincoln's law part partner uh William H.

44:57 Hearnden said these children would come

44:59 to our office and take down books, empty buckets,

45:03 uh coal ashes, ink stands, gold pins,

45:05 put them in a pile and then dance on the pile.

45:08 Uh Lincoln would say nothing.

45:10 So blind would so blinded was he to his children's faults.

45:15 Uh, so yeah, I'm I'm thinking that Lincoln should have maybe given

45:20 these kids a little bit of discipline uh because this is a wreck.

45:25 Here we get into a part of the walk that talks about Lincoln's uh political

45:31 life and they have something that is

45:33 really interesting here as far as artifacts go.

45:37 So Lincoln was anti-slavery.

45:40 There's no denying that.

45:42 uh but he kind of had to juggle his anti-slavery position

45:46 with what the law of the land was at the time.

45:50 Uh so here is a letter that that Lincoln wrote in 1845,

45:58 looks like October of 1845.

46:01 And in it he's urging uh an abolitionist uh from the what

46:06 was called the Liberty Party to support the wigs instead.

46:10 uh basically because not doing so empowered

46:13 the Democrats to push forward their pro-slavery agenda.

46:18 Uh so anyway, th this was again 1845.

46:23 So so Lincoln is going to have to be,

46:25 you know, walking this tight rope for the next 20 years.

46:30 So of course in 1860, uh Abraham Lincoln is elected as president,

46:35 first Republican president in the United States.

46:39 Here you can see like this big

46:41 you know poster celebrating the election of Lincoln.

46:45 Uh but immediately he he is going to be walking into a crisis

46:53 as his election is basically going to trigger the secession crisis.

47:03 All right.

47:03 So here in the museum they kind of divide Lincoln's life up into two parts.

47:06 There's the the early part, his growing up years,

47:08 his early life in politics, and then his time in the White House.

47:43 I mentioned how Abraham Lincoln's life is beset by tragedy

47:49 uh and that would follow him to the White House.

47:52 So, not only is he having to deal with this secession crisis,

47:57 but 2 weeks after the presidential ball, well,

48:01 his son Willie would die from typhoid fever.

48:05 So, here you can see the scene where Lincoln is at the door

48:08 and you have Mary Todd Lincoln here uh at the bedside uh by her son.

48:14 Um, and th this would of course grieve both of them as it would any parent.

48:22 Uh, Mary Todd Lincoln never entered the room

48:24 again uh where her son had passed away,

48:27 but it was said that that Lincoln would would come back into the room

48:32 from time to time and just sit quietly and and grieve his son.

48:35 So, this this man just had the weight

48:38 of the world on his shoulders during his time as president.

48:46 Here in this room, we have a depiction of Lincoln

48:50 in a cabinet meeting uh reading a draft of his emancipation proclamation,

48:58 which of course was the document that was

49:01 going to free the slaves in the southern states.

49:05 Of course, the slave states that remained loyal to the Union,

49:10 uh that would be Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland,

49:12 and Delaware, uh it would not apply to them.

49:15 And there was a lot of controversy about the Emancipation Proclamation,

49:18 as you might expect.

49:20 Uh there were some thought that it went way too far.

49:23 Uh there were some who thought that it didn't go far enough.

49:28 In the end, uh, Lincoln ended up kind

49:30 of following the advice of his secretary of state,

49:35 guy by the name of William Seward, who you see depicted there on the left.

49:40 Uh, he was concerned that the proclamation,

49:43 if it was issued too early, would make the Union look desperate.

49:47 Uh so he counseledled that they should

49:50 wait until there was some sort of battlefield

49:52 victory because the Confederates had really been on a tear uh up to this point.

49:59 Uh he he said we should wait or that the Union should wait for a battlefield

50:02 victory before issuing the Emancipation Proclamation.

50:05 Uh and of course that is going to come after the Battle of Antidum.

50:11 I'm always fascinated at seeing how the presidency ages people.

50:16 So, here's a picture of Lincoln in 1860.

50:20 Here he is in 1861, 1863.

50:25 That's probably one of the more famous images of Lincoln right there.

50:29 1864.

50:31 And then by 1865, and it's only been 5 years,

50:37 but it looks like he's aged 40 uh in that time.

50:42 And here uh they have a couple of bronze castings of Lincoln's well in this case

50:48 on the left Lincoln's hands and face in 1860 and then of his face in 1865.

50:58 So you can really see uh just how the the war and the presidency

51:03 and all the the stress that he was under has aged him.

51:09 Again, I'm not able to show everything in here today.

51:11 uh you'll have to just make a trip to Springfield,

51:14 Illinois and come visit the museum for yourself.

51:16 But uh these artifacts that we are looking at here are

51:19 items that were used in support of the reelection of Abraham Lincoln.

51:24 So this is kind of a political campaign poster or like

51:28 a little temporary newspaper that was handed out to people.

51:31 Uh, and then there are also a couple of little coins

51:36 that were encouraging people to vote for Abraham Lincoln in the 1864 election.

51:42 And then they also have these interesting

51:45 paper items that are connected to slavery.

51:48 So, this one right here,

51:51 this is a bill of sale from 1832 where a 20-year-old man

51:57 by the name of Dennis was sold from one enslaver to another.

52:02 And this is an 1855 broadside uh for the sale of, as you can see,

52:11 real estate and slaves.

52:13 was from Cape Gerardo, Missouri, which is south of where we are right now.

52:18 Uh, something that was kind of ironic about the legal status of slaves

52:25 as quote unquote property is that when the Civil War rolls around,

52:29 the US government was able to say, "Oh, okay.

52:32 Well, if these people are considered property, uh,

52:35 we can confiscate that property in support of the war." So anyway,

52:43 yeah, interesting artifacts here.

52:47 If you've watched our past videos,

52:50 we have several that we've done at Gettysburg.

52:53 So, this scene should be familiar.

52:55 This is depicting the fighting on Cemetery Hill.

52:58 Uh there you can see the cemetery

52:59 gate house of Evergreen Cemetery in the background.

53:04 And uh this is also going to be where in November of 1863,

53:09 so later on in that same year,

53:12 Lincoln is going to deliver one of the most famous speeches of all time,

53:16 uh that became known as the Gettysburg Address.

53:20 So, finally, we get to the scene at Ford's Theater.

53:24 Uh the Civil War has ended.

53:26 Lincoln is finally able to have a few moments of peace.

53:32 And on Good Friday, uh,

53:34 he and his wife go to Ford's Theater to watch a play called Our American Cousin.

53:40 And shortly before 10:00, uh,

53:43 it was said that Mary Todd Lincoln leans over to Abraham Lincoln.

53:47 They've been, uh, you know, holding hands and and she says,

53:52 you know, what will Miss Harris think of me hanging on to you?

53:55 So, and Lincoln leans over and replies, she won't think anything of it.

54:01 And those would be the last words

54:04 that were uttered by President Abraham Lincoln.

54:07 Uh at about quarter after 10, as you can see depicted here,

54:12 John Wils Booth slips into the presidential box,

54:16 moves up behind Lincoln and puts a daringer to the back

54:19 of his head right behind his left ear and squeezes the trigger.

54:24 Uh so Lincoln of course is shot at a moment

54:29 in the play when there's kind of like a big burst of laughter.

54:33 Uh and then he is taken across the street

54:35 to the Peterson house where he is declared dead the the next

54:40 morning and the secretary of war Andrew Stanton upon his death

54:44 uh uttered the words now he belongs to the ages.

54:47 is heat.

55:29 We have moved just a few miles down the road and we are currently at the Oak

55:35 Ridge Cemetery and right here behind us

55:39 is the final resting place of Abraham Lincoln.

55:43 But there's another place here on the site that also

55:46 served as his resting place for a short time.

55:52 We've moved behind the tomb and memorial and down the hill a little bit.

55:58 And what we are looking at is

56:01 the receiving chamber for President Abraham Lincoln's body.

56:04 So, a couple days after the assassination,

56:06 a group of Springfield citizens got together and proposed

56:10 building a tomb and memorial to Abraham Lincoln.

56:13 But obviously, that was going to take some time.

56:16 So, on May the 3rd, his body arrived here in Springfield,

56:22 Illinois, uh laid in state at the capital overnight.

56:25 Uh it had made its way across the the country uh on a funeral train.

56:30 And on May the 4th of 1865, there was a funeral ceremony and Lincoln's remains

56:39 were laid to rest right here in this place.

56:45 Uh they remained here until December uh 21st of 1865 and then were

56:53 again removed to another temporary chamber that was about halfway up the ridge.

56:59 And then uh they finally finished the tomb uh that we know today

57:05 enough to where it could receive uh the remains of him and his sons.

57:11 But yeah, this was the original holding chamber of Lincoln's body.

57:17 We've now moved back up to the top of the hill to the tomb of Abraham Lincoln.

57:24 Uh in 1871, prior to this being completely finished,

57:29 the body of Lincoln and his three sons,

57:32 Tad had died in 1871, were brought and interred here.

57:37 And here at the front, uh you can see this bronze casting of a marble

57:46 bust that was done of Lincoln uh by Guston Borgum.

57:50 Uh this is the man who is behind uh Mount Rushmore and also the uh

57:58 Confederate North Carolina Memorial at Gettysburg and also

58:01 the uh Confederate uh memorial on Stone Mountain.

58:06 Uh but anyway, like I said, this is a a bronze recasting.

58:09 And you can see that Lincoln's nose is uh well polished because people

58:14 think that it's good luck to rub his nose when they come here.

58:18 But the the monument itself was completed in 1874.

58:26 And as with most of the places that I go, uh,

58:30 this one is undergoing some sort of renovation

58:35 or improvement or or something like that.

58:38 This happens to me often.

58:40 So, we'll we'll kind of take a look at what we can.

58:43 Uh, if you look up here, of course, you can see a statue of Lincoln.

58:47 Uh all around him on the four corners

58:50 are uh representations of the military at the time.

58:54 So you had infantry, uh cavalry, artillery, and the navy.

58:59 And then there are 40 shields that are surrounding the base.

59:05 37 of them have the names of the states uh that were in the union at the time.

59:12 And then the remaining three say USA.

59:15 So anyway, uh we're going to go ahead and go

59:17 inside and take a look at the interior of the tomb.

59:42 Well, here in the rotunda of this memorial

59:47 is the final resting place of Abraham Lincoln.

59:52 Now, he is not in the sarcophagus that we see here in front of us.

59:57 He's actually slight behind slightly behind and about

1:00:01 10 ft below in a uh in a vault.

1:00:05 Uh there is a wild story from uh the fall

1:00:10 of 1876 where uh this counterfeit by the name of Benjamin Boyd

1:00:16 had been jailed and an Irish American crime boss by the name

1:00:21 of Big Jim Canelli uh was wanting him out because he,

1:00:27 you know, needed him for counterfeiting operations and for his talents.

1:00:31 So Canelli devised this scheme where Lincoln's body was

1:00:35 going to be stolen from the the tomb here.

1:00:39 Uh they were going to take it out to the body out

1:00:41 to Indiana and put it in the the sand dunes and hide it there.

1:00:46 And after the remains were hidden, uh well,

1:00:48 Boyd was going to then be ransomed uh for a release

1:00:53 uh a full pardon and I think like $200,000.

1:00:58 Uh the the scheme ended up being uncovered by the Secret Service.

1:01:02 Uh the the two guys who were involved,

1:01:04 a guy by the name of Terrence Mullen and Jack Hughes escaped from the site.

1:01:09 They actually had some Secret Service guys who were embedded with them.

1:01:12 Uh they got here into the tomb and then escaped but were later captured.

1:01:17 Well, then later, uh, Robert Lincoln, uh,

1:01:20 his oldest son, opted to have the remains,

1:01:25 uh, buried down deep, uh, to, I guess, avoid any other future issues.

1:01:32 Uh, so Mary Todd Lincoln is intombed right here behind us.

1:01:42 and then Eddie Lincoln and Willie and then

1:01:49 also Tad who you could see died in 1871.

1:01:53 Uh there are mar 16 marble pillars surrounding this tomb uh

1:01:59 to represent the 15 presidents prior to Lincoln and then Lincoln himself.

1:02:03 And then you see these flags surrounding uh some

1:02:07 of them represent the states that uh President Lincoln's ancestors lived.

1:02:13 And then there's also Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois,

1:02:16 which is where of course Lincoln had uh

1:02:19 once lived at different periods during his life.

1:02:22 But yeah, there's the final resting place of Abraham Lincoln.

1:02:40 All right.

1:02:40 Well, there you go.

1:02:41 Uh, that was the tomb of Abraham Lincoln.

1:02:46 So, checked off a few things today.

1:02:47 checked off a site on our Route 66 trip and also uh checked

1:02:52 off another presidential grave in my quest

1:02:54 to visit all of the presidential graves.

1:02:57 Anyway, we're going to hop back in the car, head down Route 66.

1:03:01 Next major destination is going to be St.

1:03:03 Louis.

1:03:09 Over the past few episodes of History Traveler,

1:03:18 we started the ultimate summer road trip,

1:03:21 hitting some historic sites all along the length of Route 66.

1:03:26 Uh we just left the state capital in Springfield,

1:03:30 Illinois, where we visited the Tomb of Lincoln.

1:03:33 We're headed to St.

1:03:34 Lewis and we just hit maybe the coolest stretch

1:03:38 of the road that I have seen so far.

1:03:42 Uh this is a stretch along the old alignment from the 1920s and30s

1:03:48 and it is made all of handlaid brick and it just looks so stinking cool.

1:03:54 So anyway, we're going to drive this section as we

1:03:57 make our way to our next destination in St.

1:04:00 Louis, Missouri.

1:04:04 Heat up here.

1:04:43 All right, we are continuing our way towards St.

1:04:46 Louis on the original part of Route 66, the 1926 alignment.

1:04:52 And there was just something that we had

1:04:55 to stop and see because I think it's hilarious.

1:04:58 So, when this part of the road was built in 19 uh 26,

1:05:04 well, while the pavement was still wet,

1:05:08 apparently some dead gum turkeys decided to just run across that wet

1:05:15 pavement and permanently leave their mark on this part of the highway.

1:05:22 And being a hunter and an outdoorsman, well, I couldn't pass this up.

1:05:27 Uh here's something that I can tell you is

1:05:31 that uh these were hins that ran across here.

1:05:34 Uh gobblers have typically a a longer middle toe there.

1:05:39 Uh but anyway, yeah, I have a lot of experience with that from having

1:05:42 shot lots of turkeys in my life.

1:05:44 But anyway, yeah, there's the part of Route

1:05:50 66 that is now forever commemorated uh

1:05:55 as the part of the road that the turkeys ran across when the concrete was wet.

1:06:02 All right, so here is one thing that I am learning already on this trip.

1:06:06 We haven't even made it out of Illinois,

1:06:07 and there is so much to see along this route.

1:06:12 So, uh, I only have a limited amount of time in order to complete this trip.

1:06:16 So, I'm going to have to get a little bit more disciplined and realize

1:06:18 that there are just some things that I'm going to have to pass up.

1:06:21 So, anyway, uh, there are the turkey tracks.

1:06:24 We're going to hop back in the vehicle.

1:06:25 And, uh, next stop is going to be St.

1:06:27 Louis.

1:06:51 Heat.

1:06:51 Heat.

1:07:13 We have made it all the way to the Illinois

1:07:15 border and we're getting ready to cross the Mississippi River.

1:07:19 Here's old Route 66 right ahead of us.

1:07:23 And to cross the Mississippi, well,

1:07:26 travelers along the route in the 1930s all the way

1:07:30 through to the 1970s would cross this bridge right here,

1:07:34 the Chain of Rocks Bridge.

1:07:36 Unfortunately for us, uh the Chain of Rocks Bridge is not open to road traffic.

1:07:42 So, in order to meet our mark of staying on Route 66,

1:07:47 we're going to have to we're going to have to walk this one.

1:08:11 We are close to halfway out now on the Chain of Rocks Bridge.

1:08:16 And thi this bridge was started in 1927.

1:08:21 Uh they started on both the east and west side simultaneously.

1:08:24 It's a mile long.

1:08:26 They completed the peers I think in August of 1928.

1:08:31 And there was supposed to be like a grand opening on New Year's Day of 1929,

1:08:36 but ended up being like some pretty nasty weather

1:08:40 and uh ice and everything kind of put it off.

1:08:42 So ended up having their grand opening in July of 1929.

1:08:47 And this bridge became a major major fixture on Route 66.

1:08:54 Right now we are looking north from the bridge

1:08:57 and there you can see I270 in the distance.

1:09:00 And the reason that the chain of rocks bridge is called the chain

1:09:03 of rocks bridge is because just north of here where we have the camera pointed,

1:09:08 well, there was a 17mi shaw or a series

1:09:11 of rocky rapids that was called the chain of rocks.

1:09:14 Modern engineering has submerged it beneath the Mississippi River.

1:09:19 But anyway, it was kind of a a problem for boat travelers.

1:09:23 And probably one of the more interesting sections of the Chain

1:09:27 of Rocks bridge is this iconic 30° turn right here in the middle.

1:09:35 So, if you are the type of person

1:09:37 who gets uh some pretty severe anxiety on bridges,

1:09:42 uh this bridge would probably not do you well.

1:09:47 Uh interesting thing during World War II uh this bridge which was

1:09:53 built for like $1.2 million uh was originally kind of a bright red

1:09:58 color and during World War II they ended up painting it green so

1:10:01 that it would blend in more and couldn't be seen from the air.

1:10:06 Uh the uh there's a movie in the 80s called Escape

1:10:10 from New York that was directed by John Carpenter that was filmed here.

1:10:13 Another interesting little tidbit.

1:10:16 And in the 1970s, they were actually going to destroy this bridge

1:10:21 when I270 over there became kind of like the the main thoroughfare.

1:10:28 But because the price of scrap was so low during the 1970s, well,

1:10:32 they ended up scrapping the idea because it was

1:10:35 going to be costing way more than it's worth.

1:10:39 All right, we're going to go ahead and get back

1:10:41 on the road and start making our way towards the city.

1:11:13 All right.

1:11:13 Well, we have made our way down the Mississippi a little bit.

1:11:18 And as you are coming into St.

1:11:21 Louis, well, probably what is now the the most iconic memorial that you will see

1:11:27 as you are crossing the river is

1:11:29 this big old thing right here, the Gateway Arch.

1:11:36 As we are looking out across the Mississippi River here, well,

1:11:40 from this spot, we can see another pretty iconic structure here in St.

1:11:46 Louis.

1:11:47 Uh the Gateway City is not only home to the Gateway Arch,

1:11:51 but also a another gateway that brought

1:11:54 people to this side of the Mississippi River.

1:11:56 Uh what we were looking at is Eid Eid's Bridge.

1:12:00 Uh this was the first arched steel bridge

1:12:02 in the world and was considered a wonder of its day.

1:12:06 We might talk about it a little bit later.

1:12:08 Uh but for now we are going to go inside and uh

1:12:17 take a look at this iconic memorial right here in St.

1:12:23 Louis.

1:12:23 So the arch is not just some, you know, plain structure that is for looks.

1:12:31 You can actually go up in there.

1:12:33 And they have a museum here beneath the arch.

1:12:36 So anyway, we're going to go check that out today.

1:12:51 We just got inside here and are now below the arch where they have a museum

1:12:57 that is dedicated to westward expansion in the United

1:13:01 States and the role that the city of St.

1:13:05 Louis played during that period of time.

1:13:07 Now, we aren't going to be able to see everything in here today.

1:13:11 Uh we're on a little bit of a a tight time schedule,

1:13:14 but we'll hit the high points and and kind of see what we can.

1:13:20 There's a reason why St.

1:13:22 Louis is where it is.

1:13:23 We are just south of the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

1:13:28 And in 1763, uh well, this would have been French territory.

1:13:33 and uh the governor of the Louisiana territory granted a guy

1:13:39 by the name of Pierre Lle the trading rights here in this area.

1:13:44 Uh so here you can see his painting on the left.

1:13:47 Uh on the right is his 14-year-old stepson August Chateau.

1:13:52 and they loaded up on these barges

1:13:56 and started making their way up the Mississippi

1:13:59 River uh and ended up setting up a fur trading post right here because it was

1:14:04 on high ground uh by these limestone bluffs

1:14:07 and this would give them a site where

1:14:09 they could start establishing trade with the Native

1:14:12 Americans uh by way of the Missouri River.

1:14:17 Uh it was called St.

1:14:18 Lewis uh after King Louis the 9th of France.

1:14:27 So once the French establish a trading post here,

1:14:30 they are going to do a lot of trading with the Oage Indian tribe

1:14:35 and the thing that they really desired were were furs from the Native Americans.

1:14:42 So here you can see this deer skin here.

1:14:44 And they also have, you know, something for uh,

1:14:47 you know, tactile learners who want to touch and feel things.

1:14:52 They have some examples of a tan deerhide and also deer skin.

1:14:56 Uh, so originally the value of a deerhide was one Spanish peso or$1 US.

1:15:04 So, if you hear of something costing a buck, well, that's where that comes from.

1:15:11 Uh, is as we move over here, you can see different trade metals that they have.

1:15:18 So, these are some of them are Dutch,

1:15:20 some of them are British, some of them are French.

1:15:24 And the things that the Native Americans are really going to be

1:15:28 desiring from the French are going to be metal items and also firearms.

1:15:36 So here in the back you can see this uh 18th century flint lock musket.

1:15:43 Also see some tomahawks here that have some brass

1:15:47 tacks on them and are decorated in different ways.

1:15:50 Uh you can also see this metal pot, beads,

1:15:56 all kinds of different things that the the Oage would have desired uh

1:16:01 as a trade for the the different furs that they were bringing in.

1:16:07 During this period of time, the rivers were the superighways of the world.

1:16:11 And with St.

1:16:12 Lewis being at the confluence of two major river systems.

1:16:16 Well, as you can imagine, there were a lot of people who were kind of rushing

1:16:21 to this area because it became a center for commerce.

1:16:25 And here they show some different tools

1:16:28 that settlers would have used to build their homes.

1:16:31 This is really interesting to me.

1:16:33 So, for example, uh this tool right here is called a fro.

1:16:39 Uh this is a tool that was used to split wood to make shingles.

1:16:43 And then they also have a a large maul here.

1:16:49 So this would have been used to like drive nails or or pins

1:16:53 uh into the the wood uh to to kind of bind them together.

1:16:59 And then here we have a smaller maul be used for various things.

1:17:03 One of which would be to hit the side of the fro uh to help split wood.

1:17:08 And then here you have these different tools

1:17:11 uh like this augur here that was used

1:17:14 to drill holes and then different tools for splitting

1:17:19 wood and stripping off bark and things like that.

1:17:23 So yeah, building a house during this period of time was very labor intensive.

1:17:30 Here in this section, we start learning about a huge development

1:17:34 that happened in the history of the United States,

1:17:36 and that was the Louisiana Purchase.

1:17:40 So, here we're looking at a statue of Thomas Jefferson.

1:17:44 And in 1803, well, in France, Napoleon Bonapart had a bit of a problem.

1:17:49 uh he was at war with uh most of Europe and needed money and arranged to sell

1:17:58 this massive chunk of ground west of the Mississippi

1:18:03 River to the United States for $15 million.

1:18:09 So the US uh really almost overnight ended

1:18:13 up doubling in size and immediately in 1804 uh

1:18:20 Jefferson commissioned an exploration of this new Louisiana

1:18:26 purchased territory that was led by Lewis and Clark.

1:18:32 So in May of 1804, Lewis and Clark are going to set out from St.

1:18:36 Louis on their expedition.

1:18:37 So St.

1:18:37 Louis is literally going to become the the gateway to the west.

1:18:41 And they're primarily trying to find a water

1:18:46 route to the Pacific Ocean via the Missouri River.

1:18:50 And the watercraft that they used as they

1:18:54 went up the Missouri uh was a keelboat.

1:18:57 So, Kilbo had a a light draft, was a little bit more maneuverable,

1:19:01 could carry about 20 to 40 tons of freight,

1:19:07 and uh I'm not sure if I mentioned this or not,

1:19:09 but the the whole Louiswis and Clark expedition had about 50 people with it.

1:19:15 Okay.

1:19:16 Not only are they looking for a water route to the Pacific,

1:19:19 but they're also gathering uh all kinds of information.

1:19:23 And so they are getting specimens of plants and animals and they're keeping

1:19:29 a detailed journal and they are uh meeting new Indian tribes along the way.

1:19:34 And here we see some examples of the things

1:19:38 that they would have brought with them.

1:19:40 So for example, this right here uh is a portable lap desk.

1:19:45 Okay?

1:19:45 Because they're documenting this entire experience.

1:19:49 and in reporting back to Jefferson.

1:19:51 Uh this is an 1803 Harper's Ferry rifle for hunting and also for protection.

1:19:57 And then this tool right here is called a theodolyte.

1:20:02 Uh this is a precision instrument that is

1:20:04 used for measuring angles horizontally and vertically.

1:20:07 So it's helping them as they are charting the Missouri River.

1:20:11 And then they also would have had things like

1:20:13 a sextant and a compass and a telescope and all kinds

1:20:18 of different tools that are going to help them make scientific

1:20:22 measurements and records as they are going up the Missouri River.

1:20:29 After Lewis and Clark returned from the West in 1806, well,

1:20:35 William Clark set about making a detailed

1:20:39 map of the territory that they had explored.

1:20:44 And afterwards he had a place set up

1:20:47 that was called Clark's Council Chamber that essentially advised people

1:20:52 who were moving west like fur traders and trappers

1:20:55 and explorers and uh at his his council chamber.

1:21:02 Well, he would advise them and inform them about the the tribes

1:21:06 to the west and uh it kind of helped them out along their journey.

1:21:12 Uh, anybody who wanted to go west on the Missouri

1:21:15 River had to get a pass from Clark.

1:21:18 Uh, so anyone who might try to go to take advantage of the Native

1:21:22 Americans or to uh or who maybe had a disease wasn't allowed to go.

1:21:27 So it was designed to try and and protect the tribes out west,

1:21:31 which of course we we all know how that's going to end up.

1:21:35 Now, something else that's interesting is that Clark also had a museum so people

1:21:42 could come and see some of the artifacts that he had collected from his journey.

1:21:48 Now, these aren't the actual artifacts.

1:21:51 Uh the these are original artifacts, but not from the Clark Museum.

1:21:56 Uh his collection went to Europe for a time and then kind of disappeared.

1:22:01 Uh Clark is going to die in 1838.

1:22:04 I believe.

1:22:05 And and we don't know what happened to his stuff after that.

1:22:08 Uh but here you can see uh these different war clubs.

1:22:13 Uh these are items that were on his inventory.

1:22:16 Uh here is a a rawhide shield and some tomahawk pipes.

1:22:22 And I always find these Native

1:22:24 American weapons to be just extremely interesting.

1:22:28 And for the people who were coming from the east

1:22:33 and had no knowledge of the the tribes out west,

1:22:37 well, I'm sure it would have been interesting to them as well.

1:22:42 Here in this section, they have a variety of peace medals on display.

1:22:48 So these are medals that came in various sizes that were designed to be

1:22:53 given as symbols of peace and friendship

1:22:56 to the different Indian chiefs along the way.

1:22:59 So here is one with Thomas Jefferson's likeness on it.

1:23:03 Now Lewis and Clark brought 32 of these along with them on their journey.

1:23:08 And then presidents after each had their own peace medals

1:23:12 that they sent out with uh representatives of the government.

1:23:16 So, here's one for James Madison.

1:23:20 Uh, here's one for James Monroe.

1:23:23 Uh, this one I find a little bit humorous.

1:23:26 Uh, this is a peace metal for the John Quincy Adams administration,

1:23:31 and he was not pleased with the image that was cast of him on this metal

1:23:36 because he said that the nose was too big and that he looked fat.

1:23:39 Uh, but anyway, that ended up being the one that that represented uh, Madison.

1:23:45 And then here we also have one for Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Beern.

1:23:52 Now throughout the first half of the 1800s

1:23:55 after the Louiswis and Clark expedition, uh St.

1:23:58 Louis is going to see some exponential growth.

1:24:03 So, not only is it a stopping point for people

1:24:07 who are going west and going up the Missouri River,

1:24:10 uh, but with the development of the steamboat, well, St.

1:24:16 Louis is going to be a hub of traffic.

1:24:18 As a matter of fact,

1:24:18 it's going to become the third largest port in the United States for a while.

1:24:22 And here they have a model of what the St.

1:24:26 Louis Riverfront would have looked like during that time.

1:24:31 I want to take a minute to talk about a historic figure

1:24:35 who I find to be absolutely fascinating and that is James Eids.

1:24:39 James Eids was a businessman and engineer who was absolutely brilliant.

1:24:44 We actually visited his grave recently here in St.

1:24:47 Louis on a recent trip.

1:24:50 And during the Civil War, well, James Eids made a huge contribution

1:24:55 to the war effort with his ironclad gunboats.

1:25:02 So, in August of 1861,

1:25:04 uh he received a contract from the US government to build seven of these.

1:25:08 Uh this was a shallow draft gunboat that could carry a large cannon.

1:25:12 And then the the bow and the sides were protected with iron plates.

1:25:17 Um, so anyway, uh, they went into action at, uh,

1:25:21 Fort Henry in Tennessee in February of 1862.

1:25:27 And then, of course, there, uh, was a very famous fight between the Marramac

1:25:31 and the Monitor out in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

1:25:36 Now, here in St.

1:25:37 Louis, the thing that Eides is probably

1:25:42 most well known for is his namesake bridge.

1:25:46 So just to the north of the arch is the Eids bridge.

1:25:50 Uh this was the first steel bridge in the world or for first steel arch

1:25:56 bridge um and was considered to be a wonder of the world at the time.

1:26:02 Uh I I have some ideas for a future series and and we're going

1:26:05 to go more into depth on Eid's Bridge at some point, but uh in short,

1:26:11 they had these quesons that allowed workers to go

1:26:16 down in a dry environment and uh basically

1:26:22 get down to the riverbed and uh work below

1:26:28 the surface and and build up these these pillars.

1:26:32 ers.

1:26:32 Um, and then you had this steel

1:26:35 bridge that was built across the Mississippi River.

1:26:39 This was going to be huge for westward expansion.

1:26:43 Um, the there was a bottom level that could accommodate

1:26:47 the railroad uh and then the top could accommodate traffic.

1:26:51 Uh, people were a little bit worried about this when

1:26:54 it was first built and wondered if it would be safe.

1:26:57 So there was this kind of an urban legend or superstition uh

1:27:01 at the time that an elephant would not cross an unsafe structure.

1:27:05 So at the inauguration of the bridge,

1:27:08 well they brought out an elephant to cross over this thing.

1:27:12 And uh yeah, when it when it crossed,

1:27:15 I guess people uh assumed that that it was safe.

1:27:21 But yeah, Eid's Bridge is another very famous structure uh

1:27:25 right here along the route to uh to Santa Monica.

1:27:32 Now, since we are here to see the arch and go up in it,

1:27:37 probably would be appropriate to talk about the arch a little bit.

1:27:41 So, the the history behind the St.

1:27:44 Lewis Arch is really quite interesting and honestly

1:27:49 goes back earlier than than what I thought.

1:27:53 So the the genesis of the idea came from a lawyer named Eli Smith.

1:27:59 You can see him there on the left.

1:28:02 And he he was traveling west from Indiana.

1:28:05 And as he crossed over the Mississippi, well,

1:28:09 he was inspired to have a memorial on the riverfront.

1:28:14 Uh, by the 1930s, the the railroads had really kind of absorbed

1:28:20 a lot of what had been river traffic and the riverfront in St.

1:28:22 Louis was kind of run run down and he

1:28:25 wanted to have something that would attract people.

1:28:28 So, he pitched the idea to the mayor of St.

1:28:31 Lewis at the time, a guy by the name of Bernard Dickman,

1:28:34 who you can see there on the right.

1:28:36 Uh, it found support with Franklin Roosevelt.

1:28:40 And here you can see what the St.

1:28:43 Louis Riverfront looked like before.

1:28:47 And, uh, yeah, here's another photo right here.

1:28:52 uh with the area being cleared out for a memorial,

1:28:56 uh they ended up having a competition to see what

1:29:01 would be the the most suitable memorial for the St.

1:29:05 Louis Riverfront.

1:29:06 Uh so here was one of the entries right here.

1:29:09 And this is really interesting to me to see

1:29:11 some of the different ideas that were submitted.

1:29:14 This is one by a guy named Harris Armstrong.

1:29:17 Uh he was an architect in the area.

1:29:19 Uh this was a runner up in a competition

1:29:21 that was held in 1947 right after World War II.

1:29:24 Uh here was another design idea.

1:29:28 That one actually doesn't look too bad.

1:29:30 Uh this was by a group of three architects.

1:29:34 Um here's another design that was submitted.

1:29:38 This got second prize right here.

1:29:42 Um here's another one.

1:29:45 Uh, this was another runner up uh by a guy named T.

1:29:49 Marshall Rainey.

1:29:50 I don't know if I'm as big a fan of that one.

1:29:54 That's just personal preference.

1:29:55 Well, the design that ended up winning was one by Arrow Sarin.

1:30:03 Um, so Sarinin uh had this idea for an arch

1:30:09 uh to basically serve as the gateway to the west.

1:30:14 Being that St.

1:30:15 Louis had traditionally served as the spot that many

1:30:19 people passed through on their way to the west.

1:30:26 Yeah, that's cool.

1:30:29 Here in this display, we are looking at what is believed to be one of the only

1:30:36 surviving scale models of the arch that is left in existence.

1:30:42 uh the the arch was going to be 630 ft

1:30:44 tall and was going to be made all of stainless steel.

1:30:48 So, it's kind of appropriate that it's right here next to the Eids Bridge,

1:30:51 the first arch steel bridge in the world.

1:30:54 Uh it's kind of, you know, shows human progress and innovation.

1:30:59 And to get to the top, well,

1:31:01 Sarin designed these uh things called tulip chairs that would be

1:31:05 in these pods that that we'll see here in just a little bit.

1:31:10 But, uh, construction began in October, uh, I'm sorry,

1:31:14 in in February of 1963 and continued all the way until October of 1965.

1:31:25 And here they have a few objects that are connected with the arch,

1:31:31 uh, including this ceremonial shovel, um, and this electrician's hard hat.

1:31:39 Now, the guys who built this thing, these guys were tough as nails.

1:31:43 This was before OSHA and safet, you know,

1:31:45 some of the safety standards that we have today.

1:31:47 So, so they were going up, you know,

1:31:49 without harnesses and, you know, we're just wearing hard hats,

1:31:53 which I don't know what's going to I don't know

1:31:56 how that's going to help you if you fall 630 ft.

1:31:59 Uh, and then they have here a few other

1:32:03 objects that are connected with the building of the arch.

1:32:07 All right.

1:32:09 Now, here's a model of the little train pods that we are going

1:32:13 to be taking as we are going to be going up in the arch.

1:32:17 And uh you can see they have those little tulip chairs in them.

1:32:21 And they have this little wheel that you can turn

1:32:23 that shows how as the the pods are going up here.

1:32:27 Let me just turn it real quick.

1:32:28 Um and make this thing go up.

1:32:31 Um, you can see that it maintains balance and and stays level as you ascend.

1:32:40 All right, we're going to go get in the real things now.

1:33:08 All right.

1:33:08 Now, this is pretty cool to get up here right at the peak of the arch

1:33:18 where where we see like this top of the curve and then down below.

1:33:27 Well, from this side we get a good view of the mighty Mississippi River.

1:33:35 Uh maybe let's take a look over here.

1:33:41 There's a good view of Eid's Bridge.

1:33:45 And then let's see if we can get a look over here on the other side.

1:33:54 Here we get a view of the city of St.

1:34:02 Louis.

1:34:04 There's Bush Stadium on the left and the old St.

1:34:11 Louis courthouse right there.

1:34:16 Yeah, this is this is really cool.

1:34:31 All right.

1:34:31 Well, uh, there was a little bit from the St.

1:34:34 Louis Arch.

1:34:36 Now, of course, the arch wasn't here during the heyday of Route 66,

1:34:40 but it is here now, and it's an iconic stop, and I'm I'm glad that we made it.

1:34:44 We're going to hop back on the road,

1:34:45 start making our way to our final destination.

1:34:47 And there's one little food stop along the way that I

1:34:50 want to make to uh pick up a little snack.

1:34:55 So, this obviously is the section of Route

1:34:57 66 that rolls through the outskirts of St.

1:35:02 Louis.

1:35:03 And right here along the route is a pretty well

1:35:06 well-known location here in the area known as Ted Drews,

1:35:10 which serves up some of the best frozen custard that you will ever have.

1:35:15 At least that's the reputation.

1:35:17 Uh, so Ted Drew originally opened a frozen custard shop down in Florida in 1929.

1:35:23 It did really good.

1:35:24 So he came back to St.

1:35:25 Louis, opened up a few stores.

1:35:27 This store right here actually opened up in 1941.

1:35:31 So travelers who were coming along the route after it opened in 1941,

1:35:36 hot summer day, stop here and get yourself some frozen custard.

1:35:42 All right.

1:35:43 Uh all kinds of different flavors here.

1:35:46 Uh which makes it kind of hard to choose because there are so many.

1:35:48 Uh so we have a nice Route 66 themed frozen

1:35:53 custard which is uh with root beer and malt concrete.

1:36:00 Uh they also have a Louiswis and Clark uh which has

1:36:04 granola and almonds and a bunch of trail mix in it.

1:36:07 There's one for the St.

1:36:08 Louis Blues hockey team.

1:36:09 Of course, everybody around here are big Cardinals fans for baseball.

1:36:12 Uh, I think I'm going to go with just a regular old Oreo, though.

1:36:23 That's really good.

1:36:24 It's really smooth.

1:36:26 And there's a ton of people here.

1:36:28 Like, there's a a line back here at the counter.

1:36:30 You can see all these people back here.

1:36:31 So, yeah, we're not the only ones who are uh stopping here

1:36:36 today to to get a little bit of a a cold treat.

1:37:04 Now, when we set off on this trip, we established a few ground rules.

1:37:09 One is that we would stay on Route 66 where possible.

1:37:12 Uh two, we were only eating at local diners.

1:37:15 And the the third rule is that where possible,

1:37:19 we were only going to stay at historic or locallyowned hotels.

1:37:23 Well, we have made our way from St.

1:37:25 Louis to the town of St.

1:37:27 Clair, Missouri, right here on Route 66.

1:37:30 And uh we're going to be staying right here

1:37:32 tonight at a place called the Pine Mark Inn,

1:37:35 which last year on Yelp was in the top 20 for best hotels in the country.

1:37:57 All right.

1:37:58 Uh we just got checked in and got our stuff here

1:38:01 in our room at the Pine Mark and holy smokes, we hit the jackpot.

1:38:06 Uh this place is really, really nice.

1:38:14 So, I ended up getting their suite here this evening

1:38:18 because it was available and honestly is really really affordable.

1:38:24 Uh especially when you see what what we get here.

1:38:28 So, walking into the room, they had this nice little living area with couch

1:38:33 and a couple chairs and a little bar over here.

1:38:37 And uh here's something that I appreciate is they they hook you

1:38:43 up with a few snacks here once you get into the room.

1:38:48 And let's see here.

1:38:50 It says to our guests, "Because this hotel is a human institution

1:38:55 to serve people and not solely a money-making organization,

1:38:59 we hope that God will grant you peace and rest while you are under our roof.

1:39:03 May this room and hotel be your second home.

1:39:07 May those you love be near you in thoughts and dreams.

1:39:10 Even though we may not get to know you,

1:39:12 we hope that you will be comfortable and happy as if you were in your own house.

1:39:16 And then it goes on, wow, that is really, really nice.

1:39:18 Okay, so this is obviously uh a place that cares about people.

1:39:24 Uh let's take a quick look at the bathroom.

1:39:29 Oh, dang.

1:39:32 They give you a little robe uh to wear after you get out of the shower.

1:39:37 And then back here is the bedroom area.

1:39:40 And uh check this out.

1:39:42 Even got a little jacuzzi back here.

1:39:46 But yeah, this is where we are going to be tonight along Route 66.

1:40:13 Okay.

1:40:14 Well, uh I can go ahead and tell

1:40:15 you that already I am absolutely loving this place.

1:40:19 Uh I just found out that in the lobby this evening they're

1:40:22 going to have snacks and root beer floats and popcorn later on.

1:40:24 So, has a a real kind of home away from home feel uh here at Pine Mark.

1:40:31 But anyway, uh we're going to go ahead and shut the camera off for the evening.

1:40:34 Tomorrow morning, we'll get right back out, get on the road,

1:40:37 and start making our way down Route 66.

1:40:51 If you have watched the past few episodes of History Traveler,

1:40:55 you know that we are in the middle of an epic summer road trip on Route 66,

1:41:01 traveling the entire length from Chicago to Santa Monica, California.

1:41:05 And currently we are in St.

1:41:08 Clair, Missouri.

1:41:08 Came through St.

1:41:09 Louis yesterday and last night stayed right here

1:41:12 at a place called the Pine Mark Inn,

1:41:14 which last year made Yelp's top 20 hotel establishments.

1:41:20 And and after having stayed here for an evening, I can see why.

1:41:24 Like the not only was the room great,

1:41:26 but just the the hospitality was really second to none.

1:41:31 Something that I really haven't experienced before.

1:41:34 And uh if you're traveling along Route 66,

1:41:38 this is definitely a place that you want to stay.

1:41:41 And it's also a place where a lot of people from around the world have stayed.

1:41:45 And they have a little bulletin board inside that I want to show you.

1:41:52 Okay, we are in the dining area of the hotel now.

1:41:57 And we're just going to be real quick,

1:41:58 but I wanted to show this cuz I thought it was really neat.

1:42:00 I had somebody showing me this earlier.

1:42:03 Uh, so here at the hotel, well,

1:42:05 like the owners and staff want to be part of your travel experience,

1:42:10 and they have this giant world map on the wall.

1:42:16 And if you move a little bit closer, well,

1:42:20 you can see these little like drop pin stickers here

1:42:24 showing where they've had visitors from all over the world.

1:42:28 Okay, so I'm seeing the UK, uh, Finland, Norway, there's the Pharaoh Islands.

1:42:37 That's crazy.

1:42:38 They had visitors from there.

1:42:39 Here you can see all places from Central and Southern Europe.

1:42:44 And uh if we move over here, yeah, also somebody from Tokyo.

1:42:50 And then here they have these these Polaroids

1:42:56 of some of the international visitors that have been here.

1:43:00 So for example, got Belgium, we've got Germany, Italy, and Romania.

1:43:08 Man, that is really something.

1:43:12 So, uh, well, Route 66 is something that is

1:43:16 special not only to people of the United States,

1:43:20 but people around the world All right.

1:43:58 So, uh have something pretty cool and unexpected.

1:44:02 Uh here in this town, there's something called the Route 66 car club.

1:44:05 are in this area.

1:44:07 And uh today they happen to be having a car show as we are passing through.

1:44:11 Uh there's something that is kind of uniquely American about car culture.

1:44:16 Uh I just got back from a trip from Europe and uh there's a saying

1:44:20 that for Americans 100 years is a long time

1:44:24 and for Europeans 100 miles is a long distance.

1:44:27 I was talking to a buddy who lives in Britain.

1:44:29 He was talking about a place 3 hours away and he's like,

1:44:31 "Oh, it's so far away." Well, that's like an afternoon drive for us.

1:44:34 So anyway, this kind of uh reflects the the history and culture around Route 66.

1:44:39 So we're going to take a quick look around.

1:44:40 We don't have a lot of time.

1:44:41 Uh we're going to take a quick look around at some of the cars here

1:44:44 and uh maybe talk to a few of the people and then get back on the road.

1:44:49 So I'm going to go ahead and confess off

1:44:51 the get-go that I'm not much of a car guy.

1:44:54 Uh I I don't know as much as other people.

1:44:57 Uh but here's what I do know.

1:44:58 I like old stuff.

1:44:59 When it comes to, you know,

1:45:01 choice between new stuff and old stuff, I always prefer the old stuff.

1:45:03 And that goes with vehicles, too.

1:45:05 Like the the old stuff just seems to have more character to me.

1:45:09 A lot of newer cars kind of all look the same.

1:45:11 So, here's an old uh 41 Ford commercial pickup truck.

1:45:16 Uh we get over here and we have

1:45:21 uh something that definitely has a lot of character.

1:45:25 This is an old uh Chevy Coupe, 1940.

1:45:28 Uh here's an old Ford Roadster.

1:45:31 Roadster uh 1932.

1:45:34 Uh so yeah, there just all kinds

1:45:36 of interesting things and all these people, you know,

1:45:38 are passionate about cars and they are passionate about

1:45:41 history and then come out and share that history.

1:45:46 Okay.

1:45:46 Well, I'm Steve Cook.

1:45:47 I'm vice president of the Route 66 car club.

1:45:50 Our club started in uh 1989, 1990, right around that time period.

1:45:55 Uh right here in St.

1:45:56 Clair, Missouri, which is a Route 66 town through Missouri.

1:46:00 Um, a lot of the guys that started

1:46:02 the club originally worked for the Chrysler plant,

1:46:05 which was in Fenton, uh, Missouri, and it's since gone.

1:46:08 Chrysler's no longer in St.

1:46:10 Louis.

1:46:11 Some of them worked at the Ford plant up in Hazlewood.

1:46:14 But, uh, the guys that started the club,

1:46:16 they were all Americanmade uh, car enthusiasts.

1:46:20 And, uh, we're all involved with the Route 66.

1:46:23 Uh, Missouri has a tour every year with the Route 66 association.

1:46:29 And a lot of the members of our car

1:46:30 club are members of the Route 66 association as well.

1:46:34 What What do you think it is about Route 66 that attracts car enthusiasts?

1:46:39 I think it's because of the nostalgia of all of it.

1:46:42 You know, you sort of when you're on the old Route 66, uh take the old roads.

1:46:47 Uh a lot of it's the old brownstone road.

1:46:50 You're off the beaten path.

1:46:52 you get to see a lot of the old uh you know attractions along the wayside

1:46:57 that a lot of them now are broken down and and uh turn into dust,

1:47:00 but it's nostalgic seeing the old uh the old attractions along

1:47:05 the road and taking your old car driving along the road.

1:47:08 It sort of takes you back into a time

1:47:09 in history that was more enjoyable than the current day,

1:47:12 you know, back before cell phones.

1:47:15 All right, so I guess they had a contest here today and they

1:47:18 have some of the top cars from the contest lined up here.

1:47:21 So, here's a old 67 Chevy Camaro.

1:47:24 Uh, that got number five.

1:47:26 Uh, here's an old Corvair that got the number four place.

1:47:31 Look at this old Chevy truck.

1:47:34 Like, I just I love the look of that.

1:47:37 Uh, this is a a 49 Chevy.

1:47:40 Uh, number two was a 1970 Mercury.

1:47:47 And then if we go over here, looks like Oh, wait.

1:47:53 Okay, this is number 10,

1:47:55 which is a uh Ford 1978 Camper Special F250, which looks pretty dang cool.

1:48:01 And I have no idea where the number one car is.

1:48:04 So anyway, yeah, really neat seeing all

1:48:08 of these vehicles lined up here together.

1:48:13 All right.

1:48:17 Well, that was kind of a cool, unexpected stop.

1:48:19 Uh, lots of interesting cars, lots of good people, uh,

1:48:22 all out here having fun in the hot summer heat.

1:48:27 So, anyway, we're going to get back in our vehicle,

1:48:29 which honestly, after walking amongst all these vehicles, feels pretty lame now.

1:48:32 And, uh, anyway, we're going to get on down the road.

1:48:55 We have made our way just down the road

1:48:57 a little bit to the town of Stanton, Missouri.

1:49:00 And as you are traveling down Route 66,

1:49:03 one thing that you will notice all along the the route,

1:49:06 especially in the Midwest are barn roofs that are

1:49:10 painted with advertising for a place called Marramac Caverns.

1:49:14 Well, right now I am at Marramac Caverns.

1:49:17 Matter of fact, this is the Marramac River,

1:49:19 which Marramac Caverns is named after.

1:49:22 And all of that that advertising that you see along the route is the the product

1:49:27 of a marketing genius and business entrepreneur from the 1930s

1:49:31 and 40s by the name of Lester Dill.

1:49:34 Uh he he was the one who bought the property that the cave is

1:49:37 on and ended up kind of developing it uh into what it is today.

1:49:43 But uh it's not just any cave.

1:49:45 This is actually a cave that has a lot of history with it.

1:49:50 As I mentioned, we are standing on the banks of the Marramac River.

1:49:55 And in the 1700s, this area would have been occupied by the Oage Indian tribe.

1:50:01 And in 1720, there was a French explorer

1:50:04 by the name of Philip uh Renault or or Renault.

1:50:09 I'm I'm assuming it's pronounced Renault.

1:50:10 But anyway, he made his way up this river in a small

1:50:13 boat with a few men and an Osage Indian guide.

1:50:17 And the Oage had told him about this gigantic hole

1:50:21 in the earth where the Osage would take refuge during extreme weather.

1:50:26 Well, they got up to this point and the gigantic hole in the earth

1:50:32 was right here at the base of this bluff ahead of us.

1:50:37 Uh what they ended up finding was what would

1:50:40 be the the largest cave west of the Mississippi River.

1:50:45 Uh now they had the Osage had told uh Renault about this um all like

1:50:54 glittering veins of some kind of yellow metal uh that was inside of the cave.

1:51:00 Well, of course that got their attention.

1:51:02 Uh they thought that it was gold.

1:51:04 Uh what it ended up being though was something called salt peter,

1:51:08 which we'll talk about in a second.

1:51:09 Uh so anyway, we're going to go inside the cave.

1:51:11 Uh it's 60° in there.

1:51:13 Today we got a heat advisory,

1:51:15 so it's actually a good day to be visiting Marramac Caverns.

1:51:22 All right.

1:51:22 Uh we just got into the cave.

1:51:24 We're going to take a tour here in a little bit.

1:51:26 Uh but first I want to explore a little

1:51:28 bit of the the history attached to this cave.

1:51:31 In the museum portion of the cave,

1:51:33 they start off by talking about the original people who were here

1:51:38 in this area and who would have been familiar with this cave.

1:51:41 uh the the Osage Indians and as I mentioned it was the Oage who guided

1:51:46 the French in this area and made them aware of this cave to begin with.

1:51:53 So here you can see some different depictions of French explorers

1:51:56 going down the river and encountering the Oage in this area.

1:52:02 Uh here you can see on this map of Missouri

1:52:05 the different uh Osage Indian trails that were were used kind

1:52:10 of like the I guess you could almost say the highways

1:52:12 of the time and then here is a map showing Renault's route.

1:52:18 So he starts off in St.

1:52:20 Genevieve right off the Mississippi River goes over land hits

1:52:24 what is now known as Big River and then hits

1:52:27 the Marramac River and goes up to what we now

1:52:30 know as Marramck Caverns but then was called Salt Peter Cave.

1:52:35 So there was no gold here in this cave but there

1:52:38 was salt peter which was used in the manufacturer of explosives.

1:52:45 So there was a lot of mining that took place here uh

1:52:48 not of gold but of salt peter uh for use in gunpowder.

1:52:54 Here on this display they talk about the the next

1:52:57 phase here at Marrammat Caverns which would be the settlement phase.

1:53:01 So there were a few men uh the first was a guy by the name

1:53:04 of Steven Sullivan who was born in 1795

1:53:08 who actually encountered Daniel Boone in St.

1:53:10 Genevie and Boon advised him to to move to this area.

1:53:13 So he and his wife uh settled here.

1:53:16 Uh they eventually linked up with another settler by the name of Peter Stanton

1:53:23 and they were kind of doing a joint venture of farming and mining in this area.

1:53:30 Well, at the mouth of Salt Peter Cave, well,

1:53:35 Peter Stanton is believed to have established a munitions plant,

1:53:40 uh, using some equipment that had been abandoned here.

1:53:44 And, uh, that went all the way to the Civil War.

1:53:47 Well, of course, when the Civil War flares up,

1:53:49 a lot of tensions flare up and uh the Union forces,

1:53:54 which were stronger in this area, even though Missouri was a slave state,

1:53:58 uh ended up taking over the operations here in Salt Peter Cave.

1:54:03 Uh and then in 1864, well, this guy right here,

1:54:09 Sterling Price, launched a raid into Missouri.

1:54:14 uh they are believed to have taken over this area and shut down the operations.

1:54:19 And it's thought that with Price on that raid was

1:54:22 Quantril's raiders which included Frank and Jesse James uh two men

1:54:27 who would believe to be you know returning here later

1:54:31 on uh which we'll talk a little bit more about later.

1:54:34 Uh but if you look here they have a few artifacts.

1:54:36 So, here you see this old rusted Colt revolver.

1:54:43 Uh, this was actually found back in the cave by Lester Dill

1:54:49 at a place called Loot Rock that we'll take a little look at later.

1:54:52 Uh, and then they also have uh this cool little bullet mold.

1:54:58 Now, while we're talking about the Civil War, take a look at this.

1:55:01 This is really, really interesting.

1:55:04 Uh this is an iron boat from the 1860s.

1:55:09 Uh this was found under a bunch of mud uh along the Marramck River,

1:55:14 not far from the caverns.

1:55:16 Uh it says here that it weighs 400 lb.

1:55:19 Uh had a top speed of 1.5 m an hour.

1:55:22 Uh it was powered by a little small steam engine and a 3-in propeller.

1:55:27 Uh so it's possible that this boat was used to transport

1:55:31 gunpowder uh from the caverns uh down to Union troops.

1:55:36 That is really interesting.

1:55:41 After the Civil War, the cave is going to go through another transition.

1:55:44 Rather than being a place that is focused on mining,

1:55:47 uh the focus is going to shift to entertainment.

1:55:50 So you would have people from St.

1:55:52 Lewis who would come out here and have gatherings in this big cave.

1:55:57 So here you can see this advertisement for a cave

1:56:00 picnic at Salt Peter Cave Saturday May 18th 1895.

1:56:05 Uh so that's really interesting.

1:56:07 Uh now Route 66 is going to open up in 1926.

1:56:12 And in 1933, well, the cave is going to make

1:56:16 a transition to what we know it as today when Lester

1:56:20 Dill purchases this property and and really begins to transform

1:56:26 it and and make it the attraction that it is today.

1:56:30 And uh we actually have the grandson of Lester Dill here with us today uh

1:56:36 to give us a little bit more insight into this era of the history of the cave.

1:56:52 My grandparents originally came down here in 1933.

1:56:56 And they actually lived in a tent right out there on the Marramac River.

1:57:00 And my grandfather would take people through the cave with a coil lantern.

1:57:05 And my grandmother and my mother would keep people

1:57:09 entertained on the outside till grandpa would come back out,

1:57:12 take another bunch through.

1:57:14 And I believe at the time they charged 17 cents to go through the cave.

1:57:18 That was 1933.

1:57:25 My grandfather was actually given credit for developing the bumper sign.

1:57:31 Uh uh they used to tie bumper signs on.

1:57:35 We have an example back here on the wall.

1:57:37 And when I started as a boy in the 50s in 1956, I was 10 years old.

1:57:43 And we originally tied the bumper signs on.

1:57:46 And then later we stuck them on.

1:57:49 And my grandfather and another man that was the manager here, Lyman Riley,

1:57:54 they actually got credit for developing the first stick on bumper sign.

1:57:58 And uh that was primarily the advertising.

1:58:02 And then my grandfather uh he was a carpenter by trade.

1:58:06 In the winter time they would close down the cave

1:58:08 because there wasn't enough business to take people through.

1:58:11 And they they would go to Florida during

1:58:14 the big boom down there, the building boom.

1:58:16 Hey and his brothers and they were in construction work.

1:58:19 And my grandfather noticed these barn signs with mail

1:58:23 pouch tobacco and drink CocaCola stuff like that.

1:58:27 So he told my grandmother, he says,

1:58:28 "I wonder if they would work for the cave." And she says, "Well,

1:58:32 why don't you try a couple?" So when he got back,

1:58:34 he knew every farmer in the country because that's what his father was.

1:58:39 And they knew all the other farmers and he went

1:58:42 around talked to the ones that was close to the cave.

1:58:44 And he offered them a deal.

1:58:46 They couldn't refuse.

1:58:47 He he'd give the man a railroad pocket watch.

1:58:50 You give the lady a box of chocolates and he would promise to take care

1:58:54 of their uh barn as long as Marramac

1:58:57 Caverns he could paint Marramac Caverns on it.

1:59:00 And if a piece of tin blew off, he'd send the man out,

1:59:03 put it back on and repaint the barn when it needed it, what have you.

1:59:07 And was a good deal for the farmers, a good deal for him.

1:59:10 And every time he added a barn, more people come to the cave.

1:59:14 And so at one time we had over 200 barn signs and a 100 billboards.

1:59:20 And of course the laws changed

1:59:22 and the beautifification acts with Lady Bird Johnson.

1:59:26 Uh they did away with a lot of that.

1:59:28 Now we're not allowed to paint the barns anymore.

1:59:31 So as they deteriorate or fall down, that's just the end of them.

1:59:35 But we have some of the very last barn signs that are out there.

1:59:41 here in the caverns.

1:59:42 They have some pictures that that kind of trace through

1:59:45 the history of the caverns uh after Lester Dill purchased the property.

1:59:50 Uh the photo that we are looking at right now is from the early 1930s.

1:59:55 And here you can see this crowd gathered in front of the cave.

1:59:59 Uh here is the first concession stand that was

2:00:04 put in front of the cave that sold refreshments.

2:00:06 Uh here I can see a little sign right

2:00:08 there in the corner that says it's cut off, but it says old gold.

2:00:12 It's for old gold cigarettes.

2:00:14 And then right here, well,

2:00:17 you notice on the left there's a sign that points you to the toilet.

2:00:21 And uh Lester was telling me that that sign

2:00:24 actually just pointed you to some trees behind the shed.

2:00:28 And that's where you would go to the bathroom.

2:00:30 Uh, and then here are uh or here is a picture from the 1940s.

2:00:36 Uh, right here is Lester Dill and his wife Mary and some other family members.

2:00:42 And uh, he talked about how Lester was the man

2:00:44 who invented the the bumper sticker or the bumper sign.

2:00:49 Well, here is one of the original bumper signs that the kids would

2:00:53 tie on to the back of the cars to advertise for Marramac Caverns.

2:00:56 There you can see it says US66 and uh they

2:01:00 were having some problems keeping the signs on the bumpers.

2:01:03 He noticed at the top of the hill that they were all falling off.

2:01:06 So he punched holes in the signs and then tied them

2:01:10 on to uh to ensure that they stayed on the car.

2:01:13 So uh people left with a little souvenir from Marramac Caverns

2:01:17 and Lester Dill had a little bit of advertising for his business.

2:01:22 Here are some more photos going through the the history of Marramac Caverns.

2:01:26 I love these old photos.

2:01:27 These are from the 1950s.

2:01:29 Uh, and here you can see where there was an expansion

2:01:33 into what what I guess would be the very first visitor center.

2:01:36 And there was a a restaurant down below,

2:01:38 but there was problems with flooding of the Marramac River.

2:01:41 So, that ended up being filled with gravel that is actually beneath us today.

2:01:46 Uh, and then here you can see where people

2:01:47 used to be able to drive into the cave, which is pretty interesting.

2:01:53 And as they drove out, of course, it's 60° year round in the cave.

2:01:58 Uh Lester would tell them to roll up their windows

2:02:00 and for 15 minutes they would have cool air inside of their car.

2:02:03 Of course, this was before air conditioning.

2:02:06 And then right here is a view of the original building from across the river.

2:02:12 Ah, this is so neat.

2:02:26 All right.

2:02:27 So, that's a little bit on the history of Marramac Caverns.

2:02:31 Uh, we're going to go ahead and jump on a private tour of the cave

2:02:35 now and uh see see what there is to to learn back in the cavern itself.

2:02:44 Now, when you first go on your tour into the cave,

2:02:48 this is the first room that you come into, and it's the the largest room.

2:02:52 This is called the Grand Ballroom.

2:02:54 Uh now during the around the turn of the the century,

2:02:57 oh locals used to come here and they would have square dances

2:03:01 and they would have parties and uh they continued that all throughout the 1900s.

2:03:07 Uh and they still have events here today.

2:03:10 So yeah, pretty cool.

2:03:15 All right, we've moved into the next room of the cave here.

2:03:19 And this room is called the gunpowder room.

2:03:23 So I talked earlier about how this was originally called Salt Peter Cave

2:03:27 and there was Salt Peter in here that they would use to make gunpowder.

2:03:32 Well, this is the the room where a lot of that took place

2:03:37 uh until operations ceased um you know midway through the the Civil War.

2:03:45 All right.

2:03:46 Now, we've moved into a place called the division room.

2:03:50 And in 1939, uh, Lester Dill discovered an opening right

2:03:56 up here that went even further back in the cave.

2:04:00 Got up there, noticed some cool air that was

2:04:02 blowing in and then kind of opened the passage

2:04:05 up a little bit more and found that this cave

2:04:07 was a lot bigger than anyone had ever known.

2:04:12 And during that time, there was I guess you could call it an underground lake

2:04:17 that the water line went right up to this spot right here.

2:04:24 Well, in 1941, uh there was a major drought here

2:04:29 in Missouri and it caused this underground lake level to actually drop.

2:04:36 And uh during that time,

2:04:38 a couple of tour guides noticed some cool air coming out

2:04:41 of another passage that is just up ahead of us here.

2:04:45 Uh they went and got Lester Dill and of course uh the same scenario.

2:04:52 Noticed some cool air coming out of this this new passage.

2:04:56 Uh went down in it and again found this cave

2:04:59 to be much larger than any of them ever knew.

2:05:02 All right, so we've just moved into the next room.

2:05:05 Now, this is the room that Lester Dill

2:05:07 and the tour guides would have discovered uh in 1941.

2:05:12 Uh now they call it Loot Rock.

2:05:14 Uh this room right here.

2:05:16 Uh because they found something here that was possibly

2:05:22 connected to Jesse James and the the James gang.

2:05:26 And I I got my buddy Carter with me showing me around today

2:05:29 uh who's going to tell us a little bit more about this story.

2:05:32 All right, guys.

2:05:32 So this is our loot rock area back here.

2:05:34 So in 1941 when those two tour guides first discovered this area,

2:05:39 they found 26 items sitting right here on top of this rock.

2:05:42 Those items were related to a train

2:05:44 robbery that happened somewhere around the 1870s.

2:05:47 Now how do we know that?

2:05:48 Well, this chest right here, this chest used to carry 1,200 gold coins.

2:05:53 Back then worth about $12,000 and in today's

2:05:56 money worth around a quarter of a million.

2:05:57 Also weighing about 76 lb of gold.

2:06:00 Very impressive.

2:06:01 That is the real chest along with two gun

2:06:03 barrels and that lantern out of those 26 items found.

2:06:06 And on the back of this chest had the Denver,

2:06:08 Missouri mining company seal which was proof that that was on a train

2:06:11 eyewitnessly robbed in front of the sheriff by these two their gang.

2:06:15 The second clue is that sheriff report in which he

2:06:17 says that he tried to stop these two gentlemen and failed.

2:06:21 So eventually he gathered his deputies together to track

2:06:24 him down this cave where they sure enough

2:06:26 hanged outside for about 3 days and three nights

2:06:28 trying to starve these two boys out of here.

2:06:30 Of course, they failed and eventually came and hear guns blazing only

2:06:33 to find these two young men gone along with that sweet treasure.

2:06:36 Where they escaped to?

2:06:37 Well, they escaped through our beautiful

2:06:39 underground river system right down that way.

2:06:43 All right, continuing our walk through the cave here.

2:06:47 Uh, now in this cave, we also have a little bit of Hollywood history.

2:06:53 So, if you look here in the distance, you see a photo of a dog.

2:07:02 Uh, well, that should be one of the most recognizable dogs in the world.

2:07:05 That is Lassie.

2:07:07 In the 1960s, there was an episode

2:07:09 of Lassie that was filmed here at Marramac Caverns.

2:07:13 Uh, side note, if you look at this little passage right here,

2:07:17 uh, that goes back another 7 miles.

2:07:20 So, we are only scratching the the surface of this cave.

2:07:25 And then if we go back over in this direction, well,

2:07:31 there was a movie that was made back in the I

2:07:36 think the 1960s uh about Tom Sawyer and there is a scene

2:07:42 in the movie where uh Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher are

2:07:48 running away from a character uh who is known as Engine Joe.

2:07:51 And right here in this spot, well,

2:07:54 they kind of run up this cliff and then uh Joe falls

2:07:58 off of the cliff and he like falls down hundreds of feet.

2:08:01 As you can see, it's probably about 15.

2:08:04 Uh but anyway, that scene was filmed uh right here in the caverns.

2:08:08 So, yeah, a little bit of Hollywood history here, too.

2:08:22 As you're making your way through the cave, uh sometimes when you look up,

2:08:25 you'll see these formations coming from the ceiling

2:08:27 that are known as soda straws.

2:08:29 Well, soda straws eventually will form into what are called stellag tites.

2:08:37 Uh so here in really this beautiful room in the cave,

2:08:42 you can see some good examples of these stellag tites.

2:08:46 Uh, of course, as the water drips down with the limestone,

2:08:51 uh, they will form what are called stellag mites.

2:08:54 And then eventually, as the two continue to form,

2:08:58 well, they will grow together into these columns.

2:09:04 So, this is really, really an impressive room here in the cave.

2:09:10 And I can only imagine what Lester Dill and some

2:09:14 of those other guys that were exploring this must

2:09:16 have thought when they were the first ones to uh

2:09:20 come up and and see this for the first time.

2:09:23 And then over here, well,

2:09:27 this is a formation that here at the cave they call Onyx Mountain.

2:09:31 Uh this is a you know continuing uh formation that is

2:09:38 as you can see has water dripping down on it

2:09:40 and continues to grow and there are all kinds of different

2:09:43 minerals that are uh leeching down and continuing to build this formation.

2:09:51 Okay, moving up now to another area that is called the wine room.

2:09:58 And there are 58 steps.

2:10:01 Trying not to fall.

2:10:02 Uh 58 steps to get up to the top.

2:10:05 And there are some reasons why it's called the wine room.

2:10:08 Uh one of the reasons might be because people whine

2:10:10 uh when they have to go up these 58 steps.

2:10:15 Okay, we made it up to the top of the steps and holy smokes, look at this place.

2:10:22 So, as I mentioned, this right here is called the wine room.

2:10:30 And there is a reason why they call it the wine room.

2:10:34 If you look, there are some very unique formations here.

2:10:37 Uh these are called batrioids.

2:10:40 And as you can see, they look like uh grape clusters.

2:10:45 Uh another reason why this room is called uh the wine

2:10:50 room in addition to these batrioids is this thing right here.

2:10:57 Uh this is the what they call the the wine table.

2:11:01 Um so this is one of two wine tables known to exist in the world.

2:11:07 The other one, ironically, is in Italy.

2:11:10 Uh, but again, very unique formation in this cave.

2:11:16 So, yeah, getting a little bit of history

2:11:17 and a little bit of geology in this video.

2:11:29 All right.

2:11:29 Well, uh, that place was really cool, both literally and figuratively.

2:11:34 And there's a whole bunch that I didn't show in there as well.

2:11:36 Uh they have like this cool patriotic light show

2:11:38 at the end on a thing called the curtain.

2:11:40 That that was really really neat.

2:11:42 Uh and there's so much more here.

2:11:44 They they have riverboat tours.

2:11:45 They have a zipline.

2:11:47 Whole bunch of things for the family.

2:11:48 So anyway, uh definitely a classic stop here along Route 66.

2:11:52 All right.

2:11:52 Uh we're going to jump back in the vehicle

2:11:55 and uh head on down to our next place.

2:12:01 All right, we are rolling through the town of Bourbon, Missouri now.

2:12:17 And when you come through Bourbon,

2:12:19 one of the landmarks along Route 66 is their water tower.

2:12:25 Uh, I guess the the joke is that when people turn on their faucets,

2:12:30 you have to wonder what is coming out.

2:12:33 But anyway, another uh pretty famous landmark here along Route 66.

2:13:02 All right.

2:13:02 Well, I uh have pedled around a little bit too much today.

2:13:06 Uh doing a few little side trips.

2:13:09 Uh and I am now in Cuba, Missouri.

2:13:12 Uh, and that's okay because Cuba is the home

2:13:15 to the longest continuously running motel on Route 66, the Wagon Wheel Motel.

2:13:24 This is a motel that started in the 1930s.

2:13:26 I think we're actually going to stay here tonight.

2:13:28 Uh, we we'll get back here in just a little bit,

2:13:31 but I want to go into town because there's some murals,

2:13:33 a museum, and and some other things that I want to check out.

2:13:39 One thing that I've really enjoyed as I've been traveling through some

2:13:43 of these small towns along Route 66 are how some of them

2:13:47 have taken to putting murals on their buildings and uh kind

2:13:52 of putting their own personal brand uh for their place on Route 66.

2:13:58 So here you can see uh one of the murals for Cuba.

2:14:02 uh they've kind of designated themselves as a mural city.

2:14:07 And there's a a mural that caught my eye

2:14:11 right over here that I thought was pretty interesting.

2:14:15 Uh it looks like some figures at a county fair.

2:14:19 And uh no, also noticed that there was a little historic

2:14:25 sign uh right here at a place called the Wallace House.

2:14:29 Well, right here in 1940, there was a man who was running for Senate in Missouri

2:14:38 on the Democratic ticket by the name of Harry S.

2:14:41 Truman.

2:14:42 And uh the sign says that he was campaigning here.

2:14:45 And there were two Democratic committeemen who were

2:14:48 his only listeners as he was speaking on the steps.

2:14:51 Noticed that people were kind of hurrying by on the street.

2:14:56 Well, it turns out they were all going to the county fair.

2:14:58 So Harry Truman ended up picking up the Coca-Cola box that he

2:15:01 was standing on and just made his way to the fair as well.

2:15:05 Uh little did all of those people know that the man boy that is a loud vehicle.

2:15:15 That is obnoxiously loud.

2:15:17 But anyway, uh little did they know that the man who was speaking

2:15:21 on the steps of the Wallace House would be president 5 years later.

2:15:24 And this mural kind of depicts that scene.

2:15:28 and also the county fair.

2:15:30 And then in real kind of faded paint over here, well,

2:15:35 you can see it says, "Vote Truman for US Senator." That's really neat.

2:15:41 Here's a mural in town that has really caught my eye.

2:15:46 And as you can see, uh, we're looking at some men in uniform in a train car.

2:15:53 The town of Cuba is right on the railroad.

2:15:56 As a matter of fact, if you look down at the end of the street there,

2:15:59 uh well, you can see where the railroad is.

2:16:03 And there was a train company called

2:16:06 the the Frisco Company that ran through here.

2:16:08 And they had a train called the the Blue

2:16:10 Bonnet that was named after the Texas State Flower.

2:16:13 It had it was pretty distinctive.

2:16:15 Uh was colored blue and white.

2:16:18 And during World War II, well, there were a lot of guys from this town who got

2:16:25 onto the Blue Bonnet to make their way to basic training.

2:16:30 And some of those guys never came home.

2:16:35 So, this wall, which I I think is just really really neat,

2:16:40 commemorates six men from this town who went off to war and never came back.

2:16:46 uh like Ralph Fishwick who was in the Navy uh was killed in Africa.

2:16:53 Uh Preston Gibson was killed in Italy.

2:16:57 I see another one who died in the Solomon Islands.

2:16:59 Another one from Italy.

2:17:00 Guam.

2:17:01 Um and then oh wow, Lawrence Grant.

2:17:05 Look at that.

2:17:07 Who died at Pearl Harbor 1941 and was on the USS Arizona.

2:17:15 Wow.

2:17:17 Well, those six men are depicted here on this mural going off to war.

2:17:28 Yeah, that is really something.

2:17:51 All right.

2:17:51 I mentioned how there was a county museum here in town

2:17:55 that I wanted to check out cuz county museums can have some really,

2:17:58 really interesting stuff if you take the time to go check them out.

2:18:01 Uh, the county museum here is in this stone building,

2:18:06 but unfortunately I took a little bit too long

2:18:10 just exploring and looking at things today and they're closed.

2:18:14 So anyway, we're we're staying in town here tonight.

2:18:16 So, uh, we're going to come back tomorrow and check

2:18:20 this place out before we get on down the road to Springfield.

2:18:22 All right.

2:18:23 Uh, I think we're going to go ahead and go back

2:18:24 to the Wagon Wheel Motel now and, uh, check out our room.

2:18:34 All right, we've made our way back over to the wagon wheel.

2:18:38 And this is a a really interesting place.

2:18:40 It started in 1935.

2:18:42 And if you'll notice, there's some gas pumps here.

2:18:45 Uh which you might be wondering, why are gas pumps at a motel?

2:18:49 Well, this was what was called a fullervice tourist court.

2:18:53 So, there was a restaurant here and there was uh the the filling station.

2:18:57 And there was also an auto garage and then the the motel in the back.

2:19:04 You may have already noticed this old Chevrolet that is here on the property.

2:19:09 Uh and this is here you can see uh where the sign

2:19:13 says standard oil products uh at the garage portion of the tourist court.

2:19:18 So, if you needed an oil change or if

2:19:20 your car broke down or something like that, well,

2:19:22 you can see down below where servicemen could

2:19:26 get down there and work on your vehicle.

2:19:30 Uh, and then over here, well,

2:19:34 you would have like the main part of the tourist court.

2:19:39 Uh, there would have been a restaurant inside there.

2:19:42 And then I just love these old gas pumps.

2:19:46 Uh, some of you watching might be old enough to remember when you would come up

2:19:51 to these old filling stations where you could

2:19:55 get regular uh unleted gasoline or get leaded gasoline.

2:20:05 Of course, that's something that you don't see anymore,

2:20:09 but man, being here really kind of takes you back.

2:20:12 Uh this this whole tourist court was started in 1935

2:20:18 and and being here you can kind of get a little

2:20:20 taste of what it must have been like for the people

2:20:24 who were traveling right along this road during that time.

2:20:28 When you come behind the office,

2:20:30 well this is where we find the lodging portion of the facility here.

2:20:35 Uh all of the facilities here were again built in the 1930s.

2:20:40 Uh built from like Ozark stone, which still is, you know, the way it is today.

2:20:46 Uh so they've done a really good job at preserving this place.

2:20:50 Uh the doors are original, the the wood floors inside are original.

2:20:54 So So it's really neat how how they've preserved the the history here.

2:20:58 And I was talking to the owner inside and we were talking about

2:21:02 European tourists who come over to the United States and travel Route 66.

2:21:07 And she said that one night uh they had

2:21:09 11 rooms that were filled with people from 10 different

2:21:12 countries here and they were all out here uh

2:21:15 by this fire pit uh one evening chatting and talking.

2:21:19 So, we have got ourselves a room uh

2:21:24 right here in the middle in room number five.

2:21:29 So, we're going to go in and check it out.

2:21:36 All right, we just got into the room

2:21:38 where we are going to be staying this evening.

2:21:41 And the the room is small,

2:21:43 which is typical for a lot of these older hotels from the, you know,

2:21:48 1930s and 40s and things like that.

2:21:50 Uh, but I I like the kind of classic throwback feel that it has.

2:21:54 So, we've got these hardwood floors.

2:21:56 And then, well, here is the rest of the the room.

2:22:03 Uh, I went ahead and went with the the queen-siz bed for this evening.

2:22:14 All right.

2:22:14 Well, uh, as far as miles go, we didn't really get too far today,

2:22:18 but but that's kind of what Route 66 is about

2:22:21 is slowing down and taking your time and and seeing things.

2:22:24 Uh, got kind of sidetracked on a on a few little side trips today.

2:22:28 Uh, but anyway, this, like I said, pretty cool room.

2:22:31 Kind of neat to to be in the the longest

2:22:34 uh continuously running hotel on Route 66.

2:22:38 Uh we're going to get a little bit of work done this evening

2:22:40 and then tomorrow go check out this museum and get back on the road.

2:23:01 All right, we are on day uh I don't know what of our trip down Route 66.

2:23:08 And uh right now I am in Cuba, Missouri.

2:23:10 If you caught the last episode of History Traveler,

2:23:13 uh you know that I had intentions of going to this county museum right here.

2:23:18 Uh but I pled around and got here a little bit too late in the day.

2:23:21 It all worked out.

2:23:22 Got to stay in a pretty cool motel last night.

2:23:25 Uh oldest running motel on Route 66

2:23:28 or oldest continuously running motel on Route 66.

2:23:30 Uh so anyway, today uh we're going to kick

2:23:33 off our trip uh looking in this county museum,

2:23:36 see what they have here, and then uh got a pretty big day of travel ahead of us.

2:23:44 Heat.

2:23:45 Heat.

2:23:46 Heat.

2:23:54 Heat.

2:23:55 Heat.

2:23:56 Heat.

2:24:05 We smile without you know

2:24:20 the museum that we are currently at this morning is the Crawford County Museum.

2:24:26 Uh before we go in, I wanted to show something

2:24:28 that I really liked that they have here in this town.

2:24:33 Uh, and that is a memorial that is set up that has the names

2:24:39 of all of the known soldiers who were

2:24:44 from this area who served in various conflicts.

2:24:46 So, here you can see all the names of soldiers who fought in World War I.

2:24:51 Uh, and then you get to World War II.

2:24:54 Uh, sometimes you'll see a star by the name,

2:24:57 so that indicates that that person was killed in action.

2:25:01 Uh, and then sometimes you'll see a dot by the name

2:25:05 which indicates that this person served in multiple conflicts.

2:25:11 Uh, so anyway, here's another killed in action here, uh, Dale Hudson.

2:25:15 And then it goes on to show the veterans who served in Korea, also in Vietnam.

2:25:27 And then if we go over to this side, uh it continues from Vietnam.

2:25:34 Uh then also includes Grenada, Panama, Persian Gulf War,

2:25:40 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

2:25:45 Yeah, that's that's really neat.

2:25:49 in future generations will be able to come here and look at the names of the men

2:25:54 and women who uh served from this area

2:25:57 in different conflicts throughout the uh 20th and 21st centuries.

2:26:05 Here in front of the museum they have kind of an interesting piece here.

2:26:12 Uh yesterday when we were at Mayor Matt Caverns,

2:26:14 I made brief mention of Sterling Price's

2:26:17 raid through Missouri in the fall of 1864.

2:26:22 Uh well, that raid brought Sterling's Confederates right through this area.

2:26:27 And there's a town that's close by that we kind of passed through called Leburg.

2:26:31 And there was a short engagement that happened right there.

2:26:35 Well, the boards that we are looking at here were part of an old

2:26:42 train station that was used as a fort by the Union troops.

2:26:45 And if you look, you'll notice that there are

2:26:50 these holes that have been bored into the wood here.

2:26:57 Well, it said that uh these these 2-in boards

2:27:01 were providing protection for the Union troops and uh these holes served

2:27:06 as like loopholes that they could shoot through.

2:27:10 Yeah.

2:27:11 So, that's pretty interesting.

2:27:12 Got a a little bit of Civil War history

2:27:15 uh right here as we are going into the museum.

2:27:18 All right, we're going to go in and see what they got.

2:27:23 All right, we just got into the museum here and uh right off the bat,

2:27:28 I'm seeing a lot of military artifacts that were

2:27:33 sourced from the the locals here in this area.

2:27:38 Uh so here obviously we have uh some photos of a veteran

2:27:45 from the first world war uh along with like a service hat.

2:27:49 Uh here we can see photo photo of veteran

2:27:54 in his later years here along with the uniform.

2:28:00 And this is kind of an interesting piece that I can't say I've ever seen before.

2:28:04 Uh got a little trench stove is what they're calling it here.

2:28:09 It's called a World War I buddy trench stove is how it is labeled.

2:28:13 And then has a little bit of literature.

2:28:15 Uh, they also have I'm seeing some World War II items here.

2:28:19 So, uh, let's see.

2:28:22 Got all kinds of different things.

2:28:25 Um, here's some of the medals of a Raymond Maxfield,

2:28:32 three bronze stars, purple heart.

2:28:37 Wow.

2:28:37 Looks like he was in the 82nd Airborne Division.

2:28:41 And uh you can see that he also has

2:28:46 a little bit of souvenir items that he brought back.

2:28:49 See that Luftwaffa badge there.

2:28:52 Uh here's the uniform of a guy.

2:28:56 I don't want to touch anything and move it.

2:28:58 Oh, he's in the 10th Armored Division.

2:29:00 Okay, so these guys were in the siege of Baston.

2:29:04 Uh let me read that.

2:29:07 Oh, okay.

2:29:07 Yeah, looks like this guy was taken prisoner uh during the Battle of the Bulge,

2:29:12 but here's his uniform.

2:29:16 Interesting.

2:29:16 His name was Howard Henry.

2:29:19 And then here's the uh uniform of a veteran who served in Korea.

2:29:28 Was it Chipyong Ni, Wanju, Bloody Ridge, and Heartbreak Ridge?

2:29:32 Uh so this individual was in the second infantry division.

2:29:36 Yeah, interesting.

2:29:40 Here are a few more World War I pieces

2:29:42 in here along with some of the photos of the veterans.

2:29:47 Uh, so this one was worn by a guy named Archie Raph.

2:29:51 Here's the photo of a guy named Claude Ferris.

2:29:55 Uh, and then, you know, they have just a few little odds and ends down here,

2:30:00 like a helmet, mess kit, uh,

2:30:02 looks like a maybe a sewing kit and things like that.

2:30:06 And then they also have another uniform for a guy by the name of John Reese.

2:30:13 Um who was in the third infantry division.

2:30:16 Looks like I'm kind of just trying to read the card here.

2:30:19 Uh he was in the Amar offensive and Musar gone offensive.

2:30:24 All right.

2:30:26 Yeah.

2:30:26 Um and then they also have some items from some guys who served in Vietnam.

2:30:35 What I'm really really liking is that along with the artifacts,

2:30:42 uh, well, they are also,

2:30:45 you know, telling to the best of their ability the the story of these guys.

2:30:49 So, here you're not just looking at a Vietnam era uniform.

2:30:54 This belonged to a guy named Joe Hughes.

2:30:56 Uh, graduated from high school here in town in 1964.

2:30:59 Uh, went into the Marine Corps in 1966.

2:31:03 Uh then it talks about, you know, his time in South Vietnam.

2:31:06 Yeah.

2:31:08 Yeah.

2:31:08 This is this is really a neat museum.

2:31:12 All right.

2:31:13 We'll show uh a few more things in here.

2:31:16 Uh what we are looking at right now are some items connected

2:31:20 with a marine by the name of Fritz Strothamp who was from this town.

2:31:25 Uh as you can see, you see

2:31:27 his division patch there for the second marine division.

2:31:31 And then there is a photo of him.

2:31:33 And you can see that Fritz was awarded the Silver Star.

2:31:37 Well, the Second Marine Division fought in the Battle of Saipan.

2:31:40 We actually did a a video series there.

2:31:43 And they also have his citation.

2:31:45 So, we have a little bit more of his history.

2:31:48 And it says, I I'll just kind of paraphrase it.

2:31:50 On uh the 8th of July 1944,

2:31:54 uh there was a Japanese counterattack below Cabera Pass and uh Private Stroth

2:32:05 Camp was manning a machine gun

2:32:08 and held off um against this Japanese counterattack.

2:32:13 So maybe was a bonsai charge possibly.

2:32:16 I'll have to go do a little research and and take a closer look at that.

2:32:20 Uh, and then they also, this is kind of neat,

2:32:23 have this uniform right here, uh, for a guy named Cecil Markley.

2:32:30 And, uh, there there's a story that the gentleman here was

2:32:33 telling me that Cecil Markley served as a driver for George Patton.

2:32:39 Yeah.

2:32:39 All kinds of cool stuff in here.

2:32:43 All right.

2:32:43 I just completely passed by this earlier.

2:32:46 Uh this isn't local history,

2:32:49 but it's was in possession of somebody here locally.

2:32:53 Uh this is a piece of bark.

2:32:56 Uh you can see and uh it says on the uh little tag here

2:33:02 says this is a piece of bark

2:33:03 from the historic elm tree at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

2:33:06 Standing in the shade of this elm tree,

2:33:08 George Washington accepted the command of the Continental Army in 1776.

2:33:15 H interesting.

2:33:17 Okay, moving into this next room.

2:33:20 Uh there's just kind of a wide variety

2:33:23 of artifacts and and things like that that they have.

2:33:25 Uh I'm seeing a lot of like women's fashion from different eras.

2:33:32 Uh now, this area was originally occupied by the Oage Indians.

2:33:39 So they have a section in here that kind

2:33:42 of hearkens back to the history of the Oage.

2:33:47 You can see some of the stuff that they have here.

2:33:52 Uh they also have, you know, several tomahawk heads and spear points and arrow

2:34:00 heads that I am assuming were sourced locally.

2:34:06 Um, yeah.

2:34:09 So, that's always interesting.

2:34:11 And then, uh, let's just take a quick peek over here.

2:34:15 Um, again, we have some more women's fashion.

2:34:20 And is that a picture?

2:34:23 Huh?

2:34:25 Got a picture of a couple kids, but I don't know what the connection is.

2:34:30 I wonder if the little girl wearing that dress is

2:34:34 the is this dress right here that we see in the picture.

2:34:40 If so, that's pretty cool.

2:34:41 Uh but anyway, looks like we have a uh

2:34:45 little setup for a one room schoolhouse in here.

2:34:50 Hey, now this is pretty interesting.

2:34:52 Uh here's what looks to be a copy

2:34:54 of a teacher contract from uh it says 1932 and 1934.

2:35:01 This is for a Sam Bis.

2:35:04 Uh here's the the contract from 1934.

2:35:08 Uh doesn't say what he's teaching, at least that I can see on a quick scan.

2:35:14 Uh but in 1934, if you would have been

2:35:17 a teacher at the Cuba Consolidated School District number one,

2:35:21 you'd have been making $100 a month.

2:35:36 All right.

2:35:37 Well, uh that was legitimately cool and I

2:35:39 could have spent a lot more time in there.

2:35:42 Uh but unfortunately we're kind of on a bit of a time

2:35:44 crunch today and I got to get on down the road.

2:35:47 Uh there there's a saying that all history is local.

2:35:50 So I mean wherever you are, don't pass up these, you know,

2:35:54 county museums and little private museums cuz uh

2:35:58 when when you learn about history on a small

2:36:00 scale like what they have here teaches you more about history on a broad scale.

2:36:04 That that was really really interesting.

2:36:06 All right.

2:36:06 Uh we are going to get on down the road and start

2:36:09 making our way to Springfield with a few other stops along the way.

2:36:27 All right, we had to take a quick stop to see the Route 66 rocker.

2:36:34 the the world famous, as it says up there, Route 66 rocker.

2:36:38 Uh, at one point this was the I I think the world's largest rocking chair,

2:36:43 which I think is just completely great that somebody

2:36:46 was sitting around one day and was like,

2:36:48 you know what, the world needs a giant rocking chair and I'm going to build it.

2:36:52 Uh, now to my understanding, this is the second largest rocking chair because

2:36:58 somebody else came along and said, "Oh, no.

2:37:00 I'm going to build one that is even bigger.

2:37:03 Uh but anyway, there you go.

2:37:05 Kind of an iconic thing now along Route 66

2:37:10 uh right here at the Fanning Outpost General Store.

2:37:15 And I actually skipped a breakfast this morning.

2:37:17 So, it's quite convenient that we're here.

2:37:18 I'm going to go in get a quick bite and something

2:37:21 to drink and then we are going to get back on the road.

2:37:33 We've made our way down the road a little ways and you may

2:37:36 have noticed that we just went from a two-lane road to a four-lane road.

2:37:41 This is a stretch of old 66 that is known as Hooker Cut.

2:37:46 And after the road was constructed,

2:37:48 this was found to be kind of a dangerous portion of Old 66.

2:37:54 So, they ended up expanding this into a four-lane

2:37:58 road to make it a little bit safer.

2:38:00 This actually follows the old Trail of Tears

2:38:02 that the Cherokee followed as they made

2:38:04 their way from the east to Oklahoma uh as a result of the Indian Removal Act.

2:38:09 Got another landmark up ahead that is known

2:38:12 as uh the Devil's Elbow and also Devil's Elbow Bridge.

2:38:20 All right.

2:38:47 I've been seeing signs for like the past, I don't know,

2:38:50 80 miles uh for this place along Route 66 called Redmond's.

2:38:54 Uh we're needing to fuel up anyway.

2:38:56 I guess there's like a big candy factory in here.

2:38:59 Uh so anyway, we're going to go in and see what they got.

2:39:05 Holy smokes.

2:39:07 Uh well, this is uh what I'm calling job security for the dentist industry.

2:39:17 Good grief.

2:39:18 As long as this place exists, uh there are always going to be cavities.

2:39:23 Uh there are all kinds of varieties of candy and sweets and everything in here.

2:39:30 And there are a ton of people in here, too.

2:39:36 Back here on the other side of this glass, uh,

2:39:38 this looks like the place where they make their own

2:39:41 fudge and taffy and chocolatecovered pretzels and all kinds of stuff.

2:39:49 And yeah, again, here's just more of this uh

2:39:56 variety of sweets that they have here.

2:40:01 Good heavens.

2:40:04 Yeah, this is all taffy that we're looking at.

2:40:06 Peanut butter and jelly.

2:40:07 Hm.

2:40:08 Interesting.

2:40:08 Oh, now look at this.

2:40:11 Candy corn is nasty by itself.

2:40:15 Uh, who would want to take that awful taste and put it into taffy form.

2:40:22 Not trying to be too judgmental here,

2:40:25 but this this looks like a a choking hazard.

2:40:30 Uh, a candy that is shaped like a Lego doesn't seem like such a good idea.

2:40:37 All right.

2:40:38 In addition to all of the candy, uh,

2:40:40 they have about every kind of soda in here that you can possibly imagine.

2:40:46 I'm not really a soda drinker.

2:40:48 Uh, I'll have a root beer float every once in a while,

2:40:50 but I don't really drink a whole lot of soda.

2:40:53 But man, they have got all kinds of stuff here.

2:40:58 Some of it that's quite weird.

2:41:00 Um, so alien snot, dog drool, kitty pit, what the heck is that?

2:41:10 Um, oh my gosh, and a pickle flavored soda,

2:41:17 buffalo wings soda, peanut butter and jelly soda.

2:41:21 What in the heck is even going on here?

2:41:24 Good grief.

2:41:27 All right, I think I'm going to uh just bypass all of the weird flavors.

2:41:32 And uh even though I don't really drink a whole lot of soda,

2:41:35 I think I'm going to get one of these Route 66 orange sodas for the road here.

2:41:43 All right.

2:41:43 Uh so ended up getting the orange soda and uh a little bit of fudge.

2:41:47 Got some peanut butter fudge and then some regular

2:41:50 uh chocolate fudge that I'll try out later tonight.

2:41:52 I'm going have to be careful.

2:41:53 I'm going to be gaining like 50 lbs on this trip.

2:41:56 But anyway, it's more for the the experience of it.

2:41:59 There were two guys in there who were

2:42:00 like super excited picking out the weird sodas.

2:42:02 It was hilarious.

2:42:04 There's a big antique mall uh right by this place,

2:42:06 but unfortunately I don't have enough time to go to it.

2:42:09 Uh so we're going to get on down to Springfield

2:42:10 and try and get to this next museum before they close.

2:42:42 All right, we are currently making our way through Springfield,

2:42:47 Missouri, which uh supposedly is the home of Route 66.

2:42:52 A lot of stuff to see here.

2:42:54 Uh unfortunately, we can't see it all.

2:42:56 Uh just got one place we're going to be able to visit here today.

2:43:11 All right, we have made our way down to Springfield, Missouri.

2:43:30 And when you're traveling Route 66, uh to me,

2:43:33 you're doing the ultimate summer road trip.

2:43:37 So, if you're doing the ultimate summer road trip,

2:43:39 it only seems appropriate that you take a little bit of time to talk about cars.

2:43:44 So, right now we are at the Route 66 car museum.

2:43:48 I I've never been here before,

2:43:50 so we're going to check it out and kind of explore things together.

2:43:53 I do want to give a disclaimer right up front, though.

2:43:55 Uh, when it comes to cars, I'm kind of an idiot.

2:44:00 Uh, it's like an area that I don't know much about, which is why I'm here.

2:44:04 I want to to learn more.

2:44:05 So, as we're going through here, if I sound like an imbecile, it's because I am.

2:44:09 But, uh, we're going to go in here and see what we can learn.

2:44:19 All right.

2:44:20 Well, we just walked into the museum here, and I may not know a lot about cars,

2:44:27 but I do know a little bit of something about Batman.

2:44:30 Uh, so right off the bat,

2:44:32 you you walk in and here is a model of the original Batmobile

2:44:38 from the Batman TV series that starred uh Adam West and Bert Ward.

2:44:43 So, yeah, that is really an eyecatcher right off the bat.

2:44:49 Okay, so uh I I knew that there were going to be a lot of cool cars in here.

2:44:53 Uh I did not know just how many there would be.

2:44:58 So, I I said that I'm a little bit ignorant when it comes to classic cars.

2:45:02 Uh I am definitely way in over my head here.

2:45:05 Uh this is the collection of a man by the name of Guy Mace.

2:45:09 Uh so, he is going to kind of hop in and out here and help

2:45:13 us to to learn a little bit more about some of these classic cars.

2:45:19 Good afternoon.

2:45:19 I'm Guy Mace.

2:45:21 Uh I'm the proud owner of this car museum.

2:45:26 I um started collecting cars to to build a collection about 1990.

2:45:32 In fact, this car here.

2:45:35 Uh the 1954 Jaguar, uh that's the first collector car I bought.

2:45:41 And I started building my collection from there.

2:45:44 I'd buy any footwear from one to four cars a year.

2:45:50 Uh virtually all of them I bought at auction.

2:45:53 Uh, I don't buy cars to redo them.

2:45:55 I buy cars that are already finished, done,

2:45:59 because today it doesn't pay anymore to buy

2:46:01 an old car and recondition it, refreshen it.

2:46:05 The guys that do that do it simply for the love of doing it, for enjoy doing it.

2:46:10 But I I buy my cars already done,

2:46:14 let somebody spend the money to get them fixed up, and I enjoy the cars.

2:46:18 But that's the first one I bought.

2:46:19 Um, I collect sports cars and classic cars.

2:46:26 I don't do hot rods or muscle cars.

2:46:29 So, that's my collection of about 75 cars, plus or minus.

2:46:35 And I'm one of the unusual collectors that I

2:46:39 drive most of the cars in the collection.

2:46:42 Uh, other fellas will buy their cars and put

2:46:46 them in the collection and never drive them.

2:46:48 I enjoy driving the car.

2:46:49 So, you'll see me out in Springfield, Missouri,

2:46:52 driving a different car every week, and that's what I enjoy doing.

2:46:57 I have two mechanics that keep the cars

2:46:59 running because obviously you drive a car,

2:47:02 an old car that's 75 or 100 years old,

2:47:05 you're going to have trouble with it once in a while.

2:47:07 And uh that's what they do.

2:47:08 I bring a car in that needs a little bit of work.

2:47:11 So, that's that's what I do.

2:47:13 And that's that's how I got the museum started.

2:47:16 Um, I just enjoy doing it.

2:47:19 Keeps me out of trouble and off the streets.

2:47:23 Man, I'll tell you what, even for someone like myself who probably doesn't have

2:47:29 the knowledge or appreciation that others might have for these cars.

2:47:34 Th This is a really,

2:47:35 really cool learning experience and and I love just looking at all

2:47:39 the different body styles and thinking about

2:47:41 the people who might have driven them.

2:47:43 Now, when we walked in, we were greeted with the Batmobile.

2:47:46 That's something that I can connect with.

2:47:48 Here's something else that I can connect with.

2:47:50 Uh, this is a 1983 Delorean,

2:47:55 and everyone who is watching this is thinking the same thing right now.

2:48:00 Uh, you're thinking back to the future.

2:48:03 Uh, so there were very few of these cars that were made.

2:48:07 Uh here on the sign it says there

2:48:08 were 8,580 that were produced in the original run.

2:48:14 And you can see one thing that set them apart

2:48:17 was these doors that that had a hinge on the roof.

2:48:22 And I'm going to take a quick look here just to double

2:48:25 check and make sure there's not a flux capacitor in there.

2:48:28 There is not.

2:48:30 But yeah, there you go.

2:48:32 There's a Delorean.

2:48:36 Every car has a story, and I'll tell you a story about this car.

2:48:41 Uh, this is a 1950 Jaguar Mark Five.

2:48:45 One of the most one of the nicest cars I have in the collection.

2:48:49 I bought this at a car auction in Branson, Missouri,

2:48:53 about 50 mi south of here, and had it trailered home, which by the way,

2:48:58 when you buy a car at auction,

2:49:00 you never drive it home because it's in an auction for a reason,

2:49:04 but that's another story.

2:49:06 Anyway, took this car home back to Springfield.

2:49:11 My wife followed me because I when the first time I take a car out,

2:49:15 I like to be accompanied by somebody cuz you never know.

2:49:19 Filled it with gas, drove it back on one of our main uh streets here in town.

2:49:27 Busy afternoon.

2:49:30 I got involved in a sixc car rear end collision.

2:49:36 My wife was in the first car, which was a Jaguar sedan.

2:49:41 This was a second car.

2:49:42 And the young man, the sixth car,

2:49:45 was in a pickup truck with his girlfriend with his iPhone.

2:49:53 He got obviously wasn't paying attention.

2:49:58 Going about 40 50 mph, rear enclosure, damaged damaged all six cars.

2:50:03 This car was crashed in the front and the back and I had

2:50:09 to have it essentially completely redone at no small cost by the way.

2:50:16 I don't think the insurance company likes them very much anymore.

2:50:20 But anyway, interesting little story.

2:50:23 Now, there are a lot of old cars in this museum,

2:50:28 but if you want to know what the oldest cars are,

2:50:33 well, you have to come back to this corner right here.

2:50:37 So, this red one that we are looking at is a 1907 ARO Model G.

2:50:44 Uh, it has a 1 cylinder engine.

2:50:46 So, I don't know what the top speed would be on that.

2:50:49 I'm guessing that you would not consider it an Ario Speed Wagon.

2:50:53 It's probably a little bit more of a putt putt.

2:50:57 Uh this car and this one right next to it, this is a 1910 Maxwell Model G.

2:51:03 And and you can see how, you know, they're kind of in the transition

2:51:07 between horse and buggy and motorized vehicles.

2:51:10 They still kind of have that buggy look to them.

2:51:12 Uh these vehicles were or are referred to as brass era vehicles

2:51:19 because of all of the brass that was used on the cars.

2:51:23 Uh as a matter of fact, if you go over here, well,

2:51:27 you can see it's got like a little little brass horn in here.

2:51:32 Yeah, that thing is cool.

2:51:57 This is a uh 1949 Diamond Tuck.

2:52:04 These were heavyduty trucks used in the 40s and 50s and they were beat to death.

2:52:12 You you'd drive them till the wheels fell off.

2:52:15 I wanted one of these for years and couldn't find one.

2:52:18 And I went to the Barrett Jackson auction in Scotsville,

2:52:22 Arizona, probably been 8 10 years ago.

2:52:26 I'd be darn if they didn't have three of them for sale.

2:52:28 I had never even seen one, let alone three.

2:52:31 I bought this truck, brought it back to Springfield,

2:52:35 Missouri, looked at the title, and be lo and behold,

2:52:40 the guy that had the truck was from Little Rock,

2:52:44 Arkansas, about 150 mi south of Springfield.

2:52:49 This this truck went all the way out west to Scottdale, Arizona.

2:52:52 And I bought it, came all the way back.

2:52:55 This truck was a very, very nice truck.

2:52:58 Terrible.

2:52:59 Terrible to drive.

2:53:01 It has no synchronous gears, has nothing uh automatic in it whatsoever.

2:53:07 It is a bear to drive, but I got my Diamond Tuck, so that's it.

2:53:13 And an Ozark's original at that.

2:53:15 And Ozark's original.

2:53:16 Yeah.

2:53:29 Moving on from the 1949 Diamond Tuck, uh,

2:53:33 we get to a couple of vehicles that Guy was just showing me

2:53:36 that I think really get into to to me the the spirit of Route 66.

2:53:43 This is a 1948 Chrysler Woody.

2:53:47 And as you can see, it gets the name from the wood paneling on the doors,

2:53:55 which begs the question, when are we going to get back

2:53:58 to integrating wood or wood paneling into our vehicles?

2:54:02 Because I think that is cool as heck.

2:54:05 Now, to me, this kind of shows or represents a a shift in the United States.

2:54:12 It's the post-war era in 1949.

2:54:15 Uh the economy is booming and and take a look at what is on this vehicle.

2:54:22 Well, there's a luggage rack up here.

2:54:24 So, this is a a car for families or for friends who are traveling.

2:54:30 Uh people maybe are starting to have

2:54:32 a little bit more disposable income and the car

2:54:35 industry is kind of fitting into a little bit of a niche or or filling a need.

2:54:45 This car is cool as heck to me.

2:54:47 Okay, now speaking of old 66, here's another one that kind of has a little

2:54:53 bit of a connection to the mother road.

2:54:57 Uh, this is a 1948 Hudson Commodore.

2:55:02 Now, if you've seen the movie Cars, well,

2:55:04 there's a character in the movie Cars, uh, that is name is Doc Hudson.

2:55:11 Uh, now he he's not a Hudson Commodore.

2:55:14 Uh, he is a Hudson Hornet.

2:55:17 Uh, but that car was voiced by Paul Newman.

2:55:20 And they have one right here.

2:55:23 Man, that is cool as heck.

2:55:27 This is a 1929 Ford Model A.

2:55:32 The thing that's interesting about this car is that it is all original.

2:55:37 The the big deal about Model T's and Model A's is

2:55:42 the people that collect them today want to completely tear them down,

2:55:48 rebuild them, and paint them.

2:55:51 So, they're not strictly original.

2:55:54 This is an all original car and you you take it to a to a car show.

2:56:03 It's very popular because the typical uh person going

2:56:09 to car show has never seen an old car like this.

2:56:12 They always see the ones that have been rebuilt and redone.

2:56:16 So, this is an interesting car.

2:56:17 Right here next to it is also a Ford Model T that's called the Hack.

2:56:28 This car uh was modified in the 1920s and had this body put on it.

2:56:36 The Hack is the definition of a vehicle that would

2:56:40 haul people from the train station to the hotel.

2:56:44 And this is what this car was for is people would get off the train,

2:56:49 let put their luggage in here and be driven to the hotel.

2:56:53 So this is called the Ford Hack.

2:56:57 Something that I at least want to make mention

2:57:00 of is that as you were going through this museum,

2:57:03 it's not only vehicles that you were looking at, but also old gas pumps.

2:57:09 And uh here's a thing for motor oil.

2:57:12 Here's an old I I guess you would call it like a map vending machine of sorts,

2:57:18 which would be, you know, maybe something that you would have seen on Route 66.

2:57:23 Uh here's something for spark plug service.

2:57:27 Uh if if we go over here,

2:57:30 let me walk back over here at the Fords that we just looked at.

2:57:34 Again, this Ford Model A is just so cool to me.

2:57:39 Route 66 goes into service in 1926.

2:57:42 Here's a 1929 Ford Model A.

2:57:45 So, you can imagine this going down the road.

2:57:47 Uh, but here's another old gas pump here from the standard oil company.

2:57:53 And as I was looking at this Ford Model T hack,

2:58:01 well, I noticed something that they have in here.

2:58:05 Uh, you see there's a prosthetic arm that is hanging there,

2:58:13 which I thought was kind of an interesting addition.

2:58:17 So, I'm kind of curious about why that might be placed there.

2:58:22 Uh, this is a 19 255 model vehicle.

2:58:27 So maybe it's to represent, you know,

2:58:30 like a a World War I veteran who has been wounded and has

2:58:34 lost a limb in combat coming back and getting one of these.

2:58:38 And then perhaps this is the rig that he would have to drive this vehicle.

2:58:45 When I was building my collection, I learned something very interesting.

2:58:50 Uh the typical vacationer tourist and just

2:58:58 normal people who really don't know cars

2:59:02 uh wouldn't walk across the street for a from for a high-end classic car.

2:59:09 But for the Ghostbusters, for the Batmobile,

2:59:14 you'd run two blocks to catch up with it

2:59:16 so you could look at it and take a picture.

2:59:19 And me being a coral engineer,

2:59:24 I decided very quickly that for this museum to be a success,

2:59:29 I'd better get some collector, better get some movie cars.

2:59:33 So, this is a Ghostbusters car.

2:59:35 Uh, this is the last latest Ghostbusters movie made

2:59:39 with the ladies uh that you can see here.

2:59:43 Um, this is one of five that are identical to the movie

2:59:48 car and they were put in for for advertising purposes.

2:59:54 Put in the five major metropolitan areas of the country.

2:59:58 This car was in Boston actually, but it's identical to the movie car.

3:00:05 All right, got another cool one with a very

3:00:08 larger than-l life historic figure attached to it.

3:00:11 This is a 1939 Packard.

3:00:15 And uh the particular model is a Packard Safari.

3:00:19 So you can see where it has like this extended cab, I guess you would say.

3:00:26 That's what I'm calling it anyway.

3:00:27 And here you can see where it says Howard's Safari Service, Nairobi, Kenya.

3:00:32 And it's got a tiger and an elephant on there just for show.

3:00:37 So, so this Packard Safari is cool in and of itself,

3:00:42 but this was the exact vehicle that was used

3:00:47 by Winston Churchill when he went on safari in Africa.

3:00:51 Uh he went with the prime minister of Canada

3:00:54 on a hunt and they used this vehicle.

3:00:57 And if you take a little closer look, well,

3:01:00 you can see little Canadian flag sticker up there.

3:01:06 Oh my gosh, this museum is just awesome.

3:01:12 One of the main one of the main questions people ask,

3:01:15 well, what's the most expensive car in the collection?

3:01:18 It's the 1936 Porsche that you're looking at.

3:01:23 H O R C H, not Porsche, a Porsche.

3:01:29 The story of this is that August Porsche was chairman

3:01:33 of the board of Auto Union in the early 1920s

3:01:38 and he had a running battle with with the uh board

3:01:43 and left the left the company which was called Auto Union.

3:01:51 Left the company and started his own car car company.

3:01:54 And you'll notice on the front of this car are the four rings of Audi.

3:01:59 Audi is still built today by Auto Union,

3:02:04 but he went out and started building high-end cars.

3:02:08 And you're looking at one of them here.

3:02:10 This is one of about 50 cars that was sold to the German

3:02:16 government in the mid to late 1930s for the General Officer Corp.

3:02:24 So, if you see an old authentic German movie,

3:02:28 it's quite possible you'll see a general officer

3:02:31 driving in one of these with his driver.

3:02:36 One little addition with this Porsche that again,

3:02:41 we're just kind of speculating here,

3:02:43 but again, this is a 1936 model and this is a German vehicle.

3:02:49 So, if you see this little antenna looking thing right here,

3:02:53 well, that's not an antenna.

3:02:56 Uh, you can see it's got a couple hooks on there.

3:02:58 Probably used to attach a flag.

3:03:02 And in 1936, this is going to be in the Third Reich era.

3:03:06 So, probably looking at a place where a Nazi

3:03:10 flag would have been attached to this car.

3:03:27 Holy smokes.

3:03:28 Uh, that was legitimately awesome.

3:03:31 If you were traveling Route 66, this is a must stop because I didn't even

3:03:35 show a fraction of what they have in there.

3:03:37 Again, I'm not really a car guy, but I I learned a lot in there,

3:03:40 but there were also things that I could connect to, uh,

3:03:43 you know, that I was familiar with.

3:03:45 That That was really, really good.

3:03:48 All right, we're going to jump back on Route 66.

3:03:51 Now, I'm trying to make it to Carthage this evening.

3:03:53 I got another historic motel that we are going to be staying at tonight,

3:03:57 and I have not had a legitimate meal all day,

3:03:59 so I think I'm going to try and find something to eat.

3:04:02 Uh, I had a little bit of the fudge that I bought earlier

3:04:04 and a little bit of the snack that I got this morning at breakfast.

3:04:06 But anyway, back on the road.

3:04:58 All All right.

3:04:58 Well, we just rolled into Carthage, Missouri.

3:05:02 And Carthage, Missouri sets at kind of a crossroads.

3:05:05 Along an east west axis, of course, you have Route 66.

3:05:08 And along a north south axis, you have the Jefferson Highway that goes,

3:05:13 I think, from Canada down to New Orleans.

3:05:16 And right here at this crossroads is

3:05:19 this very historic motel called the Boots Court Motel.

3:05:24 And and I am so pumped to be staying here tonight.

3:05:27 Uh, this was built in 1939.

3:05:29 You can see it has a pretty unique design.

3:05:32 Has a bunch of the old neon that is incorporated into it.

3:05:35 Um, and yeah, we're going to check this place

3:05:38 out and see where we're going to be staying tonight.

3:05:41 So, before we go in and check out the room,

3:05:44 here's a little history on the Boots Court Motel.

3:05:47 Uh, so you you notice the design is a little bit different.

3:05:52 So, this was designed by a guy named uh Arthur Boots.

3:05:57 Uh he designed it in what was called the streamline modern style.

3:06:02 And when this was built in 1939, well,

3:06:07 they charged a pretty high price to stay here every night

3:06:11 in order to to kind of keep the riff raff out and discourage,

3:06:14 you know, some uh unsavory characters from, you know, coming to the motel.

3:06:19 Uh the the charge was $2.50 a night, which was really expensive.

3:06:26 Now, here's what is really really cool about this to me is that there's

3:06:33 this little area where you pull in your vehicle and then there on the left,

3:06:38 uh you can see where the rooms are.

3:06:40 So, I'm all the way down at the end on the left.

3:06:44 Uh I've already parked my vehicle there.

3:06:46 Uh checked in, talked to the owner.

3:06:48 a very very enthusiastic guy about Route 66 and and had some good information.

3:06:55 Uh this structure fell into disrepair and in uh

3:07:00 in later years like really within the past few years uh

3:07:05 a foundation was established and they ended up uh kind

3:07:10 of restoring the structure and now it's open to the public.

3:07:17 All right.

3:07:18 So, that's where I'm at.

3:07:20 Room number eight.

3:07:21 We're going to go ahead and go take a look.

3:07:24 One quick thing that I just remembered that I wanted to show

3:07:27 before we go in and take a look at the room.

3:07:29 Uh, as you pull into the motor court here,

3:07:33 uh, you see this sign welcoming you to Carthage.

3:07:36 And, uh, here kind of hiding behind the sign,

3:07:40 uh, well, there's this old sheriff's car.

3:07:43 So, yeah, it's kind of a cool little touch.

3:07:46 All right, let's go and take a look at this place.

3:07:53 All right, so here we go.

3:07:54 Uh we are in room number eight.

3:07:57 Uh and we'll go ahead and get our key in here.

3:07:59 So you're going to be looking at this room at the exact same time that I am.

3:08:16 Hey, this is cool.

3:08:21 Oh, I love it.

3:08:22 Oh, now check this out.

3:08:24 Okay, one of the things that was kind of a big deal at the Boots

3:08:29 Court Motel that they advertised was that there was a radio in every room.

3:08:36 So, I'd already booked this ahead of time.

3:08:39 So, they had this radio on and playing by the time that I got in.

3:08:45 That is awesome.

3:08:49 And it smells really nice in here.

3:08:51 Very clean.

3:08:52 Um, take a look at a few other things they have here.

3:08:56 There's the 66 drive-in theater here in Carthage.

3:09:00 Uh, so that's another big landmark here in the area.

3:09:07 This is uh this is really cool.

3:09:12 and take a look at the bathroom here.

3:09:16 Yeah, I I love kick on a light here.

3:09:20 Well, maybe.

3:09:23 Oh, there's a light.

3:09:27 I I just love the the classic feel and and vibe that that this has.

3:09:38 All right.

3:09:39 Well, there you go.

3:09:39 Uh, another day here on the road traveling the whole length of Route 66.

3:09:45 I'm going to go ahead and unload the car

3:09:48 and get my stuff in here and get settled.

3:09:50 Uh, I'm going to wait for it to get dark because I

3:09:53 I cannot wait to see this place lit up in neon at nighttime.

3:09:57 But tomorrow we will be back

3:10:00 on the road and heading through Kansas and Oklahoma.

3:10:27 For the past few days, we have been traveling down Route 66.

3:10:32 We started in Chicago and we are making

3:10:35 our way across America all the way to Santa Monica,

3:10:39 California on the mother road.

3:10:42 And if you remember back to the the very first episode,

3:10:44 I established three rules for ourselves as we are making this trip.

3:10:48 One is that we have to stay on route 66.

3:10:50 Uh second rule is that any we have

3:10:54 to eat at you know local diners and local restaurants.

3:10:56 So no fast food, no chain restaurants.

3:10:59 and also where we can uh we are going to stay

3:11:02 in historic uh hotels and motel and things like that.

3:11:06 So last night uh we were here in Carthage,

3:11:08 Missouri and stayed at the historic Boots Court Motel which

3:11:13 is one of the oldest operating motel here on the route.

3:11:16 Absolutely amazing experience.

3:11:18 Seeing this place lit up with neon at night was was really really cool.

3:11:21 Uh, and the the guy who runs the establishment told me about a local

3:11:27 I don't know if you would call it an attraction or an oddity

3:11:29 or a ghost town or or what you would classify it as, but it's

3:11:33 a place that we're going to go check out now called Red Oak Yeah.

3:12:09 We have moved just outside of the town of Carthage.

3:12:13 And if you're like me,

3:12:16 you might find yourself being kind of a nostalgic person if

3:12:20 given a choice between the the new stuff and the old stuff.

3:12:24 Well, I always find myself giving preference to the old stuff.

3:12:28 Uh well, there's this guy by the name of LOL Davis

3:12:34 who grew up in a town north of here called Red Oak.

3:12:37 He'd grown up there during the uh Second World