09JT Day 1 Holcomb KS In Cold Blood

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This is my 2009 June Trip. A 6 day trip it starts on Tuesday June 23nd and ends on Sunday afternoon June 28th. The elaborate name comes from whatever my GPS file containing the routes is called. When I started the file I didn't know where I was going so the date became the file name. You can double click on any of these pictures and they should enlarge for you.

This was originally going to be a trip to ride Route 66, but the weather is sooooooooo hot. I decided two days before I was to leave that I was going to head for a cooler climate. That would be north. I decided to go NW, now to decide where NW. I didn’t have a lot of time to do my route planning and verify waypoints that I already had plotted. I have a habit of creating a waypoint if I find something interesting to see, even if I am not heading in that direction anytime soon. It was these stray waypoints that were the base for my route. I had Holcomb KS the town where the Clutters were murdered, Truman Capote wrote a book about it “In Cold Blood”. Some internet searching and I soon found the location of their graves, house and the plaque that was due to be part of a memorial dedicated in September. While out riding I would collect ABC’s of Touring points as I ran across them. I didn’t have any plotted except for Ziebach County in SD. There are only 3 Z counties in the US the other 2 are in lower TX. I decided to head to Denver and see my cousins Jackie and Kay. I didn’t make it out there last year but the year before I stayed for a long weekend and had a great time.

Day 1 Tuesday
I was out of KC by 6am. The destination today is Denver. Staying the night with my cousins, I have a calendar I bought for them that I need to take out there.

I was not going to take I-70 to CO. I have ridden it too many times and it is boring. I thought about heading down to US 56 and coming up through NM into CO, that is a usual route home from Denver. It’s a lot longer but I really like riding US54. I decided I would take I-35 to Emporia and then head out on small hwys to Holcomb. By chance I had chose the northern Santa Fe Trail auto route. There is a more direct southern route from Kansas City MO to Santa Fe NM, however it has serious Indian issues. This northern route was much longer and lead straight west to CO, then straight down to Santa Fe. It was a safer route as far as finding hostile Indians went. I was treated to several HMs and scenic stops that pointed things out along the route. One pull off pointed out the different colors in the grass, indicating the 4 tracks that were laid by years of wagons traveling through here 4 abreast. It was customary for wagons to travel 4 abreast as they could maneuver faster into a circle if there was danger.

It was hot! One of the reasons I was leaving the area. It had been a few years since I had ridden this area. I found a couple things that I knew I had seen somewhere but couldn’t remember where. One was the large cross that is a memorial for Father Padilla (N38 20.859 W98 16.593). He accompanied Coronado on his expedition. I had run across this in 2006 when I was looking for a Padilla for the I’ve Been Everywhere competition that my HOG group was running. We hunted up the locations in Johnny Cash’s song.

I read all the historical markers I find as I travel, if I am traveling alone. I learned 2 very interesting things that I did not recall reading before. One was about Pawnee Rock. It was a landmark that travelers heading west used as a milestone. One night a young Kit Carson while standing guard shot his own mule because he thought it was a Pawnee Indian. The HM suggested that this might be the origin of the name of the rock.

The second thing I learned was that the Arkansas river was the original boundary line between Mexico and the United States. Way up here in KS and half way up the state to boot. That really surprised me, I don’t remember learning that in any history class.

The ride across KS was great. The fields were so green and farmers were out there working the farms. Some were cutting wheat, others tilling. There are few things that smell better than fresh tilled soil or a fresh cut field.

Before getting to Holcomb there were some stops at Garden City, 11 miles away. Garden City is the Finley county seat. The Clutters were buried there in the Valley View Cemetery and the trial of the 2 murderers occurred in the courthouse there. First stop was the cemetery. I had seen a picture and a description so I thought I had an idea of where they were. But I had no luck. I stopped and asked one of the cemetery crew about the location and he was more that happy to direct me. He said they get visitors all the time looking for that gravesite. The murders occurred in 1959. The graves were simple (N37 59.851 W100 52.134). Someone had put US flags in front of the stones. There was one wide stone for the parents, Bonnie & Herbert, and a smaller stone on each side of that. One for the daughter, Nancy, and one for the son, Kenyon.

A quick drive by the county courthouse (N37 58.133 W100 52.508) and then on to Holcomb. Finding the Clutter house (N37 59.042 W100 59.668) was far harder than finding the gravesite. I knew it would be posted to not trespass, but I have a good zoom on my camera so I wasn’t too concerned. I was surprised that it was right on the edge of town. I really thought it was a rural farmhouse. I ran by the First National bank, they have the memorial plaque on display there, its in the protective crate for now. Holcomb is going to put up a memorial to the Clutters in the city park across the hwy from the bank. This is the 50th anniversary of the murders and the plaque tells about the Clutters. I had planned to eat lunch at the El Rancho which was a popular café in 1959. It closed at 2PM, I just missed lunch. I asked at the bank about some place else to eat. I would need to wait another 20 miles down the road to find some place open to eat at. Subway at Lakin, KS. I had stayed in Lakin on one of my previous trips, I recognized the motel as I drove by it.

Going on my way I soon hit bad weather. I had skirted between 2 rain clouds earlier but as I got closer to Denver it was very evident that my luck was going to run out. I called Jackie and Kay to let them know I would be coming in a little late. I had hit some pretty strong winds and rain before I got to Denver. Jackie had told me that the storm had caused hail in Denver, I did not feel any riding through it.

Jackie and Kay welcomed me with a shower ready to go and dinner on the table. We spent the night talking and looking at picture of their recent trip to Peru. Looked like an awesome trip. Around 10:30 we called it a night and I curled into bed for a very sound sleep.

Effie’s Odometer at the end of the day: 114049
Trip miles 679

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Photos

The Padilla plaque
This is located at the bottom of the cross.

Wheat Fields
Lots of really good looking fields in KS. Farmers should be happy this year.

Clutter Graves
In the Valley View Cemetery in Garden City.

Finey County Courthouse
This is where the trial was held. The Sheriffs Office is supposed to have some items on display there like th rope that was used to bind them. I didn't check it out.

Clutter Memorial Plaque
This is the plaque that in on display at the First National Bank in Holcomb.

Santa Fe ruts HM
The next picture shows the land that they refer too.

The Wagon Ruts
At the top of the hill you can easily see the difference in color of the grass.