The old days of Road 200
John E. Peterson, Special to the Gazette
Thursday, April 16, 2009
I met Joan Gatewood only about six months ago. Already, however, she has stimulated two of these columns and a third one is on the way. When we met, Joan told me that she enjoyed my columns and she had some information which I could use for more of them.
Joan was correct. She wrote about farming just south of Dunlap for 50 years and that led me to write about farms and farmers in that area. Then, she wrote me more about Dunlap and that led to my producing a column on that subject. She also gave me much information about the African-American role in Dunlap. I may get to that subject one of these days.
This latest Joan Gatewood stimulation, however, came in this fashion. I had written a column about going to Americus for lunch. I put quite an emphasis on the pleasure of getting to the Americus Road by going to the end of Graphic Arts Road and then west on that lovely gravel road, Road 200, to the Americus Road. That did it. Joan Gatewood grew up on that road!
She wrote me two letters, drew a map of the area and drew a picture of the old school she attended there. We shall get to her school days, but first I must tell you about her home and the area.
Joan’s family name was Butler. The old Butler house is still there. After turning off Graphic Arts Road, it was all J.W. Butler territory in those days. On the south side of the gravel road, it was a 100-acre Butler area from 1923 to 1956. Beside that was another 80-acre Butler pasture. From there to the Americus Road, it was a Phillips-owned pasture.
On the north side of the road was 85 acres of Butler land. The Butler house is in here. I could just see a bit of it as I drove past those two low streams. There is a small road there, though it looks more like a driveway. I drove up it anyway and saw the old Butler house. It is now surrounded by trees and bushes and a few horses. Joan says the old Phillips home also was back there.
Joan tells me that her dad sold six acres of land to the Boy Scouts in the 1920s. The price was $600. Today, of course, that is the Girl Scout Camp right there at the end of Graphic Arts Road.
Now, to Joan’s school. It was located on the west side of the second curve of the Americus Road. It was called the Ruggles School. Joan says school was an adventure they all looked forward to every day.
On one wonderful school day, the cavalry from Fort Riley were riding past on their way to Fort Sill, Okla., for training. They were going by one whole day, riders on four horses abreast. They were in a straight line and in perfect unison, all in matched color. They trotted a mile and then walked a mile. Cooking wagons and wagons with tents and bed rolls also went by.
It was difficult for the teacher to keep the students studying. She finally gave up and let them just watch the cavalry go by. She required them to write a story about it the next day, however. Good use of such an experience, in my opinion.
Joan told me another interesting story of her girlhood. She and her sister were herding cows in the pasture when they noticed a man walking across the next pasture. They hid in some bushes and watched him. He stopped at a little ravine and put down a sack and some sticks. He looked around, then picked up a quart jar and drank out of it. Then, he headed back across the pasture. Joan said that the cows were also interested in the stranger’s activities.
The girls investigated the site, saw various things there and decided he was a tramp. When they took the cows home they told their dad about it. He just told them to stay away from that side of the pasture.
The next day, when they came home from school, their dad’s cousin was there. He was a Lyon County undersheriff. The girls were told to stay in the house. The next morning, they were told that the man was a bootlegger and had been arrested. It was a big story for them to tell at school and they played sheriff and bootlegger games at school for some days.
Joan tells me that their games and their long walks to school kept them warm and out of trouble. Also, the Fort Riley horses had so impressed her that she hoped to have a similar horse. Later, she did. That was Big Red and later she had other horses.
Joan did tell me that their house was up high above the Neosho River. Therefore, when it flooded, they could watch the flood from the house.
So, there you have a bit of the history about the beautiful area along what is now Road 200, east of the Americus Road. I found Joan’s stories very interesting. You would also, if I had my way. I am always pleased to get stories about the old days around here.
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