a.d. elliott - Take the Back Roads

 Dear Henry,  This year (and last year, really), I had plans. Lots of plans. Completing these plans by the end of this year seems doubtful. To refresh your memory ( read the full post here ): I had planned on working through the list of Gulf War fatalities for EverydayPatriot.com  to improve my Spanish speaking skills, to act more charitable in my opinions, and to read the entire bible this year. I also wanted to spruce up the new house and make it really pretty. The only goal that is going well is the bible reading, and primarily because I've been relying on Father Mike Schmitz's "Bible in a Year" podcast, I've been able to ride the coattails of his effort.   I had thought that my Spanish was improving until a gas pump incident a couple of months ago. You see, a Spanish-speaking gentleman was attempting to get gas from a non-working pump and was struggling to understand what he needed to do from the clerk (side note: speaking louder won't make someone suddenl

 Dear Henry, A couple of weeks ago, Fish and I decided to take a day trip up Coffeyville Kanas to check out a museum the town had.   It's only about an hour away from Tulsa and was the site of what has come to be known as the "Dalton's Gang's Last Raid," and while neither one of us had more than a vague idea of who the Dalton Gang were, the town sounded like a great little adventure. Coffeyville, Kansas, was first established as a trading post in 1869 by Colonel James A. Coffey. Still, it would soon grow into a town when the Levenworth, Lawerence, and Galveston Railroad decided to establish a connection there and sent US Army Captain Napoleon Blanton to plan out a city. The town's name was decided by a coin toss between Colonel Coffey and Captain Blanton. With the addition of the railroad and the natural resources of the area (oil, gas, clay, silica), the town grew enough to support several banks. It would be these banks that drew the Daltons. The Dalton Gang