What Can Brown Do For You?

Doesn't Veeblefester have a secretary or something that can mail all of his stuff? I mean, I've seen how Brutus works and I wouldn't exactly trust him to put a stamp on a piece of mail let alone actually mail it.

Reign of the Captain Victoriouses

There's another Sunday over at the DCR. It's got Cornered, Love Is..., Ink Pen and more. So go check it out.

#232: Saving Prairie City

I.

Prairie City had an unusual start. It was founded in 1855 after an argument between Dr. William Graham and Henry Barricklow. The town was also founded by I.F. Greene and Salmon Prouty, who operated the first printing press in Kansas. The printing press was brought to Kansas by Jotham Meeker to use at the Shawnee Mission and then at the Ottawa Mission. The press was sold to Prouty. It is said James Lane was also a town founder but the extent of his influence is not recorded.

The Heber Institute

A post office was established in 1856, a Catholic church was started in a stone church on top of Liberty Hill and the Protestant Episcopal Church was planning on starting the Heber Institute. The Heber Institute failed before it started and plans for it to be a Boy's School also fell through. The building was then used for the Prairie City School District. A park was established in the center of town called Eden Park and Prairie City was considered the "Italy of Kansas". For awhile, Prairie City and Palmyra were competitors. Palmyra was on the Santa Fe Trail but John Brown stayed in Prairie City the night before the Battle of Black Jack in 1856 and Horace Greeley was visiting Prairie City when he coined the phrase "Go west, young man" which solidified Prairie City's place in history. However, in 1858, when Baker University was founded just south of Palmyra, Prairie City's fate was sealed. But Prairie City continued to grow, becoming incorporated in 1859 and at its peak had three stores and three hotels.

Hand-drawn map of Prairie City

Baldwin City was founded in 1860 with Baker University centered in the middle. Palmyra was annexed to Baldwin and Prairie City and Baldwin City lived a peaceful coexistence. When the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston (LLG) Railroad was built through the area, a depot was built in Baldwin and Prairie City, with stops at both. Thinking that was impractical, both depots were closed and a new one was built in between and named "Media".  Media was later annexed to Baldwin City as "West" Baldwin. Prairie City continued to be a small community until March 24, 1883 when the Douglas County Commissioners ordered certain alleys and streets vacated.

The only remnants of Prairie City are a few older houses, the ruins of the Catholic Mission, which was closed in 1893 and replaced by a frame structure still standing at the corner of South and Miami Streets in Baldwin, the Prairie City-Mt. Cavalry Cemeteries and the LLG Railroad which is now used for the Midland Railway.

II.

One of the houses still standing is a house on the southwest slope of Liberty Hill. It was built by George Miller in 1860 when he and his family came to Prairie City. The house was named "87" by local teenagers who had trespassed on the property to look at the house and view the two graves located on the southwest of the house. The graves are of George X. and Ignace Meunier. George X. died in 1865 at the age of 1 and Ignace died in 1872, on the day of his first birthday. George was born in 1832 in St. Lawrence County, New York and came to Kansas in 1858, settling in Lecompton. It was there he met Margret Lowery and they got married in February of 1859 and their first child, Adela was born in 1860. George and Margret would go on to have eight more children. George was a stonemason who farmed on 250 acres of land. He would pass away in 1909, with Margret following in 1925. They are both buried in Prairie City Cemetery along with two of their children Julia (1866-1955) and Robert (1874-1949). The Miller plot is marked by a giant stone family marker, probably made by George himself.

The house has been abandoned since at least the 1970s. It's still in decent shape however it is estimated it would cost roughly one million dollars to make livable again. I have been to the house several times, and my most recent time, I specifically went to get pictures. I took pictures of every room and tried to get as much of the essence of the house and I am sure I missed some of it but I need to go back soon.

I originally found out about the house when on a ghost-hunting kick with my friends. We would go out to the house, wander around and speculate around how the children died. When I found the graves listed in the Complete Tombstone Census of Douglas County, Kansas it just said the children died due to the harsh Kansas living. I tend to believe that and don't think there was actually anything wrong with the children. After visiting a couple of times I became interested in what the history of the house and the family was. I am still doing research on the family but I think I have done all I can with the history of the house.

III.

Catholic Mission Ruins

The dilemma I am finding with the history of Prairie City is that it is hard to see if you are not looking. There used to be signs noting Prairie City along East 1575 Road, the Catholic Church Ruins along North 200 Road and the Heber Institute at the intersection of North 200 and East 1575. None of those signs remain and the last one standing is along the railroad tracks and points out the location of the Prairie City store, depot and post office. I was lucky enough to get a picture of the Prairie City-Heber Institute sign but the other signs are now lost.

Another abandoned house near the Miller House.

Prairie City Cemetery is also a good reminder that the town used to exist but it is a quarter mile east of the townsite and some people may not know that a cemetery may exist. I plan on working this summer on getting donations to erect a new sign telling the history of Prairie City and showing a map marking the location of houses, stores, hotels and past streets of Prairie City. I feel that with all the history surrounding Baldwin City with the Battle of Black Jack, Baker University, Signal Oak and Hickory Point, Prairie City is one area that is getting lost in the shuffle.

After I talk to the people at the Douglas County Santa Fe Trail Historical Society and other appropriate entities I hope I can get this going and help honor the people of Prairie City. I will let you know donation details when I am able to.

How to Name a Cemetery

Before we get onto today's comic I would like to discuss something that has been bothering me for a while. I've read a few books where they suffer from a very serious problem. It has come to my attention that authors do not know how to name cemeteries. The book I am currently reading, Graveminder by Melissa Marr, mentions a cemetery named Sweet Rest. Not only is that a terrible name for a cemetery nowadays, it was completely unheard of back in the 1800s and 1700s.

Cemeteries, prior to the 1920s, were mainly rural, city or open, named after the geography, the town or one of the first families buried in the cemetery. The old cemetery on the hill first used in 1772 and surrounded by old pine trees considered ancient in 1772 would not be called Memorial Acres it would be called Pine Hill or some variation. The small cemetery located on the North 40 of the old Simerwell Place with 45 graves from five different families would not be called Floral Hills Memorial Park, it would be called Simerwell Cemetery. The large expansive cemetery north of Hopewell City would not be called Memorial Gardens, it would be called Hopewell City Cemetery.

I know it is kind of a stupid thing to get upset over but it shows me that the author doesn't do the research or care about that little detail. It's not like cemeteries are a rare thing, centralized in only one spot. They are everywhere and you can judge the time the cemetery was founded just by walking around and looking at the dates on the stones. Where I'm from, the only modern cemetery is named Memorial Park, there are two Maple Grove Cemeteries and a Oakwood. The rest are named after geography (Mound, Rock Creek, Oak Hill), towns (Black Jack, Prairie City, Hesper) or families/churches (Brumbaugh, Bethel-Harbour, Colyer) and I doubt that changes whether to go to the east coast or west coast.

So when you are writing something and need to name a cemetery, take my information to heart and do some quick research. Can't come up with a name? There are databases online, like FindAGrave, that will list practically every cemetery in the country.

And now, onto our regularly scheduled comic strip.

Since the doctor ended his question with "today" it makes me think Brutus goes to the doctor constantly about every little ache and pain. I think it is time for the doctor to prescribe a placebo for Brutus which will keep Brutus away for at least a month or so.

Stull #16

“Hello, Frank?” Detective Bilko said. “I just wanted to let you know that the sheriff’s office is burying The Overlook Man today at 3 o’clock.”

“Okay, I’ll be there,” Frank replied. “Thanks for telling me.” Frank hung up his phone.

“Who was that?” Matt asked.

“Bilko. They’re burying The Overlook Man today. We have all the information we can get off of him so we don’t need his body anymore.”

“Has anybody claimed him?” Matt asked.

“No.”

“So he’s going to be buried in a pauper’s field?”

“No. The Society is paying for his funeral. He’ll get a nice grave and headstone near the old section of Tontzville Cemetery,” Frank revealed.

“Aw, that’s sweet,” Matt smiled. He glanced down at the map he was holding. “You can go ahead and pull over here. End Road is nearby.”

Frank pulled over as far as he could go and stopped the car. He turned it off and he and Matt got out. They were near an entrance to a field and in the distance they could see a group of trees where Comchau Creek flowed.

“End Road should be between this road and the creek. There’s no sign that there was ever a road here,” Matt said as he walked to the field and look out toward the creek.

“Actually, there is something that could indicate a road was once here,” Frank said and walked over to the field entrance. “The entrance to this field is wider than your average entry. Look at the one we parked near,” Frank nodded to the other side of the road where he had parked. The field entrance on that side was only as wide as one car. The one Frank was standing at was wide enough for two cars. “Another clue is this post,” Frank patted the tall wooden post next to the road. “This post once contained a sign,” Frank pointed to nails that were still in the wood, near the top. “In fact, this road,” Frank pointed at the main road they had taken to get there, “is still labeled.”

“So you’re thinking that this was the entrance to End Road?” Matt asked.

“I’m sure of it,” Frank said. “The reason it looks like it never existed is because a century of plowing it over erased all traces of it.”

“So we found End Road. What do we do now?” Matt asked.

“We head for the creek,” Frank took a picture of the wooden post, the old Skyline Road sign and the intersection. The two headed off down what used to be a road toward the tree line.




“The Burial”

Frank and Matt where halfway to the tree line after only a few minutes of walking. It wasn’t very far but it was very muddy. Frank had worn boots out but Matt was in shoes. “I don’t know why I still wear shoes when we go out,” Matt said. “Every time we’re out together you drag me someplace where it’s dirty or bug infested.”

“I figured you’d catch on, too. Maybe you need just need to realize that whenever you are out with me, to wear your boots,” Frank chuckled. “So the cemetery isn’t marked on the map, correct?”

“No, and from what I could tell from various satellite images, there’s nothing to indicate a cemetery or anything,” Matt explained, his shoe making a splorching sound from the mud.

Frank chuckled again. “We’re almost there.”

They continued to walk until they got to the tree line. They pushed their way through the tree and to the edge of the creek. The creek was not very deep but you couldn’t walk across to The Island. Frank and Matt found a grass-covered strip of flat land that they determined was where the road came through and at the creek they found stones built into the bank.

“They had a bridge from the road to across the creek,” Frank said, taking a picture. “I don’t see any way to get over there,” Frank said and looked at Matt.

“According to the map, there is a road that crosses The Island to the north but it’s a good five miles from this area.”

“So we can’t get over to the Island from here?”

“Doesn’t look like,” Matt said. “Come on, let’s get back to Stull. I have a lunch date with Katie.”

“So what’s going on with you and Katie? You keep going out on dates and spending time together outside of work.”

“Well, I think we’re trying to become boyfriend and girlfriend but so far neither of us has the testicular fortitude to say anything,” Matt laughed.

“Have you told her that you are leaving?” Frank asked. “That’s probably kind of important.”

Matt sighed. “I figured I would change my mind or that maybe you, John or Jen would let it slip. I mean, it’s not like it’s a huge secret. She’s got to know and just not letting on,” Matt said.

“Maybe but you still need to tell her yourself because you are leaving in a little more than a month,” Frank chided.

“I know and I will. Today at lunch. I’ll tell her.”




Lunch had gone fine although Matt was noticeably nervous. “Is everything all right, Matt?” Katie asked.

“Yeah, everything is fine. Look, I want to ask you about our relationship,” Matt began. “Are we just friends or are we something more?”

“What do you mean?” Katie asked Matt, with a curious look on her face.

“I’m leaving after our high school reunion and I just want to know…what we are.”

“You’re leaving?”

“I’m leaving to become the Society’s first out-of-state field investigator. We have a whole list of jobs that I will do starting in June,” Matt revealed. “I thought you knew about it.”

“I had heard Frank talking about those jobs but I didn’t know he would actually… Why are you leaving?” Katie asked.

“I’m tired of Stull and I just need to get away for a little bit. The reason I’m telling you and asking about our relationship is because I really like you…”

“I really like you too but I’m not going to get into a relationship with a guy that’s travelling around the country. A long-distance relationship would be bad enough,” Katie explained. “I wouldn’t know where you were most of the time.”

“I know. That’s why I’m telling you this now. That way, when I get back we can pick up where we left off.”

“Or start all over again,” Katie said.

“Katie? If I were staying, would you be my girlfriend?” Matt asked.

Katie looked directly into Matt’s eyes. “Without question.”

“I will be back. And I’ll probably be back sooner rather than later. I’m not saying you have to wait for me but I will be back.”

“I know you will. The only question is when,” Katie sighed and went back to eating her lunch.

The two ate in silence for most of the remaining lunch.




The priest said a few words, as did Frank. Only Frank, John and Detective Bilko came to the funeral of The Overlook Man. After the priest left, Frank, Bilko and John remained at the gravesite. “Do you think we will ever figure out who he is?” John asked.

“I hope so. It’s kind of creepy and makes me not want to go out to the State Lake anymore,” Detective Bilko said. “We still have everything we found on him locked up and the case is still open so we’ll figure this out.”

“I think we just have to admit that he’s not from Ohio or any surrounding states. Someone brought him here and dumped him,” Detective Bilko said. The three of them started walking away from the grave and back to Bilko’s car that was parked several feet from the funeral. “We did all we could.”

“It just wasn’t enough,” Frank said.

“What more could we have done?” John asked. “We looked through every database, compared thousands of photos and investigated every little missing person report whether or not the description matched the man. We probably worked harder on this than a lot of other police departments would have. And we gave him an actual funeral.”

“True. I just hope something happens to help us solve this murder,” Frank said.




Frank and John returned to the Society. Jen was sitting at the front desk messing around on the Internet. “Hey, Jen. Anything happen while we were gone?”

“Not that I know of,” Jen shrugged. “Mail’s on the corner of your desk.”

“We never get mail,” Frank said and walked into his office. There was a small package sitting on the corner of the desk. It was addressed to the Society but only had a ZIP code for a return address. Frank tore open the package and pulled out a book. It looked really old and had a tattered tan cover. Frank threw the packaging in the trash and opened the book. The title page read:

A History of Stull, Ohio

And surrounding towns and places

Frank’s eyes widened. “This is the book. We finally have a copy of the book. We can finally find out what happened at the End Road Massacre…” Frank said.

James Arness 1923-2011

James Arness, the man who played Marshall Matt Dillon on the long-running western TV series "Gunsmoke" has passed away from natural causes. He was 88.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian 1928-2011

Dr. Jack Kevorkian who was the doctor who famously brought the "right-to-die" debate into the forefront has passed away due to complications from liver cancer along with his lifelong kidney problems.

Not Going There

I don't pretend to know things I clearly don't know anything about so I'm just going to mention "lint trap" and let you, the readers, debate the effectiveness of drying lettuce in the clothes dryer.

So Heavy His Knees Are Buckling

In case you've missed it, all the comics on Comics.com have been migrated over to GoComics.com. And those people with accounts from Comics.com get 2 months free of GoComics Pro. So if you have a Comics.com account, you should check out GoComics. Now, onto today's strip.

Yeah, like Gladys has any room to talk about Brutus' muffin top.

It would probably also help if Brutus would not slouch and stand up straight.

#231: The New WTS

I've been really thinking about how to change my blog and get more readers. I think having Twitter has helped and posting the occasional article on Reddit has helped some too. With this entry of POB (#231 if you can't be bothered to read the title), I have decided to turn POB into the official blog of WTS. Sure, there will some be some ramblings about my life and such but POB will also be home to reviews, television commentary, Kansas history (because I know you like that) and just other random stuff.

Tauycreek.com is entering its 3rd year (while the whole blog is in it's fourth) and I'm hoping I can double or triple the readership I have now. The Born Loser commentary will continue despite the slight hiccup with Photobucket. I am assuming the comic strip commentary is still relevant, that people still want to read it. Even if they don't read my commentary, it's nice that they are coming here to read the strip, although I do think they should go on over to Comics.com and read it there, if the strip is all they are here for.

"Liberty" will also continue on a monthly basis as I enjoy doing the short stories and have several already queued up and ready to go throughout the summer. "Stull" will conclude its first season (after starting in late 2009) in July with #19 and will return in late September with 14 new issues. Please let me you know how you like them. Also, I am sad to inform you that both the Editorial Comics Review and WTS-TV have ended. The Editorial Comics Review had a good run but it is time to move on. Any political rant I have will go into POB where you can read it or not. And as for WTS-TV, it was difficult to do and now that it is summer and I don't watch much TV in the summer and now that POB is going to be the home for television commentary, WTS-TV is kind of pointless now. The few entries I did I enjoyed doing so I'm sure the format will be the same in POB.

Also, because I realized I will never be an author (more on that in another post) I have decided to bring back "Secret Identity" only now titled "Centropolis" and "Seven". I plan to start "Centropolis" up in November and "Seven" probably next summer. Also, the ideas I had in my head for novels will now be condensed into handy-dandy issues for "Liberty" or limited series.

For you new readers who may want to try to catch up on all the posts, let me let you in on some things. POB only go back to #156 because the previous entries were done on different websites. Numbers 1-88 were done on MySpace in my profile blog. My MySpace has since been deleted. And numbers 88-155 were done on LiveJournal, which has also been deleted. Don't worry, you didn't miss much there. Just some dopey ramblings of a sad bastard. In fact, all the MySpace version did was talk about my girlfriend at the time. I haven't spoken to that girlfriend since late 2007 after she ran off to Massachusetts to be with guy she was emotionally cheating on me with. Sure, I miss having those entries but I felt it was time to move on but I just couldn't bring myself to begin renumbering the entries over here. As for the comic strips that show the Photobucket deletion image, blank spaces or dead links, Photobucket deleted the account I was using to host the images, the blank spaces is from an error when moving email addresses and the dead links are because Comics.com changed them a couple years ago. I am going through and reinstating all the images and links so hopefully by the end of summer they will all be replaced.

So please, enjoy the fourth year of Watch This Space and tell your friends about this blog.

Until next time, I remain...
~Brian