Uniontown

Uniontown was originally established in 1848 as a stop on the Oregon Trail on the south bank of the Kansas River in what is now Shawnee County by Richard Cummins and Alfred Vaughan. The small trading post became a decent sized trail town thanks to the Oregon Trail traffic and the Potawatomis who lived just north of the river. The Potawatomi would come into Uniontown to receive and cash their government payments and it was soon recorded that Uniontown had a population of over 300 people and over 60 buildings.

However, after a cholera outbreak in 1849 and 1850, the town was swiftly abandoned but not before hundred of people died, including some Potawatomi. 22 were buried in a mass grave and the town was burned to make sure that a cholera outbreak would never happen again. Uniontown was reestablished in 1851 and quickly regained its status as a major stop on the Oregon Trail. When Kansas Territory was opened for settlement in 1854, it was the beginning of the end for Uniontown. New towns along the Kansas River sprang up like Lawrence, Lecompton, Tecumseh, and Topeka. Competition was stiff and Uniontown just couldn't compete. When Topeka became the major city in the area, traders and settlers moved there, or elsewhere, and by 1858, Uniontown was again abandoned.

John Green and his family acquired the land that Uniontown sat on in the 1870s and farmed the land well into the 1960s. Most of the land was then given to the Kansas Department of Wildlife to use as a nature preserve. The Uniontown Cemetery, with the mass Potawatomi burial, has been well-preserved and is commonly known as Green Cemetery since the Green family began using it as a family cemetery.

Uniontown Cemetery is currently privately owned and maintained by the Citizen Band Potawatomi out of Oklahoma and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Recently, ground-penetrating radar was used to search for the mass grave and it's believed the location has been found. The Citizen Band Potawatomi and relatives of those in the cemetery are hoping to place interpretive signs in the cemetery in the near future.

John Green, born in Gloucestershire, England.
September 11, 1827 - September 6, 1902

The golden gates were opened wide
A gentle voice said come
And angels from the other side
Welcomed our loved one home

John "Jake" Green came to America when he was 21, originally settling in Indiana. Green married four times and had 10 children. The Green Nature Preserve across from the cemetery is named for his son, Herbert Reinhard Green.

from FindAGrave

Hannah Virginia "Vergie" Jones, nee Miller. She died during childbirth on her in-law's farm south of nearby Willard. Her husband, Leander Emory Jones, remarried and is buried with his second wife, Suzanne, in Maple Hill.

Vergie, born on the Potawatomi Reservation in Jackson County, was buried beside her son, Louis, who died of whooping cough.

from Kansas Historical Society

Joseph Napoleon Bourassa was a half-Potawatomi, half-French interpreter and doctor who lived in the area. His family accounts for many of the early graves in Uniontown Cemetery aside from the mass burial. The Bourassas are in a family plot surrounded by rock wall. J.N. Bourassa was born in 1810 and passed away October 24, 1877. He is buried in Mound City, Kansas.

Mary E. Bourassa

March 13, 1833 - January 30, 1872

Adamantinus Bourassa

January 30, 1872 - April 21, 1872

Joseph D. Bourassa

October 21, 1860 - October 20, 1869

The entrance to the Herbert Reinhard Green Wildlife Area

The bulletin board near the entrance and the grave of an Oregon Trail
traveler.

[Unknown]er
[Born?]
[Fauqui]er Co. VA.
Sept. 24, 1824
Died
June 9, 1851
Aged 26 Years
8 Months.
& 15Days.

The grave of an unknown traveler along the Oregon Trail. I have hunted for the name of this unknown pioneer since learning about the grave. The grave is located in a fenced area of the Green Wildlife Area.

Old farming equipment

Restoration of tall prairie grasses.

Mature post oak trees

Scenic Post Creek valley view

Valley view and dead trees

Post Creek

Site of American Elm Tree

Restoration of native grasses

Woodland/grassland ecotone

Reclaimed prairie grasses

Oregon Trail ruts

Sign marking the Oregon and California trails

Oak-hickory woodland

Nothing Important

August 11, 1973

"Commit corporate fraud, my boy! You can cheat, lie, and steal all you want! It doesn't make you mean, evil, or greedy--it makes you SMART! And the government just lets you do it!"

The entire GoComics website is currently down. We don't know why. Here is today's strip straight from Chip himself, posting the original on the official Born Loser Facebook Page.

I have been sick all of November. I don't know what it is but from October 30 to today I have been ill in some way. I'm using today as a day to just rest with simple plans of taking a shower, writing, and maybe some reading. Brutus works hard all week and he is taking a break. Whatever "important" thing you need him to do can wait, Gladys. It can wait.

That Explains the Shredded Newspaper In His Hair

August 10, 1973

Don't they have maintenance workers, warehouse staff, or just people specifically hired to move boxes? I don't think this is something that should fall on Brutus.

Maybe that staff all won the lottery a la that one episode of The Office and, just like Andy Bernard, Veeblefester asked the office staff to volunteer to load boxes of tea cozies instead of just calling a damn temp agency.

"No, seriously, the teacher locked me in a cage. I go to a terrible school."

I honestly don't understand the hamster cage reference. Does Brutus mean hamster wheel? Truthfully, being in a hamster cage, with no worries, just some sawdust, little food pellets, and a water bottle sounds great. Sign me up!

You may have already heard that Tom Batiuk's comic strip Funky Winkerbean is coming to an end at the end of the year. Batiuk says he's going to wrap up the comic and give the characters "a proper ending" so one can take that as meaning it will end on a happy note. Although the characters will still appear in Batiuk's other comic strip, Crankshaft, so I don't know how happy that can be.

Here's today's Funky Winkerbean with it's trademark depression, sad sack characters, bad jokes, and dead eyes.

Mrs. Thornapple

August 9, 1973

Who's allowing Brutus to give a speech? And mind-boggling? Too many offbeat references and turns of phrase?

Or else what? You gonna slap me around? There are places I can go that will protect me from you. Are you going to somehow make my life miserable. Sorry, babe, I'm the born loser. And that you married me is more of an indictment of you than me.

Who Cares About Feelings? It's Just Rude

August 8, 1973

With all those fish heading toward that lure, you can be sure it's not Brutus at the other end of that fishing pole.

I try hard not to body-shame. Body-shaming, mocking people's looks are easy and it shows that you can't be creative and that should really be the road that Gladys tries to lead Hattie down but whatever. I guess she tried, maybe? I mean, not very hard but still.

Shoveling > Raking

August 7, 1973

It's a commercial, Brutus, I'm sure it'll be on again. Brutus is getting so mad, his face is turning red.

I'd rather shovel snow than rake. The snow you just throw to the side, leaves you rake into a pile and then awkwardly shove them into a bag or canister. Part of the reason why I stopped raking leaves.

Monday Blues

August 6, 1973

Welp, Brutus is dead. He'll probably take a few more steps before collapsing onto the sidewalk. Best case scenario, he'll just have amnesia with the only cure being hit on the head again with a baseball.

It probably only seems long because you've spent all day staring at that pile of paper or hanging out at the watercooler. Get to work.

I hate the last week before a long holiday or weekend. Just get here already so I can have an extra day off!

Brought To You By Chip-Oh's--Oh, It's Chocolate Chip! Chip-Oh's!

March 10, 1985

Welcome back! I'm glad I get to return to showcase this comic from 1985 that I do not understand at all.

If he doesn't have a plug then he couldn't bathe so is that the joke? I feel like that's looking too much into it--or not enough into it. Is Brutus sitting in the tub blocking the water from draining? At least the Apex Bathtubs guy is also confused.

Alley Oop, December 9, 1970

Wilberforce makes an appearance in this Alley Oop strip from 1970. "Funny-looking kid", yeah, I mean, he has those weird curls which is strange. Maybe if The Born Loser started in 1910s that hair would make sense but not in 1965-slash-whenever Brutus started becoming the main character.

Lots of things have expiration dates. Cans of food, frozen food, Covid tests for some reason. Recent findings have discovered that expiration dates, for the most part, are pointless or arbitrary. The food may not look or taste good anymore but it won't really hurt you. I mean, I like a good stale Oreo on occassion.

I'm surprised, too, that bag of cookies was able to survive this long. Out of sight, out of mind really works, I guess.

If you would like to support my writing, research, or this website, please consider buying me a cup of coffee over on Ko-fi.

Captain Kid Gets Bumped Off

It has been 6 long years since Captain Kid and I crossed paths and since then, the world has gotten darker. Hmm. I think I figured out why everything is terrible.

Anyway, Captain Kid is finally killed off in this story. Unfortunately, he's not stoned or hanged by the townspeople like he is in my dreams but shattering vertebrae in his neck and then being repeatedly trampled by a horse is good too.

I hate when comic writers write in accents. Sometimes it's done well but most of the time they just rush through and just pick things that sound like an accent. At least this is a cowboy accent and not something racist.

Does Captain Kid live in Texas or is this just the town's Texas-ish rodeo?

"And look where the hat lands!" Even the narration box is sick of Captain Kid. "Look where the hat lands! On this dumpster fire of a kid! On this festering sore of society! On this reason why abortion should be legal, accessible, and safe!"

Why does the hat blow away but the posters just fall to the ground?

Yeah, and it goes great with your outfit🙄

Even his "friends" are sick of his shit. These kids probably only hang out with Captain Kid because they hope to see him die and to see what kind of absolutely pointless lies he can make up.

Seriously, he doesn't need to lie here. He just does. For no damn good reason!

I like Pudgy. I like the cut of his jib.

Wait. Is this how he dies? Severe brain damage? Whatever. I'll take it.

I hope he doesn't do anything perverse to the body. That's where I draw the line.

Telling me that nothing will happen to me if I take it easy doesn't exactly make me want to take it easy.

Son of a bitch!

Hear! Hear!

Thousand dollars. Your death. Win-win either way.

Even the tamest horse at the rodeo bucks people off? No matter the horse, Captain Kid is a goner.

I refuse to abbreviate Captain Kid's name like the comic does.

Thunder-Lightening has nearly killed EastEnders actor Jake Wood.

Or maybe Mad Money's Jim Cramer.

Maybe a bald Sean Gunn?

That horse can practically jump over that fence! Yes, what would he do to the person who rides Thunder-Lightening? What. Would. He. Do?

What stupid plan is Captain Kid concocting? I was promised his death and I am going to see him die.

Oh, good. Captain Kid hung those posters (for some reason) and is just to get his death over with. No sense prolonging it.

Why are you feeding this horse oats and tabasco? Maybe Thunder-Lightening is so mean because you are feeding him tabasco.

No. No! He could still die! The title of this story is blantant false advertising! He's neither bumped off (killed) or bumped off (the horse)!

Is that horse sweating?

So I guess this guy hasn't been saving out $1,000 every year just in case someone actually won. Love that his plan for that is to just skip town yet he was worried that Captain Kid's death would be bad for the rodeo.

Yes, that horse is sweating.

That horse is very sweaty.

Captain Kid used the poster glue to glue his ass to Thunder-Lightening's saddle because not only is he a liar, but a cheater as well. Maybe his skin will absorb some of the glue and he'll die of glue poisoning or that thing where your pores are clogged and you suffocate.

Well, at least Captain Kid is getting run out of town. That's something, I guess.

He's a phony! A big, fat phony!!

Huh. Horses do sweat.