Springfield again

Today I got to play the biggest organ I've ever seen!! It was so cool! The biggest pipe is 32 feet long. I played mostly black keys because they sound good together. The organist taught me all about the stops and pipes. I even got to see the bellows. The pipes were handmade and are made of lead. At the top of the organ was a star that had seven bells hanging on it. When you pushed a certain stop, the star would spin and the bells would jingle.
This was the same church that Abraham Lincoln went to. When you walk through the door, you can see the actual bench that Lincoln sat on.

New Salem, Illinois

When Abraham Lincoln was 22 years old, he rode into New Salem and stayed there for six years. He made friends with a man named Rowan and many others. A man named Berry owned a shop there and invited Lincoln into the business. The first Berry/Lincoln shop was across town from a more popular shop. They moved closer to the busier shop and thought they would do better business there. They were wrong!
Lincoln read many books and tried many jobs in New Salem. But he never really found his niche.

St. Louis

The Gateway Arch is a stainless steel arch that is 630 feet tall. The men who built it were very brave. When they were working on it, they had to put a crane onto a platform which was on tracks going up the backside of the arch. We they installed the last section at the top of the arch, they had to jack the space wider to make it fit. Yikes!
Ulysses Grant was Abraham Lincoln's favorite general during the Civil War. Back when Grant fell in love with Julie Dent, he made a decision to say "I love you" and ask her to marry him. To reach her, he had to ride a horse across a swollen stream. They were nearly swept away, but they survived. He asked, and Julia said yes. They kept their decision to get married a secret for four years.

Springfield

At first Abraham Lincoln was a poor boy. He was born in a log cabin about the size of a living room. As a boy he was too poor to go to school so he educated himself by reading lots of books. When he had grown up, he tried to find a job. He ended up in Springfield, Illinois. He came into Mr. Speed's store and asked to buy a bed, mattress and sheets. They were too expensive! Mr. Speed said that Lincoln could stay with him until he had enough money to pay for the bed stuff.
Abraham Lincoln dated and married Mary Todd. He bought a house for them. They had four sons named Robert, Eddie, Willie and Tad.

On the way to Springfield

Tuesday, June 21

While we were driving, we listened to biographies about Abraham Lincoln and Daniel Boone. People were rude to Mr. Lincoln about his appearance. One little girl, Grace Bedell, tried to help. She wrote a letter telling him to grow a beard to make him look better. She told him that ladies like whiskers and that they would tease their husbands into voting for him. Lincoln took her advice! He was the first President to have a beard.
His assasin was John Wilkes Booth. Mr. Lincoln and his family were in the presidential box at a theater when he was shot.
A long time before that, Daniel Boone went past the Appalachian mountains and helped make Kentucky a state. He lived in Kentucky for many years. He even inspired a lot of authors to create adventure stories that were based on Daniel Boone's life.

Kansas City, Missouri

Today I went to the World War I museum. Russia, Great Britain and France were on the same side. Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Japan were their enemies. Turkey, America and China were pulled into the war, too. Let's think about the trenches. When soldiers were fighting from the trenches, it was very muddy and wet. When you stepped out of a trench, you would be shot dead from the other side. If a soldier died, they would identify him by the I.D. tag he wore. It was a very sad time.

Abilene, Kansas

President Eisenhower, before he became President, was one of six boys. He was general of the US Army and Allied Forces in World War II. He liked his privacy, like Harry S. Truman. When Eisenhower was President, the jobs came to him. He didn't even go looking for them. People liked him so much, they made signs that said "I Like Ike." They made Ike his nickname. He made the Highway system. He even made blacks and whites more even. He truly was an amazing man.

Cosmosphere, Hutchison, Kansas

Today I saw the fastest plane ever made! The words "US Air Force" were written on it. It was in the lobby of the museum. We got to watch a movie, a planetium show and a rocket show. Kendall (my little sister) and I got to stand next to a rug that had the sign for Apollo 13. We got to see the real Apollo 13 spaceship! Believe it or not, a lot of the planes there were from Russia. USA had the first person to walk on the moon.

Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, Kansas

Today I saw the beautiful Tallgrass Prairie. It had yellow and purple coneflowers. The waves from the wind looked like the sea. The birds sang beautiful songs.
We also saw the Brown vs. Board of Education place. When you enter, right in front of you are two boards. One says "White," the other says "Colored." It was because of segregation. White people were separated from black people, Japanese people, Chinese people! It was horrible!

Ft. Larned, Kansas

Hi, this is Kelsey. I'm excited to share my trip with you! My dad has assigned me this blog as writing homework! I like having him as my teacher.
Today I saw an army fort that was along the Santa Fe Trail. Fort Larned protected the Santa Fe Trail from angry Native Americans. Foot soldiers walked with each wagon, person or family. Back at the fort, life was not easy. The men had to wear wool long-sleeve shirt and pants with a wool coat on when they went outside. They had to sleep four men to a bunk, 2 men to a level!