Today we are back on the trail of the Turner migration. In the postcard collection from this time, there were many postcards addressed to them in Seward, Kansas. They lived & worked in this area for approximately 10 months, from July 1911 through April 1912 (based on the dates on the postcards). There were also a few cards forwarded to Great Bend, KS and Dodge City, KS.
Starting in Dodge City, we traced their route in reverse (as much as is possible with today's road system). It was fascinating to watch the landscape change as the miles rolled by, and to wonder what the Turners thought as they moved their family through this country. There were highway markers indicating that the road we followed was part of the Santa Fe Trail "back in the day".
One interesting thing that we saw along the road that didn't exist in 1912 was a "wind farm" or large group of wind generators.
Even more interesting than the wind generators was the experience of meeting semi trucks, each hauling one of the huge
blades for a wind generator.
We entered the little village of Seward, KS about lunchtime. It is a
tiny village with dirt streets. There were no businesses in Seward
except some huge grain elevators.
Most of the houses were well cared for, but there weren't very many of them.
There were a few boarded up businesses, a Village Hall and a large Catholic Church which was the nicest building in town.
As we were driving this day, the wind was blowing fiercely, in the 30+
mph range. We were somewhat surprised to see dirt blowing from the
farmland, much as it did in MT before strip farming and chemical fallow.
We were very happy to be off the road when we pulled into our campground in Wichita!
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