Steep Learning Curve: A Tour of Iowa's State Capitol

 

There's nothing like a 97-step climb up steep stairs to make you appreciate a view.

From the top of the dome, you can see some of our group in the center quadrant of the photo.

The Iowa State Capitol was one of the tour stops during the National Master Farm Homemakers convention in Des Moines.  I'm the current president of the Kansas chapter, so it was part of the job description to attend.

However, the trek to the top of the dome was optional. And, at first, I thought I'd skip that part. 

But peer pressure is real - even among ladies of a certain age - so up the winding stairs I trekked. (Plus, Randy was going, too, and I didn't figure he'd take photos ... or wouldn't take photos to suit me.)

View down the stairwell from the top of the dome

Ultimately (once I'd caught my breath), I was glad I made the hike.

From the top of the dome, looking out at the flagpole

 The view was beautiful from bottom to top.

From the floor level

Looking up from floor level

The Iowa State Capitol was fashioned in the influence of Renaissance Revival, which looks to 15th century Italy for inspiration. This was a common architectural style for public buildings in the 19th century. It is the only five-domed capitol in the country. 

It may look like wallpaper (in the bottom right photo) but it's actually hand stenciled.

There's no shortage of fancy!

The law library - wow!

The staircase mural Westward (above) is a massive work that is “a symbolical presentation of the Pioneers led by the spirits of Civilization and Enlightenment to the conquest by cultivation of the Great West,” according to its artist Edwin H. Blashfield.

Directly above Westward is a series of six mosaic panels that depict Defense, Charities, the Executive, the Legislative, the Judiciary, and Education. (The one below is Defense.)

Above is a closeup of one of the mosaics. 

From that level, I looked across the way and saw a quote.

"Where law ends, tyranny begins."

It was just one of many quotes that made me think that day - and since that day.

I love words (obviously) and quotes. These were words that the people of that time thought were important enough to etch into one of the most iconic buildings in their state.

While the tour guide at the Iowa Capitol building was telling us all about the USS Iowa model, I looked up and saw this quote stenciled there:

 Nothing is politically right which is morally wrong. 

Daniel O'Connell (1775 - 1847), an Irish politician

 

Politicians today could stand to have that included in their oath of office. 

Other quotes stenciled onto walls or etched into plaques included:

Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.

Edward Everett, American statesman (1794 - 1865)

 **

 

No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue, and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.

Patrick Henry, Founding Father (1736-1799) 

**

Courageous confidence in the intelligence of the community is the sure sign of leadership and success.

 G.W. Curtis, American writer

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The ideal state – that in which an injury done to the least of its citizens is an injury done to all.

Solon, Greek philosopher

I couldn't help but think about those quotes again as I watched a Youtube video my sister, Darci, sent me last Saturday. It was about the Boatlift of 9-11, in which ferries, tugboats and private boats of all kinds and sizes came together to evacuate people from the island of Manhattan after the terrorist attacks.

Neither of us had ever heard about this endeavor. Compare it to Dunkirk, in which 339,000 British and French soldiers were evacuated in nine days during World War II. (There's been a movie made about that.) On 9-11, 500,000 people were rescued from Manhattan by boat in less than 9 hours. 

I paused the video a few times and wrote down quotes from some of the heroes who responded that day. They didn't look much like heroes. One looked a little rough around the edges with missing teeth. Another didn't have the physique that we've come to associate with our super heroes.

But they were heroes nonetheless:

"You forget all about what you're supposed to do, what they teach you at school, and you say, 'You know what? Morally this is the right way to go and deep down, this is what I'm going to do.' "

"When the American people need to come together and pull together, they will do it."

"I believe everybody has a little hero in 'em. You gotta look in, and it's in there. It'll come out."

As we were leaving our Capitol tour, I snapped a quick photo of the Capitol from the outside - and marveled that just a short time before, I was up in that dome and that flying American flag was the one in my photo from there.

I wrote the bulk of this blog post on 9-11. I decided I needed to quit watching TV midway through the morning because it just made me so sad. As I worked on the blog post, I edited the photos and saw the American flag in several of them. I again read the quotes that I was so struck by during the tour. I had liked them enough that I'd paused to pull my camera away from the glittering chandeliers and the mosaic floors and the opulent furnishings to "click" the words with my camera shutter.

In a world - and country - that seems increasingly divided, I hope we can take those words to heart - the words immortalized on grand buildings - like the Iowa Capitol - and those uttered from everyday heroes - those people who answered the call on 9-11.

I know they are worth remembering for me.

Kansas Staycation: Scott County

Our Kansas Master Farmer/Master Farm Homemaker group has made it a priority to Discover Kansas with a field trip each spring or summer. Even though many of us are lifelong Kansans, we haven't explored every nook and cranny of our home state. Discover Kansas gives us a chance to celebrate the beauty, history and industry of the Sunflower State.

Staycations" are a growing trend - a way to have a little holiday without spending a lot of time and money. After visiting Scott County with Discover Kansas, it could be one summer destination for a staycation. 

As I wrote in my last blog post, Scott County residents are investing in themselves. They've found ways to survive - and even thrive - in a volatile agricultural economy by thinking outside the proverbial box. They could be among the success stories found by authors James and Deborah Fallows in their recently-released book, "Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey Into the Heart of America."

Agriculture is still Scott County's "bread and butter," so to speak. It's 2nd in Kansas in total production agriculture and 32nd in the nation (2012 figures). It's a place with quality farm ground and also is a hub for animal agriculture, with 17 commercial cattle feeders, six commercial swine operations and one dairy.

But they've also found some value-added components to agriculture, including NuLife Market.

NuLife Market Founder and President Earl Roemer gave us a tour. Earl’s family has farmed in the western Kansas for four generations. For years, his family grew grain sorghum – also called milo – as a feed grain crop for livestock. But then Earl began exploring how sorghum could be a human food source, especially as more and more consumers wanted gluten-free products. Sorghum has no gluten.

He admits that the early grain sorghum products “tasted like cardboard and the texture was like sand.” In 2007, Earl founded NuLife Market in Scott City to produce and market sorghum-based products and sell sorghum ingredients to other food companies.

NuLife uses sorghum grown in the region, providing value-added opportunities for area farmers. And now NuLife supplies sorghum and sorghum products for companies like Kashi, Bear Naked, Go Lean and Annie's Organic, just to name a few. Their sorghum products can be found in more than a thousand products, such as gluten-free baked goods, cereal bars and snacks, represented by some 80 brands. Nu Life Market is shipping its products coast to coast and beyond.

Another business with a reach far beyond the county is the Spencer Flight Center, a pilot training center created as a memorial to Scott City residents Dylan and Amy Spencer ad their daughters, Chase and Ansley, who died in a crash of their private plane in 2011. It's equipped with the only full-motion flight simulator between Denver and Salina. The simulator gives pilots a chance to train on a Beechcraft A36, Beechcraft BE58, Cessna 172 and a Cessna 206 under varying weather conditions.

That evening, we had a prime rib dinner at the Majestic Theater Restaurant in downtown Scott City.  The theater was built in 1922 and was a theater until 1966. The restaurant features original interior components including a decorative ceiling, wall lighting and large wall tapestries.

Next stop was the  El Quartelejo Museum. It traces the history of the region through fossil discoveries to present day. Displays feature both Native American and pioneer history. Attached to the museum is the Jerry Thomas Gallery and Collection. The Scott City native now lives in Manhattan, but he opened the gallery in his hometown. His art and collection focus on Native American, Civil War, Indian War, cowboys and wildlife.

The next morning, we actually saw some of the history we first learned about at the El Quartelejo Museum when we toured Battle Canyon. It's where the last Indian battle in Kansas was fought in September 1878.

Punished Woman's Fork includes a monument which overlooks the cave, canyon and the bluffs where the Northern Cheyenne hid, waiting to ambush the Cavalry.

As usual, Randy had to explore the cave a little more closely. The cave sheltered the Cheyenne women and children during the battle.

The draw to the northwest was the escape route for the Cheyenne after the battle.

More Native American history was found at Lake Scott State Park. The El Cuartelejo Indian Pueblo is the 1664 reconstructed pueblo ruins of the Taos Indians, who were fleeing Spanish rule.

 

It was later used by the Picurie Indians in 1701. The ruins were discovered by Herbert Steele in the mid-1890s. In 1970, the Kansas Historical Society began excavation and restoration.

Lake Scott State Park includes natural springs, wooded canyons and bluffs.

 

The 1,020-acre park surrounds a 100-acre, spring-fed lake.

There's a building where some groceries are available, along with rental of canoes, paddle boats and some fishing and camping supplies.

 

 Its arches provided a perfect frame for photos of the lake. 

We also stopped at a new business in Scott County, the Bellwether Barn. Owner Susan Griffith told us that her daughters used to ask their dad to build them a barn for their weddings. Dad wasn't convinced, but it sparked an idea with mom. She finally convinced him and Bellwether Barn was built. And, yes, they have had a daughter get married there. So have a bunch of other couples from the area. It's also been a revue for meetings and conventions and has become another cog in the tourism of Scott County.

We also took a trip to Monument Rocks. More on that next time.  I'm planning to share several ideas for Kansas Staycations in upcoming blog posts.