Dalton Gang Museum - Coffeyville, MS

We have been wanting to go to this museum since we saw the Dalton Gang Hideout last summer (http://thefarmerandthesouthernbelle.blogspot.com/2013/07/dalton-gang-hide-out-meade-kansas.html) There was so much memorabilia and I actually got to look at it since Merritt naped through most of it! ;)

the famous pic of the Dalton Gang after they were killed in the raid at Coffeyville..they tried to rob two banks at once and failed!

the gun from the pic..

one of the bullet holes from the bank doors

the original bank doors

recreation on the pic...we had never noticed the little boy peeking through the fence before!

the original bank vault

one of the banks..the other burnt down

the jail

somebody had to tee-tee!! :)

A Little Stalking!!

As I was looking at the the atlas to figure out how to get to our next spot, I saw Pawhuska on the map, and let out a little scream! This of course is very near where the Pioneer Woman lives and the town where she is restoring the building! So of course we had to go there and do a little stalking!!

their ranch sign!

we drove by the building and the doors were all open and there was this table with a huge stack of her cook books! I kept waiting for her to come out but she never did!! hehehe!

the building...sorry for the windshield, but I wasn't going to look like an even bigger creeper by getting out to take pics! ha!

Pawhuska!!

had to get a shot of the little grocery store where she films!

101 Ranch - Marland, OK

There isn't much left to see at the famous 101 Ranch, but if you close your eyes you can just imagine how fabulous it used to be! After the depression it didn't last much longer then got sold off by the government, and to add insult to injury was torn down! Soo sad!! Seeing all the rubble and placards of where things used to stand, just made me wonder why anyone would tear down such a rich piece western history, so my Daddy bought me a huge book about it!! Now if just need to find time to read :)

in addition to the huge ranch, diary, orchard, cider mill, packing plant, tannery, blacksmith, gas station, hotel, cafe and general store, they had a Wild West Show!!

tourist!! :)

they had a bear that was used for the Wild West show, and this was where he hibernated in the winter...Of course Merritt had to act like a bear!!

old silo

they had their own power plant that provided electricity for the whole ranch

this used to be the HUGE house, called the White House! Presidents and all sorts of famous people stayed there!

Pawnee Bill Ranch - Pawnee, OK

This was our first stop on our road trip back to Iowa! It was super fun and Merritt was obsessed with the buffalo! We had a little picnic when we got there, then toured the entire grounds...loved it!!

the tower was very high up, and I was freaking out!!!

I'm obsessed with old wild west show posters (even picked up a few new prints while I was there!) so this big poster that had been painted on the side of a barn was the highlight of my trip!! It had been covered up over the years and was recently discovered when they were demolishing the barn, that had since been turned into a pharmacy! It was in amazing condition!! Wish I could discover something like this on our farm!!!

loving the kids play area! Not sure if I updated yall on this big boy, but he is potty trained!! Soo proud!! :)

so blessed to have these boys in my life!! :)