Hey again everyone...

As I've told some of you, I live in Minnesota and have a lot of family down south (in Louisiana, to be exact). We'll be visiting them around Thanksgiving time and in order to get there we'll most likely be driving through Iowa. I was thinking about stopping by Duke's birthplace and museum and am wondering if any of you have ever been there. I've seen the website and the gift shop looks like fun, even if some of that stuff is just plain tacky!

http://www.johnwaynebirthplace.org/

It's not far off of I-35 so I feel like it'd certainly be worth the trip, even if it makes everyone else in my family groan... <_<

Definitely: Go there! The museum has lots of original stuff to showcase (one of the eyepatches, for example). But remember, the original house was razed. There was a picture in one old biography, the name of which just slipped my mind, and there was a picture of the old original house in it. And sometimes, when you stick around long enough, you hear the people of Winterset whisper that the house isn't the original one... Anyway, the people of Winterset are going out of their way to preserve the memory, and that alone is well worth the trip.

And while you're there, make sure to visit those old MADISON COUNTY BRIDGES. When I was there, the Eastwood flic wasn't made yet. And I didn't even bother to look at those old bridges! (but I remember the crossing in the middle of the town, which Eastwood used in the rainy climax).

Jen,

If you are going by there and you have the time, go. If I was in the area, I would be there in a minute, and try to make a day of it. Even though Duke was there as a baby, and young child, that was his birth home, and it does have a lot of history. Just imagine being a part of America in the early 20th century, and meeting the toddler that would change America and the world, and seeing his family who reared that child. I know that his mother was not considered mother of the year according to Duke, but wow. And to know that a museum about John Wayne. I'd be there if I was passing through. Maybe someday, but I don't go through Iowa that often.

Cheers, Hondo B)

Jen,

If you decide to go, please let us know all about it!

I would go in a heartbeat, if I had the opportunity (I don't expect any in the near future - it's a bit of a drive from California :rolleyes: ).

Chester

Thanks, all, for the encouragement. I'm definitely going to try to get there. And I was hoping there were some original items there, not just a gift shop and a rebuilt house laden with fake props. Glad to hear this is not the case! One of my guilty pleasures is the old "Little House on the Prairie" TV series (and the books), and a few years ago I visited the historical sites that are a few hours' drive from my house... the things that were the most fun to see were genuine items from the family history, as well as that old mantelpiece that stood over the family fireplace all those years on the TV show. An eyepatch would be great to see! p-| (there's my attempt at a Cogburn emoticon)

Hey, come to think of it, I wish Duke would've done a guest appearance on "Little House"... I realize he had lots bigger fish to fry, but he'd have been a natural fit. Johnny Cash was on there once, and Ray Bolger from The Wizard of Oz.

Ah well. Sorry for veering off-topic a bit. Another of my bad habits. ;)

hi jen,

i to have all of the books from little house on the prairie including the one found much later by her daughter and i too loved the series and like you duke would have fitted in with the times but maybe those that be thought that he might have stolen the day :lol: he was such a big man in more ways than one

cheers smokey

Yes, maybe Michael Landon's ego would have deflated in Duke's presence. (Can you imagine John Wayne with a hairdo like that?) ^_^

But thanks for adding your thoughts. Now I don't feel quite so dorky. :)

Jen,

Mrs. Chester feels compelled to add her two cents here.

During the last school year, I read the whole Little House set to my then 6 year old son - he LOVED it, and so did I. I would love dearly to visit some of the sites from that era and family, and hope to do so next summer. We're hoping to also add JW's birthplace to that trip as well, although I haven't looked at a map to see how feasible that would be (we live in California, I have family in NY, we have tons of friends and family in between, and I have a high school reunion coming up next year :blink: ). Maybe we'll get to visit you while we're at it!

Regarding Michael Landon's "hairdo," it seems that the Duke had quite a head of hair (albeit not his own) in Brannigan (same general time period, I think).

Fondly,

Mrs. Chester

mrs c,

thanks for the idea of reading the little house books to my son will have to dig them out of storage and do so i hope that he will enjoy them as your son did and we have done.

cheers smokey

Thanks, Mrs. Chester, for the warm thoughts! It would be a lot of fun to meet some fellow JW fans, and I'm sure I wouldn't mind a chance to visit some of the Little House sites again. Let me know if you have any specific questions as the time draws near for planning your trip. There was a place in southwestern Minnesota, not far from Walnut Grove, where a family set up a couple of old dugouts like the one the Ingalls family stayed in. It seems like a bit of a tourist trap, but it's actually really neat to see what life in a dugout would have been like. They're so tiny and dark! And in case you weren't aware of it, Almanzo Wilder's family lived in New York State and I believe there is a museum there that you may wish to visit.

Ah... I saw Brannigan. That was a big head of hair, but thankfully it didn't approach Landonesque proportions! B)

smokey and Jen,

The book I read to him before Little House was a book called Children of the Covered Wagon. Of course he was interested because of the cowboy/pioneer connection. When we finished that, I pulled out the Little House set. With my older kids, we made it halfway through By the Shores of Silver Lake and for some reason they got bored around that point, but with Christopher, we just breezed through that one and on through the rest of the whole set. Great reading, and The Long Winter and Little Town on the Prairie had some pretty exciting moments.

I did know that Almanzo's family was from New York, and Farmer Boy takes place there, but it is far north, near the border with Canada, and my family is from near New York City, so I don't expect we'll get there this trip. Someday, though . . . .

I figure Winterset is relatively on the way back to California, and would like to go there. I think it's baron or maybe dukefan1 who has something on his web site about JW related places to visit, so I'll be checking that out as the time draws closer.

Mrs. Chester

hi mrs c

thanks for the name of the first book, could you please let me know the authors name so i can find the book at the local lib. yes i did know almonzo's family came from ny state but till now didn't know where there they lived.

cheers smokey

smokey,

Here's the info on the first book that got us started - CHILDREN OF THE COVERED WAGON: A STORY OF THE OLD OREGON TRAIL By Mary Jane Carr. Illustrated by Bob Kuhn. Published in 1943.

If your library doesn't have it, it is available at Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0690189877/qid=1063430522/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/103-3127546-6530251?v=glance&s=books) and also on Ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3550671623&category=29189).

Some exciting chapters with a young boy captured by Indians and similar stuff. We really enjoyed it.

Mrs. C

thanks mrs c will give the library a try first then go from there

cheers smokey

Regarding little house on the praire. It is resonably popular over here I personally have never watched it but TV schedulers didn't realise its popularity and so decided some weeks not to show it and usually to show it out of sequence which is a sad way to treat a family favourite. This led to an outcry from LHOTP fans to the astonsihment of the schedulers I feel they may be thinking that the time has come to get their act together, and not before time.

:agent: