Coffeyville, Kansas and Still Sick

 Location: Walter Johnson Park CG; Coffeyville, Kansas

This campground is a city park loosely tied to a fairgrounds. There are two separate campgrounds. One is full hook-ups for $15.00 per night, which is a pretty good deal. The other, is the one I'm staying in and it is water/electric for $8.00 per night. Since I'm only here for two nights, I didn't need full hook-ups. They have a decent dump station and I may use it on the way out this morning. I'll make that decision after I hitch up and see how I'm feeling. When traveling quickly like I am, you take advantage of good dump stations because you never know what condition the one at the next campground may be. There are only three other sites occupied in my campground. One is an old bus that may actually be broke down. I haven't seen anyone around it since I got here. The other is a small bumper pull and the third is a "walker" in a small tent. I seen these people before and you probably have too. Most are not the beggars or "hey, Joe's" you see at intersection in the larger cities. The closest description would be like the old hobos/tramps from the 50's. They were the original freedom seekers who just wandered around the country, usually on freight cars. If you think about it, the only difference between the old hobos and current RV travelers, is the RV. I haven't talked to this guy so I don't know any of this for sure and freely admit making some wild assumptions based just on him sitting in front of his tent. He does have an extension cord going inside the tent. Possibly for a fan or to charge his devices. Oh well, to each their own. 

This should be the last road picture of Kansas since I'll be crossing into Oklahoma today.

Campsite with the small bumper pull in the background

The "walker" sitting in front of his tent. He did that for most of the day. Just sat there. 

I planned to come to this town and campground to explore the ending of the old Dalton Gang. I had heard of them since my childhood. They were an outlaw gang that robbed trains in Oklahoma. They got "too big for their britches" though and decided to rob two banks at the same time in their old hometown of Coffeyville. Well, that was a mistake. As the gang members were making their way to the banks, one of them was recognized by a towns-person. Word spread quickly that the banks were being robbed. This was in 1892 and most people were familiar with guns since the Civil War was still fresh in their minds. The banks were surrounded and when the Dalton Gang came out, they were shot down by the towns-people. When the shooting was over, four towns-people and all but one of the Dalton Gang had been killed. The surviving gang member was convicted and sent to jail for 14 years before getting paroled. After parole he went to Hollywood where he became a screenwriter. He died in 1937 at the age of 66. 

Most of these things I already knew but was interested in finding a museum or historical society to find out more. But since my sickness made me feel like crap and I'm trying to avoid people, I stayed close to Liberty for the two days I was here. 

The other thing I hoped to find out was if this park was named after the old baseball player, Walter Johnson. His birthplace is about 30 miles north of here, but I don't know if he had a direct connection with Coffeyville or not. He played ball back in 1907 to 1927. Many believe his fastball was the faster there ever was. An umpire from back then was asked if his fastball was fast, his replied was "I don't know, I close my eyes just like batter." Again, I was hoping to find out more about him on this trip, but I guess I'll just have to come back here some day.

Today is moving day and I'll be heading to a Corp of Engineers Campground near Eufaula, Oklahoma. 

It is also day 5 of my sickness. I still think it is Bronchitis. I seem to be getting better a little bit each day. My main symptom is still coughing up phlegm with a low grade fever (average 99.0) that comes and goes. Some secondary problems are associated with and caused by the coughing. Aches and pains from coughing hard. Since the coughing is getting less and less, I figure the secondary problems will be going away soon. Thanks to the women who virtually felt my head and said things will be OK. It helped.  

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.