Nevada Missouri and the Bushwhacker Museum

We left last Sunday after the family reunion and drove to St. Louis, MO which was the halfway point to Nevada, MO.  We got to see the Arch from the highway on our way to the motel. We were trying to outrun a bad storm so we didn't stop for pictures. Then the next morning we left for another 4 hour trip which would take us to Nevada, MO. The hotel was about a block from Rocketman's plant so I dropped him off Monday morning and decided to do some exploring.  I found these really cool murals in downtown Nevada.

 The only shopping was a Walmart which was sad because the actual downtown district was so beautiful with cute little storefronts mostly abandoned. I did find a museum which was under the library and decided to visit that. I'm a sucker for history so a museum was right up my alley.

A gentleman greeted me and introduced himself as the curator. He invited me to watch a 12 minute history of Nevada where I learned all about the Bushwhackers.  They played an important role in the Civil War which also led to the town of Nevada being burnt to the ground May 23, 1863 by Union forces.

                     These two pictures are wedding gowns that were donated to the museum.

                                                    This is a view of the museum.

 Dr. Hornback's family donated what looked like their entire household. It was like a step back in time.

There were also several donations by other doctors.

                                  I even found some Indian trade beads. I thought they were so cool!

                                  Lots of uniforms from all the wars were donated.

                       Even some wooden sandals from Japan from a U.S. solder.

This one really got to me. I wondered if that was how Mrs. Marquardt was informed that her husband had been hurt in the war. It seemed really cold to me but it was probably the best they could do at the time. I could not imagine receiving a postcard like this about Rocketman.

This is the artificial arm the Mr. Marquardt wore until from 1945 until his death in 2002.

So many wonderful things and when I finished, the curator asked if I wanted to see the jail which was a block away. Of course, I said yes and he got the keys to the jail and off we went. It was about a block away. More about that tomorrow.