The drive was an uneventful one from Branson to St. Joseph. The RV park I chose was not the greatest choice, I don't think I checked on Google Maps as to what the place looked like. Our site, although good, is too close to the highway.
With a beautiful day we were not going to waste it, so we hit a few museums nearby. The museums we visited were all in walking distance of one another.
These were fancy stagecoaches, nothing like the Butterfield service running the southern route of the United States. If you have watched enough westerns, you would have stages used by the Butterfield line... rough, dusty ride at best. However, the Central Overland Express was a little more Luxurious.
Leather shock absorbers. They ran front to back on each side, making the ride a little less rough... but it was still a dusty ride. I hear you... what did it cost? A trip from St. Joseph to Sacramento which was 1,917 miles, taking 17 days and 15 hours, and $2.00 a day for meals. All this for a mere $155.00.
Lookin' good in 1858.
Today it's still lookin' good.
In 1860 the hotel was the head office for the Pony Express.
Russell, Majors, and Waddell took a chance creating the Pony Express; many said it would fail, primarily because of weather over the mountains. The route was about 2,000 miles, stretching from St. Joseph Missouri to Sacramento California; relay stations were built 15 to 20 miles apart; home stations were built every 90 to 120 miles apart; over 400 horses were bought; over 200 riders were hired to ride the route; mail delivery took 10 days. The Pony Express was a temporary mail service while telegraph services were being completed from St. Joseph to California.
This was the basic office for the Pony Express. It has been said that the riders would enter the door and pick up the mail... this was done while on their horse.
This is probably hard to see, it is a map of the Pony Express route.
The area was first settled as a trading post by Joseph Robidoux, for the American Fur Company, in 1826. Later in 1843, he acquired the site and laid out a town, and named it after his patron saint.
St. Joseph has a lot of history connected to it. If you remember your history lessons, it was a gateway to the west. People heading west over the Oregon-California trail left from here.
By 1859, the first railroad, Hannibal and St. Joseph crossed Missouri. In 1862 the first railway postal car was used. What is the big deal... the postal car was developed by a St. Joseph resident, W.A. Davis.
St. Joseph was the birthplace of the Pony Express, the answer to a need for quicker mail delivery. The service only lasted from 1860 to 1861. It's life came about through the owners of the Central Overland California & Pikes Peak Express Company stage company.
The Central Overland California & Pikes Peak Express Company had the central route from St. Joseph to Sacramento for the taxi service.
First stop was the Patee House, built in 1858. Originally built as a luxurious hotel, later in served many other purposes. It was a hotel three times, a women's college twice, and a shirt factory for 80 years. During the Civil War it was the home of the U. S. Provost Marshal's office
Missouri was considered a Confederate state, and by 1865 John Patee, owner and builder was short on cash, so he disposed of his hotel worth $180,000.00, via lottery. He had to buy the last 100 tickets for the hotel to be sold. The funny thing about it... he won the lottery... the hotel was his again.
During the time of Indian attacks in 1860, a rider made a historic trip of 380 miles between stations that had not been burned by Indians. He did it because another rider refused to change out because of the dangers. Another was killed one night when his horse stumbled over an ox laying in the road, flipping the rider, the rider being crushed by his horse. All this fun for $25.00 a month.
Shall we move on. The Patee House had so much more to offer. On one side of the first floor are representations of businesses, on the other side is art work representing legends of the west.
Barber shop of the day. The plumbing to the sink is a "what's wrong with this picture".
Need some medication for the aches and pains of the day.
The local post office, using high tech equipment. Look at the cash register in the background.
A register ahead of its time. This machine could total nine departments, five kinds of transactions, and totals for eight salespeople, each salesperson had their own drawer.
Banking was state-of-the-art also. You will notice they were equipped with an alarm system... and there is no ATM, customers had to actually talk to a teller because there was no other option to complete a transaction.
During this era banks printed their own currency.
Finally the Federal government created the Federal Reserve, making our money unified.
They also had an optometrist, mercantile store, and police station.
There was a lot more to see on that side, but we are going to walk over to the other side, the one full of legendary folk of the west.
The paintings are on plywood, rendered from photographs from that era. 
Belle Starr; she opened her home to outlaws. Her husband was the outlaw Sam Starr.
Doc Holiday; died of TB; most famous for standing with the Earps at O.K. Corral.
Judge Roy Bean; former trader, bartender, smuggler; dished out frontier style justice from his saloon.
What about the infamous members of western legacy.
Jesse James. At age 28 he was at his peak as a robber and killer. He died in St. Joseph.
Zerelda Mimms James. Married to Jesse James. Her and Jesse courted for nine years before they married. They had two children. She was at home with the children when Jesse was killed.
Frank James. Rode with Jesse's gang for awhile.
Suzan James. Her only brush with the law was being arrested by Northern soldiers as a Southern sympathizer.
Reverend Robert James; father of the James siblings; frontier preacher, educator, farmer.
Robert Ford. This young man was responsible for the death of his friend Jesse James.
Goes to show that know matter how much you teach children, when they get older, they will make their own choices. The Civil War helped to shape the James brothers as well. Frank and Jesse were part of Confederate guerillas, riding with William Quantrill. After the war they continued to rob and kill.
We continued upstairs to look at some of the rooms of the original hotel days. 
This was the grand ballroom in its heyday, after that it was used as a shirt factory. During the Industrial Era the factory produced shirts and overalls. In WWII they produced 2.5 million Army uniforms. Life of the factory lasted from 1883 to 1957.
The ballroom held dances for the Pony Express riders, and court for treason cases... those convicted were hanged outside on the street.
The next room was a variety of exhibits from a Civil War flag to coffins.
This gallow was part of the Buchanan county jail built in 1908. The gallow was never used though, hangings were outlawed in 1915.
This buggy was owned by a colonel who fought in the Confederate Army. Colonel Gates was a fighter/survivor. He was captured three times, wounded five times, three horses shot out from under him. His third escape was from a Union train... jumping head-long out the door.
Growth of the light bulb.
If one ends up in one of these, they need a way home.
Pick up and delivery service provided. Usually hearses were black.
The next room was an homage to trains.
Around the trains were exhibits of performers of the past... magicians, ventriloquists, puppeteers. The other side of the room showed off doll houses. I was most intrigued with one made from thread spools.
The doll house was made by an employee of the R.L. McDonald shirt factory. The spools came from the factory.
How 'bout we get swept away into the next room.
How many people have electric cars today? electric cars were not a new idea, they were makin them in the early 20th century.
The electric car manufacturer produced the vehicle for multiple seasons... warm, and cold. The above photo is the "winter top" for their cars. You think our current charging systems are bulky for an electric car... they're space savers by comparison to a 1908 charging station.
Ladies, cooking was never simpler back in the day. I have listened to women say, "I hate cooking with gas", or " I don't like electric, the heat is uneven". The problem has been around for centuries.
OKOKOK, we'll look at rooms now.
The photo above is the bridal suite.
How 'bout we get swept away into the next room.
How many people have electric cars today? electric cars were not a new idea, they were makin them in the early 20th century.
OKOKOK, we'll look at rooms now.
There was tragedy in the hotel.
What makes these two rooms and staircase so important... the rooms were home for Henry Corbett, the Night Watchman for the hotel.
The staircase was his demise. One night he fell three floors to his death, he had vertigo.
Guest what, we are moving out to see something else. In the third leg of the first floor is a train, train station, and a carousel.
The engine and tender car weigh in at 126,490 pounds, the engine alone weighs 93,960 pounds.
What's a train without a station, they brought one in.
Waiting room.
Office. This was only a part of the office, the piece contained lost and found. There have been some memorable things left behind.
Someone forgot their 1,050 pound ball of twine.
Trains had their own way to communicate, using bells and whistles.
We didn't take pictures of the carousel, the space was too small. The carousel is operational, and tickets can be bought when an attendant is present.
A little more information can be found at:
http://ponyexpressjessejames.com.
The carousel is the exit point to the Jesse James house.
This is the house that Jesse, Zerelda, and their two children lived to the day of his death. The home was originally located a few blocks from its current location. The house set up on a hill, so Jesse could see what may come his way. they moved the house so the hill could be leveled.
Jesse's unfortunate demise came at the cost of a crooked needlepoint. The front door of their house was open, Jesse was unarmed, standing on a chair when the young man Robert Ford was passing by. Robert was a friend of Jesse, and killed him with a gun Jesse gave him as a gift.
This was the needlepoint Jesse was straightening when he was shot. Underneath the needlepoint is the bullet hole (over the years people picked at the bullet hole).
Past the livingroom we step into the first bedroom, a bit macabre, it was turned into an exhibit of the exhumation of Jesse's body. 
Artifacts from the exhumation of Jesse James. They found a bullet that appeared to come from when he was wounded by Union army soldiers. If this appears macabre, let's move to the next exhibit.
You are reading it right... castings of Jesse's skull and teeth.
A short walk down the street, and we entered the Pony Express Museum. Information available at: https://www.ponyexpress.org.
The self guided tour starts with a video. After the video visitors meander over to the station 1, and get ready for the first Pony Express rider, (believed to be Johnny Frye), to leave the stable.
Most of the stations have audio, some are interactive. The museum is a recreation of the original Pony Express stable, and built on the original sight. There is a section of the museum floor open to archeological digs of the original stable. One of those inactive stations is a functioning well... looked like its from the original station.
Pumped the handle, and water went to the trough.
There were dioramas depicting the territory the riders had to go through on the route. Imagine yourself in a saddle for 10 to 12 hours, riding at break neck speed, stopping long enough to change horses... again, this is for $25.00 a month.
Here is their nicely padded saddle they virtually lived in.
There is a section dedicated to the riders, with a little story to tell about some of them.
The oldest surviving Pony Express rider lived to the ripe age of 104, passing in the 1940s.
Visitors can easily spend two to four hours in this museum. Having gone through the three museums, it was time to head to lunch, then home; and that's what we did.
Carol has a cousin that lives in the area, so we went to visit them on Sunday. They invited us to the church they attend, and it was nice to socialize with other humanoids... keeping a safe distance of course, and a mask.
Here was the surprise, we had to drive to Kansas for the park service. 
Surprise number 2, it was a Korean church.
Preacher.
Interpreter. No I did not get names, it wouldn't help for the short while we were there. His lesson spoke of salvation, preaching from Genesis, and Revelation.
Surprise number 2, it was a Korean church.
After service and lunch, Anna set up shop for face painting, the children loved it... so did I.
They were very warm people, accepting us without question or concerns. It was enjoyable to walk down to the lakes shore and watch the children and adults catch fish... the sheer excitement of catching a fish, size did not matter to them.
We stayed until Anna finished painting faces, then it was time to say good-bye to Jack, Anna, and their son Jeremiah. We needed to get back home and prep for departure.
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