Skyline From Kaw Point

 

Summer Sun On The City

 Sunset at Kaw Point. No nighttime shot as the skyscrapers are complete dark with the plague. 

Panorama of KC Skyline from Kaw Point.  Three images stitched together in Photoshop. Actual size 17 inches by 58 inches. 

The River In The Rain - And Other Stuff

Gray, drab day.  Went to Kaw Point to see the skyline in the rain.   Light rain above, heavy rain below.

     High buildings and low clouds.  Below, the whole area at Kaw Point is covered in mud from the high water levels this summer.. slick going. 

Above, the General Ashburn, twin screw towboat built in 1981.  105 feet long, 30 feet wide. 

Below, low clouds over the river looking north. 

 Above, train running along the levee.  This is below Quality Hill. Below, trains and cranes. 

 Below, one last shot after I decided I was wet enough. 

High, But Not That High

This morning the Missouri River at Kansas City, hit a crest of 36.4 feet.  Highest crest since 1993, when the crest was 48.9 feet.   Some pix below.... The only black and white is 1993.

Above, today, below July 1993.  Use the dome for comparison. 

The shot above show the Missouri River behind/north of the Downtown Airport and in front/south.

 Above, Kaw Point.   On this day, none of the Lewis and Clark statue is visible.

Flood Light

         The "Super" Full Moon last night just after rising over the Missouri River at Kaw Point.

End Of Day

              Boat retrieving from the Kaw River after sunset at Kaw Point Park in Kansas City, Kansas.

A Kaw Point Sunset (With Mars)

A view of the Kansas City skyline from Kaw Point in Kansas City, Kansas.  Mars is visible as the point of light over the Bartle Pylons.  

Summer/Winter Skyline

A summer view from Kaw Point with a full moon.

A winter view from Paseo Boulevard. 

Kaw Point Noir

Kaw point, center, with the Missouri River on the left and the Kaw River on the right.  Kansas City skyline in the center.  Cottonwoods in the foreground.  Below, same general view treeless. Lewis and Clark camped just a quarter mile to the left in this picture on their way west and their way back east.

Winter's Last Gasp

Kaw Point

Sunset Kaw Point

Ville Noir

KC once again from Kaw Point.

Frozen Kaw

Bald Eagle Along The Kaw

 Went down to the river today... the junction of the Missouri and the Kaw to photograph the ice floating by.  Happened upon what I at first thought was a large hawk... turned out to be a juvenile Bald Eagle.. It had just caught something, couldn't tell what, and was enjoying a leisurely early dinner.

Low Down On Kaw Point

 Went on a photog-safari today with some new friends.  Took them to Kaw Point.  Water is very low  
                                                 there too due to the on-going draught.

 All the bank showing in these pictures was under water last spring. Above, Kaw on the right, Missouri River on the left.

Above, Kaw River flowing into the Missouri River KC Skyline in the background.

River Low-Down

Saturday, while Lewis and Clarking, I noticed the river level was down somewhat.   Not too surprising with the drought.    Bank showing on the left with the wood pile is normally under  water with the tree-line being the river's edge..   Taken from Kaw Point in Kansas City, Kansas.

Lewis And Clark Return

The Lewis and Clark Discovery Expedition came back to Kaw Point this week and set up camp.  Authentic to the bone in dress, habits, tools, and boats the re-enactors started their voyage in Plattesmith, Nebraska and will return to their base in St. Charles, Missouri on October 1st.  Above is a cooking kettle and flag in the camp with the KC skyline in the background.   The Expedition leaves Sunday morning for Ft. Osage and after that moves on to Lexington and points east.

 The two pirogues tied up on the bank of the Kaw.   Their were three on the first voyage to start out.  They are much larger than I thought.  42 men were part of the original expedition.  These craft frequently had to be rowed or polled even though equipped with sails.  And often carried overland to avoid falls or other obstacles.    Next images Cole, in white garment, explains the use of the craft.

 Above, the large square engine (a modern requirement) is shown... below, Cole shows how the gear was stowed below decks.

 It's not to hard to imagine the scene above without the skyline.... then you have what they saw in 1804.

 Showing how the Captains kept their journals....

 Captain Lewis studied medicine under Dr. Rush in Washington for three weeks prior to the beginning of the voyage.  That training combined with his knowledge of herbal medicine he gained from his mother was all they had in the way of care on the whole trip.   The most serious medical emergency was when Captain Clark was wearing his animal skins and was accidentally shot in the buttocks by one of the crew (true).  He was eventually fine but had to travel on his stomach for a while.

 Above, surgical knife used for amputations.  One of the crew had to have some toes removed due to frostbite... but nothing more serious in the way of limb removal.   Below are some of the herbal treatments that they had.   Some had modern equivalents.  Peruvian Bark below was used to treat malaria... and just happens to naturally contain quinine...   When Sacajawea, their soon to be Indian guide, was having difficult labor at Ft. Mandan, Capt. Lewis was called upon to  aid her in some way.
He had heard from a trapper the rattle from a rattlesnake powered and put in liquid would help.  He instructed she be given that and it worked.    Modern analysis showed that the powder contains one of the same chemical compounds used today to induce labor.

 While the Expedition was essentially military in nature it was run by the Captains in a very democratic fashion with each member of the crew getting one vote... including York, the slave, and Sacajawea...
The first instance of voting by either in what would become the United States.


                          

 Making a "tinder nest" out of hemp.  Create a kind of bird nest, then, using flint and the proper steel create sparks until you get a small ember.  Put the ember in the tinder nest and close with your hands.  Blow on it gently until, voila, fire....

 Above, copperhead skin, below, rattle snake skin.  If you absolutely have to get bitten, choose the copperhead.

 The Mandan Indians were very helpful to the Expedition.  At Ft. Mandan the crew took on Charbonneau and his wife Sacajawea.   She was allowed to go along in order to help negotiate with her original tribe the Shoshone.   In fact her brother was the Chief.  She started on the journey with a 4-month old baby and made the journey, with child in tow, all the way to the west coast and back to Ft. Mandan.  Her daughter and son were taken to St. Louis and educated there.   She died, in only her twenties, just a few years after the expedition.