Oakley, Kansas

May 9, 2018

We planned our route from Oklahoma City to Denver so we could explore two things that interested us:  The Fick Fossil Museum and the Mingo Geocache.  We learned about Monument Rocks, about 20 miles away, and went there, too.

Fick Fossil Museum

Ernest and Vi Fick began collecting fossils, most of them from around their home, in 1964.

Vi incorporated many fossils into art projects.

One of their fossils, a 15-foot Xipactinus Audax, is considered to be the world’s largest mosasaur fossil.

Paddle from a Plesiaur from Kansas chalk beds. The scars on the humerus (the larger bone) were probably made by a mosasaur.

The obligatory mammoth fossil this time is a molar.

Bonus! Mastodon tusk.

Meschippus teeth.  Meschippus was a small, three-toed horse that lived about 30 million years ago.

The Fick’s collection was donated to the city of Oakley in 1972 and a museum was established to showcase the family’s findings and artwork.  The museum spans from prehistoric times through the 1930’s and now includes a variety of artifacts from other collections as well as items acquired by the Ficks.

Vi Fick carved the portrait above of herself and her husband Ernest.

This sod house was constructed for museum visitors.

This sod cutter was used from the late 1800’s until 1928. The former owners lived in several sod houses.

Replica of the Oakley train station and telegraph office.

One of the stories featured in the museum is that of Zelma Hurst Henderson, an African American woman who grew up in integrated schools in Colby and Oakley, Kansas.

Henderson’s school in northwest Kansas

Henderson (back row, left) and her classmates

Years later in Topeka, her son was bused across town although there was an elementary school within walking distance of his house.  She joined with other parents seeking to eliminate the long bus rides, eradicate the implication that African-American children were inferior to white children, and to provide experiences which would be a foundation for adults from different races working together.  Her case was combined with four other cases challenging the “separate but equal” standard in Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka.  In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation was harmful to black students and unconstitutional.  Henderson died in 2008 at the age of 88.  She was the last surviving plaintiff.

Speaking of schools, the museum displays a set of maps which took us back to our own elementary school classrooms.

The museum showcases varied collections.

Teapots

Horse-drawn vehicles carved in wood by a Oakley resident

Mingo Geocache

This cache was the seventh cache ever created an is apparently the oldest one still in existence.  It was placed May 11, 2000, and was the first in Kansas.  Its remote location and secure container have probably contributed to its longevity.  Dave logged it just two days short of its 18th anniversary.

Secure location

Dave’s find

We were impressed with the care taken in constructing this container for a cache down the road.

Here’s the gas station at the Mingo exit–self-pay pumps and absolutely nothing else.

Monument Rocks

We learned about these rocks and couldn’t resist driving the 25 miles to see them.  They are on private land but the owner allows access.  The U.S. Department of the Interior has designated them a National Natural Landmark.

They are 70 feet tall and are made of Niobrara chalk, formed 80 million years ago when the area was a vast inland sea.