| General Fiction posted September 20, 2020 | Chapters: |
...23 24 -25- 26... 
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Missouri loves company.
A chapter in the book Attack of the Fifty States
Attack of the 50 States:MissourI
by Bill Schott
My family drove out west when I was thirteen. We traveled across the northern states, passed through the western and southwestern one, and headed back north through the state of Missouri. Not coincidentally, I have come to this very state in my attack.
When I think of Missouri I typically think of Mark Twain. He gave us The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, a rollicking good, young man's tale of high jinks and adventure.. The story featured Tom, of course, and his best friend, Huckleberry Finn. Injun Joe and Aunt Polly were the adults of different extremes.
Eight years later, Twain wrote what readers thought was a sequel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The second novel, though humorous, was darker and did a hatchet job on the post Reconstruction era South. It was banned, at first, but eventually became what it considered the first fully American novel. It is the topic of debate still.
Now, I know I got off track there, but I really like those books, as well as A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, The Prince and the Pauper, and the rest.
I nowadays think of the movie The Outlaw Joesy Wales which involved a Missouri farmer who became a guerilla fighter for the South in the Civil War and chased by bounty hunters for war crimes afterward.
Back to our family trip though, we stopped at my aunt's home in St. Louis. My dad had not seen her in twenty years and I had never met her. She was very kind and welcoming, as I recall, and her husband reminded me of the actor Reginald Gardiner, with a pencil-thin mustache and Brylcream hair. Nice fellow.
The Gateway Arch had been completed recently, but the traffic, congestion, and likely, cost, to visit the six-hundred-and -thirty foot long and tall structure proved to be a deal breaker. Skipped it.
Jesse James was born in Missouri and became a famous train robber after the Civil War. The James Gang was both notorious and idolized by poor folks who felt the men were a kind of modern Robin Hood bunch.
James Gang ...... Joe Walsh ...... Eagles ........ Hotel California
Random? Sure.
Spirit of St. Louis
Meet Me in Saint Louis, Louie
Going to Kansas City
Last summer, my wife and I visited Branson, Missouri. We saw a few shows, but the Sight and Sound Theater had a mammoth production of Samson. It's a 240 degree, moving stage with a multimedia presentation.
I'm sure I missed some Missouri highlights, or, more likely, most of them. Best I can do is try and give Montana a better deal.
My family drove out west when I was thirteen. We traveled across the northern states, passed through the western and southwestern one, and headed back north through the state of Missouri. Not coincidentally, I have come to this very state in my attack.
When I think of Missouri I typically think of Mark Twain. He gave us The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, a rollicking good, young man's tale of high jinks and adventure.. The story featured Tom, of course, and his best friend, Huckleberry Finn. Injun Joe and Aunt Polly were the adults of different extremes.
Eight years later, Twain wrote what readers thought was a sequel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The second novel, though humorous, was darker and did a hatchet job on the post Reconstruction era South. It was banned, at first, but eventually became what it considered the first fully American novel. It is the topic of debate still.
Now, I know I got off track there, but I really like those books, as well as A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, The Prince and the Pauper, and the rest.
I nowadays think of the movie The Outlaw Joesy Wales which involved a Missouri farmer who became a guerilla fighter for the South in the Civil War and chased by bounty hunters for war crimes afterward.
Back to our family trip though, we stopped at my aunt's home in St. Louis. My dad had not seen her in twenty years and I had never met her. She was very kind and welcoming, as I recall, and her husband reminded me of the actor Reginald Gardiner, with a pencil-thin mustache and Brylcream hair. Nice fellow.
The Gateway Arch had been completed recently, but the traffic, congestion, and likely, cost, to visit the six-hundred-and -thirty foot long and tall structure proved to be a deal breaker. Skipped it.
Jesse James was born in Missouri and became a famous train robber after the Civil War. The James Gang was both notorious and idolized by poor folks who felt the men were a kind of modern Robin Hood bunch.
James Gang ...... Joe Walsh ...... Eagles ........ Hotel California
Random? Sure.
Spirit of St. Louis
Meet Me in Saint Louis, Louie
Going to Kansas City
Last summer, my wife and I visited Branson, Missouri. We saw a few shows, but the Sight and Sound Theater had a mammoth production of Samson. It's a 240 degree, moving stage with a multimedia presentation.
I'm sure I missed some Missouri highlights, or, more likely, most of them. Best I can do is try and give Montana a better deal.
When I think of Missouri I typically think of Mark Twain. He gave us The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, a rollicking good, young man's tale of high jinks and adventure.. The story featured Tom, of course, and his best friend, Huckleberry Finn. Injun Joe and Aunt Polly were the adults of different extremes.
Eight years later, Twain wrote what readers thought was a sequel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The second novel, though humorous, was darker and did a hatchet job on the post Reconstruction era South. It was banned, at first, but eventually became what it considered the first fully American novel. It is the topic of debate still.
Now, I know I got off track there, but I really like those books, as well as A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, The Prince and the Pauper, and the rest.
I nowadays think of the movie The Outlaw Joesy Wales which involved a Missouri farmer who became a guerilla fighter for the South in the Civil War and chased by bounty hunters for war crimes afterward.
Back to our family trip though, we stopped at my aunt's home in St. Louis. My dad had not seen her in twenty years and I had never met her. She was very kind and welcoming, as I recall, and her husband reminded me of the actor Reginald Gardiner, with a pencil-thin mustache and Brylcream hair. Nice fellow.
The Gateway Arch had been completed recently, but the traffic, congestion, and likely, cost, to visit the six-hundred-and -thirty foot long and tall structure proved to be a deal breaker. Skipped it.
Jesse James was born in Missouri and became a famous train robber after the Civil War. The James Gang was both notorious and idolized by poor folks who felt the men were a kind of modern Robin Hood bunch.
James Gang ...... Joe Walsh ...... Eagles ........ Hotel California
Random? Sure.
Spirit of St. Louis
Meet Me in Saint Louis, Louie
Going to Kansas City
Last summer, my wife and I visited Branson, Missouri. We saw a few shows, but the Sight and Sound Theater had a mammoth production of Samson. It's a 240 degree, moving stage with a multimedia presentation.
I'm sure I missed some Missouri highlights, or, more likely, most of them. Best I can do is try and give Montana a better deal.
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