Originally posted 7/1/07 on my blog “I also Live on a farm”
I’m going to repost it here because this is what this new blog is devoted to
Old Military Road Field Research Begins In Earnest
What an awesome day we had today. I literally felt like I stepped back in time. We spent the day looking for traces of the 160 yr old Military road route that I hope to retrace by foot in 2008.
Today we hit paydirt. We discovered a plaque on a tavern wall that said “Site of Tim Fanning’s Log Tavern Terminus of the Old Military Road from Dubuque to the Northern Boundary of Missouri” From there we followed an old map that led us out of town. Something caught my eye as we made our way through the back streets so I turned the car around. There along side the road was a very old horse hitching post and set of stone steps used to unload stagecoaches. (see attached photo). I have 1 year to identify as much of the original 100 mile route as I can. I plan to write a book about my adventure, pulling together both stories of life in Iowa from 1839 to 1939 and what went into researching my trip in 2008. A former teacher of mine is as passionate about this slice of Iowa history as I so she has agreed to join us on some monthly field trips as we research high and low for clues. I felt today like I was reliving Journey To The Center Of The Earth , instead of following in the foot steps of A.S. we are following in the footsteps of people who walked where we walked 150 yrs ago, when stage coaches and pioneer wagons were the mode of transporation, when Elk and buffalo still roamed our area.
Here again is part of my reason for doing this:
The older I get, the more I recognize the value of a balanced life. There is more to life than $. This walkabout combines local history, exercise, adventure, intrigue, the opportunity to meet new people, and a wealth of research to work on over the Winter months as I would prepare for September 2008.
Today definitely had elements of intrigue, history, adventure, and a chance to spend some quality time with a former teacher . As always, thanks for reading. DM
[...] Post # 14 Field Trip to Dubuque/ More about Tim Fanning Saturday November 10th found us heading Northward, back to the Dubuque area as I continue to explore local history. I’ve been reading Dubuque: Frontier River City 35 historical sketches and have come across a couple of entries pertaining to a Tim Fanning. That is the same name on the Log Tavern originally located at the beginning of the Old Military Trail in Dubuque. I wrote about it here [...]