A Walk to the Top of Taum Sauk Mountain - The Highpoint of Missouri

Taum Sauk Mountain, Taum Sauk Mountain State Park, Missouri
October 14, 2016

The Mina Sauk Falls trail head starts at a graveled parking lot,
making it a short walk to the top of Taum Sauk Mountain.

The Taum Sauk Mountain highpoint is on the way to Mina Sauk Falls.

A 1,000-foot long concrete sidewalk leads you from the parking lot to the Missouri highpoint.

At the end of the sidewalk is the highest point of natural elevation in the state of Missouri.

"Climb" is not the most accurate verb describing
how you get to the top of Taum Sauk Mountain.

The highpoint of Missouri has a boulder, marble tablet,
trail register, and a bench to rest after the "climb".

In 1991 the Missouri Association of Registered Land Surveyors identified the top of Taum Sauk Mountain as the highest elevation of Missouri at 1,772.68 feet above mean sea level.

Google aerial image of the highpoint of Missouri (blue diamond) on top of Taum Sauk Mountain, showing the route of the sidewalk from the parking lot to the highpoint.

A Tripoint by the Side of the Highway

Southwest City, Missouri
October 15, 2016

The AR-MO-OK Tripoint

The location where the boundaries of the states of Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma meet is an easy place to get to. It is next to a highway with three numbers — Oklahoma State Highway 20, Arkansas Highway 43, and Missouri Route 43 — and across from the Corner Stone Station and convenience store.

Since it was easy to get to the tripoint, I will take the easy route in providing some facts about this state tripoint.

• This state tripoint was officially established in 1907 when Oklahoma was admitted as a state.
• The roots of the future state tripoint go back to the early 1800s when the east-to-west and north-to-south boundary lines were set.
• The east-to-west boundary line was established in 1819 when the Arkansas Territory was created, thereby separating it from the Missouri Territory. This boundary was set at 36 degrees 30 minutes, which later became prominent as part of the Missouri Compromise of 1820.
• The north-to-south boundary line was established in 1821 when Missouri was admitted as a state. The north end point of this boundary line was set at the mouth of the Kansas River as it enters the Missouri River (known as the Kawsmouth) and proceeded approximately 180 miles directly south to the east-to-west boundary between Missouri and Arkansas where it became the southwest corner of Missouri.
• In 1823 a monument stone was set at Missouri's southwest corner. Although the monument is weathered and difficult to read, you can still see "Misr 1823" on its north side and "Ark" on the south side.
• The Ozark Culture Club in 1915 memorialized the tripoint by constructing a concrete cuboid on the spot. The 1823 monument was placed in the center of the top of the cuboid.
• The local Lion's Club refurbished the tripoint in 1955 by adding a concrete pedestal and a circular concrete skirt surrounding the tripoint. The skirt shows the state boundaries as they meet at the tripoint with figures of the states in their right location.

View to north on Highway 43
Tripoint is on left (west) side of highway

Thee 1823 Monument Stone of the Southwest Corner of Missouri

View to east with Oklahoma is in the foreground, Missouri in the left
background, and Arkansas in the right background

Unbelizable! Crossing Belize to Climb a Ruin

Xunantunich, Cayo District, Belize
April 13, 2016

Xunantunich. Before we proceed on our crossing of Belize, I should provide some guidance on how to pronounce Xunantunich since I will be saying it a lot. Although it is a modern name, Xunantunich is a Mayan word meaning “maiden of the rock” or “stone woman”. Since not many people outside Mexico and Central America know how to pronounce Mayan words and letters, the locals provide an English phonetic spelling: “Shoo-nahn-too-nitch”. Say it a few times, and it starts to flow off your lips.

I came to Belize by way of a cruise ship. The previous day we docked in Cozumel, Mexico, but after a half-hour there, I was not a gracious guest and left all of the contents of my stomach on the beach. I high-tailed it back to the ship, and spent the next 12 hours relieving myself of all the other contents in my gastrointestinal system. We were scheduled to reach Belize the next morning, and I had already booked an offshore excursion to visit one of the Mayan ruins in the country. I had not yet had the opportunity to see some Mayan ruins, and this was on my bucket list of things to see and do. I had this opportunity to check off this item, and I doubted that I would ever have another opportunity.  

Remembering Luther Latham, A Man Worthy of a Highway

Mathiston, Mississippi
August 6, 2016

memorial: something (such as a monument or ceremony) that honors a person who has died or serves as a reminder of an event in which many people died.
(Source: Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary)

On my way home to Texas from Kentucky, I was traveling along the Natchez Trace Parkway and making small detours to find Natchez Trace monuments placed by the Mississippi Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution in the early 20th century. I found one placed in Mathiston along US Route 82, but what caught my eye was the marble sign next to it. It simply read:

Luther Latham

Memorial Highway

Senator

Webster County

1928 — 1931