Kansas day trip, part 2

 We left the town of  Victoria, drove south 6 miles and west 2 to  find the George Grant Villa.  Mr. Grant was a wealthy Scotsman who purchased 80,000 acres of land from the Kansas Pacific Railroad in 1872.

Mr. Grant wanted to colonize the area with Scotsmen and Britons and build his own empire.  He named the town Victoria in honor of the Queen of England.  His colonists were mostly wealthy young men.  In 1873, 38 men, women and children arrived along with several head of black and red Angus cattle.


These gentlemen farmers from "across the pond" found Kansas pioneer life too difficult so most returned to a more civilized life.  The Villa, where Grant lived and died still stands and is privately owned.

We drove further south to the town of Pfeifer where another beautiful church stands.

 When you enter, there are these stairs to the right.  We climbed the creaky steps to the balcony.

 Such magnificent buildings these pioneers built!  I don't believe modern architecture can compete.

Beside the church is an old two-story schoolhouse.  In 1904 there were 150 students!   The current population of Pfeifer is 68.

 We then drove west out of town on a dirt road - Schoenchen Road - to the cemetery.

Like the grave site at Victoria, you again can see the artistic grave markers that are unique to the German-Russian immigrants who were buried here over 100 years ago.  There are 50 iron crosses.

 Most of these are in the German language.

It is interesting to see the inscription of "Wife of....." on several markers.

Going further west on this dirt road, you come to the Smoky Hill Bluffs.  Lots of limestone was quarried from this area and built the churches, schools and homes in the area.

We continued our adventure, driving on various roads and coming across more very interesting Kansas locations.  Continued on next post....