McCoy Library

Annie and I went to the McCoy Library in McLeansboro, Illinois. We traveled 58.4 miles to the small town of McLeansboro, which is the town that I was raised in. The McCoy Library is located on the southwest corner of the square. It was constructed as a private dwelling in 1884 by Aaron G. Cloud. Mr. Cloud, a banker, built this house directly next to his bank, which is now used as a Peoples National Bank. This house is beautiful! The house has a total of nine fireplaces and each fireplace has its own unique style. The Clouds were very wealthy people who traveled to many different countries bringing back several ideas that can be seen throughout their house. After Mr. Cloud's death, the house was willed to his daughter Mary E. Cloud who later married Chalon Guard McCoy. Mary and Chalon never had any children, so after they had past away the house was given to the city of McLeansboro to be used as a library for the city of McLeansboro. More information can be found at http://www.carolyar.com/Illinois/Misc/McCoy.htm. All together Annie and I traveled 116.80 miles.

Paying Respect to Ol' Boomer- 9.95 Miles

I had an exciting weekend! I had planned a trip to see the Gateway Arch in St. Louis but my trip was unfortunately canceled due to the ice and snow. :( Instead I traveled to see the grave site of ol' Boomer. Boomer's grave is located on Makanda Road at the rail road intersection. Boomer was a fast ol' dog. He was so fast that he competed in a race on September 2, 1859 against an Illinois Central train! The train caught fire and Boomer tried to save the day. Boomer is a famous dog. In Southern Illinois he is more famous than Lassie or Rin Tin Tin! After visiting Boomer's grave, I went to have lunch at the Giant City Lodge. The ride to the lodge from Makanda was very exciting. When I got home, I was ready for a nap. I am very excited about my next adventure!


To read more about Boomer go to the following website http://www.arkatipe.com/pmwiki.php?n=News.Boomer

Cowdog Annie's total mileage

Even though the ice and snow has put a damper on Little Annie's travels, she is nearing the 1000 mile mark. Her trip mileage is 948.10. She can't wait to see where she is going next!

St. Anne's Episcopal Church

Howdy folks. Annie saddled up and headed South to Anna, Illinois. There were many historic locations to see in this area but Annie really wanted to stop at the historic St. Anne's Episcopal Church. This historic building is the oldest original church in Anna. It has be undergoing a restoration project since 2004 and there is still work to be done on the inside. The cornerstone is dated 1886 and is a very picturesque and charming building. It was left vacant in the 1970's and was in deteriorating shape before the project to restore it was in place. After the disbanding in the 1970's everything was removed and donated to other area churches from the bell to the pews. Other items left in the church were stolen and grafitti was placed on the walls.

Bishop George Seymour recognized the congregation as an official Mission of the Diocese on May 4, 1886. The church, which is made of native fieldstone, cost $600 and the land was purchased for about $225. The church was non-operational for different periods of time. During the church's early years it was served by "curcuit riding" priests who came from either Cario or Carbondale. In 1930 funds were provided to restore the building so that services could continue to be held there. After years of service in 1977 Bishop A. Hillestad announced that St. Anne's would be permanetly closed as of June 1, 1977 due to a steady decline of membership and the rising cost of operation.

Annie really enjoyed her trip to St. Anne's so much that she was barking all the way there and back. I finally got her calmed down and she is resting up for her next trip. She can't wait to see where she will be going next.

Silkwood Inn--907.08 total mileage for this little doggie

Annie and I went to the Silkwood Inn in Mulkeytown, IL (between DuQuoin and Benton, just north of Route 14). The inn was closed, so we looked around outside and took some pictures. The inn is made of logs and has two stone chimneys. It is two stories, with a porch on each story on both of the east- and west-facing sides.

(Annie sat on the stair railing for this one.)

Because we weren't able to get inside or talk to anyone, we did some research online at the following website:

http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilfrankl/subjects/feature1.htm

The inn was built by Basil Silkwood in 1827, and opened in 1828.

Around this time, Basil Silkwood met a young slave girl named Priscilla in Georgia, and when her owner died, she was sold to a Cherokee chief. She was later taken on the Trail of Tears with the chief, passing through Jonesboro, IL, where Silkwood saw her, recognized her, and paid the chief $1000 in gold for her. He took her back to the inn to live as a member of his family. Legend says that Priscilla brought hollyhock seeds with her to her new home, and that Priscilla's hollyhocks still grow in Mulkeytown to this day.

The inn is the only original structure left along the Old Shawneetown-Kaskaskia Trail that spanned southern Illinois. Recently, it was damaged by fire but was restored following the incident. It is open to the public on July 4th and Labor Day.

-Sarah Emery

Get a long little doggies...get along

Annie and her crew have traveled 831.90 miles as they head to Dodge City to take the little doggies to market. Keep'em up, move'm out...Rawhide!

Annie's Third Adventure--832.08 miles

Howdy Ho Partners! This was my third stop on my long adventure. I traveled 48 miles to the small town of Coulterville Illinois. I stopped and visited the first house ever built in Coulterville. This house is called the "rock house". James Coulter established and built this first house in Coulterville in the early 1800's. He established and lived in this house until his death. It was family owned and not sold until the 1960's. This house is made of stones that were hauled in from a quarry in Eden Illinois. An addition was built onto the rock house by the family currently living in it. Coulterville is a very small town and I really enjoyed visiting it. There was many small businesses and the people there are really nice. I ate at the famous western restaurant in Coulterville called Pistol City. Pistol City is a nickname that Coulterville acquired in the early 1800's because of all the gun fights. This restaurant fits the lifestyle of the wild wild west!

Annie's mileage

Annie and her cow punchers have traveled a total of 735.90 miles. She can't wait to continue the adventure! Yipee! Get along little doggies...Happy Trails to you until we meet again...

Annie's Second Adventure

Howdy partners, I had a very long and exciting weekend. I traveled a great distance, all the way to Chicago. In the big, busy, city of Chicago, I explored the Field Museum. The museum held a lot of exciting, intriguing, and historical information. My favorite was the 13 feet high, 42 feet long dianosaur named Sue. Sue is the largest, most complete, and best preserved T. Rex fossil ever found. The only piece of Sue that is not mounted is her 5 foot long skull. The skull is entirely too heavy to be mounted, so it is placed on a steel armature, which holds together more than 200 fossilized bones. Sue was discovered on August 12, 1990 on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation near Faith, South Dakota. Her estimated weight when she was alive was 7 tons. One of the most interesting facts about Sue is that her sex is still unknown. Sue is very widely known, because of your competence of bone structure even after 67 million years. Most of Sue’s bones are still in excellent condition and have a high degree of surface detail, and it is still possible to see fine details showing where muscles, tendons, and other soft tissues rested against or attached to the bone. Although this trip was very long, I found it to be very exciting and informational. I can't wait till I'm able to go back again. This time I'm taking a nap on the way there!!