The town of Council Grove proved to be of historical importance. This was the place where the white man made a treaty with the Osage Nation in 1825 to gain access across their land which became the fabled Santa Fe Trail.
Hence, there is a statue honoring an Osage Indian. The Madonna of the Trail is placed across the street. About a block away we found a tin man with a heart. Adorable!
Then it was time to hit the road in an effort to get to the Ellinwood Underground Tunnel Tour by 1:00 p.m. Click here for a video of it. Apparently, it was an early attempt at creating an underground mall to keep the dust or mud on the streets and not on one’s clothing.
Richard Casagrande (see that video above) sold the property about seven years ago and is retired. We found him in his easy chair at the shop.
Across the street is the Historic Wolf Hotel. The tunnels going to it under the street have long been filled. We entered the hotel to see its part of the underground mall and it was a treat!
Beth was our docent and she was funny and very informative. Along with ten other volunteers she helped restore the hotel to its current glory.
At the same time, the hotel had also been a bank. So, there’s a big safe in there. Today, the bank is gone. Beth did tell the story of the two employees (bank president and his brother, a cashier) that got caught taking money. One went to jail and the other shot himself.
Don’t confuse that suicide with the other fellow who shot himself in the dining room years later. That was over the rejection by his true love. The bullet hole is still in the ceiling!
A coat of his is placed on a chair and we are to believe that people often request to sit next to it for dinner. Hmmm!?!
The Wolf Hotel is a functional hotel with five restored rooms. They are Victorian in fashion except for one. That’s the 1950’s room and features pictures of Elvis, a real jukebox, and other memorabilia of the era. It was occupied at the time so we missed seeing it.