Annual Bash Honors Westward Trails
It’s Santa Cali Gon Days in Independence, Missouri, this Labor Day weekend. Join in the Fun September 4-7 as history meets fun.
August 28, 2009
Courtesy Janeen Aggen, Independence, Missouri, Tourism
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A re-enactor entertains visitors to Santa Cali Gon Days in Independence, Missouri.
courtesy Independence, Missouri, Tourism
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Santa Cali Gon Days is the massive annual Labor Day bash that was originally started back in the 1940s to honor the memory of the Santa Fe, California and Oregon trails west, all of which used Independence, Missouri, (eastern border of Kansas City) as a jumping off point.
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Every year, the talent and almost non-stop – and free – entertainment includes local groups as well as nationally known country music and tribute bands. The event also offers contests like watermelon-seed spitting and root-beer chugging, myriad children’s activities and historical re-enactors setting up at encampments with teepees, authentic cooking, crafts, and more.
More than 400 vendors jampack eight to 10 giant market vendor tents with crafts, antiques and homemade treasures. A variety of food booths, from kettle corn to shiskabobs, barbecue, ice cream and turkey legs, surrounds the historic Independence Square and a carnival midway features traditional carnival rides and more, all with family pricing.
History buffs can visit the 1859 Jail, Marshal’s Home and Musuem. The dungeon-like limestone cells with 2-foot-thick walls housed, among others, outlaw Frank James, Civil War guerilla Cole Younger and William Clark Quantrill of Quantrill’s Raiders. The Provost Marshal who oversaw the 12 cells lived in the adjoining home, fully restored and furnished with period antiques. Through a connecting door lies the museum, boasting authentic clothing, uniforms, handcuffs and irons and an exhibit of weapons confiscated from prisoners.
A few blocks away stands the Bingham-Waggoner Estate, a beautifully restored 26-room home that sits along the Santa Fe Trail. Early residents of the home stood on their porch and watched wagons depart for the West, as well as later Civil War battles. The presence of the children who lived in the historic home is evident, from the life-size doll in the kitchen highchair to buggies and children’s clothes in the bedrooms to a large display cabinet with a collection of authentic toys that belonged to the Waggoners. About 90 percent of the home’s furnishings are original to its earlier residents. Along one edge of the property, wagon swales (or ruts) from covered wagons can still be seen. Take the self-guided quarter-mile swales walking trail with nine interpretative signs along the way.