It was 90 years ago this month that Marshall Ensor, W9BSP, accompanied by his wife Ina and his sister Loretta, W9UA, returned to the Olathe area following a 43-day trip that covered 5,335 miles and took this ambitious trio north of the border into Canada. The summertime adventure was one of several such pre-World War II adventures that are documented by way of an old map that hangs on the south wall of the Peg Barn at Ensor Park and Museum, next to which is a photograph of Marshall and the car that made all of this traveling possible.
The journey began July 6 and ended August 18. Cities visited along the way included Jefferson City, Mo., St. Louis, Hodgenville, Ky. (Abraham Lincoln was born nearby), Bardstown, Ky., Natural Bridge, Va., Staunton, Va. (the birthplace of Woodrow Wilson), Washington, D.C., Annapolis, Md., Baltimore, New Windsor, Md. (Marshall and Loretta's parents grew up in the area), Harpers Ferry, W.Va., Philadelphia, Atlantic City, N.J., New York City, Boston, Portland, Maine, Montpelier, Vt., Montreal, Ottawa, Buffalo, Erie, Pa., West Springfield, Pa., Cleveland, Toledo, Ohio, Elkhart, Ind., South Bend, Ind., Chicago, Neponset, Ill., Kewanee, Ill., Quincy, Ill., and Cameron, Mo.
Some of the attractions Marshall, Ina and Loretta stopped at or viewed were the summer home of Judge John Rowan (Stephen Foster reportedly wrote the song "My Old Kentucky Home" while staying there), Washington and Lee University, Mount Vernon, Arlington National Cemetery, the U.S. Capitol, the Smithsonian Institution, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Library of Congress, Grant's Tomb, Radio City, Times Square, Yankee Stadium, Broadway, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Old North Church, Faneuil Hall, King's Chapel, Bunker Hill, Harvard University, the White Mountains, the Old Man of the Mountain, Lake Champlain, Mount Royal, Niagara Falls, the University of Notre Dame, Lincoln Park, Garfield Park, and the Museum of Science and Industry.
The threesome camped out many nights during the six-week trek and were able to see both Ensor relatives and Dana relatives (Ina Ensor was a Dana) as they covered ground in going from place to place.
The cost of transportation for the trip? According to the notes in the Kansas Book Dealers Association writing pad that also made the trip, Marshall spent $52.19 on gasoline and $8.96 on oil for a grand total of $61.15.