you do with what you learned? this puts it into action. perhaps that will come a time when not everybody will say that. >> are we getting better? >> absolutely. i do not think that we should rest on better, but i think we should rest on justice. >> thank you for your time. >> thank you. are watchingu american history tv on c-span three. >> this year, c-span is touring country -- cities across the country. next, a look at our recent visit to independence, missouri. you are watching american history tv all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. while in independence, we took a wagon tour of the city with ralph of pain your adventures.

>> thank you for showing us around independence today. instead of the driving tour, we are doing the covered wagon tour. what is the significance of the covered wagon? >> this is the original motorhome. >> this is where the trail system began. >> this is where the trails began and the buck stopped. anne.s frank and we will see the actual oregon trail. exactly how the border war began between kansas and missouri. >> let's learn about it. >> here we go. right across the street over

there where i picked you up, that is the 1859 home. we will be referring to this building throughout our tour. frank and jesse were the most notorious outlaws in our nation because they got away with it for almost 16 years. that is where they held frank james. they also held another man, the man who built -- who burned kansas -- on august 11, 1862 william contrail and his readers -- raiders broke into that jail and freed 39 men. they were being jailed there because they would not sign a loyalty vote to the union. martial law was declared in the

state of missouri that you had to sign a loyalty oath or they could glu. later on in the 1880's is when they held frank in that jail. the jail door was never locked on frank. by the end of the tour, you will understand why they did not lock the door on the most notorious outlaw in the nation. you do realize, we cannot do a tour in independence without talking about a man named harry. the buck stops here. >> i will show you where it began. it was called clinton said fenton -- soda fountain today, but back then it was clinton drugstore. atopened up on the corner 6:30 in the morning. he would mop the show -- mop the floors.

he worked before school and after all, all day long on saturday. they paid him with three simple dollars. his father -- silver dollars. his father made him quit working there because he was only 14. he was afraid she would get behind on his schoolwork. people thinkocal this statue is inappropriate. look at it. he does not have his hat on. roosevelt passed away. he was summoned to the white house for the oath of office. office andk into his picked his hat up first. gentlemen do not go without there had. he helped get the bond passed. country,all over the and his own car, at his own ask

-- own expense. this one is designed after independence hall in philadelphia, where the declaration of independence was signed. right here is the oldest courthouse ending. 1827, believe it or not we have the papers, records and documents. the man who built this courthouse was sam shepard. they cut those trees down around the square. the reason they are in such great condition, they are black walnut trees. bugs do not like that kind of wood because it tastes bad. the county paid $150. sam shepard was a slave. his master got the money.

that is the same location that they bought and sold people. a lot of the original trappers and traders in this area wanted to call this blue county after two little rivers near here named big blue and little blue. and people moved up here brought their slaves and plantation mentality with them. they named it jackson county. more civil war battles were fought in the state of missouri than any other state except for virginia and tennessee. in battles fought right here independence. i told you about them breaking guzman out of jail. of second was in october 1864. general sterling price came out of arkansas and hit lexington, missouri and independence before

-- gettingpped in whipped. a governor attacking his own state. what put him in the position was the union army marched out of st. louis, missouri into jefferson. legislature elected out of our statehouse before they could secede from the union. when that happened, they declared martial law. mr. price took care of the militia and fought for the confederacy. legislature was never recognized or official from another state. hold on tight. we are headed for the study limit of independence. give me yeeha!

this is called ruby avenue. someone -- some people think it was named after a woman named ruby, but it was named after colonel ruby. he cut this mode originally on his property line at ground level so he could sell to some of the foremans. worked for's father the flour mill as well. one of the largest industries in town. it is a privately owned home. george in front of it, bingham was an artist. after the civil war, they sold this to the wagoner family. they own this property here. they give tours through this daily. 90% of the original furnishings from the wagoner estate still in

the home. 1000 wagon left our town in one month. it was not nearly the busiest year. 1849, the gold rush you. -- the gold rush years. getting readyople to go west. the claim it was 80,000 of these people heading west during that gold rush, alone. one of the largest voluntary migrations in the history of man. this is the reason that the cities left it narrow to keep it as historic as possible. this is what it would have looked like. >> noticed the ground on the left side of the road. it is getting higher and higher. the valley at the middle. i was not there by a road crew. it was worn in thereby the

traffic coming through here. this was the santa fe oregon trail. road, iavel down this want you to notice that the road will start getting lower and lower. already starting to get higher and higher. the value we are headed into the -- used to golled straight across. it is in the middle all hollowed out. come on. get them up. the brick building here was the flour mill. town -- is the front frontier trails easy and. you can see what they traded and cursed about all the way. my mother will tell you that the ones that prayed made it and the ones who cursed did not. i have a feeling they all did a little of both.

look through the trees and he will see a beige building over there with green trim. that will be the 1879 chicago railroad depot. that is the train station that frank james stepped off on when the governor of missouri escorted him from jefferson city to independence to stand trial. when frank james turned himself into the governor, after jesse had already been shot in the back by one of his own men for the reward, there was a mob that wanted to hang him. true to frank.s he said frank, you will receive the same trial as the president's done would receive. the governor escorted frank james of jefferson city to that train station right there. jail.k them to the do you know what the locals did when he arrived here?

they threw a dinner in his honor and he was acquitted of all charges. young lady, if your daddy thought for the army after the war, he could get a pardon, come back and reclaim his land in one of those four counties, except he has to pay the taxes immediately on his earned out -- burned-out property. they could keep any property. they to go to union bankshares. try to put a crop in the ground. carpetbaggers or yanks with money in their pockets. when frank and jesse were robbing these banks, these people were going, yeah.

you cannot prove that they paid a dime of anybody's taxes. you cannot prove that they did not. whether they helped pay or did not help pay taxes, it made no difference whatsoever. they were taking advantage of the people that they felt were taking advantage of them. they considered themselves robin hoods. they had cardplaying to -- games that jail every night. jail door was never locked on frank. tell me, why do you think it is important to know about the history of this town? >> it illustrates what can happen, good and evil. people poured through here and made us a nation. in the same sense, it can illustrate some of the most horrible things that happened. when you start taking revenge

against someone that you feel has done something wrong to you, it can get into crazy stuff. >> thank you so much for taking the time >> our cities tour stuff aboutly traveled to learn its rich history. learn more about independence and other stops on our tour c-span.org/cities tour. you're watching american history tv. all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. >> each week, american artifacts takes viewers into archives, museums, and historic sites around the country. the baseball americana exhibit at the library of congress in washington, d.c. to learn about the origins of the modern game, including the birth of several baseball traditions. the impact of immigrants, and the increasing important of statistics. susan: welcome to the library of congress.