Independence, Missouri and Mitchell, South Dakota Trips

Move your pointer over any of the "thumbnail" pictures on the right side below to display a larger size of the image. When you do point over an image, you will also see a brief description about that picture.

For each map image, be sure to spot our "friendly hiker" to see where Msgr. Mark has been.

Picture 1
Independence, Missouri was the hometown of our thirty-third President of the United States, Harry Truman. Both President Truman and his wife, First Lady Bess, were raised and buried here. Refer to the icon of the hiker on the map for general location.

• Picture 1
  Independence, Missouri was the hometown of our thirty-third President of the United States, Harry Truman. Both President Truman and his wife, First Lady Bess, were raised and buried here. Refer to the icon of the hiker on the map for general location.
• Picture 2
  President Harry Truman was famous for his daily walks. There is a Truman walking trail of 2.7 miles, which includes 43 plaques imbedded in the sidewalks through the Truman District and neighborhood.
• Picture 3
  President Truman's daily walk began at his home, now a national park in Independence, Missouri. The house remained the Truman's home until Bess's death in 1982.
• Picture 4
  President Truman's daily walk is clearly marked by signs . . .
• Picture 5
  . . . .and bronze plaques.
• Picture 6
  Mitchell, South Dakota is about 73 miles west of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The population is around 15,000 people. It was incorporated in 1881 and was named for the Milwaukee banker Alexander Mitchell, President of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad (Milwaukee Road).
• Picture 7
  Mitchell is home of the world famous Corn Palace. The Corn Palace is decorated with several colors of dried corn and grains creating the mural you see here. The theme of the murals is changed every year. The building itself is used for several purposes including a basketball arena, the local high school prom, trade shows, staged entertainment, and the Shriner's Circus.
• Picture 8
  Different colored corn is nailed onto wood panels to form patterns.
• Picture 9
  Look closely and you can see the "paint by the numbers" type of design that is drawn with chalk on the black tarpaper that has been tacked over the wood panels on the sides of the building. Once the design is drawn by the artist, workers nail different colored corn cobs onto the wood panels to make the design. According to this design, there are corn cobs that are yellow, red, green, brown and black.