The Wild West in our Own Backyard

Mention St. Joseph, MO, and folks all around the world will think of Jesse James and the Pony Express. But there is much more to discover in this 1843-founded city just an hour north of Kansas City. But St. Joseph’s fame goes beyond Jesse and the Express.

Fifteen museums and attractions helped St. Joseph earn the distinction of True Western Town of 2008 by True West magazine. And in July 2010, St. Joseph became the summer home of the Kansas City Chiefs.

So what might a traveler discover during a visit to this historic locale? Children gasp when they look up at the wooly mammoth greeting them at the Remington Nature Center on St. Joseph’s riverfront. At the nature center, visitors can go back 10,000 years to learn about the first peoples of the area, then explore all the way to modern times. A hologram movie takes you to the 1850s when thousands of pioneers outfitted in St. Joseph before heading west, mercantiles flourished and St. Joseph was home of the largest saddlery in the world. Did you know that Saltines and Aunt Jemima pancake mix were invented here, too?

Travelers also can visit Robidoux Row. Dating to the early days of the city, it was built by city founder Joseph Robidoux, an early trader, who died in an apartment there. People occupied the row house from the days of waiting on weather to head west on the Oregon Trail up to the 1970s.

Interesting St. Joseph museums include the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion, built around 1870 at 11th & Charles streets. The Glore Psychiatric Museum, on Frederick Ave., also houses the Black Archives and Native American artifacts. The psychiatric museum teaches how far mental health treatment has come and offers visitors some interesting experiences. For instance, you can view the stomach contents of a patient who ate metal objects like safety pins. Caution: this attraction may not be suitable for young children.

Find Jesse and the Express at the Patee House. This hotel held the offices where the Pony Express began. There’s a train inside and a little city with old businesses, including Walter Cronkite’s father’s office. Ride a carousel. Don’t forget Jesse James’s house behind the Patee. See the famous bullet hole. Locals say his mom used to sell slivers of wood dipped in chicken blood, claiming it was from the bullet hole. Missouri’s oldest funeral home has its own museum also; visit it to see the basket they carried Jesse’s body in.

The Pony Express Museum, at the original stables, allows children to see how the stations looked, pump water, sit on a saddle with a mochila (Spanish for knapsack) and see how thin the writing paper was to save space.

Don’t forget the Albrecht-Kemper Art Museum, fire museum, doll museum and a military museum, too. For more information on all the attractions mentioned, visit the St. Joseph Tourism website at www.StJoMo.com/tourism_links.aspx.

St. Joseph mom Michele Janorschke enjoys exploring the town with her children.