Annual tour of historic Cato community set for Saturday

Members of the Cato Historical Preservation Association have recently finalized plans for the group's annual fall tour that is scheduled for Saturday.

The tour of this northern Crawford County settlement, the oldest town in the county, will begin at 10 a.m. at the Cato Christian Church, just west of the historic Cato School, a one-room schoolhouse built in 1869.

Former journalist and Cato booster John Spurling, who died in 2003, founded the annual Cato tours. Spurling researched and documented much of Cato's history.

Local resident and musician Ralph Carlson, a Southeast Kansas native, will be the guest speaker for the event. Carlson has made it his lifelong hobby to explore the history of Southeast Kansas and the region, CHPA Chairwoman and Treasurer Susie Stelle said. Carlson typically talks about trails that exist in the region and the Cato area.

Other highlights of the tour will be a performance of 1800s-style music by the local musical duo, Fuss and Feathers, which features Carlson on vocals and guitar, and his long-time partner, James "Red" Stradley who sings and also plays the harmonica. Carlson's brother Don Carlson and his wife Mim will perform a musical program in the church, Stelle said.

Local residents Anna Portwood and Elizabeth Portwood will conduct an old 1860s-style class in the one-room schoolhouse. Anna Portwood is a historical writer from Garland.

Weather permitting, tour-goers will take a hayride to the gravesite of Samuel Clay Simons and his family on a hillside near Cato. Simons, an early settler of Cato, was killed in 1864 during the Civil War by Bushwhackers while he was home from the war on furlough. Simons, who was killed trying to escape, had a wife who was pregnant at the time, Stelle said.

The Cato School, which served as a schoolhouse and meeting house until the mid-1950s, has a history of its own. The building was placed on the Kansas Register of Historic Places in 2005, and the National Register of Historic Places in 2006, due to the efforts of the CHPA.

The Cato club also plans to host an old-fashioned hot dog roast during the tour. Participants are encouraged to bring their own hot dogs, condiments, and beverages, Stelle said.

The tour will also feature living history presentations that will be performed by a group of area residents who will be dressed in costume as important characters from Cato's past. U.S. Army Capt. John Rogers, who founded the town of Cato in 1854, will be portrayed by 25-year fort historian Skip Thomas. Local resident John Rawlings will portray early Cato settler Peter Smith, who owned one of the first stores built in Cato during the mid-1800s, Stelle said.

Local historian Arnold Schofield will portray Charles Strong, a doctor who organized the school system in the Cato area during that time and also founded the town of Girard, Stelle said. Anna Portwood will portray Rebecca Malin, an early pioneer woman who once shot a bushwhacker.

Fort Scott residents Charles and Dola Cress will participate in the presentations as well. Dola will portray the wife of Samuel Simons, who was eventually killed by bushwhackers, typically non-military people who often ambushed, raided and burned cities and towns in rural areas. Bushwhackers also attacked individuals and families in those towns.

Stelle said the tour will conclude Saturday afternoon with a trip to the McGonagall Cemetery located near the Bone Creek Dam. The cemetery contains the gravesite of George Hatch, a 12-year old boy who died in 1857. It is the oldest grave in Crawford County, Stelle said.

The group will also travel to the Coonrod Cemetery near Cato, she said.

Cato is located between Fort Scott and Pittsburg, just west of U.S. Highway 69. To find Cato, turn west at the Arcadia turnoff and travel two miles, then turn north and follow the winding road one mile to Cato. For more information about Cato, the Cato School, or the CHPA, visit www.catoschool.com on the Internet, or call Stelle at (620) 232-6944.