Trail of Hope

This morning I left Kentland, Indiana and started walking through the prairie again. This time, the sun was shining and beating down on me and the wind was fiercely blowing right into my face. The force of the wind made it hard to walk forward and the sun made it very hot. There was no shade or any type of refuge from the elements so I had to just continue along my way.

I was about three quarters through my walk for the day when I took a short break on the side of the road to rest and drink some water. At that time, a biker stopped by. He was a young fellow who looked extremely tired. He drank all of his water and was so thirsty he could barely speak. I shared my last bottle of water with him and he stopped to talk for a little bit.

The biker was a young man from Sweden. Interestingly enough, he was biking from New York to San Francisco. Not only was this young man on a type of journey of his own but he also planned to stay at the same hotel I had planned on staying in later that evening in Watseka, Illinois.

The biker rode off to the town and I continued walking. It took me a lot longer to get into the town than he, even though he told me the wind blowing into his face was slowing him down throughout his ride. When I finally reached Watseka, I checked into a little local motel and then decided to pick up some beer at a store around the corner. On the way back to my room, I knocked on the biker’s door and offered him some of the beer. He was very polite saying that he was only 19 years old and that it is not legal to drink alcohol in this country at that age. I smiled and told him that I didn’t care if he had a beer in his hotel room and I didn’t like to follow certain rules. Encountering this young and energetic man reminded me of myself at 19. At that age I was on my way to France to embark on new adventures.

Over the past few days I have had several very interesting encounters with people along the Trail. On the last day when it was raining incredibly hard, there were quite a lot of people, at least 10 who pulled over and asked me if I needed a ride to wherever I was headed. Naturally, I politely declined each kind offer but felt grateful each time someone offered a little bit of kindness even if I could not accept it at the time.

As I was walking in the rain, occasionally interrupted by a generous passing car, a police car turned his flashing lights on and pulled over to the side of the road where I was walking. I thought to myself, “oh, no. I do not want to deal with this crap again” as I recollected the time a police officer randomly wrote me up for walking around a town. To my surprise, the officer rolled down his passenger side window and said, “Do you need a ride?” I smiled and told him no, I was fine. He was kind of shocked that I was walking alone in the pouring rain and I was shocked he asked me a decent human question.

Another encounter occurred yesterday while I was walking through Fowler. Now, Fowler is a very small town made up of about one or two main streets and several side streets. Once again a police officer saw me walking up and down the main street and stopped me. Yet this time, instead of asking me what I was doing and if I walked 2,000 miles often, the officer asked if I was lost or needed some help. I smiled and said “No Sheriff, how could you get lost in a little town like this?” He laughed and said if I needed any help he was there to help. It was wonderful interacting with such a good person.

Finally, my innkeeper at the B&B I stayed at last night was a kindhearted spirit as well. She gave me a great discount on my stay, made me pizza, and fetched me an apple. All of these things were not required yet she wanted to make sure I was cared for as best as she could. This kind of compassion and kindness came from her heart.

I wanted to share these encounters because it is a truly amazing thing when you are able to experience the human side of people. I was thankful for all of the people who stopped to offer me, a perfect stranger, a ride. To me, these are a special kind of people. They do not need to be asked for a favor or the opportunity to do something good. They recognize a situation where they can be helpful and they offer assistance of any kind. They understand that doing a good deed is something in their heart. This kind of recognition is what separates different types of people. On one hand you have those who innately do good and help others and on the other hand you have people who don’t or people who need to be asked to help another person. When you ask a person for help, they have the liberty to accept or decline your request which makes the good deed sort of tarnished in a way.

Overall I was just so happy to encounter all of these wonderful people along the Trail. It was very uplifting to see them, exchange words, to shake their hand, see their smile and literally feel the goodness radiating from their heart. That is living Hope.

The Potawatomi Trail of Death was a tragic and forced removal of 859 members of the Potawatomi Nation from Twin Lakes near Plymouth, Indiana to the location of present-day Osawatomie, Kansas by the United States Forces in 1838. The forced march caused typhoid fever, stress and other illnesses which killed over 40 people, mostly children. Father Benjamin Marie Petit, who nobly marched with his congregations of natives, died in St. Louis in February 1839 as a result of the rigors of the journey.  1838 was the same year as the Cherokee Trail of Trails from the Smokey Mountains to Oklahoma yet the Cherokee Indians suffered more casualties. 15,000 Cherokees traveled on the trail and around 4,000 perished.

Yesterday I found myself on the Trail of Death as I left Battle Ground at Lafayette. It was a humbling experience for me, especially since it is Memorial Day weekend. I found I could somehow spiritually connect with the memory of the natives who perished along the treacherous trail. It is a great tragedy that most of the casualties were that of children.

The Trail of Death isn’t like a typical trail. There are certain historical markers which highlight several points of the Potawatomi Nation’s journey. As soon as I was outside Lafayette, I stumbled upon one of the markers. I walked over to a nearby field and picked some wildflowers to place at the foot of the marker.

The weather has been interesting as usual. Early afternoon was fine until the clouds started coming in. Soon the sky was nothing but a massive blanket of grey. The sky became darker and darker and thunder and lightening soon came in as well. Unforuntaly, there was nothing around the area I was walking at the time. There were no houses, porches, or trees in sight. Since I was surrounded by fields, I had nowhere to hide from the storm. Within 10 minutes, I was soaked from head to toe. My shoes were filled with water and it felt as if my feet were floating inside of my shoe! It was so incedible how quickly the massive amounts of rain came down.

Today I’m in Fowler, Indiana and I’m staying at a little Bed and Breakfast. I’m enjoying being dry for a bit, yet the temperature is near 90 degrees!

Battle Ground

​In the late summer and fall of 1811, William Henry Harrison, then Governor of the Indiana Territory, organized a military expedition against the increasing menace of the federation of Indian tribes being formed by the Shawnee twin brothers and chiefs, Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa, also known as the Prophet.

​Harrison met with representatives of the Prophet on November 6, 1811 when he arrived at Prophetstown. He presented demands in the name of his government. Harrison set up his encampment on a ridge about a mile northwest of Prophet’s Town. Fearing a surprise attack by the cunning Prophet’s forces, General Harrison placed his troops in battle formation and instructed his men to sleep fully clothed to be ready for attack.

​On November 7, 1811, early in the morning, the camp was indeed attacked by the Prophet. After an epic battle, Harrison and his army defeated the Prophet’s Indian confederation at the Battle of Tippecanoe. The defeat pretty much ended the Indian wars in the Midwest.

Battle Ground was consolidated in 1867 with the Town of Harrisonville. The governments of both towns decided to name the consolidation Battle Ground. The Town of Battle Ground was named for the Battle of Tippecanoe and the Town of Harrisonville was named after William Henry Harrison.

Life

                The adventure of life is to learn. 
                The purpose of life is to grow.
                The nature of life is to change. 
                The challenge of life is to overcome. 
                The essence of life is to care.
                The opportunity of life is to serve.
                The secret of life is to dare. 
                The spice of life is to befriend. 
                The beauty of life is to give. 
                The joy of life is to love.

                                                              ~ William Arthur Ward

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Spirit

                     And while I stood there
        I saw more than I can tell,
        and I understood more than I saw;
        for I was seeing in a sacred manner
        the shapes of things in the spirit,
        and the shape of all shapes as they must
        live together like one being.
                                                              -  Black Elk,

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Yesterday morning I left Frankfort, Indiana and starting heading in the direction of Lafayette. At first the weather was very nice. There was a little breeze, some clouds and the sun was shining brightly. It was just about noon when all of the sudden, the clouds changed to dark grey and the weather started going crazy. The storm clouds gave way to a large thunderstorm with a lot of lightening. At the time, I was passing by a little house so I ran to the house as fast as I could and hid from the storm on the porch. The whole ordeal lasted about 15 to 20 minutes before the clouds went away and the sun returned.

I resumed walking and found myself in a very rural area surrounded by fields and farmland. Then out of what seemed to be nowhere, a large shower of rain began pouring down. In the distance up ahead I spotted some large trees that could be a temporary shelter. So I ran to the trees to put my poncho on to protect me from the rain. As soon as I put on my poncho the rain began pelting down harder and harder. Then the wind started.

The wind starting gusting with such a violent velocity that I found myself being pushed away from the trees. At that moment, I didn’t know what to do. I tried to battle the powerful wind to get back to the tree when suddenly I felt an incredible sense of peace and comfort. It literally felt as if someone was pushing me back to the tree and keeping my feet planted firmly on the earth with each step. It was a miraculous moment.

As soon as I had been somewhat pushed back to the tree, I grabbed onto it, hugging it with my arms and legs literally for dear life. With all the strength I could muster, I bear hugged that tree as the wind whipped around. Never in my life have I felt the power of the wind which such force. I tilted my head up to check and see if a tornado was near but all I could see were large tree branches shaking back and forth in every direction. At that moment I thought to myself, “this tree is going to take off and we’re going to fly.” I resolved to not let go of that tree no matter what and held on with all of the strength I had.

At one point I looked over to my left and saw a man trying to run towards me. The wind was preventing him from reaching me but I could see he was waving his arms frantically. I figured he was calling me or something so I slowly let go of the tree. At that point the wind died down for a brief moment and I ran after the man towards the direction of his house.

The man was yelling “come with me” as we took off to his house. We actually made it! Once I was safely inside the house, I removed my poncho and discovered I was soaking wet. I didn’t know if the wetness came from the rain or the sweat after my intense battle with the storm. I was grateful for my temporary shelter on behalf of these wonderful people. I met the man’s aunt and his aunt’s son. We spent about an hour in the house until the storm passed.

After the epic storm, the sun came back out and I began heading towards Lafayette again. I wasn’t on the road for long until another set of storms rolled into the area. There wasn’t a great deal of rain but the thunder kept booming. The lightening kept flashing and striking with an impressive frequency. It was incredible to see the lightening flashing from all directions.

By the time I arrived at my motel, the sun came out again. Yet early in the evening I could hear tornado sirens blaring, warning our area of a potential tornado. Fortunately by midnight everything had calmed down. The evening weather report stated that winds in the area where I clung to life on a tree, reached 90 miles per hour. While sitting in my hotel room, I began to reflect on my dramatic experience of the day. I remember that feeling of peace and assurance that I was taken care of by someone or something when the wind began to push me away from the trees. Something or someone protected me and I could recall feeling that same stillness and peace I felt when I encountered the white wolf a last week. Whatever or whoever it was that kept me grounded, I am eternally grateful.

In the early 1800’s there were fourteen Indian villages scattered along the Rock River between Rock Island and Dixon. The main village was called Prophet’s Town. The prophet was Wa-Bo-Kie-Shiek, an advisor to the great Sauk chief, Black Hawk. In 1829, an effort began to move the Indians onto land west of the Mississippi River. Black Hawk, not wanting to give up the 800 acres of cultivation in the Rock River Valley, led the Indians in several conflicts with white settlers known as Black Hawks Wars. Black Hawk died in Iowa in 1838 while Wa-bo-kie-shiek died in 1841.

The Black Hawk War was considered a brief conflict fought in 1832 between the United States and the Native Americans led by Black Hawk and Sauk leader. The war erupted soon after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis, and Kickapoos known as the “British Band” crossed the Mississippi River into the U.S. state of Illinois in April 1832.

U.S. Troops were commanded by General Henry Atkinson who spent much of his time trying to track down the British Band. One account of the Black Hawk War involved Captain Abraham Lincoln and his company of men who it is said burned the village of the Prophet as they followed the Indians into Wisconsin, however no Indians were inhabiting the town at the time. The Black Hawk War is now often remembered as the conflict that gave young Abraham Lincoln his brief military service.

The quiet village was involved in the final removal of the Indians from the region. White settlers came down and drove the Indians out. In 1835, however, there were still three to four hundred Indians living near the mouth of Coon Creek which is now part of Prophetstown State Park.

Yesterday as I was walking in a pretty rural area, I met a guy along the way and we struck up a conversation. I began talking about what I always do, the Trail and its purpose. The man was very interested and seemed excited about it. We were standing off of the main road on a dirt road which led to a commercial kind of area.

While we were talking a man pulled up the dirt road in a truck hauling a small trailer and stopped right next to us. We said hello and could tell right away he was not in a great mood. I began talking to him, sharing a little about the Trail when he cuts me off and says, “What good is it going to do?” As I stood there, shocked and trying to think of an answer, he said “didn’t you see me trying to change my tire over there?” He pointed behind us down the dirt road. We told him that we were sorry but we didn’t see him. This was the truth because his truck was a ways back on the dirt road and our backs were to it while we were talking.

For one reason or another, the man didn’t seem to believe that we didn’t see him. He said, “Well I was changing my tire and nobody asked me if I needed any help.” We apologized and explained again how we didn’t see him until he pulled up next to us. The driver was miserable and in disbelief. Suddenly I remembered that he had driven past me a few miles back in his truck. I politely said to him, “you don’t believe us but that is not a reason to believe there are no good people. When you drive and see someone walking do you stop and offer them a ride?” Before he could consider giving me an answer, he stepped on the gas and drove off.

I wrapped up my conversation with the man I met along the way and continued until I found a little family run motel. I walked into the motel and started with my usual opening greeting of, “Good evening, I’m walking from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Throughout my trail I’ve been fortunate to be granted a small discount on my hotel rate. Would it be possible to obtain a discount for one evening?”

The man looked at me and said “No. No discount.” Clearly he had a miserable day just like the truck driver from earlier. I said to him, “There are good people at the many places I’ve stopped in the past.” He hastily replied, “Well, I am not a good person.” I smiled and said, “Well I think you’re exaggerating a bit, I’m sure you’re a good person.” To this he replied, “No, I am not a good person and I do not want to be a good person.”

Since there were no other motels in the area, I didn’t have a choice as to where I could stay. I paid the man and went up into my room. As I was settling down for the evening, I pondered at how shocking it is to me that the mentality of people can be so abrasive and negative at times for not good reason. People can be completely blind to the simple good in life. I also thought it was a downright shame that people could put themselves down by behaving a certain way and making believe that they are not a good person.

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Throughout the past few days, I’ve been thinking a lot about peace. While many of us have somewhat of a perceived understanding as to what peace is, very few people understand what peace means. I believe peace is not shared enough in society today. Peace needs to be created everyday in order to maintain it throughout humanity.

The day after I arrived in Indianapolis, there was a peace rally being held downtown. I read in the newspaper that the rally took place in the city and shockingly, only 50 people attended. I was surprised that in such a large city there was so little a response to an honest effort.

Peace has to be created within ourselves to be maintained in our neighborhoods and beyond. We have to take the steps and follow through with action. It is not enough to talk about peace or idealistic values. It is interesting that many people I meet along the way are not interested in spreading peace, even in the simplest of ways.  

I want to pose the question, do we wait for something violent or negatively life altering to happen before we respond? Or, do we create an environment where we can communicate with one another in a peaceful spirit at all times. We should maintain this practice and open relationships between borders, boundaries, and social circles.

When I started thinking about peace, my mind travels back to that Great Elm Tree down in Haverford, Pennsylvania. I remember the great and immense rush of feelings of unity and peace while standing underneath its branches. That tree serves as a nature made symbol of peace and despite storms and changing seasons, it lives on and prospers.

 Peace can prosper and live on just like the Great Elm. People could practice acting as a good people in good faith. People could greet a perfect stranger as they pass by or smile at someone they don’t  know at all. People walk by each other, sit by each other, and live around each other without recognizing each other as creatures, neighbors, and a collective body of the human spirit.  

Peace is more than just a break from war or a group of people not fighting at a certain time. Peace is recognizing the precious gift of communication among every individual. Peace is sharing thoughts and ideas with perfect strangers. Peace is finding ways to support individuals who spread the message of peace.

Peace is living each day in a state of unity which once united different peoples of different walks of life under a Great Elm Tree and beyond its branches.

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