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PITTSBURG —
For the second year in a row, area fourth and fifth grade students turned back the clock by about 150 years Friday in the historic Crawford County crossroads town of Cato.
They went to experience what class was like in a one-room school house, play games enjoyed by pioneer children, listen to pioneer songs and learn about the Native American tribes that inhabited Crawford and Cherokee Counties in the 1860s. More than 400 youngsters from Pittsburg, Frontenac, Arma and Uniontown participated in the second annual field day during the annual Cato Days festival in Cato. The festival continues today for the public and opens at 9:30 a.m.
Founded in 1854 in what were then Cherokee Neutral Lands, the town of Cato is considered to be the first town in southeast Kansas, according to an article published in Southeast Kansas Magazine. It once had a post office, a general store, a shoe shop, a harness shop, the county’s first grist and saw mill, a tavern and inn, and the county’s first coal-mining operation. The town was a stop on the overland stage route in the 1880s, and the road is still visible today.
Over the years the town has slowly disappeared, and all that remains of it are a stone one-room schoolhouse, a church and a stone bridge on the stage route — area Boy Scouts are currently rebuilding it. Several decades ago John Spurling, an area farmer/stockman, began leading tours of the town and local cemeteries.
The event was divided into morning and afternoon sessions, said Katherine Spigarelli, a member of the Cato Historic Preservation Association. Among the day’s activities, students spent time in the one-room school house that was built in 1869; met a living historian who drove a horse and wagon team 36 miles from Nashville, Mo.; learned how blacksmiths forge iron and steel tools and learned about the weapons Federal and Confederate troops carried in the Civil War.
Westside Elementary School fourth grade teacher Sarah Prince brought her class to the first field day last year. She said she returned with this year’s class because of the quality of the event.
“They send out a learning packet before you come so we can go over what they’re going to see, then we can go back later and see what they learned,” Prince said.
Learning history up close is important, too, Prince said.
“It’s good for the students to see people dressed up, because they know that it’s important for them, too,” Prince said. “We love it, and we look forward to it every year.”
For the second year in a row, area fourth and fifth grade students turned back the clock by about 150 years Friday in the historic Crawford County crossroads town of Cato.
They went to experience what class was like in a one-room school house, play games enjoyed by pioneer children, listen to pioneer songs and learn about the Native American tribes that inhabited Crawford and Cherokee Counties in the 1860s. More than 400 youngsters from Pittsburg, Frontenac, Arma and Uniontown participated in the second annual field day during the annual Cato Days festival in Cato. The festival continues today for the public and opens at 9:30 a.m.
Founded in 1854 in what were then Cherokee Neutral Lands, the town of Cato is considered to be the first town in southeast Kansas, according to an article published in Southeast Kansas Magazine. It once had a post office, a general store, a shoe shop, a harness shop, the county’s first grist and saw mill, a tavern and inn, and the county’s first coal-mining operation. The town was a stop on the overland stage route in the 1880s, and the road is still visible today.
Over the years the town has slowly disappeared, and all that remains of it are a stone one-room schoolhouse, a church and a stone bridge on the stage route — area Boy Scouts are currently rebuilding it. Several decades ago John Spurling, an area farmer/stockman, began leading tours of the town and local cemeteries.
The event was divided into morning and afternoon sessions, said Katherine Spigarelli, a member of the Cato Historic Preservation Association. Among the day’s activities, students spent time in the one-room school house that was built in 1869; met a living historian who drove a horse and wagon team 36 miles from Nashville, Mo.; learned how blacksmiths forge iron and steel tools and learned about the weapons Federal and Confederate troops carried in the Civil War.
Westside Elementary School fourth grade teacher Sarah Prince brought her class to the first field day last year. She said she returned with this year’s class because of the quality of the event.
“They send out a learning packet before you come so we can go over what they’re going to see, then we can go back later and see what they learned,” Prince said.
Learning history up close is important, too, Prince said.
“It’s good for the students to see people dressed up, because they know that it’s important for them, too,” Prince said. “We love it, and we look forward to it every year.”
Matt Burford, who teaches fifth grade at Lakeside Elementary School, brought his class to the event for the first time Friday. He said he wasn’t sure what to expect, but that he wasn’t disappointed in what he saw.
“It was very educational and fun,” Burford said. “It’s important for these kids to connect with history. As you get older you become more aware and history affects you more. It’s important to know where we come from. This helps bring it to life for them, rather than just reading about it straight from a book.”
Jami Perona, who teaches third through fifth grade at Countryside Christian School, also made the trip to Cato with her classes for the first time.
“It was very educational and we got a lot of good information,” Perona said. “There was a lot of good stuff to see. The boys liked the guns and the fire ... and I’m sure the girls liked the games. The guy who was demonstrating the Civil War weapons was very dramatic and passionate. We’ll definitely come again.”
Today’s events begin at 9:30 a.m. with music and a presentation on Cato’s history at the Cato church, which was built in 1917. Activities move to the school house at 11 a.m., and continue with a wiener roast at noon. The public is advised to bring their own wieners and buns, but ham and beans and cornbread will be available for purchase. Then at 1 p.m. there will be a hayrack ride to the historic Coonrod and Simons cemeteries and the site of the Buckhorn Tavern, which was an overnight stop for travelers heading on the stagecoach route from Fort Scott to Baxter Springs.
Country store items will be for sale, along with prints of a painting by Barbara Foulk Morris of the old stone bridge over Drywood Creek. There also will be raffle for a quilt made by Sue James.
All proceeds will go to the Cato Historical Preservation Association.
