Traveling BACK TO THE Chicago Union STOCKYARDS

Sometimes when I am out exploring, I come across an old cemetery. I find myself walking among the graves, reading the headstones with the inlaid colored glass and marbles and wondering about the people there. It was on one of these afternoon trips west of Alva that I came across the Lookout Cemetery and William Schwartz.

William T. Schwartz was born on Dec. 27, 1837, and passed away Feb. 10, 1910. As I stood in front of his headstone, I found myself wondering about his life. Did he experience any historic Civil War battles? Maybe he got to see the Great American Desert before barbed wire. Did he ride up the trail on a cattle drive from Texas? I wondered if maybe he sat on a high bluff overlooking the mighty Mississippi River or maybe the Missouri River and watched the big paddle wheel steamers slowly moving people and goods. Did he ever stop and watch the trains bringing livestock into Chicago (or Porkopolis, as Cincinnati – once the largest pork-producing city in the world – was once known)?

Did he watch the big steam engines crossing the prairie or lay eyes on the massive herds of buffalo? Maybe he came across the ocean on a big steamer and landed at Ellis Island, making his way west in time to see the big steam traction engines turning