Freakin' Ohio

As you know, every time I have an extra day or two off of work I have a compulsion to go visit more National Parks. I had grand ambitions of going to Mammoth Caves in Kentucky (a 12 hour drive) but decided I’d rather not rush that trip because it’s a place I’d like to spend some time. When will I learn that rushing is the best way I function? I will try my best not to rant and be bitter in the following postings but this trip was pretty abysmal.

After putting off Mammoth for another day I figured maybe I could do all the NPS sites in Ohio. They are quite widespread so I narrowed my range down to the Cleveland/Akron area. Cuyahoga Valley National Park is in that vicinity and with “National Park” in its title I figured I should spend 2 days there to really get the National Park experience. Well I got an experience all right and it was unlike any other (though not in a good way).

I left Friday morning and for a change of pace, I decided to head west on Route 20 and parallel the shores of Lake Erie on my way into Ohio. I’d never been that way before and it was nice to see more of Lake Erie (the cause of all our lake effect snow). Things quickly soured as soon as I pulled into Ohio but as I arrived at the James A. Garfield site in Mentor,OH the sun was out and it was a balmy 62 degrees so I set out to enjoy myself. I was the only one there so I got a one-on-one tour of the mansion. I wasn’t allowed to take pictures inside the mansion so I took a bunch in the visitor center but on my way out I saw a sign that said no pictures were allowed there either (oops). The mansion was gorgeous and it had a really cool layout. To be honest, I didn’t know anything about Garfield besides the fact that he once was president. I didn’t even know he’d been assassinated! Shame on me because he was one of the most fascinating people I’ve ever learned about. And he was the first left-handed President! So here’s a short synopsis of his life and death.
Garfield was a farmer his whole life and his ascension to President was basically the result of a series of lucky circumstances that he frankly didn’t even want. He was a general in the army and was called to serve in the House of Representatives because Lincoln said he didn’t need any more generals, he needed congressmen. In 1880 Garfield went to the Republican National Convention to support his friend’s Presidential nomination. There was a long deadlock and no one could agree on a nominee until someone shouted out Garfield’s name and everyone switched votes and nominated him. He also changed the face of presidential campaigning. Previously, presidential candidates had never campaigned publicly, instead relying on their advisers and speech writers to say everything. However, Garfield loved giving speeches and he was the first candidate to have a successful front porch campaign. The farmhouse he lived at was right by a railroad so supporters and reporters would come by and he would give speeches and by a margin of only 10,000 popular votes he won the election.

When we were touring the mansion I asked how he made his fortune and the guide told me he was never a rich man. In fact, he couldn’t afford a home in D.C and couldn’t afford to have his own horse and driver at the White House. It was only after he was shot that his wife received a bunch of money from Americans (the equivalent of $6 million today) and used it to expand the house and add a presidential library in it.

Garfield was only in office 4 months before he was shot in the back by a crazy man (Guiteau). One bullet grazed Garfield's arm; the second bullet lodged in his spine and could not be found, although scientists today think that the bullet was near his lung. Alexander Graham Bell devised a metal detector specifically to find the bullet, but the device was reading the metal bed springs. He died 80 days later from infections resulting from doctors poking and probing the wound with unwashed hands and non-sterilized instruments.

Here’s a bit of the backstory of the killer-because he was just plumb crazy: Guiteau decided that God had commanded him to kill the ungrateful president. Borrowing $15, he went out to purchase a revolver. He knew little about firearms, but did know that he would need a large caliber gun. He had to choose between a revolver with wooden grips and one with ivory grips. He wanted the one with the ivory handle because he wanted it to look good as a museum exhibit after the assassination, but he could not afford the extra dollar. He spent the next few weeks in target practice — the kick from the revolver almost knocked him over the first time — and stalking Garfield. On one occasion, he trailed Garfield to the railway station as the President was seeing his wife off to a beach resort but he decided to shoot him later, as Garfield's wife was in poor health and Guiteau did not want to upset her.

Guiteau became something of a media sensation during his entire trial for his bizarre behavior, including constantly cursing and insulting the judge, witnesses, and even his defense team, formatting his testimony in epic poems which he recited at length, and soliciting legal advice from random spectators in the audience via passed notes. He maintained that while he had been legally insane at the time of the shooting, he was not really medically insane. What was interesting was that Guiteau said "The doctors killed Garfield, I just shot him"-which was basically true. However he was found guilty and after the guilty verdict was read, Guiteau stepped forward, despite his lawyers' efforts to tell him to be quiet, and yelled at the jury saying "You are all low, consummate jackasses!"

I very much enjoyed visiting Garfield’s home. The grounds were really pretty with a nice windmill and some old farm buildings. There was even his telegraph office used during his campaign. There were still a few hours of daylight left and I saw on the brochure that his memorial and birthplace were close by. Without asking for directions I headed out to find the cemetery with his memorial. Suffice to say, the route there went through a rougher section of Cleveland. What perplexed me was that all the buildings and businesses were condemned with broken and boarded up windows, graffiti and trash everywhere and yet there were tons of people walking around (in complete disregard of crosswalks might I add). Where were they coming and going to I wondered? I finally found the cemetery and the memorial was quite impressive. After driving down a very questionable alley I emerge into Mayberry. There are parents pushing children in strollers, French bistros, cobblestone streets and Christmas music softly playing over loudspeakers. Within a quarter mile I had entered a completely different world. Odd.

I then had to make a quick stop at the David Berger Memorial (another NPS site). The NPS site said it was located on the grounds of a Jewish community center. I drove all around that darned center and did not find so much as a sign acknowledging that it was there. Oh well, I’ll still check it off my list.

My last stop of the day was Garfield’s boyhood home. He was the last president to have been born in a log cabin. The cabin was reconstructed but it was still neat to see. Night was falling so I headed to my Hampton for the night.