Within the Realm

In the early days of the 20th century, things were changing – and fast! Electric lights, flying machines and the automobile were pushing their way into the center of attention. Folks, especioally here Within The Realm, were a scrappy sort. When the autos did make their way to the streets of Stilwell, splendid Stilwell, a local took up the challenge to make one for himself.

There were some heroes from the Second World War that didn’t get much further than a few miles from home to perform a service that resonated from the Heartland of America to halls of power in London. This is a story about quiet duty and humility, about the work of half of one’s life and the British Plot in a part of Oklahoma that is Forever England.

There is a little out of the way place in the Ozarks, tucked down in the corner of Missouri, not far from Arkansas, not far from Oklahoma, that has carved out a name for itself during the Christmas holiday. A few things had to fall into place, even a little change of name, to give rise to this mountain tradition, one that is still going strong today and one you can take part in!

Octagon City was an attempt at establishing a vegetarian Utopia on the plains of Kansas in the mid 1850s. The Reformers of the Day were out to change the world through Phrenology, avoiding the evils of liquor, coffee and tea, limiting the spread of slavery and improving their life through a meat-less diet. A little spot on the banks of the Neosho River was chosen. The vegetarian emigrants also believed the Octagon to be the best design for a family home and the entire community was based on that shape. One hundred  brave souls arrived in Kansas in the Spring of 1856 to make their new start, until…