I wanna see the coast!

Touring the Maine Coast is an extraordinary journey. With more coastline than California (3,478 miles), it takes time to view the entire Maine Coast

and I wanna see lighthouses!

i wanna go on a Maine Moose Tour!

small company BIG ADVENTURES

Maine Moose Watching, Tours & Safaris: Northeast Whitewater

Even in northern Maine – where moose can outnumber people! – you need a little help finding the elusive Maine moose. Northeast Whitewater’s popular moose watching tours go into the natural habitats and secret hiding places of the Maine moose with Registered Maine guides. Whether you choose a Maine Moose Tour, or a Private Maine Moose Safari your tour will include fascinating facts about Maine wildlife, Maine moose and the Maine outdoors—and the chance to capture the perfect Maine moose photo. The excitement of seeing the majestic Maine moose in person – and in its own habitat – is not to be missed, and a wonderful family or group activity. Maine Moose Watching is our #1 activity for guests visiting Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. When visiting Maine travelers enjoy the coast and Maine lobster, but the highlight to any Maine vacation is a guided Maine moose watching tour to see the infamous Maine moose. Maine moose can weigh over 1,000 pounds and stand over seven feet just to their shoulders! And yet despite the massive size of the Maine moose, it can be very hard to find, even on a Maine moose watching trip. Northeast Whitewater’s Maine Moose Tours, Maine Moose Safaris and Maine Moose and Wildlife Tours go on foot or by canoe to proven Maine moose hideouts, and give you the chance to take a Maine moose photo – or even sketch or paint a Maine moose.

Northeast Whitewater’s Maine Moose Tours

Our most popular Maine moose watching option, our Maine Moose Tours depart in the morning or evening for a half-day of Maine moose fun, leaving you plenty of time for shopping, fishing, exploring and more before or after your Maine Moose Watching Tour. Choose morning Maine moose watching tours to be listening to the cry of the loons and observing deer, hares, eagles and more Maine wildlife before most people have started their day. Maine moose are also very active foraging for food in the evening, so if you aren’t an early riser, depart on an evening Maine Moose watching tour. No matter what departure time you choose, you’ll be with a Northeast Whitewater’s Registered Maine Guide eager to share our secrets about Maine moose hideouts, Maine wildlife and our love of Maine.

Private Maine Moose Safaris

Private, personalized Maine moose watching expeditions into the North Maine Woods, our Maine Moose Safaris provide private van tours and canoe tours into our secret spots around pristine Moosehead Lake and Greenville, Maine. Bring your camera to capture photos of Maine moose and other Maine wildlife, or arrange a more leisurely Maine Moose Safari that allows you to sketch or paint Maine moose, Maine wildlife and Maine scenery. Your personal Registered Maine Guide will answer your questions about the Maine moose and its environment, Maine wildlife and our way of life up here in Northern Maine.

Call or email Northeast Whitewater Maine Moose Watching tours to set up your Maine moose tour or safari today – 1-207-695-0151 or info@northeastwhitewater.com.

Don’t forget to check out and follow along with our moose sightings on our Facebook page!

i could etsy the hell out of this!!!

Benders Books

Influenced by the ensuring years of sensational writings on the Benders, a motion picture was filmed in Girard, Ks in 1939. The early days of television saw several dramatizations about the ghastly murders of Southeast Kansas. Manly Wade Wellman wrote A Candle of the Wicked in 1960, and Robert H. Alderman published another best-selling novel, The Bloody Benders, in 1970. Both of these books can be reviewed at the Cherryvale Public Library.

After his 1970 visit to the Cherryvale Bender Museum, Samuel Goldwyn Jr. brought the film rights to Adleman’s book, for a haunted-house type film in a mid-western setting. He was attracted to the story by the character of killer Kate. The film was never produced.

In 1992, Fern Morrow Wood, a Cherryvale teacher, wrote The Benders, Keepers of the Devil's Inn. It is the first and only comprehensive story of the Bloody Benders; a terrible chapter in the annuals of crime on this lonely prairie Inn in the southeast Kansas. It covers the on-going investigation into the Bloody Benders. After sifting the reminiscences of long-forgotten neighbors, searching newspaper stories of the period from various libraries and historic institutions, obtaining newly discovered documents, her skeptical eye examines the conclusions of these results in her chronological narrative. This book is available for sale at the historic Leatherock Hotel Bed & Breakfast.

In 2003, author S. Philip wrote Cottonwood. It is a fictional town placed between two real towns, Cherryvale and Independence, with stolen histories and characters from the southeast Kansas area and the Bender murders. The plot sort of congeals around those things.

To Purchase Bender Books: The Benders, Keepers of the Devil's Inn Paperback, $8.00 each, ISBN 0-9606922-1-5, by placing orders to: Fern Morrow Wood, Route 2, Box 114, Cherryvale, KS 67335. Please add $2.00 to cover shipping and handling ($.50 for each additional book). In Kansas, please add 82 cents sales tax.

JUST PUBLISHED: Death For Dinner by Phyllis de la Garza, Hardbound, $32.25 each including S/H, ISBN 0-9631772-9-X. In Kansas, please add $1.17 sales tax. De la Garza reports the events of this 1871-73 bizarre story from primary sources, books, and articles. But she cannot tell the reader what happened to the evil Bender Family.

Bender Victims.

yes. still trying to see if the wreath is on public display. still finding websites...

Order of Disappearances of Victims:

1869 Joe Sowers - not proven as victim #

1871 Mr. Jones - body found in Drum Creek #

1872 2 unknown men - found on prairie #

1872 Henry McKenzie - body mutilated *

1872 Ben Brown *

1872 W.F. McCrotty *

1873 George Loncher & little girl *

1873 Johnny Boyle * - found in well

1873 Dr. William York * ... ? John Greary * .... ? Unknown female * ..... ? Unidentified man * ..... ? Dismembered parts of several victims *..... * Discovered in Bender’s apple orchard

Money Taken From Victims: - ? -... - ? -... - ? -... 40 cents or $2,000 depending on sources... $36, finely matched team of horses... $2,600, possibly to buy claim build home ... $38, wagon, good horse team ... $1,900, possibly to buy claim ... $10, red pacing mare, $850 saddle ... $2,000, possibly to buy claim ... - ? -... - ? -... - ? -.... # Found with crushed skulls and slit throats

more realistic reminder of the inhuman savegery of the bloody Benders can be seen today in the Bender Museum in Cherryvale. It is a wreath of woven, golden hair taken from the body of a little girl who--most probably--was befriended by Kate and then brutally murdered by her when her back was turned. The inglorious chronicle of this murderous family is commemorated on a Kansas State marker outside the present day Cherryvale.

I guess there is not even a photograph of this wreath. I was all ready to road trip! found the wrong websites first, I guess...

Leatherock Hotel Bed and Breakfast

Welcome to the Historic Leatherock Hotel Bed & Breakfast in the City of Cherryvale, Southeast Kansas, where the "BEST TASTING RURAL WATER IN THE NATION" is served every day!*

"Get Your Kicks Along Route 66!" This 3-room Bed and Breakfast Suite or retreat has its own private entrance from the outdoor brick turn-of-the-century sidewalk.

The Route 66 Suite is also separated from the rest of the hotel. It is furnished in an eclectic mixture of the eight states that the "Mother Road" traveled and its unusual and peculiar memorabilia. The sleeping quarters, with its Southwest desert decor from the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, features two queen-size beds, a large ceiling fan, a large closet with mirror, original desert photography and paintings.

The spacious yet cozy sitting parlor, with its eclectic furniture mixture from the four central states that Route 66 traveled, entice you to relax or curl up with a book after your day's travel or outing. Or enjoy watching videos on the large TV. The walls display the weird and wacky memorabilia from "America's Main Street" along with many souvenirs from our collection of the California Historic Route 66.

This suite has its own air-condition/heating systems and includes a full bathroom. This suite was featured in an issue of Route 66 Magazine. The original historic Kansas Route 66 is located in Southeast Kansas an hour's drive southeast from Cherryvale.

As this is a museum building filled with many artifacts, children under the age of 16 are admitted by special arrangement only.

This a non-smoking and no pets allowed bed and bed and breakfast. Smoking is only allowed outside on the porch only

Route 66 Suite Amenities: Private outside entry... Private AC/heating systems... Gas Log Fireplace... Large TV and remote VCR... Route 66/travel video collection... Use of video library... Route 66 memorabilia... Parlor Sleeper sofa... Kitchen dinning area... In kitchen coffee maker... Refrigerator... Microwave, and dishes... Popcorn and snacks... 2 Queen-size beds... Bedroom ceiling fan... Large double-door closet...

420 N Depot St Cherryvale, Kansas Call (620) 336-3350

You know you're in a small town when Third Street and the railroad tracks are the edge of town...

the website mentions several railroad themed things, but no Bloody Benders....wonder what happened to this hair wreath?

there is a museum in Cherryvale, Kansas with a hair wreath made from an approximately 8 year old girl who was a victim of the Bloody Benders!

Mass grave: This photograph from 1873 shows the graves found behind the Bender farm. It was noticed that the Benders' garden was always freshly plowed but never planted. the murder is horrible. but having a part of you go on forever, above ground, occasionally looked upon by the living? kind of cool, I think. like a photograph. but not.

The Cherryvale Bender Museum opened in May 1961. The museum building was an authentic reconstruction of the clapboard Bender homestead located along the bleak, isolated countryside of the Osage Mission trail during 1871-1873. The museum was located 2-blocks from US Highway 169 in Cherryvale seven miles southwest from the original 1871 Bender southeast Kansas frontier “store and inn”. The following black and white pictures are from the promotional postcards that were sold to help preserve and maintain the museum. Let’s go inside the Museum to relive that Bender era. Postcard Cherryvale Museum Collection

Stepping inside the replica of the killers’ home, constructed from actual measurements, photographs, and memories of the notorious wayside Inn, you instinctively address the woman behind the counter. “Oh…Hello…,” then your words die as you realize you are staring at a life-sized dummy of the notorious Ma Bender wearing period clothing waiting for your provision order. Behind Ma on the wall are shelves of scantily-stocked containers and merchandise which were sold in the 1870s, goods such as tobacco, crackers, sardines, candies, powder and shot. Among these were Pastime Plug Tobacco: “The Essence of Excellence” and Pink Pills for Pale People, popular items at that time. In front of you, a few paces away, is the infamous wagon canvas curtain serving as the room’s only partition. In front of it, waits John Bender Sr. with a scowl on his face and a 5½ pound hammer in his right hand. Stepping forward out of the corner of your left eye, you encounter John, Jr. quietly standing there. Postcard Cherryvale Museum Collection

As you progress a few more steps you are behind the heavy curtain that divides the inn where death lurked for many a guest. There sits the selected well-dressed unsuspecting traveler of 1873. Before him, spread on a red and white checkered tablecloth, is a place setting which has been prepared for his eating pleasure. The wide plank floor is broken only by the trap door under the table to the cellar pit awaiting its next deposit (shown open in the above photo). The pit was six feet square and about the same in depth with a large sandstone floor and stone-lined tunnel leading to the back of the slaughterhouse for travelers. (The metal bars have been added for all museum visitors’ safety). Splattered blood found in the cellar indicated that the victims’ throats were also cut in the dark cellar. Young John waits quietly in the corner behind the wagon partition dividing the one-room murder house. The bench was always conveniently located next to the wagon sheet for the next weary lone westward bound journeyer. This traveler’s attention is focused to his left, for there she stands…the beautiful killer Kate Bender. Postcard Cherryvale Museum Collection

Katie Bender, as she was sometimes called, engages the unfortunate stranger in flirtatious conversation at the iron cooking and heating stove while she prepares to serve up her main course, DEATH. She was an expert at drawing out information, learning all she could of his affairs. Meanwhile, young John would be caring for the horses, making a quick check of the contents of the wagon or the saddlebags. If the traveler seemed worth the risk, the stage was set. Often buxom Kate would station herself at the roadside in front of the Inn when a unsuspecting stranger was approaching. When he drew nigh, she would accost him pleasantly. She would inquire in a friendly manner where he was going and if it was near evening, would assure him that it would be impossible for him to reach his destination before nightfall. She would propose that he should remain over night at the Inn with them. Most travelers generally accepted the hospitable proposition. Under circumstances when the victim would not sit in the chair against the curtain or moved the chair, killer Kate would propose a game. The part the doomed guest played would be to get on his knees as if he were praying. When in the required position, a family member would sneak softly from behind the curtain and strike him dead as he knelt. They always aimed to make death certain, provided they thought the unwary traveler had valuables worth stealing. Two beds, covered by old quilts and having feather ticks and straw mattresses, also occupied this section of the house along with chamber pots, cooking vessels and skillets, and personal provisions. Lighting is provided by coal oil lamps. A wooden water bucket is on one wall, as is a gourd dipper. Clothes are hung on the walls. Postcard Cherryvale Museum Collection

A chair or bench was always conveniently positioned near the curtain for a traveler. When a man whom they had marked as a victim entered this little area, his doom was sealed. While sitting at a dining table, the unsuspecting traveler’s back would be against the curtain outlining the back of his head. In a few moments John will swing his sledgehammer. It would crack against the flesh and bone of the hapless wayfarer’s head. With hardly a groan, he will plop his head on the table. Rushing from their hiding places, the family will deal another blow to the temple with a smaller hammer and drag the senseless body to the opened trap door, over which the insatiate monster in Kate will drew a knife across his throat from ear to ear. After stripping the victim of his clothing and valuables, the body will be dropped through the opened trap door into the pit or cellar beneath. Later at night, the carcasses will be removed for burial in the nearby orchard through a tunnel that exits behind the back of the Inn. Postcard Cherryvale Museum Collection.

THE CHERRYVALE BENDER MUSEUM You leave this spooky environment through the back door with your life and all your possessions. Outside and to your left as you leave is the double-leaf door, with the always present pad lock, leading into the stone-lined passage to the killing pit or cellar. Those who visited this museum with you, and others before you, will leave with a feeling that the notorious Benders, unlike their many ill-fated forgotten travelers, live again. More than 130 years after the news first spread about “The Kansas Bloody Benders", their story is still told by Kansans around campfires and noted by road markers from the Kansas State Historical Society. Generations have gossiped about Kate Bender and newspapers, magazines, and the movies have portrayed her. Today, as an infamous character of the prairie, she ranks with Jessie James, the Daltons, and Belle Starr, and still the story of Kate lives on. On the Internet Google site, more than 2,600 daily hits are made, a grim reminder of a dark page out of the past. Photo by Mike Gullett of the Parsons “Sun”, used by permission

google says Mercer to Cherryvale: 275 Miles - 443 Km 4 hours 21 mins

but I research on: and find this sad, sad news: Kansas Tourism The Bender Museum in Cherryvale was only open from 1961-1978 in Cherryvale. There are museums in Cherryvale's Leatherock Hotel, but nothing completely dedicated to the Bender's.

omg. I want this!

would have to repaint kitchen cabinets and woodwork white and put in a wood floor....and repaint walls....

Kathleen Mccann 12 hrs I recently decoupaged an old poster of her to front of my granddaughters dresser. Holly Hobbie was my favorite as a young girl.