Exhibits are constantly changing here at the Kansas Underground Salt Museum, and the newest one already has a major element in place.  You may have seen it on TV before, but I doubt that you'd recognize it.  It's called the Myronmobile, and it's an old, 1984 Pontiac that has seen better days.  It was brought underground to ferry miners from one part of the mine to the other, and was recently retired. It's named after its driver, Myron Marcotte, the mine manager, and he generously donated it to the museum once it was past its useful life.  It was made into an icon after its 15 minutes of fame on Dirty Jobs  (click on "preview clip" near the bottom of the page) with Mike Rowe, as it was the car that Mike rode around in during filming and can be seen in the episode.  Soon a couple of other articles used on the day it was filmed will be added in, so check back to see what we'll add!

 

"I can't wait any longer... just one little peek!" I promised as I turned the handle and snuck into the conference room. 

My stomach did somersaults as I laid eyes on the booklets, the photos... the face.  My eyes darted back and forth, taking it all in - perfectly parted hair with a hint of curl, intelligent eyes, strong mouth.  Decades after he came to town under mysterious circumstances and left just as quickly as he came, we were finally beginning to glimpse the real Ben Blanchard - starting with his photo.

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One of the best parts of my job occurs when I sit in my office and see someone walking into the museum with a box or bag and an intent look on their face.  They almost always have an item (or many items) to donate to the museum, and they always have stories about how they came to have the items or what they were used for.  I love to hear them share that history with our staff so that we at the museum can pass it on to other visitors.  When I saw the items that Ben Blanchard's descendents Terri Utz and Karen and Mathew Peters had brought, I was even more grateful for the artifacts and the stories that they were sharing, for they filled undeniable holes in the history of Reno County and of salt.

It's almost overwhelming to think of the history that Ben has influenced, and yet how little we knew about him... until now.  If Ben had not been traveling in disguise, if he had not gotten off the train in this area, if he had not thought to look for oil, well, there are many implications.  South Hutchinson might not exist.  The salt inadvertantly discovered by Blanchard might not have been discovered until much later, or perhaps never at all.  This area may not have developed into a salt mecca of sorts, with various companies vying for market share and providing jobs.  Yes, things may have been much different if not for Ben Blanchard.  We know plenty about the impact that he had on the area, but what about the man himself?  Staff at the historical society had never seen a photo of him.  We prefaced all conversation with visitors about him with an emphatic, "ALLEGEDLY."  Allegedly he came into town dressed as a woman - or perhaps left town that way, depending on what you believed.  Allegedly he was looking for oil and, when he didn't find it, allegedly he dumped barrels of imported oil down a hole to mimic a discovery.  So many stories, and no concrete answers. 

Well, we still don't have ALL of the answers about the life of the mysterious Ben Blanchard but if you are as fascinated by the man as we are, allow me to take you through a few of the all new, never before seen photos of the man, the myth, the legend.  Maybe they will shed a little light on everything for us.

 

This is the first photo that I saw of Ben.  It was taken between 1887 and 1890 by Eppert photographers in Terre Haute, Indiana.  It may have been Ben's wedding portrait, as we have a photo of his second wife, Avis Isley Blanchard, and another one of them together taken at the same time.  The photo shows a straightforward, well-dressed young man who looks young for his 33 years, and I was surprised not to see a mischevious sparkle in his eye, seeing as this photo was taken around the time South Hutchinson was founded - based on the oil fib - in 1887. 

We pick up a more mature Ben at age 55 and half a world away - in London.  This 1912 photo shows Ben at his office there, where he ran the British International Bank.  Not much is known about the transition of his reputation from that of scoundrel to trusted banker.  That part of the story will take a little more research and digging!

Ben's life reads much like an adventure novel, and by the late 1930s, his novel had reached its closing chapter.  He lost much of his wealth in the 1929 stock market crash, and returned to the U.S. to live out his later years in Delaware raising goats.  Not long before his death in 1942 he returned to Terre Haute and is buried there.  His son Clyde, left, and Clyde's son Howard, right, accompany him and his goat in this last known photo of Ben.

Terri Blanchard Utz, great granddaughter of Ben Blanchard explains the Blanchard family tree to Jamin Landavazo, Chief Curator, as Lynn Ledeboer, Curatorial Assistant and Myron Marcotte, Mine Manager of Hutchinson Salt, look on.  The items in the foreground were donated by Utz.

As we continue to comb through the papers that Ben's descendents have left for us, we will certainly find more details to add to the story.  For now, we are so excited simply to be able to put a face with the name.