Roadside America 3.1 - Road Warriors Quiz

Answer: Vikings

The Viking Tower was erected in 1889 by Harvard food scientist Eben Horsford. Convinced that the Viking sagas referred to his neighborhood, Horsford published numerous books and pamphlets on the subject. These were well-received by many locals who preferred a Northern European discovery of America to Columbus' work, but Horsford's views were roundly dismissed by historians. In the 1960s and 70s, excavations at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland all but confirmed that area as the Norsemen's landing spot. Horsford has gone down as more than a mere crank, though; he is also credited with the modern formulation of baking powder.

This question originally addressed the Monroe, OH statue "King of Kings", which stood 60+ feet above a reflecting pool within sight of Interstate 75. Unfortunately, the heroic statue of Jesus burned down the day this quiz went online. We wish the people at Solid Rock Church the best of luck in recovering from this misfortune, and give thanks that no one was hurt. If restored, the work known as "Big Butter Jesus" will be featured in a future 'Roadside America' quiz.

Answer: Thunder Mountain

Though his vision may easily be derided as unhinged (the Chief alternately claimed that Thunder Mountain was inspired by a medicine woman's prophesy and that he'd merely improvised a hippie compound when his truck broke down in the desert), Thunder Mountain is not without its admirers. Chief Rolling Mountain Thunder was named Nevada Artist of the Year in 1983, and in 2002 his son launched a restoration and preservation effort. Sadly, following a number of personal troubles (including the destruction of Thunder Mountain's hostel house by a fire, which effectively ended survivalist and counter-culture pilgrimages to the site), the Chief took his own life in 1989.

Answer: The girl who encouraged Abraham Lincoln to grow a beard

Lincoln aficionados relish the story of little Grace Bedell, an 11-year-old girl who took pen in hand to advise the gangly Republican candidate to grow a beard. In Bedell's own words: "All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you and then you would be President." Though Lincoln's response was politely dismissive, he did grow his famous beard within a month.

It does bear mentioning that Bedell lived in Westfield, New York when she wrote Lincoln, and that town also has a monument to the event, as well as an exhibit showcasing Bedell's letter. Not to be outdone, Delphos' local museum proudly displays the pen.

Answer: Greyhound Bus Lines

Greyhound started as a shuttle service between the town and the surrounding iron ore mines. By 1927, Greyhound busses were operating coast-to-coast. The Greyhound Museum was founded in 1989 by local resident Gene Nicolelli, who discovered a long-forgotten plaque commemorating the company's origin and diligently lobbied the governor's office for funds before finally setting up shop in Hibbing's municipal building.

In 1999, the museum moved to its current stand-alone site in the north part of town where it offers displays on the history of the company and maintains several classic busses.

Answer: The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

The most popular exhibit at the DEA Museum is a .45 caliber pistol laden with diamonds, confiscated from Mexican drug baron Rafael Caro-Quintero. According to the DEA docents, curators have exercised great restraint in their exhibits, putting the kibosh on displays picturing "meth mouth", decapitations of and by drug dealers in border areas, and gruesome overdoses; this is in deference to the children and seniors visiting after taking in the better-known sights.

The room is not bereft of the horrific, however, boasting a chilling replica of a crack house and an exhibit of no-nonsense "death to drug smugglers" posters from Southeast Asia.

Answer: Robert Johnson

"Shadowy" is a term often applied to Johnson's life. He was never a well-known performer during his career, and historian Elijah Ward makes a good case that, if one asked blues musicians of the 1940s and 50s about him, blank stares would be the probable response. (This is something of an exaggeration, as blues bodhisattva Muddy Waters was always generous in acknowledging Johnson's contributions, but it is fair to say that Johnson's work was not well-known during the period.) The keeper of Johnson's memory through this period was impresario and record executive John Hammond, who had tried to book Johnson at Carnegie Hall in 1938 only to find that he had recently died; as the question above points out, details of his death remain obscure to this day (though researchers have managed to flesh out increasing amounts of detail about his life--perhaps to the chagrin of blues aficionados who may have preferred he remain a mystery). Hammond managed to have Johnson's recordings repackaged by Colombia in the 1960s, and Johnson's influence is probably most profound among the rock musicians of that era. According to popular anecdote, no less a guitarist than Keith Richards presumed that Johnson must have had a second guitarist on his solo recordings, as there was no way (according to Keith) that one man could play like that. Sites devoted to Johnson and other blues legends like Son House and Charlie Patton make the Delta region a must-visit for lovers of this great American music.

Answer: A B-17 "Flying Fortress" bomber airplane

12,731 B-17s were built between 1935 and 1945. After World War II, some of the remaining bombers were given to Israel and US allies in Latin America, but most were scrapped for raw materials. When Art Lacey first tried to purchase his B-17, he made the mistake of taking off without a co-pilot and promptly crashed.

The Flying Fortresses were so numerous that the Army wrote the wreck off as "wind damage" and let Art pick another. The surviving plane, dubbed the "Lady Lacey", loomed over Art's station, Bomber Gas, for 44 years.

The succeeding restaurant on 13515 SE McLoughlin Blvd. had enjoyed its protection ever since.

Answer: Astronaut Deke Slayton and antique bicycles

Slayton came from a farm near Sparta and arranged for the town to get some very valuable pieces of memorabilia, including the space suit he was slated to wear on his scrubbed 1962 Mercury mission and a hard-to-come-by moon rock. To fill out the attraction, the Spartans have arranged hundreds of antique bicycles throughout the facility, most of them donated by locals who have long considered the town "Bicycle Capital of the World".

In a feat of sophistry worthy of Foucault, the curators reason that the Wright Brothers began as bicycle engineers, and thus there is an unbroken genealogy between bicycling, aviation, and space.

The phrase "whatever trips your trigger" suggests itself.

Answer: The Ten Commandments carved into a mountain

Fields of the Wood is an impressive place. The "World's Largest Ten Commandments" face Prayer Mountain, from which one can take a good picture of the daunting Decalogue. Atop the Commandments sits what the church calls "The World's Largest New Testament" from which one can gaze down on hedges cut to read "Jesus Died for Our Sins." Another heroic monument is the 115 x 150-foot All Nations Cross, a horizontal offering displaying the flags of all countries with Christian churches. Fields of the Wood also features a replica of Golgotha (the "Hill of the Skull" where Jesus was crucified) and the Holy Sepulcher.

As I said, an impressive place.

Answer: Pez

The Museum of Pez Memorabilia displays examples of each of the 500+ models of dispenser ever made by the Pez company. This includes Pez dispensers resembling most of the major Star Wars characters, a rather horrific hand holding an eyeball, and the most valuable of them all: the "Make a Face" dispenser, a Mr. Potato Head-inspired creation recalled by the company as a choking hazard.

Their pride and joy, however, is the 7-foot, ten-inch Snowman dispenser created especially for the museum. Ironically, the Pez company has threatened litigation over this tribute!