If specificity is the key to a good story, then Humboldt, Kansas, has just about every town beat as far as history is concerned. Walking around town, a visitor is confronted with a series of historical vignettes so specific as to border on absurd, each illustrated with a marble plaque. The many plaques include the following phrases: “Farmer Abel Secrest was shot by Confederates Oct. 14, 1861 after refusing to give up his mules.” “Kate Burnett saved $25,000 in land grants by hiding them in tall grass behind land office.”…
