This is a gripping autobiographical narrative written by Louis Palenske after leaving Wabaunsee County in search of work. It is entitled, "My Experiances and Observations Since Leaving Wabaunsee Co." After the failure of his flour mill at Alma, Kansas, the family faced financial ruin, and Palenske returned to the photography trade in McFarland. That venture was unsuccessful, and he traveled to Scammon and then to Burlington, Kansas in hopes of establishing a photo studio. He settled in Burlington, as World War I had just begun. Although Palenske was born in a log cabin on the banks of Mill Creek in Kansas Territory, his parents were German immigrants who spoke only German. Hence, he spoke German before he learned English, and there were no schools near the Palenske's homestead, which left him with an accent. Palenske wrote of the intense hatred of Germans and German-Americans during World War I, and the discrimination that he suffered during those years. Funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission through the Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board.