EXCELSIOR SPRINGS – The appearance of an American bald eagle and a turkey in the same Ray County field near the intersection of Route C and Missouri Highway 10 might remind some people of a popular American myth. The myth is based on the idea that Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey, not the eagle, as the national symbol at the start of the republic. Information from A&E Televi sion Network offers the following explanation… The Continental Congress asked Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson to design a federal seal. Rather than an eagle, A&E states Franklin proposed an image of “Moses standing on the shore, and extending his hand over the sea, thereby causing the same to overwhelm pharaoh who is sitting in an open chariot” along with the motto “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.” Years later, in 1782, the Great Seal of the United States, with a bald eagle as its centerpiece, won approval. Ea...