Cowboys and Indians, Outlaws and Pioneers

		Where the South Meets the Old West VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Spring may be late, the weather cool; but the advantages are that the countryside across Arkansas & Oklahoma and Northern Texas are exceptionally green. Springtime has burst out with flowers and floral scents. New buds were all around us. This was the perfect time to visit this part of the country.

The Crystal Bridge Museum of American Art is in Bentonville Arkansas and was sponsored by Alice Walton (of Wal-Mart heritage). Admission is free and houses ½ billion dollars of artwork. The amazing buildings were designed by Moshe Safdie who also designed buildings throughout the world, including Habitat (part of Expo ’67) in Montreal that we saw this summer. The grounds had flowering landscapes, waterfalls and walking paths through the woods. Bentonville is the place where Sam Walton owned a “5&10”, and began his retail career. In 1940 he owned one Ben Franklin store. 1962 was when he opened the first “Wal-mart Discount City.” By 1990 it was the nation’s largest retail store. By 2010, there were 8,747 stores in the US, 4,343 international stores, and $405B in sales. It was kind of fun to see where it all started.

As we journeyed through the Southern States we kept encountering the “Trail of Tears.” We knew in general that this was a reference to the forced relocation of Native Americans to the West, but wanted to investigate further.

As European settlers poured into America, Native Americans found that their hunting grounds were shrinking. Continuing their way of life was impossible; so many chose to push further west where there were still wide open spaces. Since other Native Americans already occupied those regions, the newcomers were met with a variety of responses - from welcoming to vehement opposition. For example, as early as the 1780s, the Cherokees began moving into Osage territory and were not well received. Fort Smith, Arkansas, was founded to try to contain a volatile Indian feud between the Osage and Cherokees. It was not too successful and ultimately, the Osage population was moved to Missouri and Kansas in order to have peace.

With the purchase of the Louisiana Territory, President Thomas Jefferson believed that America had lands that would not be settled for 300 years. He was mistaken as it took less than 100 years. But he thought that this new land would be perfect for the Eastern tribes of Indians to find new land more suited to their lifestyle and he “tempted” them to do so. Many Indians wanted to stay in the east, have their own lands within a state, and their own nation with separate and distinct laws.

In 1870, President Andrew Jackson gave the Indians an ultimatum. Become part of the State and abide by those laws where you reside, or get out and go west of the Mississippi (which were not states yet but only “territory.”) Some relocated to the new territory, but most did not. Many had property, including slaves, and ties (including businesses) to the local communities. For some, the idea of moving west was met with fierce resistance, triggering a forced relocation of over 60 tribes to the newly formed Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). Over the next eight years Indians were collected and accompanied while they walked to the Indian Territory. When those Indians who resisted moving were rounded up, they weren’t given time to gather their belongings, sell their property and holdings, much like we envision Nazi tactics toward the Jews. They could only bring what they could carry. Some brought their slaves who were set free by the army once they arrived in Government territory. They walked hundreds of miles west; many in shackles and at gunpoint. Hunger and disease, combined with adverse weather and tainted food supplies, claimed the lives of thousands. There were high mortality rates. The Cherokee relocation was the worst with 1/3 dying along the way. The moniker “Trail of Tears” is from that Cherokee journey, described as “the trail where they cried” in their own language. The term later extended to include all relocations during this period. The trail was actually many different routes, but all of them funneled through Arkansas on their way to Oklahoma.

Like most immigrants to the US, the Native Americans strived to blend into U.S. society by giving up their languages, religions, style of dress, and customs. Over half of the Indians who served in WWII never returned to these reservations. There is currently a resurgence of wanting to retain the old Indian ways, especially language. [We also saw this in Britain with Welsh in Wales and with Gaelic in Ireland.] The younger generation is learning the old tribal language and ways from the older generations. Traditions are being learned, but even the older generations may have lost some of the best qualities of the old ways such as extra senses, reverence for mother earth, their religion, and ceremonies and the meanings behind them.

In the Indian Territory, tribes were independent nations and Indians were not US citizens, but more like a neighboring nation. The “Indian Territory” was dissolved in 1887 and all the land given to the individuals on it. The Indians could sell the land to American settlers. Any unoccupied land was opened up to new settlers setting the stage for the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889-1903. This Land Rush of 1889 was the first land run into the Unassigned Lands and included all or part of the 6 modern day counties of Oklahoma. The land run started with a cannon shot at high noon on April 22, 1889, with an estimated 50,000 people lined up for their piece of the available two million acres. The Unassigned Lands were considered some of the best unoccupied public land in the US. Due to the Homestead Act of 1862 signed by Abe Lincoln, settlers could claim lots up to 160 acres in size. Provided a settler lived on the land and improved it, the settler could then receive the title to the land. The army had orders to shoot anyone getting an early start. A number of the people who participated in the run entered the unoccupied land early and hid there until the legal time of entry to lay quick claim to some of the most desirable homesteads. These people came to be identified as “Sooners.” Today Oklahoma is known as the “Sooner State” and the Oklahoma Sooners are the much loved football team of the University of Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Territory was open frontier and home to the lawless. As such it became the home of many outlaws (Billy the Kid, Belle Star, Dalton gang) and criminals (Barker gang, Machine Gun Kelly, Bonnie & Clyde, John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson.)

One modern day criminal was Timothy McVeigh. In April 1995, he parked a rented U-Haul in the loading ramp of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building, destroying it and killing 168 people. Today the Oklahoma City National (Bombing) Memorial at that site is quite moving. The perimeter of the [demolished] building is marked by pine trees, and inside the perimeter are the 168 chairs, one for each victim, placed in rows by which floor they were on. The children’s chairs are much smaller. One chair with a large bouquet of flowers marks the exact spot where the entryway was where the bomb exploded. There is a “survivor tree” – a 90+ year old American Elm, transplanted in the old parking lot as a message of resilience.

Favorite sons & daughters of Oklahoma include: Garth Brooks, Reba McIntire, Mickey Mantle, Johnny Bench, Wiley Post, Carrie Underwood, Woody Guthrie, Dr. Phil, but most importantly, Will Rogers by a landslide. He was an American cowboy and perhaps the best trick roper ever, a vaudeville performer, humorist, social commentator and motion picture actor. He was one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s and was dubbed "Ambassador at Large of the United States.” Rogers was adored by the American people and the feeling was mutual. One of his most famous quotes was: "I joked about every prominent man of my time, but I never met a man I dident [sic] like." He had (mostly) Native American parents and he joked that his “ancestors didn’t come over on the Mayflower, but they met the boat.” Some of his roping tricks from one of his silent films can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QZ0HgIBGl1E

We have always believed that every single State of this wonderful country has something unique about it, and history is remembered and re-lived in the museums and monuments. We are happy to share what we’ve learned with you. Until next time, Happy Trails!

Through the Deep South

		Dixieland VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

In the two first weeks of April, we traversed the Southern States of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, crossed great rivers as the Chattahoochee, Tennessee, and Mississippi, left the Appalachians behind and went on to the Ozarks. We were surprised at the pastoral, rolling hills full of horse ranches in Northeastern Alabama and along the banks of the Mississippi at Vicksburg. As always we found the people to be polite and gracious and friendly. They always use “sir” and “ma’am” when speaking to anyone. The thick southern accent is always fun to hear, even though at times it seems like a foreign language. In these two short weeks since leaving Florida, we saw the lush subtropical flora disappear into bleak, austere forests still donned in winter attire and then burst into spring blossoms and leaves. We saw redbud, wisteria, flowering dogwood, azaleas, camellias (Alabama State Flower), daffodils, tulips, irises, and roadsides full of Crimson Clover. Spring has sprung!

Along with springtime in this area also comes the chance of powerful storms. We were reminded of this with several tornado warnings, a tree that fell across the road just in front of us on the Natchez Trace, and from leftover damage on trails from the April 2011 storm (205 tornadoes touched down on one day alone, killing 349 people, and was the 4^th deadliest in US history).

Our path this time seemed immersed in music history as well as Civil War and Civil Rights. We visited the Elvis Presley home in Tupelo Mississippi where he was born and raised until age 13. We saw a tribute to Hank Williams in his hometown of Montgomery Alabama. We visualized Alan Jackson cooling off in the Chattahoochee River (because it gets hotter than a hootchie-kootchie) near his home town of Atlanta. We can relate to the song of Randy Owen from the group Alabama, wanting to go back and be a mountain man near the Tennessee River every chance they get near their homes of Fort Payne, Alabama. We can see the hopes and dreams of Jazz musicians as the make their way up Highway 61 (the Mississippi Blues Highway) from New Orleans to Chicago hoping for a better life. And how can anyone spend any time here without occasionally catching oneself whistling “Dixie.” That tune was even one of Abe Lincoln’s favorites!

We did learn the origin of calling the South Dixieland. In the early 1800s, the Bank of Louisiana issued a $10 bill that was very popular and used extensively throughout the South - especially along the Mississippi River. One side was in English and the other in French. The French word for ten is Dix. Northern traders would return from the South with their pockets were full of Dixies. The South became known as the “Land of Dixies.” “Dixieland” was a song written to a march beat and for inauguration of Jefferson Davis. It became the unofficial song of the South during the Confederacy.

We learned that Coca-Cola, Nehi, and Royal Crown Cola were invented after the Civil War in Columbus Georgia (and that Coca-Cola was first bottled in Vicksburg, Mississippi.) Now it is more understandable why RC Colas and Moon-Pies were a staple at all NARCAR races.

We now understand that the Mississippi Delta Region is the fertile region along the Mississippi from Vicksburg to Memphis and not at the mouth in New Orleans.

President Teddy Roosevelt was once in Onward Mississippi hunting for bear. His guide and the guide’s hunting dogs cornered a bear and tied it to a tree for Mr. Roosevelt to shoot. Teddy Roosevelt refused, saying he could not shoot it since it was not in keeping with good sportsmanship. Based on this incident which received wide newspaper coverage, a Brooklyn woman, a stuffed-toy maker, made a stuffed bear dressed in TR’s hunting suit and sold it as a Christmas toy. And so, the Teddy Bear was born and the rest is history.

Since we mentioned Roosevelt, when we were in Hyde Park, New York and in Campobello, New Brunswick we learned that FDR spent time in Warm Springs, Georgia and, in fact died there in 1945. We were determined to complete our journey of FDR with a visit there. His “Little White House” was used from 1932-1945 and is a tiny cottage on beautiful grounds. All of the furnishings are authentic and exactly as they were in 1945 when he died there. It was called his “inspirational retreat.” It is surprisingly not luxurious and no President today would consider living like this. The museum has his “Unfinished Portrait” for which he was sitting when he had his cerebral aneurism. It also houses his 1938 Ford convertible with hand controls which he designed. There was also a nice film about his life in Warm Springs. The actual warm springs were 88 degrees and since FDR had heard of someone being cured of polio by the healing waters, he came here in 1924, before he was President, and breathed life into the community. He swam in the pools and played with the children and did normal things that would be unheard of today. When he learned that he was paying more for electricity for his tiny house there than he was in New York, he also brought cheaper electricity to the farmers. This may have been the basis of bringing electricity to rural areas as part of the New Deal. Many polio victims followed him there, seeking a cure. The pools today are empty and historic other than the small spring that you can touch. But there is a FDR Therapeutic Center nearby with healing pools, now used mostly for stroke victims or spinal injuries.

There were many Civil War battles fought in this area. We concentrated on seeing and learning about Andersonville, Vicksburg, and Montgomery.

Andersonville, Georgia, aka Camp Sumter, is a notorious Confederate Civil War POW camp renowned for mistreating prisoners. Pictures of emaciated men raised such an emotional outburst that the North called for retribution. The 30% death rate was about the same as the union POW camp in Elmira (aka Hell-mira), New York. At the peak, when cities were falling to Sherman and prisoners had to be moved, there were 45,000 Union prisoners in Andersonville, yet the camp was designed to hold only 15,000. The overcrowding, lack of food, and poor sanitary conditions led to a death rate up to 100+ per day. Nearly 13,000 died from dysentery, disease, starvation, or exposure. The unsanitary conditions and lack of clean drinking water created constant diarrhea and even gangrene. There was no shade and no trees so prisoners had makeshift tents for shade. Many tried to escape via tunnels but most all were recaptured. The top person in charge was Captain Wirz who was tried, convicted, and hanged for war crimes. This prison, for enlisted men only, existed for 14 months. The camp was an outdoor fenced area with a15 foot tall stockade wooden wall, and then another fence called the “deadline” another 19 feet inside of that. If any prisoner went past the deadline they were shot. (I wonder how many corporate deadlines would be past by today if that were the penalty). Wirz tried to get more food and space, but the Confederacy was severely losing the war at that time, and didn’t have enough supplies for themselves. He tried to negotiate for prisoner exchanges to reduce the number, but Grant and Lincoln refused. He offered to return prisoners if the North would send ships for them- none ever arrived. Sherman, in his march to the sea, did not to take the resources to liberate the prison. In spite of this “shared” set of circumstances, Wirz was blamed alone. His grave marks him as a martyr, which he probably was. There were six “Raiders” who were basically prison bullies and thieves since there were no union officers to keep order, and the guards were just teenagers (all older men were fighting the war). The prisoners, with Wirz’ backing, captured the raiders. All six were tried by their prisoner peers and hanged. They are buried separately off by themselves in disgrace at the National Cemetery there. The headstones are mere inches apart since the soldiers were buried shoulder to shoulder in trenches, not in boxes, since there were so many deaths each day. More soldiers were POWs in the Civil War than in World War II. There is, appropriately, a National POW museum at this location honoring POWs from all wars and is the repository for POW memorabilia.

Vicksburg, Mississippi, has the largest National Cemetery in the US for union soldiers with 17,000, of which 13,000 are unknown. Vicksburg was important to the Union in order to control the Mississippi River and therefore the southern states that depended on it. It was “the key” according to Lincoln. Grant had 4 or 5 attempts to take Vicksburg and was rebuffed each time. Vicksburg has steep, large slopes between the city and Grant’s attacks from the east and was therefore difficult to attack. It did not need to be a walled city to require a siege. After taking Jackson MS, Grant tried again in what became known as the siege of Vicksburg. This last attempt, after 46 days of siege, was to starve the city into submission. Confederate General Pemberton surrendered Vicksburg on July 4 hoping for leniency [Interesting that Mississippi wouldn’t celebrate the July 4th holiday again until 1907.] Gettysburg’s defeat ended the day before, on July 3^rd and these two losses were the turning point of the war, even though fighting continued for 21 more months.

Vicksburg was also a POW exchange point. On Apr 24, 1865, over 2300 Union soldiers from the prisons in Andersonville (& Cahaha, Alabama) left Vicksburg on the steamer Sultana headed upriver for home. Three nights later near Memphis, the overloaded boat exploded and over 1800 died. It is America history’s biggest maritime disaster but with the surrender of both Lee & Johnston’s Confederate armies, and the assassination of Lincoln in Apr 1865, the incident made little news. It remains a little known tragedy of the Civil War years.

Montgomery, Alabama was originally the capital of the Confederacy (before moving to Richmond.) Jefferson Davis was sworn in as the president of the Confederacy on its Capitol’s front steps in 1861 and lived nearby in the First Whitehouse of the Confederacy,

Montgomery is also a significant contributor to the history of civil rights. It was here that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus, leading to the bus strike and the changing of the custom (not law) that blacks had to sit in the back, or give up their seat to a white person. Martin Luther King was chosen to be the leader of the bus boycott. His home was bombed and he preached non-violence in response. It was the final push to him to fully commit to the Civil Rights movement (they call this “The Epiphany”.)

MLK’s first and only church where he was pastor is within sight of the confederate capitol and has been renamed “Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church.” The basement is where the effective bus boycott plan was derived. The church is only one block from the Capitol building, on famous Dexter Avenue, which is also the path for the famous Selma-to-Montgomery march, as well as the inaugural parade route for Jefferson Davis. Dexter Avenue has the Capitol on one end and the Court Square Fountain at the other end, where slaves used to be sold, and where the order to fire on Ft Sumter originated. The juxtaposition of being the cradle of the Civil Rights Movement and the capital of the Confederacy – only one block apart – both began in Montgomery – is amazing.

This was a full two weeks in the South! This is such a wonderful country and we always enjoy seeing new things, meeting new people, and learning about the history. Until next time, Happy trails to you!

Martin Luther King

		MLK VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Forty five years ago today (April 4^th), Martin Luther King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee at the age of 39. Today we are in Montgomery Alabama and learned that the bus transit authority required that any black must give up their seat to any white. The humiliation was extreme and worse than having to endure separate bathrooms, separate movie theaters, and separate restaurants. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat per the Transit Authority rules (not a segregation law) and was arrested. This evolved into a boycott (that lasted over a year) of riding the buses. The boycott was organized and led by Martin Luther King, a 25 year old minister of the Dexter Ave Baptist Church (his first and only ministerial assignment). Also in Montgomery is the Civil Rights Memorial dedicated to those who were killed while trying to achieve equal rights. The Civil Rights Memorial is designed by the same artist, Maya Lin, who also did the Vietnam War Memorial in DC. Standing in front of the Civil Rights Memorial draws out deep emotional feelings for those brave souls who had the personal power to stand up for their beliefs and rights, even though it cost the ultimate price—their own life.

So it was with Martin Luther King - a follower of Christ’s messages, an eloquent speaker, a philosopher, a dreamer, a pacifist, and a leader who truly inspires many. We have been to Atlanta, to Memphis, and now to Montgomery and want to share, on this day, some of what we saw and learned about him in the photos.

Departing Florida

		Spring is here VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

April is here and spring has arrived. This was apparent when we went to the Alfred Maclay Gardens, north of Tallahassee. The azaleas, irises, dogwoods, and camellias were in full bloom. It is difficult for us to believe that we have been in Florida for four months. Looking at our highlighted map shows that we have been up and down both coasts, seen the Keys and the Everglades, and up to the Big Bend area. Adding where we have visited in Florida during the winters of 2007/2008 and 2008/2009, we have seen most of Florida quite well. This season we accomplished our goal of not repeating too much, but rather seeing new places and having different experiences. We were surprised at how many relatives and friends were in Florida this winter and we tried to see them all.

Last blog found us heading for the Gulf coast. On the way we visited Pat’s relatives in Lakeland who took us to Bok Tower in central Florida. The carillon tower is 150 feet tall and is housed on a large estate filled with gardens of blooming azaleas and camellias, filled with walking paths through the gardens. On the property is the highest elevation in Florida – 298 feet! In that area we saw fresh citrus being picked, strawberries on the vine, flowers starting to bloom, and the sweet fragrance of orange blossoms will always be associated with our winter times in Florida.

In December we had stayed right on the beach in Venice and now returned just north of there for camping at Oscar Scherer State Park. There is a bike path there that goes between Sarasota and Venice and we found it quite delightful to get around and to see wildlife. Wetlands were very near our campsite, so we enjoyed seeing/hearing squawking sandhill cranes in flight, a bald eagle in flight, lots of black vultures (endangered), a short-tailed hawk, a swallow-tailed kite, ospreys, a wood stork, among lots of other birds. At our campsite the songbirds were fantastic and the cardinals made a regular appearance. The cardinals are definitely in mating season here. The bright red male has been pecking the rear view mirrors on our car and also at our stainless steel percolator [to fight off perceived competitors?] and he keeps chasing the brownish color female everywhere.

We then went to rentals right on the beach on Anna Maria Island and on Pass-a-Grille (South St Pete Beach). Pass-a-Grille is a strange name and we learned that the name came from French pirates from Louisiana coming to Spanish Florida/Tampa for raids. They were trying to sneak into Tampa Bay, but the island always had Spanish fisherman on it where they were grilling their catch. So the French called it Grillers’ Pass or Passe aux Guilliers, which became Pass-a-Grille.

The St Petersburg Pier located at the Bayfront has been deemed obsolete and in so much need of repair that it is soon to be torn down (May) and will be replaced by a modern landmark pier called the “Lens” by 2015. We visited it one last time, eating at the always excellent Columbia Restaurant located there, which will be relocated to a new spot just off the pier. Near the pier is a statue of a newsboy when the St Pete Independent gave free newspapers on the days the sun did not shine in St Pete. They did this from 1910 thru 1985 and had to give out free papers only 295 times in 75 years.

We are always glad to see places becoming more bike-friendly. There is a new rail-to-trails bike path that extends from St Pete to Tarpon Springs. This makes moving up and down the peninsula much easier then facing the congested traffic located there. On the western Gulf coast of Florida, we enjoyed collecting shells, watching golden sunsets over the water, identifying shorebirds, discovering waterfront restaurants, watching the playful dolphins, and watching pelicans, limpkins, egrets, herons, ospreys, eagles, ibis, willets, sandpipers and gulls feed in the abundance of food in the waters. It was difficult however, to jog, exercise, or do yoga with the laughing gulls around and not take it personally!

The State song of Florida is “Old Folks at Home” [aka “Way Down Upon the Swanee River”] so we checked it out. The Suwannee River is mostly in Florida and runs for 246 miles from the Okefenokee Swamp GA to the Gulf of Mexico, separating peninsular Florida from the panhandle. The Suwannee River is a wild blackwater river, which are found only in the Amazon and Southern US. Blackwater rivers run clear, but are the color of coffee due to the tannins leaching in from the swampland vegetation. This difference was abundantly clear when we saw the difference in color at the confluence of the Suwannee (clear and black) and the Withlacooche (muddier and tan) Rivers. The rivers had a distinct marbling look as if one was mixing chocolate and vanilla ice cream. Situated on the banks of the legendary Suwannee River is the Stephen Foster Folk Center Cultural State Park. This center honors the memory of American composer Stephen Foster, who wrote "Old Folks at Home," the Florida State song that made the river famous. He wrote over 200 songs, many with Southern themes, even though he was not a Southerner. Others you probably know are “My Old Kentucky Home”, “Oh Susannah”, and “Camptown Races.”

Pensacola was settled by the Spanish in 1559. It was the first European settlement in the United States. It was a rival to St. Augustine on the Atlantic settled in 1565 on the other side of the state. Pensacola was the capital of West Florida territory (settled by Alabamans) and St Augustine was the capital of East Florida Territory (settled by Georgians). When Florida became a territory in 1821, there were two capitals and the Government held sessions alternately in each one. Growing tired of all that cumbersome travel, they decided on a compromise and established Tallahassee (halfway in-between) as the capital. Tallahassee is currently still the State capital and home to Florida State University. This area has the fewest “Go Gators” bumper stickers of anywhere in the state. West of Tallahassee (“Florabama”), you are just as likely to see support for Alabama Crimson Tide or the Auburn Tigers as the Seminoles, and East of Tallahassee- “How about them Dawgs”.

South of Tallahassee is St Marks National Wildlife Refuge. It is here that a group of critically endangered whooping cranes [from the few left in the west] was introduced. Since they were introduced into Florida, they never learned to migrate and they are still led by an ultra-light plane from Florida to Wisconsin and back each year. We included a picture from the website for those of you who are not familiar with this or saw the 1996 movie Fly Away Home.

We now have “Georgia on our Minds” and are leaving Florida and the Gulf waters behind. What a great winter this has been for us.