Fort McKavett Frontier Days, March 27, 28, 29, 2009

Fort McKavett Frontier Days, March 27-28-29, 2009

We left Midland on Thursday and took our trailer to Ft. McKavett where we would stay until Saturday. As is usual with our travels, we faced head winds all the way to the Fort. We arrived and set up to find a problem with our electrical system and did not have electricity for the weekend. However with the gracious help of the park staff we were able to be comfortable using the DC converter.
.The first day of the event saw 650 school children from the area descend on us. Chuck set up on the porch of the headquarters building and I put up my sewing machine inside the building. I was joined by three other ladies, Donna Hector who shows the kids domestic home items from the 19th century, Ann Johnson who showed off cross stitch while Stella and I displayed antique sewing machines to help the kids understand the roles of women at that time period. I showed the kids quilt squares and used them to tell a brief story about the settling of Texas. After a demonstration of my cotton combs, each class got to turn the crank of my sewing machine to make a quilt square. The park and their friends group provided us with very good meals and we enjoyed meeting new people and friends after the students boarded the buses. The weather, of course, was windy and cold.

The public day on Saturday was the best attended in recent years. Their new addition was a group of young Indian dancers who really put on a good show. Again, it was windy but that didn't stop the fun. After most of the public left, a couple of the soldiers got rather rowdy but the chaplin put an end to it. He was actually the rector at a tiny Episcopal church on the grounds of Ft. McKavett who reenacts and talks to visitors on the Sundays he is at the church. A true circuit riding preacher.

The camels were at the fort this year and as always quite a draw. To think--camels might have been a prevalent as horses had the Civil War not begun.

At the end of the event we got a group picture of many of the reenactors on the porch of the headquarters building. When we started getting ready for the shot, spectators appeared out of nowhere to join in the picture taking. Reenactors pulled out cameras and handed them over to the public for their own version of the scene to take home.

The dogs came with us and really enjoyed romping on the Parade ground after the public was gone. Ulysses was extremely comical this trip. The trailer door opens in two parts. When I would take Autie out for "business", Ulysses would pop up and down trying to see what we were doing. Just like a jack-in-the-box, this black head and bright eyes would appear. They both were very good in the trailer.

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Historical Conferences at Ft. Concho

March 13, 14, 15

The presentations were finished ...finally and everything was packed. We left for Fort Concho in San Angelo on Thursday, March 12 to attend the Frontier Women's Living History Association conference and School of the Soldier. Both Chuck and I were giving presentations. Besides organizing the men's sessions, Chuck was giving presentations on Engineers and Army Medical for the men's sessions. I was conducting a hands-on workshop on Civil War era hair decorations. In addtion to the learning sessions there was a Ball on Saturday evening. It was great fun and the whole weekend was quite successful.

The Sweet Song String Band played for the dance and we always enjoy their music.

Fort Richardson Trip

On February 20th we drove to Wichita Falls with the trailer to spend a couple of days with Geri and to see friends, George and Dana Allison. We stayed at Lake Arrowhead State Park and on Sunday moved to Ft. Richardson SHP. There, we rested and helped them with their docent's manual. Chuck gave a tour for a group of Jr. ROTC students from Hirchi HS in WF. We had fun and got in some good rest time. Being retired just means being busier. Go figure.

Nita, Jennifer, Ryan, Rayden

Trip to San Antonio

Twiggs Surrender and Victorian Ball

On February 13, 2009, we left for San Antonio to participate in a living history event in front of the Alamo. The event was called Twigg's Surrender which recalled the surrender of Texas to the Confederacy in 1861. Interestingly, this information was located by a man doing research at the Alamo. In February of 1861, the Alamo was being used by the US Army as its headquarters. General Twiggs was the officer commanding the Dept. of Texas. He had requested orders on how to handle things if the Texans were to secede from the Union but Washington refused to answer his request and left him hanging. Sure enough, a group of Texas volunteers, demanded Twiggs surrender the Federal forces and holdings. Rather than have bloodshed as the two groups faced each other, Twiggs negotiated and withdrew the Federal army from Texas with their weapons and what they could take with them. Shortly after this confrontation, Texas did vote to secede and the Civil War began with shots fired at Ft. Sumter in South Carolina. Harper's Weekly published details of this event and images of the articles can be seen at ttp://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1861/march/san-antonio-plaza.htm including this picture of the plaza in San Antonio.

Our valentine to each other was to stay in the Menger Hotel, an elegant establishment from those days which boasted the stay of famous people like Robert E. Lee and George Custer. We arrived about noon and were elegantly escorted to our room with great fanfareby an nice hotel employee . The room was elegance itself with a sitting area, large closet, bar and table -- much more than these bumpkins had seen before in hotels. Felt like we'd been dropped into the "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous."

We wandered the streets around the Alamo and found ourselves at the Institute of Texan Cultures just at the foot of the 1968 Hemisphere Tower . The museum had a display of the San Antonio Hemisphere along with displays of the different ethnic groups that settled Texas. We talked to an elderly lady of 80+ years who showed us how wool was carded, spun and woven on a loom she was working. Then, we hurried through the Riverwalk Mall and headed to Tony Roma's for supper. Chuck's favorite (groan) Andean flute band was playing on the steps of the Riverwalk as usual.

On Saturday, we met up with our friends, Lee and Shirley Ragan of Odessa and Joe and Stella Gonzalez of San Antonio, on the Alamo Plaza. At 11:00 and 2:00 we participated in the event which was narrated for the large group of public. (Just so they didn't think this was the Battle of the Alamo). In between the events, we visited with old friends in the re-enactment community and posed for lots of pictures. We met up with another Midlander, Betty Adcox and her sister, Judy from Tennesse and friend from Mississipi who were attending for the first time. At 3:00 there was a Ladies' tea in the Menger which was very nice. We then adjourned to prepare for the Victorian Ball and Dinner that night at 7:00.

The dance and dinner was in an elegant ballroom and the band was our favorite, the Sweet Song String Band. This band plays period music with hammer dulcimer, banjo, piano, fiddle and has a dance caller that makes it easy to learn the period dances without making too big a fool of your two left-footed self. Once, when I left the dance for a trip down the hall, I heard this totally startled "Ann" and turned to see Jeff, a MISD music teacher who was attending the TMEA conference. We had met at the Menger where we were both staying and had told him about the event and dance. He seemed so bumfuzzled to see me so elegantly if strangely dressed (I guess). He commented about my beautiful dress and said, " Ya'll are really serious about this, aren't you." He seemed so startled to see me in such a different light from my school/MISD personna that I got a big chuckle out of the whole thing.

After the dance, we returned to the room. Sunday morning we headed home to Midland. Sadly, however, Walmart stops were forbidden and I arrived home with no new fabric.