Tracing History

I thought there would be a lot more time to write the blog while we were here in Florida, but things conspired against me. We used the time to get the car repaired and back to good running condition for the first time since Salt Lake City. New tires all around, new front and rear brakes and an air conditioning repair. We also added some things to the RV including exterior lighting, a windshield cover, a cell phone booster, a uni-directional roof antennae, and a replacement satellite dish turret. We also had the body work done that we had been putting off since Ohio last summer.  Jack had surgery to remove what turned out to be a benign lipoma on his front right paw.  Spent a lot of time with mom so my overworked and overburdened sister could visit her daughters in Baton Rouge and Muncie, NY.  Jo also took 10 days to visit her mom in Philadelphia. Add to that two very busy months at work and there wasn't as much time as I thought.  We are leaving on Thursday and heading to Georgia for a couple of days to visit Plains and Andersonville. 

So, we left off with our trip to Big Bend. As I mentioned, it snowed about four inches and after two days of freezing, we headed north to Alpine for a week or so. Alpine is the home of Sol Ross University and the museum of the Big Bend. It was also home to one of my personal heroes, Jaoquin Jackson, one of the last of the "one riot, one ranger" Texas rangers. 

Here's what Wikipedia says about him, "
Joaquin Jackson was assigned to a wide swath of the Texas-Mexico border from 1966 to 1993. He was involved in a shootout at the Carrizo Springs jail that ended a prison revolt. He captured "The See More Kid," an elusive horse thief and burglar who left clean dishes and swept floors in the houses he burglarized. He investigated the 1988 shootings in Big Bend's Colorado Canyon and tried to understand the motives of the Mexican teenagers who terrorized three river rafters and killed one.
While a Texas Ranger, Jackson was instrumental in starting the career of country singer Johnny Rodriguez. In 1969, a teenage Rodriguez was jailed and would often sing in his cell; Jackson, who overheard Rodriguez and was impressed by his voice, told his friend, music promoter James "Happy" Shahan, about him, and Shahan then hired Rodriguez for his first singing gigs."
Ranger Jackson was the focus of two books, "One Ranger, a memoir" and "The Ranger Returns."  Six months after we were there, he died at the age of 80. Truly one of the last of his kind.

While in Alpine, we took a day to go to Fort Davis National Monument. And so, our trek through history began. Fort Davis is one of two U.S. Calvary forts we visited in Texas.  Fort Davis has been partially restored and represents one of the best forts in the country. The fort sits up against the Davis mountains and has at least a dozen buildings, including enlisted barracks, officers homes, hospital and more. Jo was impressed with the hospital and its history. I was impressed with the Gatling gun in the enlisted barracks. Ft. Davis was a buffalo soldier camp that played a major role in the westward expansion.  

On another night we headed back out to the area for a visit to McDonald Observatory. One of the most advanced astronomical facilities in the country with numerous telescopes. We went for a star party where we looked through several telescopes.  We attended a constellation program but it was so cold we called it quits. Still, a pretty cool night.

 

 Next time, Marfa, Ft. Stockton and Odessa, TX.