Multiconstruct

Well constant reader, I have made it Great Bend National Park and have been here about 4 days. I made much better time than I planned and the trip has become more and more magical. I am in a campsite in the Cottonwood campground drinking a cup of herbal tea and winding down from the drive in before I turn in. I don’t have a signal so I will work in some photos if I get the chance, if I don’t please excuse the wall of text.

I believe I left off in Oklahoma. Oklahoma has a lack of outdoor recreation that makes it really standout, not only in the West but nationally. The conservation area I camped at probably required a hunting permit. My second night in Oklahoma was in a Walmart parking lot.

The bright spot was the Seminole Museum. They have a number of very cool artifacts and their interpretation tells their story very well. I was somewhat familiar but definitely learned something. They had the longest campaign to force their relocation of any tribe. Basically in 3 waves they were defeated militarily and forced to move over 80 years I believe. A remnant was able to maintain in the swamps and that group ultimately received tribal recognition.

The British encouraged slaves to flee to Florida and they were taken into the Seminole Tribe. I also learned the Seminole were a composite group of remnant tribes decimated by disease that formed the Seminole fairly late in history. A lot of their tribal traditions, like dress, were based on trade goods. Trade cloth was a lot better than buckskins for the Florida heat.

They originally started more northerly in Alabama, Georgia and the panhandle but were pushed deeper into Florida. The museum had cultural artifacts and a lot of contemporary art.  I did enjoy driving the back roads through Oklahoma. I found a conservation area to camp in after crossing into Texas.

I got an early start but backtracked back a bit to Tulsa and went to a park and botanical gardens that also had the historical museum. The Japanese maple were in all their Fall glory and it has been fun to turn back time to the leaves changing as I’ve traveled south.

I visited 4 forts in Texas under different arrangements and in different conditions. Fort Richardson is in a State Park and has preserved buildings and some recreational similar to Fort Scott. The state park has more buildings open but less interpretation and archeology than the feds but provided an overall better experience. The Fort

Fort Phantom Hill was ruins, mostly chimneys and some stone foundations. Fort Chadbourn was privately owned and run by a foundation, with like 4 people doing it. It has a little bit of ruins but mostly reconstruction. It also had the best collection of artifacts. Lots of guns including guns from the Little Big Horn.

The Comanche had killed a couple guys on a mail run, it was precipitated by one of the soldiers but it got them both killed. The Comanche were confronted and threatened with arrest so they seized an officers barracks and forted up. A Lieutenant kicked the door in and got killed for his trouble but the Comanche were defeated. You could still see the bullet holes. There was also soldier graffiti writing Tecumseh, Michigan about 20 miles from where I grew up. Warmed my Yankee heart.

I had a nice talk about running a nonprofit with my museum tour guide and met the ranch owner who grew up with the ruins and learned they were important in college and built the museum and led the reconstruction. His workman consulted on the stabilization of the chimneys at Fort Phantom Hill, which did have an existent magazine. Ammunition storage buildings are mad so thick they stand the test of time.

The last fort was Fort Stockton. It’s owned by the city and run by the local historical society. Not much to it. It was a Buffalo Soldier fort. Noticed it’s guardhouse had chains on the wall and it was the first fort without a bakehouse. They fed those fellows leftover hardtack from the Civil War in 1858. The chaining up was reflective of the harshness of Civil War discipline the interpretation said but I wondered if it wasn’t the fact that they had white officers and Black soldiers?

I got my first hotel a week into the trip at Fort Stockton knowing it was the last cheap city before Big Bend. I finished my tea and will take another trip to the pit toilet before calling it a night.

PostScript: I am at a McDonald’s in Alpine Texas enjoying access to a sink and flush toilet, a second cup of coffee, a couple of sausage biscuits (one would have been better) and crappy wifi. I’m going to slow track to Marfa camping at roadside parks unless I find something better. Researching on how to do Guadalupe Mountains National Park with camping full.