Week in Review: April 21-27, 2013 ~~ Tennessee to Illinois

Where does the time go?  Already it’s almost the end of April, and we’re almost half-way back to Minnesota.  Sunday and Monday we were still in Big Buck RV Resort, heading to Illinois on Tuesday.

Big Buck RV Resort, TN

Sunday morning was a cold morning, at 46 degrees. We stayed in the park this day and after the temperatures warmed up a bit we rode our bicycles around the park to get a bit of exercise. It still didn’t get too warm, and there was a breeze making it feel cold even though the sun was shining. Our new buddies Teri and Everett left Sunday morning, so we were alone in our part of the park again.

Monday morning’s temperatures weren’t much warmer than Sunday’s, at 49 degrees when we got up. The clouds were rolling by, but that didn’t dissuade Dick from riding the motorcycle to Selmer, TN to run a few errands.  By the time he returned I had gotten the laundry ready to wash so we hauled it to the Laundromat on our bikes and did a couple of loads. We packed up as much as we could to get ready for our departure Tuesday morning.

Travel day Tuesday. We headed north aiming for Carterville, Illinois to spend a few days with Marv and Shirl, whom we met in Texas. We left Big Buck by 10:30 Tuesday morning. Our trip took us up through Tennessee, Kentucky, across the Ohio River and into Illinois. We arrived in Carterville by 3 p.m.—a perfect day’s drive.  As is true with most of the rivers in the mid-west, the Ohio had really flooded the banks. Lovely to look at, but wouldn’t want to live along-side it!

Marvin and Shirley are owners, along with sons, John and Curt, of  an RV dealership (Kamper’s Supply), so we are having them perform some service items on the Sundance.  We had the brakes and bearings checked and brakes adjusted and found all to be well.  We hadn’t had any trouble so this was a “peace of mind” adjustment. Since we are in their shop we had them replace the awning motor which we “fried” in Texas due to a “sticky” awning extension switch which stayed on a bit too long. Also we are adding “slide topper” awnings to our slide rooms that will protect the roof of these rooms from the elements. They are installing the dining room unit this trip and we’ll do the other two next fall on our way south.

These guys have been in business nearly 40-years and really know their stuff. Their high integrity, high quality service at a fair price approach is a real comfort to us. We are leery of having our work done at large RV dealers we don’t really know. So if you have any RV issue from motorhome to popup trailer these guys can help. They are located in Carterville, IL just east of Carbondale, IL. It’s worth a stop even if you have to go out of your way a bit. They are also full-line Starcraft dealers selling anything from popups to 5^th wheels and have an extensive in-store parts inventory as well as internet parts site at www.kamperssupply.com. Check it out! If you happen to be in the area, next weekend is their annual open house May 3-4-5. A great opportunity to get to know them and check out the operation.

These nice folks allowed us “dry camp” in our trailer while we visited and they performed the work on our “home on wheels” so we’re “camping out” at their dealership for the next week or so to see the sites while our service is performed.

Marvin and Shirley took us on a tour of Carterville where they live, as well as nearby Carbondale, home of Southern Illinois University and the Salukis. We also drove through Giant City State Park. Near the campus is Quatro’s, a pizza place, where we had dinner. Really good pizza, if you're ever near Saluki territory! 

While Marvin’s and Shirley’s sons Curt and John checked the trailer on Wednesday morning, Dick and I ran a couple of errands, familiarizing ourselves with the area. Later that day, Dick rode his bike around John A. Logan College, a community college just adjacent to the dealership, while I continued to get settled.

This 9-foot tall life-size wood carving of Gen. John A. Logan atop his horse was formally unveiled May 27, 2004, at the west entrance to the College in Carterville. The unveiling marked a pre-Memorial Day celebration. Art Boatwright of Marion, IL carved it, using mostly a chainsaw, from a lightning injured oak tree. Notice the details!

Wednesday evening after dinner in the trailer (creamy Cajun chicken over pasta), we were invited to Marvin and Shirley’s to meet their friends Randy and Jeri, and to play “Pegs and Jokers,” a very frustrating board game. We’ve played this every night since we arrived!

By about 10:30 a.m. on Thursday the temperatures had risen to about 63 degrees—a perfect day to ride the motorcycle. Dick and I hit the road and rode for a couple of hours around Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, with a stop at Devil’s Kitchen Lake. What beautiful country! 

Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge is made up of approximately 44,000 acres of woodlands, wetlands, and grasslands, providing habitat for hundreds of species of birds, 43 species of mammals, and 50 species of reptiles.

Rolling hills, streams and creeks swollen with water from recent rainfalls and flooding from the larger rivers. The forests and country sides were thick with the creamy white and vibrant pink of the dogwoods, against the bright blue sky and spring green of new leaves. Wild flowers in every hue of purple and lavender, yellows and white sprinkled the ground. Lovely.

Later that afternoon Marvin and Shirley took us on a tour of Lake of Egypt, where they own property with a cabin, park model and two RV sites.  We also drove through Ferne Clyffe State Park before dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Marion, Illinois.

Temperatures on Friday morning warmed much more quickly than earlier in the week—55 degrees by 7 a.m. The new motor for the awning was installed, but John found cuts in the tape on the dining room slide roof, so that needed to be repaired too. Dick did some sweat equity cleaning the roof surface so new tape could be applied. He also worked on the printer and computer system in the dealership office. Later that day—and before “Pegs and Jokers”—we had dinner at O’Charlies with Marvin, Shirley, Randy, Jeri, and two other friends of theirs, Ron and Marietta.

Saturday morning was a morning of errands for us: the local yarn shop, Walmart, Goodwill and Sears.  We accomplished everything by about 1:30 p.m., in time to get back to the dealership to head out again on another sightseeing tour. This time was to “Bald Knob Cross of Peace,”  Fountain Bluffs, and the “bottom lands” along the flooded Mississippi River and Marvin’s home town.

These photos are of the flood waters of
the Mississippi, taken on Saturday, April 27.

Bald Knob Cross is a 111 foot tall cross sitting atop a hill top overlooking the Shawnee National Forest in Alto Pass, Illinois. It’s visible, when lit at night, over an area of 7,500 square miles. Originally completed in 1963, the cross is 22 feet square at the base, 16 feet square at the top and its arms extend 63 feet horizontally. The exterior white panels covering the cross are 4-inch architectural flat insulated metal panels while the base portion is covered in granite approximately 4-inches thick. The structure sits on a foundation of 730 tons of reinforced concrete that goes down 20 feet to bedrock. The steel framework weighs approximately 170 tons. Each of the four sides of the cross has a word inscribed into the granite: Peace, Hope, Faith, Charity. The day we visited the cross was a cloudy, misty and overcast day, where we had to walk almost up to the cross to see it. (See photo at right.)  Sunday was to be the 21^st annual service of “Blessings of the Bikes,” where motorcyclists rode their bikes up to the cross to have them blessed for safe travel in the coming riding season. Hosted by the Christian Motorcycle Association, this event draws thousands of riders every year to celebrate goodwill and the joy of riding. All proceeds from the event go to the Bald Knob Cross fund.

Above photo of Bald Knob Cross taken by David Revelle, downloaded from the Internet,

 depicting the cross before an Easter Sunrise Service.

Later, we had dinner at Mimmo’s (pronounced mee-mo’s), a local Italian restaurant. Really GOOD!!!  Then, of course, it was another evening of Pegs and Jokers with Marvin, Shirley, Randy and Jeri.

Thank you to all of you who sent cards to my mom.  She really likes reading them over and over, and they certainly brighten her days and her room. (She does continue to ask, "Who are these people?") She’s been up and walking quite well with a walker, up to 225 steps at a time so far, and is really anxious to get home to familiar things. My brother Ron and his wife Debby were able to come home on Thursday, and will be there until Tuesday. It’s good that they’re able to spend time with her until we can get there. It also relieves the pressure from my younger brother Rich, his wife Karen and daughter MacKenzie of feeling like they need to be with Mom/Grandma all the time. We’re cutting our return trip to Minnesota short, to arrive about a week earlier than we had originally planned in order to be available in case she is able to go home sooner than we anticipated.

This coming week we’ll be travelling north, getting closer to Minnesota, and we do hope that the snow has melted by the time we get there! Safe travels to you!

Love and hugs.

Dick and Gail

Week in Review: April 14-20, 2013 ~~ Mississippi to Tennessee

 We were awakened Sunday morning the 14^th by a deluge: rain, rain, thunder, lightning and lots of rain. It began at about 2:45 a.m. and continued until about 7:30 a.m. Afterward the air was so fresh and sweet; you could smell the fresh “green” of the trees and grass. Lovely. The temperature rose from 58 degrees when we got up to the low 80s, with a slight breeze. We did a few housekeeping chores, then drove into Port Gibson to access the internet and pick up a few groceries. The rest of the day was spent sitting outside, reading, and enjoying the day. The Grand Gulf Military Park was very quiet, as we were the only ones camped in our section.

Monday…tax day. It’s on all our calendars… Temps were in the low 60s when we got up, but quickly rose to the mid-80s by mid-afternoon. We hopped on our bicycles and rode around Grand Gulf Military Park again, over to Fort Cobun (also in Grand Gulf) and down to the Mississippi River. We noticed how the river had risen and become more virulent from the bit of rain received further upriver, and what we received yesterday.

Later in the day we rode the motorcycle into Port Gibson to get cell phone service. After making a few phone calls to family and friends, we took photos of this historic house that was Ulysses Grant’s headquarters during his siege in the area. Notice the mosaic work in the dormers, which was all around the house. 

The Natchez Trace beckoned, so we rode north on the trace for 40 miles to Rock Springs, then returned to the park to begin packing up for our departure Tuesday.

When we spoke with my brother Rich that morning, we heard that my mom had fallen and was being transported to the hospital to get checked out. She had hit her head, with a bit of bleeding, but seemed to otherwise be okay.

Tuesday we packed up and were on the road within an hour (we’re getting better and faster at this!). We headed north to Big Buck RV Resort just east of Hornsby, Tennessee (pop. 297, 2011 census). Further to the west is the larger town of Bolivar (pop. 5,399, 2011 census), where we found a WalMart for shopping. During our drive we crossed the Tallahatchie River and Bridge (remember the song about Bobby Joe McCallister jumping off the Tallahatchie Bridge?).

Interestingly, in the early days Bolivar, established in 1819, was named Hatchie. In 1824, because of repeated floods, the town was moved about 2 miles south and renamed Bolivar, in honor of the South American liberator and president of Venezuela, Simón Bolívar. (Bolivar, who was in power during the early 1800s, was one of the greatest military leaders, but mostly unknown, in the history of the entire world. For more information on this amazing leader, here’s a link to his biography, if you’re interested: http://www.militaryheritage.com/bolivar.htm.)

Our site at Big Buck

These two photos are of the cabins and fishing ponds
on the property. The ponds are stocked with fish,
but we haven't been fishing...yet...

During season (after Memorial Day) Big Buck RV Resort is a bustling hub of activity, the folks here say. It offers skeet/trap shooting, rifle/pistol target shooting, an archery range, swimming pool, 2 10-acre fish-stocked deep well fed lakes, miles of 4-wheeler and walking trails, 1,200 acres for deer, squirrel and turkey hunting (in season of course), horseshoe pitching, a sandy volleyball court, and a large sandy playground area next to lake for kids. However, now it’s really quiet. We arrived Tuesday, a motor home arrived Wednesday, and a pull-behind arrived Thursday. That’s it!

There’s no cell service in the park (again!), but we have relatively good TV reception and reasonable internet. Thanks to Magic-Jack we were able to make phone calls on the computer. We had received a subsequent message from my niece that my mom had fallen as a result of a broken left hip. She was due to have a partial hip replacement on Wednesday.  

Wednesday by noon the temperatures had reached the high 80s, with humidity just as high. We rode the bikes around the park to familiarize ourselves with everything and take photos. Nothing happening here! We took off on the motorcycle to scout the back roads and see what we could see. The bright yellow of rapeseed fields attack your sense of sight, because of its bright color. Spectacular scenes of hills, farmland, streams, farms and farm animals. Nice.

Mom’s surgery went well. She was alert and talking with family right after surgery, because they gave her an epidural rather than general anesthesia, due to her age. She was scheduled to be up and walking around her room on Thursday. Thank you, God, for answered prayer. 

Thursday we used Magic-Jack to call my brother Rich to check on everyone and everything in Minnesota. Other than an additional 22” of snow, plus more on the way, everything was fine. Spoke with Mom, who was in great spirits and no pain. Rich is continuing to plow snow…hope it melts and warms up by the time we arrive there in mid-May! To date, since February 1, they’ve received over 8 FEET of snow! Definitely a new record!

New folks arrived on Thursday from Mobile, Alabama. They parked just across the road from us, so it was nice to have people nearby. That night we were expecting heavy thunderstorms and wind gust to 40 mph, possibility of hail, and also the possibility of tornadic activity. Thankfully, all we experienced were the thunderstorms and wind. By the next morning it was over, and the sun came out for a spectacular day.

Friday we woke to 50 degree temperatures and a very chilly day. The temps didn’t rise to any higher than 58 degrees. Brrr! Quite a change from just a couple of days ago! We spent most of the day inside, and watched “The Hunger Games,” available on NetFlicks.

Our new neighbors invited us over for chili that night; I made brownies. We sat outside around their fire pit, eating chili, and talking for a few hours. We learned that he works in the oil fields, currently in Angola, Africa, and is home for 28 days every other month. It was interesting to hear him relate stories of life in other parts of the world, including Kazakhstan where he’s also worked. They plan to leave for Kentucky on Sunday.

Saturday was another spectacular cloudless day, with little wind...a perfect day to hop on the motorcycle and explore the Shiloh National Military Park, just 35 miles from our location. Very interesting, and for any Civil War buffs, a must see. 

Shiloh National Military Park Visitors Center

Shiloh National Military Park was established to honor those who perished in the Civil War Battle of Shiloh, April 6-7, 1862. This battle is noted for being the most bloody and devastating carnage on American soil ever in the history of this country: 23,746 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing out of the 109,784 men engaged in battle. 

The Shiloh Meeting House, the log Methodist church
around which many of the skirmishes took place, and
which gave the battle its name.

Memorials, exhibits and maps indicate the troop movements, both Union and Confederate, during this 2-day battle, and take you over the 6,000 acres of battlefield. 

Throughout the park, every direction you looked (even in the woods)
were memorials and monuments, innumerable cannons, and signs
indicating headquarters, camps, troop positions, etc.
This park covers over 6,000 acres of woodlands and fields.

One of the many Indiana memorials

One of many Iowa memorials

One of the many Tennessee memorials.

Monuments such as this indicated where headquarters
had been established for the many military leaders
during this battle.

Memorials such as these lined the paved roads
leading you through the park, to battlefields,
encampments, and headquarters locations.

“The Union Army barely held its position on April 6, 1862. The South had to win this battle, or it would be increasingly certain the out-manned Confederate Army was doomed to lose the Civil War. The Union took a beating on Day 1, losing 3,000 more men than the South. Union reinforcements, on the way from the Nashville area, were delayed by flooding rivers and washed-out bridges. Would they arrive in time to help Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Union soldiers put down the secessionist Rebels?

When the smoke cleared, the dead and wounded were strewn across the muddy, wooded battlefield, which sprawled over 6,000 acres on the west bank of the Tennessee River less than 10 river miles south of Savannah, Tenn. The site is now Shiloh National Military Park, 110 miles east of Memphis, which was the scene of carnage intended to settle the war between the states. 

The blood of the fallen men—and horses—had turned a freshwater pond into what became known as "Bloody Pond," a symbol of the most gruesome battle the nation had seen.

It pitted North against South, but also neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother and classmate against classmate. The leading generals at Shiloh all were graduates of West Point, armed with the same tactics.

Casualties of war—killed, wounded and missing—are an inexact science, but some historians contend that in two days, the Battle of Shiloh cost more men than all previous U.S. wars combined. Grant said later, "In numbers engaged, no such contest ever took place on this continent." More than 23,000 men were killed, wounded or missing.

Gate to the Shiloh National Military Park Cemetary.

Grave marker of an unknown U.S. soldier,
marked only with a number.

Row after row of unmarked graves indicate the final resting place for
hundreds of Union soldiers. Many are marked with simply a square
block of granite engraved with a number. (The Confederate
soldiers are buried in five known mass graves in other areas of the park.

Note the small square grave markers, where so many soldiers
are buried without identification.

Located just a few hundred feet inside the gates to the cemetery.

In February 1862, Grant and his men had captured two Confederate forts—Fort Henry and Fort Donelson—about 15 miles south of the Kentucky border. It meant Grant could safely send gunboats and steamboats south along the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers. He was preparing for a fresh assault deeper into the Confederacy. His goal was the rail lines intersecting in Corinth, Miss. The Memphis & Charleston went all the way from Corinth to the East Coast. It was the "vertebra of the Confederacy," as one secretary of war called it.

As Grant planned his attack at Shiloh, the Confederacy got the jump on him—a surprise attack before dawn on April 6. In the actual battle, the Union had the heaviest toll—more than 13,000 casualties. The South lost 10,000. But outnumbered Confederate forces were forced to retreat 22 miles south to Corinth, enlisting more men to rise again. It was the fierceness of the battle at Shiloh that has attracted many war buffs to the (park).

"It was just a great big fistfight with two big mobs slugging away at each other," the late historian Shelby Foote said when he attended a re-enactment of the battle in 1987.

"It turns into this grinding, slowly moving bloodbath," says Chris Mekow, historian and National Park Service ranger at Shiloh National Military Park. Historian Bruce Catton said, "Now the war had come down to uninstructed murderous battle in the smoky woodland, where men who had never been shown how to fight stayed in defiance of all logical expectation and fought for two nightmarish days. And because they had done this the hope for an easy war and a cheap victory was gone forever."  (excerpted, The Commercial Appeal, April 1, 2012)

For more information on the Battle of Shiloh, see http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/shiloh.htm Expect to be changed. To know that you’re walking over ground that has seen such massacre, where so many lost their lives, is so discomforting.

We hope this finds you well. Here's the map of our travels since leaving Rockport, TX.

A = Rockport, TX

B = Beaumont, TX

C = Grand Gulf Military Park, MS

D = Big Buck RV Resort, TN

We’re continuing our trek northward, heading out Tuesday morning for Carterville, Illinois, to visit with friends whom we met in Texas. 

Blessings and hugs,

RJ and Gail

Week in Review: April 7 through 13 - Grand Gulf, Mississippi

Sunday, April 7 was our last Sunday in Rockport, Texas. It was time to pack up for our Monday morning departure. After being in one location for 4 months, it seems we had a lot of “stuff” to do—more so than what we remembered. We said our final goodbyes to Jim and Connie (from Colorado), Sue and Larry (from Colorado), and David and Pat (from Wisconsin). We will be seeing them all again in Rockport, in just 6 short months.

Monday morning the 8th we did the final packing, paid our final electric bill at the RV park office, and hit the road. Temperatures were perfect for travelling, about 70 degrees at 10 a.m. when we left. We headed east, making our way towards Beaumont, Texas for the night. About an hour into our journey, we decided to pull into a rest area to check to make sure the motorcycle ties are holding. We discovered that the awning we thought we had so diligently secured had started to unwind in the wind. Argh!! So…we unloaded the ladder from the truck and re-secured it with heavy duty zip ties and masking tape. Thankfully, that fix held and we’ve had no more issues with it! (Unfortunately, we didn’t remember to take a photo.)

As we drove through Houston, we passed a 5^th wheel with both driver side tires blown on the trailer and down on the rims. Traffic was heavy, and he was approaching an overpass with no room to pull over. Our hearts went out to them, and hope their dilemma was handled quickly. (We continually pray for safety as we travel, and ask that you also pray for us…)

We see lots of interesting or funny things as we travel, and this trip didn’t disappoint. As we were driving east on I-10, we saw a large (dinner plate size) turtle attempting to cross the busy 4-lane highway, with a cement Jersey barrier separating the lanes. Would love to know what happened—hopefully the turtle made it safely one direction or the other!

246 miles later we arrive in Beaumont, to our “park” for the night: Cracker Barrel! We had a wonderful dinner there, and surprisingly, a good night’s sleep. Even with a huge truck stop across the street, it was reasonably quiet.

Tuesday morning we leave Beaumont, heading to our final destination, Port Gibson, Mississippi and the Grand Gulf Military Monument Park. We had decided to use our GPS system “Maggie” (Magellan) rather than rely on Google directions, but she directed us past our park turnoff and we ended up in a nerve-wracking situation that required a lot of maneuvering and backing up (an hour’s worth!) to get us back on track. Whew!! By 3:30 p.m. we were at the park unhooking, unpacking, and getting settled for the next 7 days’ stay.

Grand Gulf Military Monument Museum and RV Office

Our site at Grand Gulf.

It is truly spring in this part of the country, with fields covered in the vibrant yellow of the rapeseed flower, and the vivid hue of the red clover. Wisteria grows in wild abandon from trees lining the roads, providing the sweet and spicy fragrance that wafts through the air, making one want to stop and “smell the roses.”

Roses in front of the Claiborne County Court House,
Port Gibson, Mississippi. Oh, the fragrance...

Now for a bit of history.

Grand Gulf Military Monument Park is situated on the east bank of the Mississippi River, about a third of the way up the state of Mississippi. Settled by the French in the early 1700s, Grand Gulf seemed destined to remain a small and unimportant outpost, until the advent of “King Cotton” in the early 1800s. Because of its location on “Ol’ Miss,” Grand Gulf became an important major port city from which cotton, produced in the fertile Mississippi bottomlands, was shipped to northern textile mills. Wealthy plantation owners even constructed an inland railroad line to facilitate transporting their cotton to riverboats waiting to travel north. In addition, many of the riverboats brought touring companies to Grand Gulf whose performances ranged from classical dramas to contemporary musicals, thus making the town a major cultural center for the area.

Grand Gulf played a significant role in the history of the state, most specifically in the Civil War. A one-time boom town and major river port, with a population of nearly 1,000, it faded into obscurity after the war, due to an outbreak of yellow fever in 1843, followed by a devastating tornado in 1853.  The fatal blow occurred between 1855 and 1860 when the currents of the mighty Mississippi ate away the entire business section of Grand Gulf—55 city blocks. By the start of the Civil War the population of this once grand town was reduced to a mere 158 people.

The Civil War destroyed what little was left of Grand Gulf, with the Union armies twice occupying the area, burning the few remaining buildings to the ground before withdrawing the second time. Even after this devastation, Grand Gulf refused to die. It played one final role in the outcome of the war before passing away forever. Anticipating an attack by Union General Ulysses S. Grant, the Confederate forces under the direction of General John Pemberton and General J.S Bowen moved their troops to Grand Gulf to fortify their position. When Grant began his attack on April 29, 1863, the Confederates were ready. The Union forces suffered heavy losses and retreated to the west side of the Mississippi river, leaving this victory to the Confederates.

This victory was short-lived, however, as Grant moved further south, and under the cover of darkness moved his troops and cannons back across the river at a more southern location at Bruinsburg, where he met much less Confederate resistance. His ensuing victory at Port Gibson left the Confederates at Grand Gulf outflanked and hopelessly outnumbered, and in spite of their earlier victory at Grand Gulf, the Confederate forces were forced to abandon the town. Grand Gulf had fallen, and the town which had once been such a center of activity, quietly passed away.

We’re fortunate that this part of history is being preserved for generations past, present and future. This park was officially opened in May of 1962, dedicated to preserving the memory of both the town of Grand Gulf and the battle that occurred here. Listed on the National Register of History Places, it includes Fort Cobun and Fort Wade (two other local battle sites), the Grand Gulf cemetery, a museum, campgrounds, picnic areas, hiking trails, an observation tower, and several restored buildings dating back to Grand Gulf’s heyday—reminders of days gone by.

The Spanish House is still the original structure, dating back to
the late 1790s, and one of two original structures on the
Park grounds.

These two photos, above and below are interior shots of
the museum at Grand Gulf.

The Roman Catholic Church on the
Grand Gulf Military Monument Park grounds.

We have many, many more photos of this area, which we'd be glad to send to you if you're interested.

~~~

Located just 10 miles from Grand Gulf is Port Gibson, the county seat of Claiborne County, Mississippi. Port Gibson also played an important role in the Civil War, when General Grant made it his first objective in his 1863 campaign to capture Vicksburg. As struggle for the Confederate’s control of the Mississippi River intensified, the value of this town’s location grew exhibiting all the features of a major amphibious operation. It’s reported that General Grant spared destroying Port Gibson saying, “it was too beautiful to burn.” Grand homes date back to the early 1800s along with several churches that line its main street. Giant oak, magnolia and pecan trees line its streets. Numerous historical markers help trace the actual path of General Grant’s march from his landing at Bruinsburg to Port Gibson.

Wednesday we paid a visit to the town of Port Gibson to pick up a few groceries, and visit the local library to do some “computin’,” as Grand Gulf RV Park has no cell service or WiFi. (It does, however, have decent TV reception…)

Claiborne County Court House, Port Gibson, Mississippi.

It soon became apparent that, as we visited these local establishments, us “white folks” were greatly outnumbered. As we walked around the town we discovered why.

In 1966 the local chapter of the NAACP imposed an economic boycott on the majority of white-owned businesses in Claiborne County (Port Gibson), demanding “change in the treatment of African-American citizens, including employment opportunities, and full enfranchisement of citizens.” This boycott continued off and on over the next 11 years, causing most of the white-owned business to fail or close, thus causing most of the whites to move to other more receptive communities. (We can count on one hand the number of non-black folks we’ve seen since we’ve been here.) In 1969, 17 of the boycotted merchants sued, among others, the national NAACP to recover business losses and “to enjoin further boycott activity.” The suit was upheld by the Mississippi Supreme Court in 1980, awarding $1.25 Million in damages, plus interest, to the 12 merchants bringing suit. In 1982 the State’s rulings were appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, who overturned the ruling, stating the boycott “clearly involved constitutional involved activity,” through which the NAACP and other defendants “clearly sought to bring about political, social and economic change.”  This boycott and ruling played an important role in the Civil Rights movement.

A mural in downtown Port Gibson portraying the
Civil Rights marchers and the boycott of white-owned
businesses.

Thursday the rains came—and came—and came…for a total of over 4”. It began to rain at 4 a.m., and by 1 p.m. it was all over. We made use of the inside time to thoroughly clean the inside of our trailer. After the 4 months of dusty Texas, it really needed it. We vacuumed, we scrubbed and we dusted. It’s nice to be able to set something down without encountering a gritty surface.

Friday we decided to ride the motorcycle on the south end of the Natchez Trace, a major north-south trail from Mississippi to Tennessee. The “trace” began as a key route for the Natchez, Chickasaw, and Choctaw Indians as they followed their traditional ways of life; used by the French and Spanish people venturing into a world new to them; and by people building a new nation. Ohio River farmers, called Kaintucks, shipped their crops and products down the Mississippi to Natchez or New Orleans on flatboats, ultimately selling their flatboats for lumber when they arrived because they couldn’t float them back upriver. This meant they rode horses if possible or walked home, to begin this cycle all over again. The 450-mile-plus foot trail from Natchez was the most direct route. Over the years hundreds of travelers tramped the crude trail into a clearly marked path, and by 1810 it had become an important wilderness road. As the trail was improving, other “comforts” were being developed. Many inns, called stands, were built providing basic food and shelter to the travelers. By 1820 over 20 stands were in operation along the trace.

Mt. Locust, one of the oldest inns, or stands, on the
Natchez Trace.

Mount Locust is one of the oldest inns, or stands, on the Natchez Trace. It was started in 1780 as a farm by a gentleman who forfeited his fortune when he was jailed after leading a failed rebellion against the Spanish. His former business partner, William Ferguson and wife Paulina, purchased Mt. Locust in 1784 and operated the farm until William’s death in 1801. A short time later Paulina married James Chamberlain, an overseer at Mt. Locust, and together they built up the farm. With the growing number of travelers on the trace, the Fergusons made the decision to turn their home into a “stand,” offering a meal of corn mush and milk with sleeping arrangements on the porches and grounds—all for 25 cents. As their business prospered, a four-room, two-story annex was built behind the house to accommodate the travelers in a more comfortable way. Mt. Locust was run as an inn until the mid-1820s when the steamboat and other roads all but brought an end to the Natchez Trace. Following James’ death sometime after 1810, Pauline continued to run the farm that had become a thriving cotton plantation, during which she raised 11 children by her two husbands. After her death in 1849 at the age of 80, the Civil War brought an end to the plantation system and Mt. Locust began a slow decline. Mt. Locust had been home to five generations of Chamberlains, with the last leaving in 1944. The National Park Service began restoration in 1954, returning the historic home to its 1820 appearance.

Also on Friday we visited the Windsor Ruins, one of the great ante-bellum mansions of the 1800s. This three-story mansion was built by Smith Coffee Daniell, II, the son of an Indian fighter turned farmer and landowner. He married his cousin Catherine in 1849; they had three children together. The mansion was begun in 1859 and completed in 1861, but unfortunately Mr. Daniell lived only a few short weeks after it was completed, dying at the age of 34.

Basic construction of the home was done by slave labor; bricks for the 45’ columns were made across the road from the house. These columns were then covered with mortar and plaster, and supported the roof line thus providing protection for the galleries which encompassed the house at the second and third levels. Skilled carpenters were brought from New England for the finished woodwork; the iron stairs, column capitals and balustrades were manufactured in St. Louis and shipped down the Mississippi River to the Port of Bruinsberg several miles west of Windsor. The total cost of the mansion was $175,000.

During the Civil War Windsor was used as an observation post by the Confederates, and served as a Union hospital after the Battle of Port Gibson in 1863.

On February 1890, fire broke out on the third floor after a house guest accidentally dropped a cigarette in debris left by carpenters making repairs there. Everything was destroyed except a few pieces of china and 23 of the columns, balustrades and iron stairs. One flight of stairs and several sections of the balustrades are now installed at the chapel of nearby Alcorn State University. The Windsor property, entered in the National Registry of History Places in 1971, is administered by the Department of Archives and History’s Division of Historic Sites and Archaeology.

These columns are all that is left on the site of the Windsor
mansion.

~~~

Saturday we decided to really explore Grand Gulf Military Park. We toured the numerous buildings on the property, climbed the observation tower, and wandered through the Grand Gulf Cemetery where hundreds of grave markers indicate where several soldiers as well as entire families are laid to rest. Many graves mark the final resting place of infants and children, who died from the devastating yellow fever in 1843.

The grave markers of one gentleman's 2 consorts and a daughter.

The grave markers of 3 small children who died of yellow fever.

A family plot.

 All but two of the buildings in the park are reconstructed structures. The Spanish House and the Director’s House are original to the park. The church, constructed in 1866 was moved from Rodney, Mississippi, just a short distance away to its present location in 1986 after the number of attendees declined to just seven.

While on our trek, we met this couple from Alabama who were taking advantage of the weather to see investigate the park. She had had a stroke a few years ago, and he had a bum knee—so they made use of her scooter and wheelchair to travel the park roads. Cute.

Among the buildings in the park we came across this one-man submarine, which was powered by a Model T Ford engine, and used to bootleg whiskey and rum from Davis Island to Vicksburg, Mississippi.

We rode down a ½-mile stretch of road, to the Mississippi River, to take photos of the flood marker that indicates the river levels during noted floods in the area. During the most recent flood, in 2011, water rose to a record high of 57’1”. The park’s museum floor was flooded by 14” of water, so everything had to be moved to other locations until the building was restored months later.

Note the water mark at 57'1".

Dick is standing below this same marker;
57'1"is at the top. That's alot of water!

Among the museum displays are muskets and cannon balls, Union and Confederate uniforms, a frame for the hoop skirt so popular then and other ladies’ clothing, as well as hundreds of arrowheads and other artifacts either found in this area or donated by families and foundations whose roots are here. Home “conveniences” are also on display, including the original washing machines used in most of the households.

The washing machine; just one of the conveniences
found in the homes of Grand Gulf in the 1800s.

Notice the hoop skirt frame on the right. SO glad we
don't wear these now!

A hand-made ladies' lace fingerless glove.

Muskets and cannon balls used in the Civil War, and
on display at the museum.

On one of our rides we found this old and weathered church that has withstood the many floods that have devastated this area. If walls could talk…

An old church at Grand Gulf that has
endured through countless floods and
a tornado. If only walls could talk...

Later we rode the motorcycle into Port Gibson to take photos of just some of the many large homes and churches in the town. It seems that almost every building in town has some historical significance.

Planter's Hotel

Port Gibson City Hall

Schillig Hotel (Isabella Bed and Breakfast)

Person Home

Disharoon Home

We hope you are well, and will continue to follow us as we slowly travel north.

Hugs,

RJ and Gail