Back Road Whispers: TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR I WONDER WHERE THE SOLDIERS ARE....

WAKE UP!!!!!!!

We have places to go and people to see, OK so I lied about the people....

The morning was spent taking the scenic drive around Ft. Davis...it was scenic and it was a drive. :)

Ahhhh, my kind of road.

We stopped at this picnic area because it was the only place to stop.

DEDICATED IN MEMORY OF

ED WALDY

JOHN M. DEAN

AUGUST FRENSELL

AND ALL OTHER STAGE DRIVERS

WHO TRAVELED THIS ROUTE

FEARLESS HEROES OF FRONTEIR DAYS

BY THEIR COURAGE

THE WEST WAS MADE

The main draw of this trip was the McDonald Observatory. Visiting it has been on Walt's bucket list forever, and finally we crossed that one off,.

I will preface this as saying I have no idea what I am talking about, I took pictures of things that looked interesting, were important, or just for the heck of it. I will say that despite my ignorance of astronomy I did find the afternoon and evening quite interesting.

They have a display inside while you are waiting for your tour to begin, and we discovered a meteor....

IRON METEORITE

Found in 1903 - Weight 1,530 pounds

This iron meteorite was discovered about 15 miles northwest of where you are standing by seven-year-old George Duncan of Jeff Davis County. No one knows the date - or, for that matter, the century - that it actually fell. It was exhibited as a curiosity in a general mercantile store in Toyah until 1913, when it was recognized to be a meteorite and was acquired by the Field Museum in Chicago. It was returned to the Davis Mountains in 1987.

It has the usual composition of iron meteorites, consisting almost entirely of iron and nickel. Indentations and furrows on the upper surface (the leading surface during entry) are the result of the erosive action of air currents. The thumbprint-like impressions on the opposite surface show that it was the trailing side as the meteorite fell through the earth's atmosphere.

I titled this pictures as 10 Meter Dome

Give you an idea of the size of these babies

A smaller dome is next to this big one. It is the smaller of the two that you see in pictures of McDonald Observatory.

We did find out that our conception of an astronomer standing and peering for hours through the eye piece is so way off of reality. Instead they study images and look for changes in the spectrum to determine whatever it is they determine.

A spectrograph

We did stick around for the star party, but it was late, we were tired, and wanted a cup of coffee and a hot shower, so after dutifully looking at Mars we took off for the lodge...and that's when we found out there was no hot water.

We did get a chance to tour Fort Davis - the fort, not the town.

FORT DAVIS

ESTABLISHED BY LIEUT. COL. WASHINGTON

SEAWELL WITH SIX COMPANIES OF THE EIGHTH

U.S. INFANTRY IN OCTOBER 1854 FOR PROTECTING

TRAVELERS ON THE SAN ANTONIO-EL PASO ROAD.

NAMED IN HONOR OF THE THEN SECRETARY OF

WAR, JEFFERSON DAVIS, IT WAS ABANDONED BY

FEDERAL TROOPS IN APRIL 1861. REOCCUPIED IN

1867. TROOPS FROM THE POST HELPED TO BRING

ABOUT THE PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT AND

DEVELOPMENT OF THE REGION.

FORT DAVIS WAS DEACTIVATED IN 1891.

A bit remote wouldn't you say? For those of you who enjoy nature hikes, a woman came down the side of that cliff enjoying her walk and daggumit she was hardly breathing hard....

Miscellaneous photos from around Fort Davis

The Buffalo Soldiers were very active at frontier forts of Texas. The history of those soldiers can be read by clicking on the link. They were called Buffalo Soldiers by the Indians because of their tightly curled hair and dark skin. African Americans have fought in all major battles of the United States.

Below is the enlisted men's quarters. I am assuming the higher ranking individuals got to sleep closer to the fireplace, while the recruits and privates slept farthest away.

No sleep number bed for these guys, unless you want to count the wooden slats.

Below is their "closet"

Cards, letter writing, dominoes or whatever was done at this table in front of the fireplace. No more than four at a time though.

Guns were placed in the middle of the room on this rack, easily accessible if needed.

Below: The water cooler with one cup for all to use.

Officer's quarters

Outline of the Mess Hall - sure looks small doesn't it?

The equipment

and transportation.

After a delightful tour of the fort it was time to walk down the porch and head home.

I know it will be very hard to believe, but I chose to go home the back roads instead of down Interstate 10 (who knows, there could be another dead armadillo waiting to attack me).

Close to Menard is the Mission Santa Cruz de San Saba, one that was lost for many years and rediscovered in 1993. It was the site of the first mission by Franciscan Monks in the area with the idea of a peaceful existence with the Apache. The grand scheme was to bring harmony between the Apache and the settlements in the area. For the Apache it was protection against their enemies, the Comanche. So much for good intentions....it was burned

The ruins are left now, at the entrance to a country club.

The appearance of the arch leaning is true, not a camera abnormality.

Through the arch are real ruins, just crumbled rock.

There are no snakes in Texas, there are no snakes in Texas, there are no snakes in Texas!!!

More of the ruins. Archeologist teams were able to remove several artifacts from this area including a religious medal with a figure raising his arms toward Heaven.

See the hole to shoot from in the above photo and in the archway? I suppose it is protection, but wouldn't the bad guy have to walk or ride right in front for you to be able to shoot him?

Anyway, a nice stop along the way to Fort McKavett

Fort McKavett is another frontier fort, built to protect settlers from Indians. It is located close to Menard.

Atop a remote hill, the remains of a 150-year-old fort beckon visitors to one of the best preserved examples of a Texas Indian Wars (1850–1875) military post. At Fort McKavett State Historic Site, take in the spectacular Hill Country vistas and experience early West Texas life through the real stories of the infantrymen, Buffalo Soldiers, women, and children who lived at what Gen. William T. Sherman once described as "the prettiest post in Texas."

The Texas Historical Commission Site