September 27, 2013

September 27, 2013

During the Civil War, Sherman fortified the road cut here at Allatoona Pass, GA because all his supply trains from Chattanooga had to funnel through here. And they still do! Yesterday a noisy train passed within a hundred yards of us every fifteen minutes. I like learning about history, but not when it slaps me in the face.

A half hour closer to Atlanta we reach Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. We start with the obligatory film and then run through the large museum. The history covers Sherman’s 1864 progress from Chattanooga to Atlanta. Outnumbering the Rebels, Sherman was able to end run (or flank) his enemy’s every movement, forcing them to retreat. Everywhere, but here on this twin-humped mountain. Temporarily stymied, he made a frontal assault uphill against a fortified position. The attack failed and he went back to flanking. On September 1, the Rebels evacuated Atlanta to avoid a siege and total destruction.

We drove around the sprawling battlefield. It is packed with people pushing strollers and walking dogs. The park is pretty but is not terribly interesting militarily. This battle wasn’t that pivotal. From the top of Kennesaw Mountain we do get a good view of Atlanta in the distance.

From Kennesaw we drove east to Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. This park encompasses the lazy Chattahoochee River as it winds through Atlanta suburbs. It is a snoozer, not worthy of National Park status.

September 26, 2013

September 26, 2013

We woke outside Chattanooga, TN to better weather this morning. It is still overcast, but the clouds look higher. From our campground I can see the top of Lookout Mountain so we head up there. The eastern side of the Appalachians is a series of parallel steep ridges and valleys, akin to corduroy. Lookout Mountain is one ridge. As we head up the mountain we find it packed with nice houses with extraordinary views. At the top we drive to Point Park at the far northeast end. As we walk out to the Point, it starts to rain and the clouds descend obscuring our view. With clear weather you are supposed to be able to see for miles. We walk around the rocky precipice reading about the taking of Lookout Mountain during the Battle of Chattanooga. It is known as the “Battle above the Clouds”. With our weather today, I can relate to the soldiers involved.

From Chattanooga, we head an hour west to Russell Cave National Monument in Alabama. I was expecting this to be a cave visit but it turns out to be an Indian archeology site. Digging into the cave floor, scientists found evidence of habitation by Indians for the last 8000 years. I didn’t find the archeology to be that interesting but after walking out to the site, I was intrigued by the geology. Next to the cave is a large stream that disappears into a second cave. I notice the water source is a third cave. Then I realize that the stream is an underground river or spring that just happened to find the light of day because a section of roof fell away. 

An hour south of the cave is Little River Canyon National Preserve. I feel a little déjà vu because the park is atop Lookout Mountain. Apparently the ridge extends all the way here from Chattanooga. At the Visitor Center we watch a movie about it and then drive down the western rim stopping at several lookouts. One has a nice waterfall, but in winter, this stream apparently roars with flow. The canyon is nice but I am more intrigued by the fact that this is a river-cut gorge that runs down the center of a flat top ridge (called a mesa in Arizona). 

Afterwards we drive east into Georgia and stay at a lakeside campground. As we pull in, I notice a sign for Allatoona Pass Battlefield. Ooh, a bonus! Aimee groans. While she cooks dinner, I walk to check it out. It looks like just a plaque, or two or three. Wow, there is an extensive trail with tons of storyboards. It turns out to be a very cool battlefield. I don’t care that the battle was small and probably insignificant. After the fall of Atlanta, Sherman marched south. The Rebels decided to attack his supplyline from Chattanooga. Allatoona was a pinchpoint. Here the rail line runs through a narrow man-made ravine cut. On both sides, Union troops built small forts with supply bases. The rebels attacked on October 5, 1864, outnumbering the Union greatly. Fortunately they were dug in well and had a supply of new Henry repeating rifles. They survived.

September 25, 2013

September 25, 2013

The rain caught up to us again. It rained all night. Not a good thing for an outdoor park. We drive the couple miles to nearby Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. This is both the oldest and the largest battlefield park. It was preserved in 1890 six years before the more famous Gettysburg.

Since it is raining, we spend the first half of the morning watching the excellent movie and perusing the exhibits. Chattanooga with its railroad hub was a prize that the Union coveted. The Rebels pulled out all the stops to save it. General Rosecrans led the Army of the Cumberland from Nashville beautifully up to doorstep of Chattanooga. He then brilliantly flanked the Confederate general who gave up the city without a fight. Rosecrans was hot.

Unfortunately his opposition didn’t give up. Seeing Rosecrans stretched thin, the Rebels received timely reinforcement and attacked him here along Chickamauga Creek south of town. Rosecrans was prepared and would have repelled the attack but he made an unlucky error and left a hole in his line, which the Rebels walked right through. The Union Army could have been wiped out but for a stubborn Union officer and a bunch of new Spencer Repeating rifles that allowed an orderly retreat. In war, glory and success is fleeting and fickle. A hero is the man who beats the odds the longest.

Rosecrans was relieved of command and replaced with Grant. Grant had his work cut out for him. Chattanooga is surrounded by steep hills that gave the Rebels great defensive positions. Under his leadership, the Union rolled ahead easily. Now the road to Atlanta was wide open.

Last week was the 150th anniversary of Chickamauga and it was completely packed. Today we only have to share it with a dozen others. The rain has stopped so we spend the rest of the morning driving around the Chickamauga battlefield. Like Gettysburg, it is full of memorials. I would love to now head to the second part of the park atop nearby Lookout Mountain but with the rain, this tall hill is in the clouds. Instead we drive into Chattanooga along Missionary Ridge. It is here that Grant defied the odds, and took the high ground. The Ridge is now lined with expensive houses alternated with War memorials. The terrain falls steeply away. Maybe that was Grant’s luck. It was too steep and wooded to make defensive artillery very useful.

We decide to quit early and return to the same campground as last night. I am crossing my fingers we get clear skies tomorrow.

September 24, 2013

September 24, 2013

From eastern Tennessee we traveled west to Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. We stopped first at an overlook where we see a small river flowing inside a heavily forested valley. After stopping at the Visitor Center we went on to a river access area and walked the shore. Like West Virginia rivers, this area must also have exposed coal seams as highly polished river pebbles of coal litter the shoreline.

A half hour south is a similar park called Obed Wild and Scenic River. We drove down to the river and are surprised to see it is just a tiny stream. Reading the literature we find that in the winter the water rises and becomes a whitewater kayaking hot spot.

On our way south through Tennessee we pass through the town of Dayton that was made famous (or infamous) in July 1925.  At the county courthouse here, the Scopes Monkey Trial was held.  At that time the teaching of evolution was illegal.  A teacher named Scopes agreed to be the test case.  The trial was a national media sensation pitting the famous lawyer Clarence Darrow against William Jennings Bryan, a politician who ran for president three times.  The museum about the trial is closed already but I know the general story from watching the movie, Inherit the Wind.  Scopes was convicted but given a slap on the wrist.  During the trial, Bryan agreed to testify as a bible expert. The testimony tarnished his reputation and he died just days afterwards.  A statue of Bryan was added a few years ago in front of the courthouse.

September 23, 2013

September 23, 2013

Our campground last night just south Asheville, NC was full of snowbirds. Not the usual kind. This variety, known as a “halfback”, spends the winter in Florida but only goes halfway back north. They stop and summer here in the Appalachian foothills. I have to say I can see why. Now that civilization has come to the mountains, it is a very scenic place to spend serious time.

Our first stop is another Illinois man who thought the same thing; Carl Sandburg. We are at his Home National Historic Site. Sandburg was born in Galesburg, IL into poverty but went on to become a famous Pulitzer-winning author and poet. He is probably best known for his biography of Lincoln (all six volumes of it).

He bought this idyllic and beautiful farm when he was 67. We got a private tour of the house, which looks just like it did when he died in 1967. Sandburg was definitely a packrat. The entire house is filled with books, and more books, 16,000 of them. It was interesting to learn a little about Sandburg, but I think this historic site is a little of a stretch. He was an icon of popular culture in his day, but I would bet there are few today who have ever heard of him. This site is more than a museum to his life. It is also looks like a financial drain. The Park System employs many staff members mostly devoted to raising goats, the hobby that Sandburg’s wife enjoyed.

From North Carolina, we popped across the border to Greeneville, Tennessee, a town named after the Revolutionary War hero Nathaniel Greene we met yesterday. We are here to visit Andrew Johnson National Historic Site. Andrew Johnson was our 17th president, who was elevated to the office after Lincoln was assassinated. Mostly he is famous as the only president to be impeached (until Clinton). We learn a lot more about him in the small museum. Johnson, who started out a tailor, went on to hold just about every elected local, state and federal office possible. Although a Democrat, Lincoln added him as a running mate, hoping to broaden his support and win re-election. Despite being a southern Democrat, Johnson was anti-secession and grew to oppose slavery. He followed Lincoln’s Reconstruction plan, but Congress became controlled by more radical elements. Frequent vetoes prompted them to initiate impeachment. The ensuing trial failed to convict by only one vote.

Afterwards we toured the house he lived in as an adult and then rode up to his burial monument atop a steep local hill with a great view of the surrounding countryside.

We are tired so we stop for the night just east of town at Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park. Before dinner we walk to see his family’s log cabin sitting next to a beautiful river. The museum is closed but we learn about his life from a bunch of storyboards. He was a congressman for three terms who garnered fame for his outlandish frontier character. After failing to get reelected he left Tennessee for Texas where his reputation was immortalized at the battle of the Alamo in 1836.

September 22, 2013

September 22, 2013

Our stop today is Guilford Courthouse National Military Park outside Greensboro, NC. Here on the Ides of March, 1781, a major battle of the Revolutionary War was fought. After many years of stalemate in the northern colonies, the British under Cornwallis moved their focus to the southern colonies. They initially succeed capturing the major southern port cities. When they move inland, the Americans under Nathaniel Greene play a cat and mouse action until reinforcements arrive from the north. When he thinks he has enough troops Greene makes a stand here at this little hamlet in the forest. The British advance and send fleeing three separate defensive lines. The British win the battle but at high cost, one fourth of their troops lost. The result convinces Cornwallis to return to the coast and north to Virginia, where he meets defeat at the hands of George Washington and the French.

We start out driving the tour road but soon find the park is small enough to walk. I am surprised how forested it is. It must have made for a very confusing battle. I am also surprised at the number of monuments erected throughout the battlefield. That is usually what we see on Civil War sites. North Carolinians had planned on this ground being their state Revolutionary War cemetery. The most impressive monument is a mounted statue of Greene. The park is very crowded; there is even a handful of re-enactors encamped at one section of the park. Unfortunately since we are so close to Greensboro, the vast majority are here to walk their dog. If only they wouldn’t hog the road while they do so.

September 21, 2013

September 21, 2013

We drove an hour this morning arriving at Booker T Washington National Monument in southwest Virginia. By luck we arrived for their annual Harvest Festival and the park is filled with volunteers in period costume. While the docents were setting up we looked around the tiny museum. We met Booker before at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. A hundred years ago Booker was the most famous and influential black man in the nation. He believed former slaves needed to get educated and become financially independent. Respect will follow. That philosophy, which applies to all people, seems to have been lost today.

Booker was born on this farm as one of a dozen slaves. It was mostly a subsistence farm where only enough tobacco was grown as a cash crop to buy what couldn’t be grown or made locally. We walked around the farm talking to the volunteers. Their enthusiasm made this living history park quite interesting.  

After an hour we drove east to Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. This is the famous site where Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate Army to Grant essentially ending the Civil War. The hamlet of Appomattox has been preserved, as it would have looked on April 9, 1865. We first stop in the courthouse building Visitor Center to watch two movies and peruse the exhibits containing lots of artifacts from the surrender. We then listened to a living history talk and walked through the old buildings. The surrender was negotiated in the McLean House. Ironically, McLean’s previous home was caught up in the first battle of the War in Manassas. He moved his family here to escape the war. Instead it followed him here.

September 20, 2013

September 20, 2013

When the dam was built on the Gauley River, it flooded the town of Gad, West Virginia. By normal practice, it should have been named Gad Dam. That is also kind of how I am feeling. It rained all night, and our little home is not so water tight anymore. I think all the joints have expanded and loosened under the Tucson sun and heat. I need to caulk all the windows and corners when we get home.

The high humidity combined with the cold water off the dam is causing the whole area to be dark and enclosed in fog. Atop the dam we don’t see any evidence of a river below. I am glad we aren’t rafting today. We leave the Gauley and travel south back to the New River stopping at the Grandview Overlook. Here we have a great vista of a large bend in the New River. We can easily see the rail line that still runs along the bottom of the gorge. It opened up travel and industry to West Virginia in 1873. We continue on to the Sandstone Visitor Center where we learn more about the history of the gorge.

We follow the New River south to its junction with the Bluestone. The Bluestone is another National Scenic River. Two State Parks lie at either end. At Pipestem State Park we take a gondola ride down to the river. The Bluestone, while scenic, is a tiny river, more of an overgrown stream.
Since rain is still in the forecast we continue following the New River south as it cuts across the Appalachians, crossing into Virginia.

September 19, 2013

September 19, 2013

From the Ohio River, we traveled along the Kanawha River into the heart of West Virginia. Near the capital Charleston, we stopped so Aimee could spend the morning sitting at McDonalds. At noon we continued following the river upstream. It was very slow going. Situated in the middle of the steep-sided Appalachian Mountains, West Virginia cities are long and thin crowding the narrow riverbanks. There is barely room for a two-lane winding road and a rail line, let alone houses and businesses too.

Eventually we make it to the Visitor Center for New River Gorge National River. Here the Kanawha changes to the New River. Apparently an early surveyor seeing the river flow into an impassable gorge temporarily marked it as "new" on a map. Unfortunately it stuck. The name is also ironic since it is very possible the New River is actually the oldest in North America. It is one of the few rivers that doesn’t originate in the mountains but cuts across them indicating it is far older than even the ancient Appalachians.

The Visitor Center sits next to the New River Gorge Bridge, the world’s longest single-arch span and the second highest in the US. We take a rainy walk out to a vista point. Today the river gorge looks pristine and forested (and shrouded in fog). A century ago it was the opposite; the river was almost completely lined with coalmines, houses, smoke, and roiling with labor strife. After the coal seams played out, Mother Nature quickly reclaimed the land.

From the New River we drive a half hour north to the Gauley River National Recreation Area. The Gauley is a tributary of the New. When water is released from the Summersville dam, the Gauley becomes a torrent and is a favorite of white water enthusiasts. I got invited to raft it when I was younger and chickened out when I read how dangerous it can be. Older and wiser, we are again passing on the opportunity. Instead we watch the water shoot out from the dam and then spend the night along the lake above the dam. It is the exact opposite of the river; very peaceful and quiet.


September 18, 2013

September 18, 2013

We are just west of Cincinnati. Our first stop is William Howard Taft National Historic Site. Our route takes us across the heart of the city. I am shocked how hilly the city is. Taft’s boyhood home is on the top of one hill. For most people Taft is only known as the fattest president we have had. That is sad, for he had a long and illustrious political career. Theodore Roosevelt chose him to be his successor. He probably would have had a second presidential term except for a major falling out with TR who then ran against him. They split the Republican vote letting Wilson steal the Presidency. Taft spent the last years of his life as Supreme Court Chief Justice.

From Cincinnati we drove east to Chillicothe to visit Hopewell Culture National Historic Park. Indian mounds blanket the eastern half of the US. The mounds here are from the Hopewell culture 2000 years ago. Near my home town is Cahokia Mounds from the much later Mississipian culture.

We watch the film and tour the small museum where we learn the mounds were mostly ceremonial burial sites. In most they found cremated remains. Buried with them were items that indicate this culture traded for goods throughout the US. Even to far off Yellowstone for obsidian!

All the mounds lie within large earthen walled compounds of unknown purpose. In addition most mound sites of this culture contain a large square and two circles of different sizes. Aimee and I take a walk around the mounds in the earthen square in this site. As we do, the only thing I can think is that if I spent my time hunting and gathering to feed my family, the last thing I would do in my spare time was haul thousands of baskets of dirt to build these structures. Something doesn’t add up.

From Chillicothe we continued east. It started raining so we stopped early and spent the night at a public park just across the Ohio River in West Virginia.  Interestingly the campground is also the location of Fort Randolph, a Revolutionary War-era fort and battle site.

September 17, 2013

September 17, 2013

Tucson is still in summer heat mode so we decide to take our time moseying back. We head south around the bottom of Lake Michigan into Indiana. We soon cross the Kankakee River. It looks like a canal crossing expansive cornfields. For good reason. After watching a PBS episode a few days ago I learned this river used to be a swamp covering almost the entire northwest part of Indiana. In the 19th century industrial steam shovels cut a new channel draining the swamp and turning the land into the fertile farms they are today.

Another hour south we stopped in Purdue country to visit the Tippecanoe Battlefield. In 1809, the Shawnee leader Tecumseh and his Prophet-like brother were organizing a confederation of Indian tribes to resist further westward expansion of the US. They drew the battle line at the Wabash River and created an Indian center here called Prophetstown. When Tecumseh made a trip south in 1811 to recruit more tribes, the territorial governor William Henry Harrison marched troops here hoping to provoke a reaction. Tecumseh’s impulsive brother attacked, but Harrison was prepared. He won the skirmish, scattered the tribes, and burned Prophetstown. Harrison, now a hero, rode the fame to president in 1840 using the slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler too.”

We toured the museum and then walked the small battlefield. A hundred years after the battle a large monument was erected on the site. We also drove to nearby Prophetstown State Park, but were disappointed to learn that none of the history of that settlement remains.

Another hour brings us to Indianapolis where we plan to visit Benjamin Harrison’s house. Like his granfather, Ben was also a war hero and President (elected 1888). Unfortunately the highway is closed downtown so we decide to punt and bypass Indy. We end our day crossing into the rolling hills of southern Ohio stopping at a pretty little public campground in the Whitewater Forest.

September 14, 2013

September 14, 2013

Aimee and I came back to the Midwest to see our parents and attend the wedding of a nephew. By sheer coincidence we met the new couple on their first date when we visited my sister in Milwaukee ten years ago.