The Alamo and Making History Present

I was working in San Antonio this week and had a couple of spare hours to revisit the Alamo. It was right across the street from my exceptional hotel, the Hotel Indigo. It had been a few years since I'd visited, and still remember childhood visits there.

I didn't remember that the Alamo proper is referred to as a shrine. Both the reverent atmosphere and the small scope of the displays kept people moving through to other areas. The Long Barracks displays are well done and there are a few Phil Collins artifacts for viewing. The $120 price tag on the book cataloguing his collection tempted me only briefly before I was able to resist.

While there I recalled a quote by Steven Levi sent to me by one of the many archivists and historians I have worked with on this project and others.

History...is not a re-creation of the past. It's an assessment of the past based on documents provided by people in archives and museums who will answer your letters.

Or in this case, what people put on display. Our view of "history" is guided by the current interpretations. Though I'm sure many wish it weren't so, there were still coonskin caps for sale and cardboard standups of Fess Parker on display. Across the street from the shrine, is the Guinness museum and the Tomb Raider adventure ride. How Alamo Plaza got "Disneyfied" I'll never understand, but the fact that those buildings are being acquired and a redesign for the plaza being developed is a real opportunity to make the whole experience more real and present.

History came to life for me on this project when I realized that Texas heroes passed down a trail that cuts across family land. For visitors to the Alamo, it will come to life when they take the time to dig deeper and make history personal.

The Neutral Ground

The Neutral Ground along the border of the United States with Spanish Texas was established as a place where neither country's military would engage. Essentially an agreement between two military leaders rather than their countries, it kept the peace but allowed a protected area for smuggling and other "criminal" activities. That mentality was part of the culture of horse smuggling in which Nicholas Trammel engage.  The below is from the Texas Historical Commission.  Enjoy....

November 5th, 1806 -- Border between Texas and Louisiana declared Neutral Ground

On this day in 1806, the United States and Spain signed an agreement establishing the Neutral Ground. After the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 the United States and Spain were unable to agree on the boundary between Louisiana and Texas. In 1806, in order to avert an armed clash, Gen. James Wilkinson and Lt. Col. Simón de Herrera, the American and Spanish military commanders respectively, entered into an agreement declaring the disputed territory Neutral Ground. The boundaries of the Neutral Ground were never officially described beyond a general statement that the Arroyo Hondo on the east and the Sabine River on the west were to serve as boundaries. Ownership of the strip was awarded the United States by the Adams-Onís Treaty in 1821.

Related Articles

NEUTRAL GROUND

ADAMS-ONIS TREATY

WILKINSON, JAMES

HERRERA, SIMON DE

SABINE RIVER

BOUNDARIES

An archive is only as good as the archivist

In the case of the Southwestern Arkansas  Regional Archive, both the archive and the archivist are amazing resources. Peggy Lloyd is retiring at the end of the year and I had an opportunity to go by and say hello again and wish her well. Her "retirement" will be anything but sedate. Enjoy your many projects Peggy!

You can learn more about SARA at:

http://www.southwestarchives.dreamhosters.com/

http://www.ark-ives.com/sara/

Photographs are sometimes all that remain.

In the "Counties" navigation menu, you will see that I've started adding photos for each of the counties crossed by Trammel's Trace. In captioning the beginning set of photos for Rusk County, where our land is located, I was remembering how I had the opportunity to walk, map, and photograph some very nice sections of the Trace just before they were about to be destroyed by surface mining for lignite.

I said something to the landowner about how hard it must be to watch his land dug up. He said, "Yeah it was kinda tough until the Brinks truck showed up."  He was paid nicely for his minerals, and the land was "reclaimed."  But the ruts are gone forever.

Though there are many interests in the land, my focus on the ruts of a 200-year-old road has only increased my interest in finding landowners who can secure and protect their part of history.

Check the encyclopedia!

I grew up in a time when the World Book Encyclopedia was the be all-and-end-all of popular reference volumes. Of course there was the more prestigious Encyclopedia Brittanica, but who could afford those. Yes, there was a world before Google, but I'm not sure how we survived it.

For a few years now, I've been IN the encyclopedia. . . The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. . . with an article about Trammel's Trace. A good overview.  Check it out.

http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=3793

Gary

One "L" or Two?

My editor asked about the spelling I use for Trammel's Trace and Nicholas Trammell. Following a convention established some years back by Jack Jackson, I use one "L" in the name of the old trail and two "L"s for the spelling of Nicholas Trammell's last name.

Jackson, an incredible author, historian and Trammell descendant, argued that the two "L"s for the family name was more typical. Additionally, the old original headright survey maps used one "L" when referencing the trace.

So that's how you will see it here and in the website addresses for this site and my Facebook group on Trammel's Trace.

Train your spellchecker now!