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Course Work
Summer `01, Texas Forts Trail
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| All About Texas Forts |
It was Dr. David Coffey's last class at McMurry before moving to Tennessee to continue teaching.
It offered students a chance to learn about the Texas fontier of the 1860's and 1870's, and to understand what it must have
been like for the pioneers of the West.
The class studied the three Fort lines that developed to ease settlers fears of
indian raids, the basics of frontier warfare, and the types of people who lived around the old army posts. Of course there
was lecture about the men who changed the Texas frontier and othwer cavalry Greats, Miles, "Bad Hand" MacKenzie, and "Yellow Hair" Custer.
The high point of the course was a trip to Fort Chadbourne in Bronte, Texas. There, students
had the opportunity to view the restoration effort of the fort structures already underway. The visiting McMurry Indians fired
Sharps rifles (cavalry carbines often used for buffalo hunting) at a white buffalo shaped target. They also fired an 8 pounder
cannon filled with powder.
The final presentations required students to impersonate an individual from the era and to
describe details of the fort where they were living. I selected the 1st Sergeant from the U.S. 4th Cavalry. and Fort Concho. In my research I discovered there was a top sergeant named William J. McNamara of F company, who
had won the Congressional Medal of Honor for valor in the Red River War. I appeared in class with a uniform I made from a 1960's Air Force woolen overcoat and a pair of boots and
a belt (donated to the cause by my father-in-law). I designed a kepi from coat scraps and an torn leather briefcase. I used
an overdone Irish accent and told an approximated history of Sergeant MacNamara from his enlistment up till just before the
Red River Campaign. I discussed Sergeant McNamara's likely journey between Forts Concho, Chadbourne, Phantom Hill, and Griffin
and told stories about the people McNamara encountered. I took two trips to Fort Concho to know the layout and to better understand
the living conditions before my performance.
The class was very enjoyable and provided me with a knowledge of frontier
forts that will likely result in many one day vacations around Texas in the future.
ARTICLE: Indians Descend on Fort Chadbourne.
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| Visit the U.S. Cavalry Association Online |
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Summer `01, PreColumbian Native American Cultures (A
Survey of Archaeology)
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| The Grady McWhiney Foundation |
PreColumbian Native American Cultures was a challenging course covered the paleoindian period
and the archaic period through the development of MesoAmerican civlilzation. The instructor was Dr. Mary Bartlett, an archaeologist
and the curator of the McWhiney Foundation Collection in Buffalo Gap, Texas. The class discussed theories regarding the first
Amerinds to live in the western hemisphere. Dr. Bartlett gave a review of evidence found at archaelogical sites from Alaska
to South America, and interpreted the significance of the artifacts recovered. Instruction included an introduction to techniques
in archaeology and in museum artifact recording and research. Field trips to the Buffalo Gap Museum, the Albany Jail Arts
Center, Paint Rock, and Fort Phantom Hill added to the classroom experience.
The final project was a 15 minute presentation
and a paper on a Native American artifact from the McWhiney Collection at the Buffalo Gap Museum. I chose a carved stone commonly
known as a "boatstone". I was intrigued by its mysterious purpose. My research uncovered that boatstones were used as
weights for spear or dart launchers. The stone effectively increased the momentum and accuracy of the thrower in much the
same way the head of a hammer gives balance and power as a basic lever. The specific name of the type of dart and launcher is
an atlatl (a remarkable weapon of the ancient Aztecs once used to hurl projectiles hundreds of yards). Since atlatls
were used from 8200 BC to AD 1500, the age of the stone tool will alway s be a mystery. I surmised it could be from the
Archaic period before the bow and arrow were developed circa 500 BC. The type of stone is very distinctive. It is
a silicate commonly refered to as Alibates Flint. This is found in abundance at the
Alibates National Park in the Texas panhandle, the most likely place from where the stone originated.
The course was an enjoyable
and unique opportunity that led to my own discovery of two verifiable Native American artifacts. I discovered a flint
scraper in my freshly tilled garden and I found a painting stone while I was walking across campus. The scraper was almost
in the shape of a tooth. The painting stone was likely unearthed during the construction of the McMurry apartment
complex. The aspect that is most interesting about it is the clearly defined finger grips that were carved
to enable the person using it to gain a firm grasp while grinding the powder to make a colored
paste. It is ironic that the native who used it may have lived on the very site that is now home to the McMurry Indians.
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| What are boatstones? |
The class visited the Buffalo Gap Historic Village located only 8 minutes south of Abilene, Texas. Dr. Bartlett as curator
enlisted our services to clean, research, and catalog artifacts from the McWhiney collection. The museum is located around
the original courthouse for Taylor County in Buffalo Gap. The courthouse is only one of 19 structures that give visitors a
glimpse of times past. The second floor of the courthouse, once the jail, is now a display room showcasing native artifacts
and old Western Americana. The museum church is a beautifully maintained example of a country chapel is still used today for
special engagements. Perhaps one of the more interesting exhibits is a room filled with maps and pictures of old Abilene and
parts of West Texas. In the Southern corner of the same room is a cross section of a tree trunk that has been determined by
dendrochronology to have been alive before Columbus discovered the New World. The museum is a fascinating trip through time
from the 1870's to the 1920's. It is a place well worth a visit.
Albany is known for the Fort Griffin Fandangle held the last 2 weekends of June. It is unfortunate that it is less known for its Old Jail Art Center which
boasts a collection of fine art on display throughout the year. I had the pleasure of visiting the Art Center (a old county
jailhouse converted into a museum by an eccentric oil family in Texas)on a class trip. The class observed an extensive collection
of MesoAmerican artifacts of the Mayan and Aztec cultures. If you visit the center you would be surprised to find ancient
Greek, Roman, and Chinese collections; all in the Old Jail of this small rural Texas community. A tiny chamber gallery even
shows an original Painting by Renoir. The Old Jail Art Center proves that Texas has many layers of culture hidden beneath
the rough western image it has earned.
Our second trip took our class to Paint Rock, Texas. Paint Rock is known because of Paint Rock Excursions, operated exclusively
by Fred and Kay Campbell. Their ranch has a cliff face at least 40 feet high situated East to West that is decorated with
several Native American pictographs. The images seem to have significance as a calendric system and have distinct meaning
as a record of events that occured in the lifespan(s) of the artist(s). The site, by the Concho river, is believed to have
been used by Comanches as a favorite hunting ground in the 19th Century. It is unknown exactly who painted the rocks and why.
It is interesting to admire the imagery and surmise the possibilities.
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| Paint Rock Excursions in Paint Rock, Texas |
Click here for Paint Rock Excursions Tour Information.
For information about "flint knapping" (making stone tools) visit this site by Professor Carl Doney of Michigan State University.
FALL '01 Texas History
The native land that became Texas, from the time of the neolitic hunter gatherer
to the American Civil War, the colony that became a Republic that would become a state under the Confederacy and the
Union. The place that made rugged individuals into legendary figures of Western lore, where cattle, cotton, and oil made many
wealthy and guided the lives of generations. A growing Texas where commanches, Rangers, conquistadors, Spanish missionaries,
puebloans, Karankawas, U.S. Cavalry, Mexican lancers, french trappers, shady New Orleans entrepeneurs, carpetbaggers, slaves,
freedmen, european immigrants, and confederates all in their own times called it home. Doctor Frazier's class was
challenged to define the spirit of Texas. It was a challenge none of us were able to achieve. . . and yet it is something
through our study that we all understood and felt.
We were tasked to develop a script for the Buffalo Gap Historic Village
Museum. A marketing major named Derek ... and I were selected to oversee the writing groups to ensure each included the information
pertinent to their assigned topic. Then we would compile the information and edit the material to fit the
time alloted for each segment. The project took several weeks and two rewrites. Ultimately, we were able to present a script
to which the class could be proud to have their name attached.
The determination of Texans to survive and flourish in the least hospitable situations
and places was a focus of our study.
instructed by Dr. Don Frazier, Associate Professor and Director of the McWhiney Foundation,
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