For the past several weeks, I've been visiting family and friends along my route and neglecting the travelogue. That's partly because I've done very little touring, therefore very little photography. However, there are a few photos I want to share, and it won't take long to get caught up.
While still in Amarillo, I enjoyed a most interesting tour of the RV Museum established by one of the town's RV dealers, a man who has been in the business for many years and obviously has an affection for RVs that goes well beyond sales and service. There's no charge to tour the museum, and no one makes a sales pitch while you are there.
The oldest RV is a 1921 Lamsteed Kampkar, a highly modified Ford Model T.
Skipping ahead, there's the 1935 Airstream...the first model.
In 1946, the first "tear drop" trailer was introduced in kit form, so you could assemble it yourself at lower cost.
The little trailer in the museum is coupled with a 1948 Ford with an after-market air conditioner. I can't say how well it worked, but it only cost $12.95, according to the poster.
"Happy Max" is the motor home used in making the Robin Williams movie "RV". It's a 1948 Flxible bus, heavily modified for the movie.
This little travel trailer is from 1953, the first year Fleetwood made them. You gotta love the way it's equipped.
By 1955, Airstream had improved their design and quality significantly. The stove and refrigerator were the same as found in modern homes back then. They still build one of the best trailers for camping.
And how could we ever forget the "Love Bus"? I still see vintage VW buses on the road, but not quite the same as this one.
The museum also has a great collection of old motorcycles, including this 1918 Harley.
I have passed through Fort Smith, AR many times without stopping. I decided it was time to change that, so spent three nights checking out the town in which the movie "True Grit" was set. I had often wondered why the author, Charles Portis, had chosen that town for a Western story. I learned that he lived around there, so wrote about things familiar to him. Also, since the story takes place in 1873, Fort Smith was on the edge of Indian Territory, as Oklahoma was then known. (Many displaced Indian tribes from other parts of the country had been forcibly moved there to make more room for European settlers.)
The fort for which the town is named was first established in 1817 on land acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. Abandoned by the military in 1824, it was re-established in the 1830s to support the relocation of Indians from their native lands to the Oklahoma Territory just across the river. It became the seat of law enforcement for a large part of the country, and Judge Isaac Parker earned the title of "Hanging Judge". Some 79 men were executed at the fort.
Today, only two buildings remain, plus a replica of the gallows that was so frequently put to use.
The city, now grown to nearly 100,000 residents, has long been home to one of our National Cemeteries. A special area was set aside for Confederate soldiers buried here.
I also learned that a former slave who escaped and lived in Indian Territory for some years later became the most successful deputy marshal for Judge Parker's territory. Over a thirty year career, Bass Reeves apprehended thousands of fugitives who thought escaping to Indian territory guaranteed their freedom. By some accounts, he killed more than twenty men in the line of duty. The character of Rooster Cogburn in "True Grit" was based partly on his exploits, but also on other real life figures.
Heading for Mississippi to visit relatives, I took the opportunity to tour the old southern town of Oxford, home of authors William Faulkner and John Grisham, not to mention the University of Mississippi. I may have envisioned a sleepy college town, but it is a bustling, high traffic university city. I managed to get photos of the football stadium and drove through some of the charming ante-bellum neighborhoods, which appear much as I expected. The town square includes the county courthouse, built in 1872 to replace the original (burned in the Civil War) and a variety of shops. One department store dates to 1839, just two years after Oxford was incorporated.
Staying overnight in Starkville, MS, I squeezed in a tour of the Mississippi State University campus, including their football stadium.
I've been in Florida for a while now, and plan to stay a few more weeks before heading west.
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