The Belt Maker #WordlessWednesday

In 2013, we visited Arkansas (where we had lived for several years in the early 1980's) and went to a Labor Day event called the Clothesline Fair at Prairie Grove State Park.  Prairie Grove State Park is on the grounds of a Civil War battlefield.

Many handmade crafts are sold there.   I bought a couple back in the 1980's, and still have them.

At the Clothesline Fair was a man who made belts the old fashioned way, and sold them.

He would fit them for you. Here's a picture I took of the craftsman (with permission) at work. My spouse bought one of his belts and it lasted for many years.

 I wonder if he is still alive.

This year, the Fair will be held August 31 and September 1 and 2nd. 

 

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.

Civil War Sunday - Prairie Grove State Park in Arkansas

Yesterday was the 151st anniversary of the Battle of Prairie Grove in Northwest Arkansas.

Today, rather than talking about the battle, I would like to talk about the park that exists where the battle of Prairie Grove was fought on December 7, 1862.  I lived about 15 miles from this park in the early 1980's, I got to see it again during a brief visit to Northwest Arkansas in August of this year.  I am pleased to say that Prairie Grove State Park is a nice example of how battlefield preservation can succeed.  This battlefield is considered one of the most intact in the country, and, to top it off, admission is free. (a guided tour is $5.00).

So many Americans who live in the eastern part of our country don't spend enough time investigating the western theaters of the Civil War.   I hope to be able to visit some more battlefields away from the East Coast next year.

First a little bit about Prairie Grove and the battle.

Prairie Grove, the nearby small city of about 4600 people, did not exist until after the Civil War.  Prairie Grove celebrated its 125th birthday on July 9, 2013.  Rather,the battle was named after the nearby log Prairie Grove Church that sat on high ground.

On December 7, 1862, the Confederate Army of the Trans-Mississippi, commanded at the battle by Major General Thomas C. Hindman, fought the Union Army of the Frontier, co-commanded at the battle by General James Blunt and General Francis Herron, leading to a Union victory.

Arkansans fought in both of these armies, as did soldiers from Missouri. In this battle, Native Americans, notably Creek and Cherokee, also fought.

There were approximately 2,700 casualties (dead, injured, captured, missing) in the battle. The Confederate Army, muffling the wheels of its wagons, retreated under cover of night, leaving northwest Arkansas and also Missouri (a Union slave state with a strong Confederate sympathy) in Union possession, although the battle was a technical "draw".  The Confederacy would never regain control of the area.

View of Union position from Confederate Lines

Today, this battlefield looks so peaceful.

So, how does a battlefield get preserved?

In the case of Prairie Grove, the United Daughters of the Confederacy bought nine acres to create a commemorative park.  Reunions of veterans continued every December 7 (it appears the last reunion with Confederate survivors in attendance was in 1938)  until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and the subsequent World War II, brought the reunions to an end.

But the park continued to grow, little by little.

In 1965, a donation of $100,000. came from the estate of Biscoe Hindman, son of Major General Hindman.    The visitors center and museum on the grounds, dating from 1965 and renovated in 2010, is called Hindman Hall.

When we lived there in the 1980's, the park had just recently experienced an expansion to 130 acres, and that was the park we used to pass twice a day in our commute to and from work.  The park, along U.S. Highway 62, was bordered with redbud trees.  Their bloom every April was a delightful sign of spring.  We would visit the Clothesline Fair held on the park grounds every Labor Day weekend.  I still have art work and other items I purchased over the years at the Clothesline Fair.

When we returned in August of this year, we had already been amazed at the population growth in Northwest Arkansas.  When we saw the park, for the first time in 27 years....

...the park had grown to some 838 acres.

We spoke to park staff (very helpful, and knowledgeable), and we were told that when we lived there much of the present battlefield park was privately owned, but the owners were elderly, and were dying.  The park was fortunate to be able to get a mixture of state, federal and private funds to buy more land from the families involved, which brought the park to its present size.

It was so hot the day we were there that we only spent an hour or so at the park.  We returned several days later for the Clothesline Fair, which still exists and is just as good as ever.

I will share more about the Clothesline Fair in the near future, and also hope to share more of my battlefield photos with you.

Next Sunday, Civil War Sunday will be on hiatus as it is the 15th of the month, and time for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

Civil War Sunday - The Battle of Prairie Grove

As I have blogged before, the Civil War battle action west of the Mississippi tends to be ignored by a lot of people who have recently been attracted to study of the American Civil War on this, the 150th anniversary of the war.   It is too bad, because it is important to remember the scope of the Civil War and how it was fought throughout our country and our territories, not just in a narrow band of land between Pennsylvania and Georgia.  (And, at that, not all the battles were land battles.)

30 some years ago, my spouse and I lived in Northwest Arkansas for about 4 1/2 years.  We purchased some acreage near a small town.  On my commute to work every morning, I passed through two Civil War battlefields, Canehill (then called Cane Hill) and Prairie Grove.  Although I didn't think much of it then, I now wonder if the land I owned was trod upon by Federal or Confederate soldiers moving from one place to another.  I may never be able to find out.

The 150th anniversary of the Battle of Prairie Grove is coming up on December 7, and I am sorry I won't be able to make it to Arkansas to view the reenactment.  (The anniversary of the Battle of Cane Hill passed on November 28 but there is no park - just a historical marker).  I had the pleasure to visit the Prairie Grove battlefield, which is a State Park, on several occasions for an annual Clothesline Fair. In the spring, redbud trees planted along Highway 62 would put on a lovely show.  I still miss seeing those redbuds every spring.  But back to the battle...


The battle resulted in a tactical Union victory (more of a draw) and ended Confederate dreams of controlling Northwest Arkansas.

The battlefield itself is well-preserved and I can only imagine the improvements made in the past 30 years.  I was not that interested in the Civil War 30 years ago (more interested in history in general) and I would love to go back to Arkansas one day.  I have not been back since I left.

There is a blog devoted to Arkansas in the Civil War (although it has not been recently updated) which would interest anyone more interested in learning about a too-forgotten part of the Civil War.

Arkansas is a beautiful, natural state that is well deserving of your visit.