One Last Surprise...

Horst Kelly Photographer

Horst Kelly Photographer

Update 12/19/12...added a couple photo's ....Its now Sunday the 16th...but lets go back to early Wednesday morning...it is cold...I would guess in the 20's....inside Ms. Casita its 45...that's what I set it at last night....got up, kicked up the furnace to 60 degrees, made coffee and waited for the sun to "rise and shine"...got hitched up by 0745....waited until 0800 so I could run the generator and make sure my tires are probably pressured...a few minutes later I was rolling towards Panther Junction to gas up...19 miles up the road...first thing I notice is that the dust has  settled down...now I'm thinking, maybe I should stay a couple more days....no, I already called my bride and told her I was heading east and would be home on Thursday....There is always another time for Big Bend....so I start heading north to Marathon then east on US90.....stop at Sanderson for gas...check all the systems....stretch my legs...and continue my trek home...still haven't decided where to stay...not too many places to bed down a camper on this stretch of America....

Decided that I would stay at Brackettville...known among other things as the place the John Wayne Alamo set was built...and still used today for movies...what I didn't realize until I went to the RV park is that it has a historic Fort...Ft. Clark Springs....here is the history lesson..

John Wayne's Alamo movie set

John Wayne's Alamo movie set

"Founded in 1852 as Las Moras (the name of a nearby spring and the creek it feeds), the town initially was a supply stop on the old San Antonio-El Paso road and a supply depot for the U.S. Army's Fort Clark (the fort was established the same year). Later the town was named Brackett after Oscar B. Brackett, the owner of the first dry goods store in the area, and in 1873 when a post office was awarded "ville" was appended to the name to differentiate from another town.

The town grew quickly through the 19th century as Fort Clark grew, but the town's existence remained very strongly tied to Fort Clark's fortunes. Fort Clark was for many years home to the famous Buffalo Soldiers--and, demographically, Brackettville had a larger proportion of Black Seminoles (people of mixed African American and Seminole ancestry) than the rest of West Texas. Their language, Afro-Seminole Creole, is still spoken by some in Brackettville.

Horst Kelly Photographer

After the Buffalo Soldiers moved out of Fort Clark, the fort remained a cavalry post, and virtually every cavalry unit in the U.S. Army was stationed at or trained at Fort Clark at one time or another. In 1943, the U.S. Army activated the Second Cavalry, which was to be the Army's last horse-mounted unit. By 1944, even the Second had been mechanized, and Fort Clark, so long a center of mounted cavalry, was targeted for closure. Before its closure, the fort was used as a German prisoner-of-war camp.

After the fort officially closed in 1946, it had a variety of uses, until in 1971 it was converted into a resort/retirement center. The historic district of the fort is now on the National Register of Historic Places. However, the resort is not the economic engine the fort once was, and Brackettville has shrunk from its peak population during the war years.

A federally funded brick high school for local black students was completed in April 1944; officially classified as a four-year high school, it is believed to the only one of its kind between San Antonio and El Paso at that time.

North of town is a tourist attraction called Alamo Village, built in the 1950s as the set of John Wayne's movie The Alamo. Scenes from the 1969 comedy Viva Max! were shot here. As of July 2009, Alamo Village has been tentatively closed to the public but is still available for film production and special events such as weddings and receptions.^[4]"

Horst Kelly photography

Horst Kelly photographer

^{Its a very intesesting and historic Fort...I almost decided to stay here an extra day to tour the Fort....again said no...its close enough to home that I could make this a day trip....the RV Park its self is well managed,,,,,and has access to the fort itself...cost is 23 dollars...full hookups, cable, wifi(maybe.. depends where your site is)...2 golf courses(par-3) which if you stay at the park is free...an 18 hole cousre , you receive a discount; 3rd largest swimming pool in Texas; 21 miles of hiking/biking trails; fishing...no license required....and more...I will return here....}

^{Got on line and found out Barney also left on Wednesday...got a little to cold for him....on Thursday I rolled out around 0730...I had not unhitched...and the rest trip of was pretty much a non-event. Backed into my driveway before High Noon....and a conclusion to another great adventure....}

^{Soo...what would the postscript be....Maybe it ought to be what a wonderous state Texas is for history, exploring and adventure....I think Cj Cozygirl made a very valid statement about not realizing the different types of vistas that exist in Texas....that is a very prevelent observation...prior to moving to Texas in 1997 I had the same mindset....and that has become a plus for me...it's like being a kid in a candy store....what do I experience first.....there is so much to see...learn about...become one with....and the vastness is unbelieveable.....to travel from San Antonio west to New Mexico takes 10 hours...to then travel through New Mexico, Arizona to San Diego, Ca. takes another 10 hours....it's a vast land mass with diverse terrain, and a great history......}

Horst Kelly Photographer

^{I'll close for now...I thank all that followed this adventure....I hope I didn't bore you.....until the next adventure...Happy Trails...Horst sends}