Tag Archive: history


Bison Beef and Other Products at Herd Wear Retail Store

Filed under: Communications, Current events, Food, Texas, travel, writing — Leave a comment
October 23, 2020

If you’re taking Highway 287 coming from Dallas toward Colorado, you pass a little stop in the road about forty miles before Amarillo called Goodnight, Tx. The only reason you would know you were there is the Herd Wear Retail Store and Goodnight Country Inn.

Goodnight, Texas is an unincorporated “community” in Armstrong County. As of 2000, the population was 18. The address is actually Clarendon, Tx. The town is named for Charles Goodnight and his wife who settled there and had a bison ranch. (We don’t have buffalo in the United States, we have bison, cousins to the buffalo on the other side of the planet.)

Charles Goodnight was one of the biggest cattle ranchers in the Texas Panhandle in the late1800s, having already created the Goodnight-Loving trail to move the cattle to market. He made and lost a fortune in Pueblo, Colorado, before moving to the Texas Panhandle and recreating his success with cattle ranching. While buying land with partners and enlarging the ranch, they had to push the bison back about fifteen miles. Which didn’t help relations with the Indians. Charles made a deal with Quanah Parker to give her followers two beeves (cows) every other day to keep peace.                                                                     

It was about that time that Charles began raising bison as well as antelope and elk. He tried creating a cattalo, crossing cattle and bison, but it wasn’t a huge success. When he quit working with the cattle ranch, Charles concentrated on bison, beginning with 250 head. Charles and his wife – who had encouraged him to raise bison and oversaw the younger bison – shipped bison to Yellowstone, Europe, and other places.

Which brings us back to Cecil Miskin and Darlene Wright at Herd Wear Store/Goodnight Country Inn. The store is smack on 287. If you’re paying attention, you can’t miss it. Back down the road from the highway you can see the Goodnight House. The Country Inn is a one unit bed and breakfast back of the store. Cyndy and I plan to go one weekend when we can see the museums we want to see in the area.

The Herd Wear Store has everything bison, plus more. Check them out on Facebook and the website. A lot of wonderful things. We’re getting stuff for Christmas from them. Best of all though, is bison meat. The kippered bison beef makes great tender steak sticks for snacking. We’ve also tried the bison bratwurst, the jalapeno cheese bratwurst, and the ribs. We still have summer sausage to try. The bison products are a little pricey, but oh, so freaking tasty. And Cecil and Darlene will work with you.

I’ve spent time talking with Cecil on two different occasions now – once with Cyndy and once this last trip on my mini tour. Cecil can tell you all things bison/buffalo and he’ll happily talk about Charles Goodnight and the ranch. They had to get rid of some of the bison in the past fifteen years, but they kept just enough to be able to call it a herd.

So the next time you’re going through, be sure to stop by and see Cecil and Darlene. They’d love to have you and answer any and all questions. They’ve got enough stuff to warrant a day trip just to go there. I know Cecil has enough stories to keep you entertained while you shop. Not to mention the many museums in the area.

Tell them I sent you and I’ll see them next time through!

_______________________________________________________

Keep writing the songs that are in your heart.

Peace be with you.

paypal.me/danroark

 

 

 

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Bartow History Museum – Pioneer Days, No Power Needed!

Filed under: Communications, Current events, travel, writing — Leave a comment
June 12, 2019

No power needed in a pioneer kitchen!

Now, if I may continue after being without power for over two days. And may I say – being without power sucks!

Moving on, after I left Hendershots coffee, with a large coffee safely snuggled in the cup holder, I headed for Cartersville, Georgia, where I had a reservation at the KOA. When I registered at the KOA, I asked if they had information on things to see in the area. He picked some brochures off the rack on the wall and handed me a few.

One of the brochures was from the Bartow History

Right half of room

Museum. I’ve spent a lot of time in museums in my life. Learning about history was a family project when I was growing up, and likewise in my family now. The museum about Bartow County sounded interesting. That, and it was a good place to hang out in air conditioning for a while.

The people who put the museum together did a very good job. It was, of course, based on the people of Bartow county, whom I knew nothing about. I was focusing on the history of the county as a microcosm of the country’s history.

Left side of room

There were artifacts I had never seen before. I’ve been in most of the museums in the east, northeast, and south. Many of them, particularly related to the Revolutionary, and Civil, wars, mentioned saltpeter. It wasn’t until I happened to drop by the Bartow museum, that I actually got to see a container that held saltpeter in it – with the saltpeter still in it. Saltpeter was one of the bigger businesses in Bartow county during the Civil war.

In the picture of the right side of the room is a loom. When I was in elementary school studying spanish/Spain, I made a serape on a loom a bit more modern than the one in the picture, but it functioned exactly the same. Unfortunately, our house burned when I was in high school. The only proof is a picture in the archives of the local newspaper.

I left the museum cooled off, entertained, and informed. The block by the museum looked the same as in the pictures I had just seen – albeit with different establishments. I walked to the first place that looked like it had a cold beer. Turns out it was another historical place of sorts. It was a crowded little pub with a friendly vibe. It was called The Ate 8 Track Bar & Grill. The walls around the bar had shelves filled with – you saw this coming, didn’t you – numerous 8 track players of all types and kinds. Nice place to have a beer and think about all I’d seen at the museum.

Keep writing the songs that are in your heart.

Peace be with you.

 

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Arch Street Friends (Quaker) Meeting House

Filed under: Communications, Current events, Theology, writing — 1 Comment
May 1, 2012

After visiting the National Constitution Center (see previous post), the RCC convention group walked a few blocks over to the Arch Street Friends Meeting House. The land on which the building sits was originally a Quaker cemetery since 1693. The land was set aside by William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, as a burying ground for members. When a series of yellow fever epidemics necessitated mass burials a hundred years later, the brick walls around the property were erected to protect the graves from “rowdy boys and wandering cows.”

The meeting house was built on top of the graves in the early 1800s. Quaker women lobbied for a structure providing equal meeting space for men’s and women’s business gatherings. The meeting house, with identical meeting rooms, was the world’s largest Quaker meeting house. After men and women began to conduct business together in the 1920s, they began to gather in the west, or woman’s, meeting room.

Today, the west room remains unchanged. The east, or men’s meeting room, now serves multiple purposes. For the plenary, we gathered in the west room. As we entered the room, I could imagine the meetings of the past 200 years. The benches had been chiseled and had never seen a single sheet of sandpaper. The souls of all the people who sat their over the years seemed to be present in the hazy air illuminated by the sun through the windows.

Dr. Emma Jones Lapsansky-Werner is emeritus professor of History and Curator of the Quaker Collection at Haverford College. Lapsansky-Werner told the group about William Penn’s utopian vision that led to his design of Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. In response to a question about utopia today, the professor said that “God lives in public transportation, community parks, markets where people sell their own wares, and schools where parents participate in teaching.” Mary Beth Coudal, who co-led a workshop on social media at the convention, has an interesting post on Lapsansky-Werner’s quote.

Dr. Lapsansky-Werner also mentioned – among other things – an interesting fact about the  earlier Philadelphia map. In focusing on his Philadelphia utopia, Penn had the roads into the city from outlying townships marked “road from (insert town).” The idea being that all roads led to Philadelphia. Penn was introduced to a Quaker missionary when he was fifteen, and became a Quaker at 22.

William Penn never lived to see the fruits of his labors – he died penniless due to shoddy business practices and mistreatment by others. But his democratic principles served as an inspiration for the United States Constitution and he was an early champion of religious freedom. Dr. Lapsansky-Werner gave an entertaining and marvelously informative lecture to the interfaith audience.

The lecture was not only appropriate to an interfaith group with her information on the Quaker community, but also with the story of Penn’s stand for religious freedom. It was also appropriate for the location of its delivery – the Quaker meeting house. To underscore the significance, it was announced during the convention activities on Saturday that the Arch Street Friends Meeting House had received historical designation status the day before.

Peace be with you.

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“The Final Summit” – Book Review

Filed under: Books, Current events, Family, Theology, writing — Leave a comment
April 11, 2011

“The Final Summit,” by Andy Andrews, published by Thomas Nelson, is the sequel to Andrews’ “The Traveler’s Gift.” It is not necessary to have read the previous book to understand “The Final Summit.” Andrews recounts the story in the first chapter. David Ponder recalls his travels through time after an accident. He meets seven famous figures from history who give him the Seven Decisions for Success.

Using the seven decisions, Ponder makes a fortune and then the business fails in a very public way. After losing everything, Ponder realizes that the seven decisions were right all along. It was his lack of wisdom that caused the disaster. Ponder makes another fortune, building a skyscraper in Dallas without borrowing any money, “paying as he went.” When the building is completed, he and his wife Ellen give it all away through charitable trusts and retire to the penthouse which encompasses the top floor of the skyscraper.

Then his wife, Ellen, dies in her sleep while in Austin with their daughter and grandchildren. Ponder stays in the penthouse and mourns her death. He goes through the navy blue tobacco pouch with the souvenirs of his travels. He breaks down in tears, not understanding why he had been left alone. Then Gabriel appears for the second time – having been one of the figures from his time travels. Gabriel tells him that he is to lead the Final Summit of all the Travelers (every Traveler who ever existed) to decide the fate of the Earth and avoid another disaster as destructive as the flood in Genesis.

In chapter two Gabriel explains about the gathering of the travelers and plans for the summit. Including the fact that Ponder will be leading the meeting. Even though Solomon and Winston Churchill will be there. Gabriel takes Ponder under his wing, literally, and they are off “like a rocket.” The remainder of the book details the meeting place and the summit itself with an array of famous characters and Biblical figures.

I am not the first reviewer to have mixed feelings about the book. It is the next installment in Andrew’s series of lesson filled books as well as the sequel to “The Traveler’s Gift.” Unlike a few of his previous books, however, the dialogue seems stilted and the plot rather contrived and drawn out longer than necessary. Gabriel, for example, does not quite sound as one would imagine from reading the Bible. But if you are looking for a light afternoon feel-good read, you will enjoy “The Final Summit.” Just do not expect to get too involved in the story or receive any unexpected revelation.

Peace be with you.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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