Fort Bowie National Historic Site

On April 18, 2023 By Mike and Kellye HefnerIn American Road Trips, National Historic Site54 Comments

We struck out early on the day we visited Fort Bowie (pronounced boo-e) knowing we had a full day and a lot of hiking ahead of us. However, due to our newly acquired talent for completely disregarding road signs, we made a turn instead of going straight to reach the trail that leads to the fort. We ended up on a dirt road that had road graders actually blading the road in front of us! Nevertheless, we thought we were on the right road and kept going. The nice road grader guys even pulled over and let us pass. Undoubtedly, they were rolling their eyes as we went by. Anyway, after a lot of bumping, slipping, and sliding on the dirt road, we found a sign that said, “Fort Bowie” and a paved road leading up a hill.

As it turns out, we ended up at the park’s ranger station and tiny handicapped parking area. Although we didn’t realize our mistake until much later. So rather than hiking into the park, we just had to climb a small hill and then walk about 500 yards to the visitor center.

So where is it exactly?

Fort Bowie, the trailhead rather, is 13 miles south of Bowie, Arizona on Apache Pass Road. Bowie is a small town located 23 miles east of Willcox, Arizona on Interstate 10. Note to visitors: Once you’re on Apache Pass Road, there are no turns before you reach the trailhead. The last mile of the road is unpaved.

The skeletal remains of some of Fort Bowie’s crumbling buildings.

The park features:

Visitor center with exhibits, bookstore and gift shop
Hiking
Bird and wildlife watching
Picnic tables at the trailhead and visitor center
Some ranger led tours – check with the park for details
Free admission

The park’s website can be accessed here.

Why is Fort Bowie significant?

The first Fort Bowie was built in 1862, by 1,500 Union troops composed of California volunteers who had traveled over 900 miles to the site. Their intended job was to help drive Confederate forces out of New Mexico Territory which included Arizona at the time. However, before they arrived a battle ensued in 1861 which led to the actual establishment of the fort. It was called the Bascom Affair. Things got out of hand when the great chief Cochise and his band of Chiricahua Apache were falsely accused of kidnapping a local rancher’s son. Read about it here.

Then in 1862, another clash between the hostile Chiricahua and Union troops resulted in the deaths of 10 Apache and two soldiers. This battle is known as the Battle of Apache Pass. The fight was over control of Apache Spring, a water source that was vital to both sides.

In 1868, the second Fort Bowie, was constructed for use a military base of operations against hostile Chiricahua Apache. By 1872, most of the Apache bands had been captured and relocated to reservations. However, one group of Apache led by Geronimo kept escaping reservations and remained elusive for 10 years. While they continued to raid and pillage in the US and across the border in Mexico, soldiers along with specifically chosen Apache scouts actively sought to capture them. Once Geronimo surrendered in 1886, the group was brought to Fort Bowie before being exiled to Florida.

Fort Bowie

As always, our first stop was the visitor center to get suggestions on how best to see the fort. The volunteer ranger’s first answer was to climb the hill behind the visitor center to see the site from above. Um, next suggestion please…

Then the volunteer, who had to be at least 10 years older than we are, said, “Oh, it’s only a quarter mile and a three-hundred-foot [or whatever] elevation gain.” We stood there looking between each other and the volunteer. Finally, deciding if she can do it, we can do it. So off we went through the ocotillos and agaves to prove ourselves. It turned out that the short hike was well worth the effort!

Pretty scenery from the top of the hill.

After the hill climb, we spent an hour and a half walking the Ruins Trail through the fort. Though when looking at ruins it is hard to imagine what they once looked like. Fortunately, the National Park Service has placed information boards at the ruins of each building which give the history and in some instances a picture of what it once looked like.

Fancy Fort Bowie

Below are a couple of old photos from the second Fort Bowie’s heyday.

From right to left: Officers Quarters, Tailor Shop, and a glimpse of the Cavalry Barracks on the far left, as they looked in 1884. Note the fancy streetlight.

Remarkably, Fort Bowie had an ice machine that was run by a steam engine. Imagine what a treat having iced drinks would’ve been during the hot summer months. The ice also provided a way to keep food cool and was even used to make ice cream. Even more remarkable, to us anyway, was that several of Fort Bowie’s buildings, as well as living quarters had indoor flushing toilets. Such luxury for an isolated outpost during that era!

Middle far right: Mess Hall. Center top: Two-story Commanding Officer’s Quarters. The infantry barracks were located behind the mess hall and are not pictured.

At its height, Fort Bowie also had a hospital, a school, and a tailor shop for the purpose of keeping the men’s uniforms properly fitted. According to the park’s information, the tailor was an enlisted man who was able to charge the soldiers for his services. Other necessary structures included a guard house, corrals, and a trader’s post (general mercantile, formerly known as a sutler’s store). There was even a tennis court!

These crumbling rocks are the remains of the once elegant Commanding Officer’s Quarters.

Ending the Conflicts

When Geronimo escaped his last reservation in 1885, he along with about 50 other Apache followers fled to Mexico. There they raided villages and pillaged for economic rewards, including horses. They often crossed the border back into New Mexico Territory to do the same. Officials in Washington put pressure on the commander of the Department of Arizona, (a department of the US Army at the time) to bring the Chiricahua conflicts to an end. With all of the other Chiricahua Apache people having been exiled to Florida, Geronimo and his band of followers were the last hold outs.

Geronimo | Library of Congress — Library of Congress image of Geronimo in 1886.

Geronimo surrendered on September 4, 1886, near Fort Bowie and he and his band, which had dwindled, became prisoners of war. While being held at Fort Bowie, they prepared to board wagon trains for the long journey to Florida where they would live in exile along with the rest of their people. Geronimo would eventually end up at Fort Sill, Oklahoma where he lived as a prisoner of war for the last 15 years of his life. He died there in 1909 at the age of 79.

Geronimo (third from right with hands on hips) and his people as prisoners at Fort Bowie.

The Chiricahua conflicts ended with Geronimo’s capture in 1886, and Fort Bowie had served its purpose. On October 17, 1894, the remaining men 118 men of the 2nd Cavalry, along with nine women and two children, left Fort Bowie for their new post at Fort Logan, Colorado.

Visiting Fort Bowie

Our number one piece of advice for visitors is to take the trail from the trailhead to the visitor center. We missed some interesting parts of the park because of our dumb mistake. In addition to what we’ve covered here, the fort’s cemetery, the ruins of the Chiricahua Apache Indian Agency building, the site of the Battle of Apache Pass, Apache Spring, and the ruins of the Buttlerfield Overland Mail Stage Station are located on the trail.

Fort Bowie became a designated National Historic Landmark in 1960. Today Fort Bowie’s ghosts of military personnel and Native Americans alike live among the ruins of the once grand post. We can honor their memory by learning their history. After all, those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it. According to the National Park Service, the fort will never be rebuilt, but it will be preserved and protected.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit Fort Bowie with us!

You may also enjoy these other great national park sites:

Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park

Devils Tower Road Trip: Things to Do

Travel safely, y’all!

Mike and Kellye

As always, we strive to be as accurate with our information as possible. If we made a mistake, it was unintentional. (Hey, we’re only human!) Our suggestions are for places that we’ve heard good things about but haven’t visited personally, and our opinions are our own.

Fort Craig, New Mexico

On April 3, 2023 By Mike and Kellye HefnerIn American Road Trips, National Historic Site47 Comments

Where is Fort Craig?

Fort Craig sits near the Rio Grande River about 35 miles south of Socorro, New Mexico.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oversees this historic site, so it is not a national park. Click here for the BLM website.

The site features:

Visitor center
Restrooms
Sheltered picnic tables
Self-guided tour on accessible pathways
Free admission

Why is Fort Craig significant?

Fort Craig was built on the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, which means Royal Road of the Interior Land. Following the Rio Grande River, the National Historic Trail runs roughly 400 miles from El Paso, Texas to Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico. However, the original trail began in Mexico City and ended at San Juan Pueblo north of Santa Fe. Explorers, missionaries, traders, and settlers utilized the trail from 1598 to 1882.

A map depicting a trail from Santa Fe south into Mexico. — The map below shows El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro meandering its way along the Rio Grande River through New Mexico.

When the Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty was signed in 1848, ending the Mexican-American War, Mexico surrendered what are now the states of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, California, and Utah. The US paid $15 million for 525,000 square miles of land, which also included parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and Wyoming. Shortly after the end of the war, settlers began arriving in the new frontier via the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. Fort Craig was established in 1854 to protect travelers from attacks by disgruntled Apache, Commanche, and Navajo people who resented the intrusion. By the onset of the Civil War in 1861, Fort Craig was home to infantrymen, calvary, and Buffalo Soldiers. Just one year later, those men would clash with the Confederate Army in the Battle of Valverde.

Jornada del Muerto

Fort Craig replaced Fort Conrad which was located about nine miles to the north. Both forts were not only necessary for the protection of travelers on the Camino Real, but they also served as resting places and water stops for those who had managed to cross the Jornada del Muerto section of the Camino Real. Jornada del Muerto means Dead Man’s Journey and is a ninety-mile-long stretch of mainly waterless, barren desert. Still, with very little water, its desert wastelands, and sometimes rough volcanic terrain, the Jornada del Muerto remains largely uninhabited today.

Fort Craig

Fort Craig was a self-contained community with a hospital, living quarters for officers and enlisted men, and large store houses. With such large store houses, Fort Craig, was able to supply other nearby forts. Children who lived at the fort attended school, and enlisted men’s wives worked doing laundry. There was also a sutler’s store which was a general mercantile usually owned by a civilian, a blacksmith shop, corrals, and carpenter’s shop. However, with the end of the Civil War and Indian Campaigns as well as travelers using train travel rather than the Camino Real, Fort Craig was abandoned in 1885.

The Ruins

Two of Fort Craig’s three large store houses.

This storehouse image shows the rock back wall and adobe side walls.

Store houses, which were dug six feet underground, had soil reinforced above-ground adobe walls and wooden roofs. The interior walls and roofs were covered with jaspe, which was a locally made type of plaster.

These crumbling rock walls are all that remains of the fort’s sallyport (entrance) and guardhouse. For a time, the guardhouse also served as a prison.

Remains of the commanding officer’s quarters.

These are the remains of the officer’s quarters.

These old adobe walls may soon be lost to the elements.

Towns north and south of Fort Craig flourished as trade centers while soldiers continued to protect travelers on the Camino Real. Although, when the Civil War began, Fort Craig would face different kind of enemy.

The Battle of Valverde

Edward Richard Canby, Fort Craig’s commanding officer, likely stood watch as Confederate troops gathered along the eastern banks of the Rio Grande preparing to fight. But Canby was ready. He had 1,200 seasoned soldiers ready to do battle, plus 100 Colorado Volunteers, 500 militia, and 2,000 New Mexican Volunteers led by Kit Carson. The Battle of Valverde was fought in February of 1862 at a shallow ford in the Rio Grande River a few miles north of Fort Craig.

This Library of Congress image shows the Valverde Battlefield.

Colonel Henry Hopkins Sibley was intent on marching his Confederate troops into battle in order to claim the New Mexico Territory which included Arizona. His plan was to capture Fort Craig, take their supplies, then head north to capture the territorial capital of Santa Fe. Sibley wanted to move on to seize Fort Union and then take the Colorado gold fields. By conquering these sites, Sibley believed he could easily take California, thus expanding the Confederate States of America to include west coast ports. Obviously, that didn’t happen.

While Canby led his men north into battle, Carson and some of his men held down the fort. The battle ended with the Confederates claiming victory, but they were unable to take Fort Craig. Upon Sibley’s command to surrender the fort, Canby refused, and the Confederates retreated. In all, casualties included the deaths of over 100 men, injuries to more than 200, and several missing.

Fort Craig Cemetery

Some of the Valverde battlefield casualties may have been buried in Fort Craig’s cemetery, however, the burial ground no longer exists. In 2004, reports surfaced of a man having the mummified body of a Fort Craig Buffalo Soldier in his home. Upon the death of the man, Dee Brecheisen, a Vietnam War veteran and Civil Air Patrol pilot, officials began investigating. Mummified remains were indeed found, along with some artifacts, though it was speculated that many other stolen artifacts had been sold.

Fort Craig Post Cemetery Report — Pot sherds fill a flowerbed next to Brecheisen’s house. Photo courtesy of the Bureau of Reclamation.

Authorities believe that Brecheisen had also robbed graves at other old forts as well as some Native American burial grounds. His obituary referred to him as a collector as well as one of the State of New Mexico’s foremost preservationists of historical facts and sites, he shared his extensive knowledge with historians around the state, adding significantly to New Mexico historical literature. Fort Craig’s cemetery excavations began in 2005 by archaeologists with the Bureau of Reclamation. Further excavations were made in 2007, and sixty-seven of Fort Craig’s remaining bodies were reinterred in the Santa Fe National Cemetery.

We would like to thank all of our followers and readers for your continued support of our site and for joining us at Fort Craig, New Mexico!

Do you enjoy Civil War history? Check out these other historic sites:

Antietam National Battlefield

Gettysburg National Military Park

Fort Donelson National Battlefield

Travel safely, y’all.

Mike and Kellye

Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site

On November 16, 2022 By Mike and Kellye HefnerIn National Historic Site34 Comments

About the site

Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site preserves the history of White Haven, the 200-year-old estate that was once home to Ulysses S. Grant and his wife, Julia Dent Grant. The park is located at 7400 Grant Road, St. Louis, Missouri.

The house was painted Paris Green in 1874 during Grant’s presidency and was repainted the same color during its restoration in the 1990s. The red buildings behind the house are the icehouse and chicken coop. We only took a couple of non-post-worthy pictures inside the house because our guide, Ranger Evan, was extremely interesting to listen to as she led us through the property.

Highlights of the park include:

Visitor center and gift shop/bookstore
Introductory film
Museum
Self-guided walk through the grounds
Self-guided tour featuring the historic trees on the property
Ranger-led tours of the house
Junior Ranger programs
John Y. Simon Research Library – by appointment only

The park’s website link: Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site

Importance of the historic site

Ulysses S. Grant was not only the victorious commanding general of the Union Army during the Civil War, but he was also the 18th President of the United States. Grant served two terms as president from 1869 – 1877. His wife and First Lady, Julia Dent Grant spent her childhood at White Haven. Her father, Frederick Dent, who was a successful merchant and land speculator, purchased White Haven in 1820 as a country get away from the family’s city home in St. Louis. It is hard to imagine today that the family’s second home was only twelve miles from their primary residence.

Another view of the house that we almost matched to the historic image above. The white structure behind the house is a kitchen and laundry.

Ulysses and Julia at White Haven

Ulysses met Julia in 1843 when he visited White Haven with his former West Point roommate who happened to be her older brother, Fred. After courting for only four months, Julia accepted Ulysses’ proposal, which they kept secret for over a year. However, due to the outbreak of the Mexican-American War they wouldn’t marry until 1848. Ulysses served in the U.S. Army for eleven years prior to resigning and joining his wife at White Haven in 1854 to try farming. He built a cabin on an 80-acre plot that Julia’s father had given the couple as a wedding gift, and they named the property Hardscrabble. While Grant owned one enslaved worker, a man named William Jones who had been given to him by Julia’s father, he also hired free men to work on the farm.

Hardscrabble – photo from the Library of Congress. The Grants lived in this cabin for only three months. Upon the death of her mother, Julia’s father asked her, Ulysses, and their two children to live in his White Haven home with him. They never returned to Hardscrabble. The cabin can now be seen at the family amusement venue, Grant’s Farm, which is next door to the historic site.

Grant’s Pre-Civil War Years

By 1858 Grant, now with four children, was unable to support the family by farming, but instead of selling his one slave to make money he freed the man. Slavery was a topic on which he and his father-in-law greatly differed, as Frederick Dent’s White Haven was a slave plantation. Nonetheless, after failing at farming and on the verge of being penniless, Grant leased Hardscrabble and moved his family to St. Louis where he began a real estate venture. Unfortunately, real estate was not a successful career either, so he moved his family to Galena, Illinois and went to work in his family’s leather goods business. During this time Frederick Dent lost much of White Haven to foreclosure. He also began deeding acreages to his children. Then in December of 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union. By February 1861, six other states had seceded and had formed the Confederate States of America. The Civil War had begun.

This view of the back of the house shows the kitchen and laundry that was separate from the house.

Grant’s Civil War Years

After the war began, the governor of Illinois appointed Grant to lead a regiment of volunteers. Grant was so successful in training the men and gaining their respect that President Abraham Lincoln promoted him to Brigadier General. As the war continued, Lincoln became displeased with the North’s military leadership. Therefore, in March of 1864, Lincoln appointed Grant General-in-Chief of the U. S. Army, a rank that had only ever been held by George Washington. Over the following year Grant, who sometimes joined his subordinates in battle, successfully led the North to victory. Despite heavy casualties, he settled for nothing less than unconditional and immediate surrenders, which earned him the nickname, “Unconditional Surrender Grant”. The war ended on April 9, 1865, with the South’s General Robert E. Lee surrendering to Grant at Virginia’s Appomattox Courthouse.

Lee surrenders to Grant – Library of Congress image

Grant’s Post-Civil War Years

After the war, President Andrew Johnson appointed Grant Secretary of War of the reconstructing nation. During and after the war the Grants had purchased White Haven from Julia’s siblings and father and regained Hardscrabble. In 1868, Grant was elected President of the United States, having won against incumbent Andrew Johnson. The Grants moved into the White House in 1869 and hired Ulysses’ cousin’s husband to manage the farm at White Haven. By this time, Dent’s former enslaved workers had left, and French and German immigrants were hired as laborers. Grant had a barn and stables built at White Haven and began buying horses. The Grants visited White Haven as often as possible and planned to spend their retirement years there. However, the farming and livestock operation failed to make money, so in 1875, Grant sold White Haven’s assets and leased out the property. They would never return.

This stable housed Grant’s thoroughbreds. Today it houses the park’s museum.

Trivia: General Grant and Julia had been invited to join President Lincoln and the First Lady in the balcony of Ford’s Theater on April 15, 1865, the night the President was assassinated. However, the Grants had declined the invitation due to Julia wanting to visit relatives in New Jersey.

Ulysses S. Grant standing next to his wife Julia Dent Grant, who is sitting — Ulysses and Julia in 1864 or 1865 – National Park Service photo.

Grant’s Post-Presidency Years

Julia had wanted her husband to run for a third presidential term, but he refused by publicly renouncing his interest. The former President and First Lady set off on a two-year world tour, fulfilling Grant’s lifelong dream of travel. Upon their return to the U.S., he sought to win the Republican nomination for president in the 1880 election, but the party chose James A. Garfield as their candidate. Ulysses and Julia settled in New York to be closer to their children and grandchildren. Grant was diagnosed with throat cancer in the summer of 1884. Early in 1885, the former president began writing his memoirs. Three months before his death, Grant found that he had lost his fortune to an investment scam perpetrated by his son Jesse’s business partner. Because of the swindle, the Grants also lost White Haven. He completed his memoirs just three days before his death on July 23, 1885.

Museum Exhibits

Click on an image to view as a gallery.

Bonnet, tooled leather book, and leatherworking tools

Hat, bonnet, and books that belonged to Julia’s parents

Coffee service given to the Grants on their 25th wedding anniversary

Mother Goose book and microscope that belonged to the Grant children

After Grant’s death: mourning accessories and commemorative items

The Grant Family: Nellie, Ulysses, Jesse, Frederick, Julia, and Ulysses, Jr.

Trivia: Ulysses S. Grant is not the former president’s actual name. His given name was Hiram Ulysses Grant. However, when his congressman submitted Ulysses’ application to West Point, he mistakenly wrote down Ulysses Simpson Grant, Simpson having been Ulysses’ mother’s maiden name. After attempting to correct the mistake at West Point to no avail, Ulysses finally gave up and signed his name as Ulysses S. Grant. The name would follow him throughout the rest of his life and into history.

Thank you so much for joining us on our visit to Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site. We learned a lot during our visit, and we hope you did too.

Want to learn about other American presidents? Click on these great parks:

Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park

Eisenhower National Historic Site

Monticello

Travel safely, and we will see you on the road.

Mike & Kellye

As always, we strive to be as accurate with our information as possible. If we made a mistake, it was unintentional. (Hey, we’re only human!) We aren’t paid for our recommendations, and we only recommend our own tried and true vendors and venues. Our suggestions are for places that we’ve heard good things about but haven’t visited personally, and our opinions are our own.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park

On August 13, 2022 By Mike and Kellye HefnerIn National Historic Landmark, National Historic Site, National Register of Historic Places, State Parks26 Comments

⇒Our road trip begins in Johnson City, Texas where the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park Visitor Center is located. Johnson City is:

48 miles/1 hour west of Austin, Texas – Website link: Visit Austin
64 miles/1.25 hours north of San Antonio, Texas – Website link: Visit San Antonio

The Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park is divided into three sections: the Johnson City section, the state park section, and the LBJ Ranch section. The state park and ranch sections are 14 miles west of Johnson City in Stonewall, Texas via U.S. Highway 290. We recommend visiting all three of the park sites to get a complete overview of Johnson’s life and legacy as the 36th president of the United States.

Website link: Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park

Bridge on the path between Johnson Settlement and Lyndon Johnson’s boyhood home

Johnson City

The park’s visitor center museum in Johnson City features a timeline of the president’s life, photos, and other historical information. Artifacts from Lyndon Johnson’s presidency as well as some items that belonged to his wife, Lady Bird, are also on display. Johnson’s boyhood home sits across the street from the visitor center, and down the street is Johnson Settlement where his grandparents settled after the Civil War. Easy trails, sidewalks, and wayside information boards make an interesting and pleasant walk between the sites.

Johnson’s Boyhood Home

Lyndon Baines Johnson was born on what is now the LBJ Ranch near Stonewall, Texas in 1908, and the family moved to Johnson City when he was five years old. The Johnsons lived in the home for 24 years while raising their five children, including three girls and two boys. In the early 1970s, the modest family home was restored to its 1920’s style by the National Park Service with help from the former president. The property also features a shed, a windmill and cistern, and a small barn surrounded by gorgeous old oak trees. Check the park’s website for tour information.

Windmill behind Lyndon Johnson’s boyhood home

Lyndon’s father, Sam Ealy Johnson, Jr., was a Texas legislator for 12 years, and his mother, Rebekah Baines Johnson, was an educator. LBJ attended Texas State Teacher’s College. For a short time, he worked as a teacher and principal to earn money to continue his college education. After graduation from college, he attended one semester of law school at Georgetown University before dropping out.

Shed behind Lyndon Johnson’s boyhood home

LBJ the Politician

In 1937, Johnson announced his bid for the U.S. House of Representatives for the 10th District of the State of Texas from the east porch of his boyhood home. He won the election and later went on to serve in other capacities primarily as a U.S. Senator and Senate Majority Leader. LBJ ran for president in 1960 but lost the Democratic nomination to John F. Kennedy. Johnson was asked by Kennedy to be his running mate due to LBJ’s popularity with the southern Democrats who weren’t especially fond of JFK. The duo won the election, and the rest, they say, is history. On November 22, 1963, while standing aboard Air Force One at Dallas’s Love Field airport, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president two hours after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Johnson Settlement

A block west of Lyndon Johnson’s boyhood home is Johnson Settlement, which is the site of his grandparents’ original home. In the mid-1800s, Sam Ealy Johnson, Sr. and his brother Tom settled on 320 acres in what is now Johnson City and began a successful cattle driving business. Sam returned to Texas after serving the Confederacy in the Civil War and married Eliza Bunton in 1867.

LBJ’s grandparents, Sam and Eliza Johnson, lived in this cabin from 1867-1872

This barn was added to the property by James Polk Johnson for whom Johnson City is named and who was a nephew of Sam Ealy Johnson, Sr.

This cooler house, windmill, and cistern were also added to the site by James Polk Johnson

Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site

⇒The next stop on our road trip is in Stonewall, Texas at the Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site. The park is located 14 miles/15 minutes west of Johnson City on U.S. Highway 290.

State Park

The state park site is adjacent to the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park/LBJ Ranch along the banks of the Pedernales River. This park features:

Visitor center and gift shop plus memorabilia from LBJ’s presidency
Olympic-sized swimming pool – open in the summer
Historic cabin tours
Sauer-Beckmann Living History Farm
Hiking trails
Tennis courts
Fishing (no license required if fishing in the state park)
Longhorn herd
Bison herd

Website link: Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site

Bison at the Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site

Sauer-Beckmann Living History Farm

Located within the state park is the Sauer-Beckmann Living History Farm. Here rangers and park volunteers dress in period clothing and take on the chores of managing an early 20th century home and farm. Volunteers give tours of the buildings, grow gardens and cotton from heirloom seeds and take care of the animals that live on the farm.

Sheep and other animals live at the historic farm

It’s about a 10-minute walk from the visitor center to the farm. The farmhouse, which was later added on to, was built in the late 1800s by the Sauer family. Interestingly, one of the Sauer’s older daughters was the midwife who attended Lyndon Johnson’s birth in 1908. The Beckmann family bought the farm in 1900, and they remained neighbors of the Johnsons until the property was sold to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in 1966.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park

⇒Stop number three on our road trip is the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park/LBJ Ranch. The drive from the state park visitor center to the ranch entrance takes about ten minutes, and the auto tour through the ranch takes about 1 to 1.5 hours depending on stops.

Lyndon and Lady Bird

After his short stint at Georgetown Law, Lyndon met University of Texas graduate, Claudia Alta Taylor. As an infant, Claudia had been called Lady Bird by her nanny, and the nickname followed her throughout her life. LBJ asked Lady Bird to marry him on their first date, and she promptly declined. More proposals and refusals were made over the next ten weeks until Lady Bird finally said yes. The couple were married in November of 1934. LBJ liked being known by his initials, and he also like having them attached to everything he owned, including his ranch and cattle! Having a wife with his initials must have been quite a boost to LBJ’s reportedly huge ego. They named their children Lynda Bird Johnson and Luci Baines Johnson. Even the family’s dog, Little Beagle Johnson, had the same initials.

LBJ Ranch

Upon approach to the park visitors will see Trinity Lutheran Church which sits just across the river from the LBJ Ranch entrance. The church was registered as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1989.

The final resting places of Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson in the family cemetery on the ranch

As a kid, Lyndon spent summers on what is now the LBJ Ranch helping his aunt and uncle work cattle and doing odd jobs. After her husband died, LBJ’s aunt asked if he wanted to buy her floundering property, and he jumped at the opportunity. He quickly began purchasing registered Hereford cattle. Over the years, Lyndon and Lady Bird expanded the ranch by purchasing additional land, growing the ranch to over 2,700 acres. When the historical park was being established, the Johnsons opted to donate a portion of the ranch to the National Park Service. Their only condition was that it would continue as a working cattle operation. The park service agreed, and descendants of LBJ’s original prizewinning Herefords still thrive on the ranch today.

Some of the descendants of LBJ’s prizewinning Hereford cattle

LBJ’s Texas White House

LBJ’s Jetstar, nicknamed Air Force One-Half. This smaller jet was used to carry the president home from a nearby airport where Air Force One had landed because the runway at the ranch couldn’t accommodate a large jet.

The buildings surrounding the airplane hangar (now a visitor center) pictured below are garages, offices, and a secret service command post. These buildings sit behind and to the side of the ranch house. The runway is now the visitor center parking lot.

Airplane hangar, now visitor center, on the LBJ Ranch

The media began referring to his home as the Texas White House because Johnson spent so much time at the ranch during his presidency. The president held meetings on the lawn under a large live oak tree where members of the cabinet conducted government business from lawn chairs. Foreign ministers, former presidents, and other dignitaries spent time at the LBJ Ranch, and the president even held press conferences from the porch.

The pool and pool house sit in the side yard next to the house

Nearby Points of Interest

Click the links below for information on these points of interest in the Texas Hill Country beginning from Johnson City:

Luckenbach, Texas – 24 miles/25 minutes via US Highway 290 west and then south on Luckenbach Road
Fredericksburg, Texas – 30 miles/33 minutes via US Highway 290 west
Blanco State Park – 14.5 miles/19 minutes via US Highway 281 south
Pedernales Falls State Park – 12.4 miles/18 minutes via Robinson Road – requires reservation to enter park
Longhorn Cavern State Park – 37 miles/41 minutes via US Highway 281 north – requires reservation for cavern tours
Inks Lake State Park – 42.8 miles/48 minutes via US Highway 281 north
Hamilton Pool Preserve – 14 miles/24 minutes via Ranch Road 12 and Hamilton Pool Road – requires reservation to enter park

Thank you for joining us on our Texas Hill Country road trip! We hope you enjoyed the visit to the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park.

Want to learn more? Click to see these other exciting historical sites:

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park

Eisenhower National Historic Site

Antietam National Battlefield

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park

Travel safe, travel smart, and we will see you down the road.

Mike and Kellye

As always, we strive to be as accurate with our information as possible. If we made a mistake, it was unintentional. (Hey, we’re only human!) Our opinions are our own.

Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine

On May 14, 2022August 29, 2022 By Mike and Kellye HefnerIn National Historic Landmark, National Historic Site, National Monuments, National Register of Historic Places, Places4 Comments

Sitting right on Baltimore’s inner harbor near an industrial area on the edge of downtown is Fort McHenry, the birthplace of the “The Star-Spangled Banner”. It was during the War of 1812 that a young lawyer named Francis Scott Key penned the now famous words. He had been aboard a US truce ship on the river while witnessing the battle between the Americans defending Baltimore at Fort McHenry and the British navy. The British had sailed up the Chesapeake Bay after burning Washington and filled the river with its ships aiming to capture Baltimore. After the battle in September of 1814, Key was inspired to write the poem when he saw that the garrison flag “yet waved” by the dawn’s early light over Fort McHenry. The poem was set to an adapted tune of an 18th Century European song called “To Anacreon in Heaven”, and in 1931 “The Star-Spangled Banner” was officially adopted as the National Anthem of the United States. Did you know that the original title of Key’s poem was “The Defense of Fort McHenry”?

A smaller replica of the original garrison flag, which bore fifteen stars and fifteen stripes and measured 30′ x 42′, flies over Fort McHenry today. The original flag, made by Mary Pickersgill of Baltimore at the request of the fort’s commander, Major George Armistead, now resides in the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

Fort McHenry was built between 1798 and 1803 and is named for James McHenry who hailed from Baltimore and was George Washington’s Secretary of War. During the Civil War, the fort was used to hold prisoners of war, but it was primarily used as a prison for pro-succession Maryland residents. During World War I, the grounds around Fort McHenry were home to 100 buildings composing a 3,000 bed hospital. Called General Hospital 2, which was one of the largest in the US at the time, it was used to treat wounded from the battlefields of France. Fort McHenry is the only national park site that has been designated as a shrine.

These cannons swivel on a round track so they can be aimed in different directions

These cannons are aimed toward the harbor. Baltimore’s harbor is actually the Patapsco River which flows into the Chesapeake Bay.

We’re going to call this trip done, but in closing the post we want to leave you with a couple of cool shots at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. This is where the Baltimore Orioles baseball team plays, and the stadium is next to M&T Bank Stadium where the Baltimore Ravens football team plays. Both fields are in downtown Baltimore.

The great Babe Ruth was a Baltimorian who was born just a few blocks from Oriole Park at Camden Yards. In fact, his father once owned and ran a bar that sat about where the ballpark’s second base is located today.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Until the next time…

Travel safe, travel smart, and we will see you down the road.

Mike and Kellye

Wish We Were There Wednesday: Random Places

On May 11, 2022 By Mike and Kellye HefnerIn Historic Cemeteries, Miscellany, National Historic Districts, National Historic Landmark, National Historic Site, National Register of Historic Places, Places, State Historic Site, State Parks, Wish We Were There Wednesdays5 Comments

Today we’re taking a random places road trip, and we are so happy to have you along for the ride. Enjoy!

Pike Place Market, Seattle. Established in 1907, it is the oldest running farmer’s market in the U.S. The original Starbucks opened here in 1971.

The Green Monster left field wall at Fenway Park, Boston. The reason the wall is there? To keep people from watching the game for free. In 2003, 269 barstool seats and 100 standing room only spaces were added to the deck on the wall, however tickets for those seats are hard to come by. By the way, the scoreboard on the Green Monster is still updated by hand. Fenway Park has been the home of the Boston Red Sox since 1912.

Smokey Bear’s gravesite, Capitan, New Mexico. The idea of a fire prevention mascot was conceived in 1944 when the National Forest Service came up with a character called Smokey Bear. In 1950, a black bear cub was found badly burned after a forest fire in the Capitan Mountains of the Lincoln National Forest. The firefighters who found him named him Smokey. A popular living symbol of fire prevention, Smokey made his home at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. until he died in 1976. He was returned to Capitan where he was buried in what is now Smokey Bear Historical Park.

Ernest Tubb Record Shop, Nashville. Home of the Midnite Jamboree, which started right after the Grand Ole Opry show was over on Saturday nights. Ernest helped many artists get their start right there in that store until 1974 when the show was moved to another venue. The Midnite Jamboree was moved back to the store in 2021. Tubb was born in Texas, 35 miles south of Dallas. He performed and wrote songs up until his health required him to quit in 1982. He died in 1984. In March 2022, it was announced that the store is being sold and the Midnite Jamboree would be ending.

Geographic Center of the U.S. The actual survey marker is 22 miles north of town, but Belle Fourche, South Dakota does a great job of letting people know it’s close by.

UFO Museum and Research Center, Roswell, New Mexico. Occupying a 1930s era movie theater, the museum was opened in 1991. In addition to the exhibits, mostly about the so-called Roswell incident, they also have a gift shop that carries things like bumper stickers that say, “I Like Aliens, They Taste Just Like Chicken”, and other gotta-take-one-of-these-home souvenirs.

Granary Burying Ground, Boston. Established in 1660, Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock are all buried here, along with some of Ben Franklin’s family members and victims of the Boston Massacre, among others. It is estimated that more than 5,000 people are buried in this small cemetery, though there are just over 2,300 markers.

Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park, Nebraska. Site of Buffalo Bill Cody’s Scout’s Rest Ranch, which was his home from 1886 to 1913. This beautiful barn was built in 1887 to house his purebred stallions and other livestock that lived on the 4,000-acre ranch. His mansion is shown below.

Buffalo Bill Cody’s home at Scout’s Rest Ranch

Reflections on the Colorado River, Moab, Utah. Did you know that the Colorado River Basin is part of eleven national parks? The Colorado River also flows through seven states, two Mexican states, and it forms a partial border between Arizona and Mexico.

Provincetown, Massachusetts. Fleeing religious persecution in England, the Pilgrims on the Mayflower landed first at Provincetown in 1620 where the men on the ship signed the Mayflower Compact. The compact was a document whereby they agreed to self-rule the colony they were set to establish in the New World. After finding no fresh water in the area, they sailed across the bay to Plymouth, and the rest, they say, is history.

The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado. Freelan O. Stanley, inventor of the Stanley Steamer automobile, opened the hotel in 1909. In the 1970s Stephen King visited the hotel and was inspired to write his novel *The Shining*. Today, the Stanley Hotel claims to be one of the most haunted hotels in the country with none other than Freelan and his wife, Flora (among other spirits) roaming the hallways. We toured this stunning hotel, and even went in the basement, but we didn’t see any paranormal activity – or Jack Nicholson!

That’s going to do it for today. Thanks so much for joining us on our random places road trip. We hope you will return to our site again for more sights, scenery, trips, tricks, and tips. Be sure to sign up to be an e-mail follower so you never miss a post, and follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Tell your friends! We want to be friends with them, too.

Happy hump day, everybody!

Eisenhower National Historic Site

On May 7, 2022August 29, 2022 By Mike and Kellye HefnerIn Museums, National Historic Landmark, National Historic Site, National Register of Historic Places, Places3 Comments

Welcome to the home of Dwight D. “Ike” and Mamie Eisenhower. How befitting that a distinguished military leader and the 34th president of the United States, would make his home next to some of our nation’s most sacred grounds at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

We had made reservations to tour the house but were notified shortly thereafter by e-mail that the house had been closed due to Covid – very disappointing. Since the grounds are open to visitors, we decided to stop by and see the property anyway. Fortunately, we arrived in time to join a ranger talk which was extremely interesting and took the sting out of not getting to tour the house. The farm, which was visited by several world leaders and other dignitaries, is only 10 minutes from Camp David and 30 minutes from Washington by helicopter. This would have been an extreme convenience to the president.

This is the only house that Ike and Mamie ever owned. Due to many military appointments at home and abroad, Ike becoming president of Columbia University, and living in the White House, the Eisenhowers only used the property as a retreat. They lived here full time after the end of his presidency.

Ike’s backyard putting green, installed as a gift from the PGA. It cannot be seen in this shot, but the flag reflects the five stars of his General of the Army rank.

The property immediately surrounding the house includes a barn, a guest house, a tea house, greenhouses and gardens. Interestingly, there is also a helicopter landing pad just beyond the road in front of the house, but it’s simply a mowed-short patch of grass on the lawn.

Barn adjacent to the house and attached garage that still holds some of their personal vehicles. A secret service office was located on the opposite end of the barn. Ike was the first president to have lifetime secret service protection for himself and his wife after leaving office.

This is the second farm where Ike’s champion Angus cattle were bred and raised.

We saw many farms that looked like this one in Pennsylvania, particularly the Amish and Mennonite farms in and around Lancaster County. We fell in love with the white barns, silos, and pastoral settings, all reflective of a simpler life that is probably anything but simple.

Beautiful soybean crop and view from the house. The National Park Service leases the land to a local farmer who also tends to the cattle that live on the farm today.

For additional information about the Eisenhower National Historic Site, click here: https://www.nps.gov/eise/index.htm

To view the Eisenhower National Historic Site collections, click here: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/eisenhower-national-historic-site

Virtual tours of the house are found here: https://www.nps.gov/eise/learn/photosmultimedia/videos.htm

That’s going to be all for this trip. Thank you for joining us on our journeys. Please join us again for another great destination. Until next time…

Travel safe, travel smart, and we will see you down the road!

Mike and Kellye

Wish We Were There Wednesday: Churches

On May 4, 2022 By Mike and Kellye HefnerIn National Historic Landmark, National Historic Site, National Register of Historic Places, Places, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Wish We Were There Wednesdays2 Comments

Intricate details on the historic Trinity Church, Boston.

If you have followed our posts, you’ve probably noticed that we love churches – especially historic ones. Today we’re sharing a few of our favorites, and we hope you love them too. Enjoy!

Another detail of the Trinity Church in Boston – love the gargoyles!

Trinity Church, Boston. Built 1872 – 1877.

Mission Church, Pecos National Historical Park, New Mexico. Built in 1717.

Quechee Church, Quechee, Vermont. Built in 1873.

The Chapel of the Holy Cross, Sedona, Arizona. Built 1954 – 1956.

Ruins of the San Jeronimo Mission Church at Taos Pueblo. Dates to approximately 1706.

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Built 1907.

The Cathedral of Saint Helena, Helena, Montana. Built 1908.

Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Built 1869 – 1887.

The First Church of Christ, Scientist (also known as The Mother Church), Boston. Built 1894 – 1906 with later additions.

Chapel at Mount Saint Mary’s Cemetery, Maryland. Cemetery established around 1808.

San Jose de Gracia in Las Trampas, New Mexico, built in 1760.

Grace Methodist Church, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Built 1873 – 1878.

Thank you for visiting our site! We hope you will come back again for more great road trip destinations, Quick Stops, WWWTWs, and some tips and tricks. Become a follower so you never miss a post – just hit that SUBSCRIBE button on the right-side of the page. We will not share your information with anyone!

Happy hump day, everyone!

Mike and Kellye

Antietam National Battlefield

On April 2, 2022May 11, 2022 By Mike and Kellye HefnerIn Hikes, Miscellany, Museums, National Battlefield, National Cemetery, National Historic Districts, National Historic Landmark, National Historic Site, National Memorials, National Monuments, National Register of Historic Places, Places4 Comments

Located just outside of Sharpsburg, Maryland, Antietam National Battlefield was one of our favorite destinations on our Mid-Atlantic road trip. During the battle that took place on September 17, 1862 and lasted only about 12 hours, 23,000 men’s lives were changed forever. Ending in a Union victory, it was the bloodiest one day battle of the Civil War.

Dunker Church so named because their parishioners were baptized by dunking

The men who lost their lives here did not in any way die in vain, but when one steps foot on these consecrated grounds it is hard not to think that any war has its own senselessness. We felt something spiritual here that resembled the way we felt at the Oklahoma City Memorial – both being places that were once violently disrupted by turmoil but are now utterly serene. Perhaps the spirits of those who fought and died here walked along with us and somehow soothed our souls.

Mumma Farm, the only structure deliberately destroyed during the battle. Confederate soldiers burned the house and outbuildings so Union troops could not use them. Luckily, the Mumma family had left the house before the battle. They rebuilt the house in 1863. Before this trip, we never knew that families whose properties were damaged or destroyed during the Civil War were compensated by the government in order to rebuild.

Another thing we learned on the trip was that the National Park Service leases some of its land to local farmers for growing crops. We never had seen so many soybeans, and certainly never knew that so many acres of soybeans were grown in the US.

Sunken Road aka Bloody Lane looking north

This is the site where the Confederates held off 10,000 Union soldiers during a three hour battle. The casualties were high and the road was lined with bodies. Click here for some additional information and photographs of the aftermath of this battle thanks to the History Channel: https://www.history.com/news/battle-antietam-photography-civil-war . Warning – the photographs are graphic!

Burnside Bridge – probably the most photographed landmark at Antietam. General Burnside’s men captured the bridge from about 500 Confederate soldiers who had held the area for more than three hours. Burnside’s troops crossed Antietam Creek, which drove the Confederates back toward Sharpsburg.

The Antietam National Cemetery is located in Sharpsburg, Maryland, just a few miles from the battlefield. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to go in, but according the the park brochure 4,776 Union soldiers are buried here, along with veterans of other wars. This cemetery did not exist at the time of the Civil War so the dead were buried where they died on the battlefield. Later their remains were reinterred at this cemetery. Confederate soldiers were buried in Hagerstown, MD, Frederick, MD, and Shepherdstown, VA, now WV. Interestingly, in 2009 remains of an unidentified soldier were found in a cornfield, most likely buried where he fell on the battlefield almost 150 years before.

Cemetery Lodge (sometimes called Keepers House) on the grounds of the Antietam National Cemetery

That’s going to do it for our overview of the Antietam National Battlefield. We hope you enjoyed the visit and that you will come back often to see us as we post more trips and tips. Thank you for joining us on the road. Until next time…

Travel safe, travel smart, and we will see you down the road.

Mike and Kellye

New Castle, Delaware and First State National Historic Park

On February 18, 2022February 19, 2022 By Mike and Kellye HefnerIn Historic Cemeteries, Museums, National Historic Districts, National Historic Landmark, National Historic Site, National Register of Historic Places, Places2 Comments

Established in 1651 by Dutch settlers, the town of New Castle sits on the banks of the Delaware River. The historic district has been designated a National Landmark. We chose to visit because it is part of the First State National Historical Park, which has several sites between the northern border and Dover. We arrived on a weekday and basically had the historic district to ourselves. Fall was in the air, and it turned out to be a perfect day to stroll the cobblestone streets and learn about the history of the state.