Essays

Moseying: History of the Southern Llano Estacado  

At Airsho learn about Medal of Honor Winners of the Indian Wars
October 10, 2010

The Commemorative Air Force Museum has a wonderful Hall of Honor celebrating the winners of the Medal of Honor winners. During the Indian Wars of the 1870s a number of men won the award here in West Texas, including civilians! During Airsho, the Sibley Nature Center will have a table in the main hangar, where you can stop by and learn more. You can also win a framed giclee print of one of two participants in the Indian  Wars in West Texas -- Colonel Ranald Mackenzie or Quanah Parker.

 To win one of the prints, we ask you to fill out a slip of paper and put down your name, phone number, and email address. The Monday after Airsho we will draw two of the names and notify the winners. We will have 500 brochures that briefly discusses the Indian Wars Medal of Honor winners to give away to folks that signup to win one of the prints. We hope you will share the brochure with your child's teacher at school.

The prints were painted by Michael Nickell, the Sibley Nature Center's museum specialist.  As a visitor approaches the entrance to the Sibley building under a covered walkway, the visitor walks between twelve paintings by Nickell. These paintings celebrate "the Icons of the Llano Estacado." Through the wonders of modern technology, the paintings were transferred and embedded in fiberglass, then mounted in metal frames. If you have not visited Sibley recently, you should!  For those that have been there, can you name the twelve icons?

We applaud the Commemorative Air Force Museum's mission of preserving history.  We are excited about the project beginning in the near future, where students will visit local ranches to investigate some of the World War II bombing ranges on local ranches. The targets, often the outlines of ships, tanks, and other military targets, were traced on the prairie with packed caliche. The targets were bombed with canisters full of sand that would upon impact create a visible dust cloud, so that the strike could be recorded by a camera. The students will be looking for artifacts for a new display for the museum.  Sibley staff plans on joining the students to record any lasting ecological changes.

West Texas had at least eleven war time air bases to train the pilots of World War II. At least 23 bombing ranges were constructed. During the war, West Texas was an incredible center for pilot training. For two brief years Pyote was the largest town between Fort Worth and El Paso! If you have not discovered the recently published book on the war time activity at Pyote, be sure to stop by the CAF store and buy a copy. It should be read and discussed by every high school student in the region!

The Medal of Honor winners from the Indian Wars should also be discussed in every 7th grade Texas History class in West Texas, too. Every student should know the story of Billy Dixon, and the stories of the black Seminole scouts, for example.  Learning history can stimulate the imagination. Students should hear or read the stories of sacrifice, bravery, and endurance.  Students then should write a story that portrays themselves as being one of the participants of the historical event. 

Can you imagine being one of three men that turned and rode into heavy gunfire to rescue another man? As you ride, your horse plunges through thick mesquite, catclaw, and yucca shredding your arms, the enemy is yelling, and dust is swirling as your horse's hooves rapidly drum. When you reach the  unhorsed man, you find superhuman strength within you and lift him onto your horse behind your saddle.  Do you know the name and story of the man rescued? He was called the "Whirlwind" by the Indians!

Can you imagine being trapped in a small playa with a handful of other men, while hundreds of Indians circled and charged?  History is exciting! Humans can endure incredible situations, and if a person knows the stories of past heroes, they might be inspired to try a little harder, believe in themselves a little more, knowing that others before them have succeeded. Learning history that occurred in our home region helps a person connect to the story, for we know the heat, the thorns, the dust, and the incessant wind from our own experience. 

Hope to see you at Airsho!

****Come to the Tuesday Farmer's Market at the Sibley Nature Center -- 4-6 p.m. Tuesdays