Road Trip Through History: The Planning Stages
My Own True Love and I are in the early planning stages of an adventure. This fall we're going to drive along the Mississippi from Minnesota to Louisiana on the Great River Road. * Three weeks of roots music, regional food, and historical sites. (Not to mention blog posts.)
It's an open question whether we'll make it all the way down river to the the Gulf. We have some old friends on the road that it will be tempting to stop at again: the Fort Crawford Museum at Prairie du Chien in Wisconsin, Cahokia Mounds outside of St. Louis, the River Music museum in Dubuque… There are places we've wanted to see for a long time: the Ornamental Metal Museum** in Memphis and the WWII Museum in New Orleans to name two. And we are big believers in driving with serendipity. It's possible that we'll never make it out of Minnesota.
We obviously have some tough choices to make. I'm hoping to get a little help from the folks who visit the Margins. What are your must-see historical sites along the Mississippi--famous and obscure alike? Which widely heralded sites are duds, or closed for construction? What little town has a great restaurant, bakery, farmer's market, or music venue? Traveling history nerds want to know.
*Which isn't actually a single road but a conglomeration of local and state roads. Sort of like the Silk Road.
** So many ways to be nerdy, so little time.
Road Trip Through History: The Alamo
The first thing that struck me about the Alamo when I visited it with My Own True Love back in October* was how small it is.** It casts a historical shadow disproportionate to its size.
The Alamo is billed as "the shrine of Texas liberty". Consequently, I expected a monument to the famous last stand of a small band of Texan soldiers*** against Santa Anna and the Mexican Army in 1836. I wasn't disappointed. There was definitely a monument in the best heroic tradition.
But the modern historical site is more than the shrine it claims to be. The exhibits at the site definitely tell the story of the besieged garrison--and tell it well. More interesting, at least to me, they also place the event firmly in the larger historical context of the region.
Here are some of the details that caught my attention:
- The Alamo was originally built as the church for the mission of San Antonio de Valero in 1718--part of a string of missions built by the Spanish to strengthen their claim to the region in the face of French incursions. (It's no accident that San Antonio and New Orleans were founded the same year.)
- The mission was supplied with water using technology that was a direct descendent of Arab technologies for making the best use of scarce desert resources--brought to Spain by the Muslims in the 10th century CE. (We divide history up into academic fields for reasons of convenience, but it really is all connected.)
- Alamo is the Spanish word for cottonwood. (I'm not the only one who wants to know this kind of thing, right?)
- The story of how the Alamo was saved as an historical monument was interesting in its own right. Adina de Zavel, granddaughter of the first vice-president of the Republic of Texas, was dedicated to the preservation of Texas historic structures. In 1908, "Miss Adina" barricaded herself in the structure for three days and nights to prevent it being razed--a heroic stand on a smaller scale.
The Alamo is a "must-see" if you're in San Antonio. If you're in the area, up for a drive and a hard-core history buff, I recommend that you also visit Fort Martin Scott outside of Fredericksburg, which served as a frontier army post for the United States Army from 1848 to 1853. The buildings were closed when we were there, but the site is designed for self-guided tours.
* What can I say? It's been a busy time here in the Margins. I finally put a sticky on my computer that said "Remember the Alamo". Which made me laugh for several weeks even if it didn't get this post written any faster.
** And it doesn't have a basement. (See Pee-wee's Big Adventure. Or ask Amy Sue Nathan to explain. )
*** Loosely defined
The Crusades From Another Perspective
Recently I've been reading Sharan Newman's Defending The City of God: A Medieval Queen, The First Crusade And The Quest for Peace In Jerusalem. It was a perfect read for March, which was Women's History Month.*
Newman tells the story of a historical figure who was completely new to me. Melisende (1105-1161) was the first hereditary ruler of the Latin State of Jerusalem, one of four small kingdoms founded by members of the First Crusade. Her story is a fascinating one. The daughter of a Frankish Crusader and an Armenian princess, Melisende ruled her kingdom for twenty years despite attempts by first her husband and then her son to shove her aside. Even after her son finally gained the upper hand, Melisende continued to play a critical role in the government of Jerusalem. Those few historians who mention Melisende at all tend to describe her as usurping her son's throne.** Newman makes a compelling argument for Melisende as both a legitimate and a powerful ruler. (In all fairness, this is the kind of argument I am predisposed to believe.)
Fascinating as Melisende's story is, Newman really caught my attention with this paragraph:
Most Crusade histories tell of the battle between Muslims and Christians, the conquest of Jerusalem and its eventual loss. The wives of these men are mentioned primarily as chess pieces. The children born to them tend to be regarded as identical to their fathers, with the same outlook and desires. Yet many of the women and most of the children were not Westerners. They had been born in the East. The Crusaders states of Jerusalem, Edessa, Tripoli, and Antioch were the only homes they knew.
Talk about a smack up the side of the historical head!
If you're interested in medieval history in general, the Crusades in particular, or women rulers, Defending the City of God is worth your time.
* It was also nice to spend some time in a warm dry place, if only in my imagination. Here in Chicago, March came in like a lion and went out like a cold, wet, cranky lion.
** To put this in historical context. Melisende's English contemporary, the Empress Matilda (1102-1167) was the legitimate heir to Henry I. After Henry's death, her cousin Stephen of Blois had himself crowned king and plunged England into a nine-year civil war to keep her off the throne. Apparently twelfth century Europeans had a problem with the idea of women rulers.