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TEXAS IN CONFLICT:
From the Indian Wars to WWII
October 20–27, 2012
Historian Guide: Mike Koury
Texas is many things. Renowned for a colorful past and a cultural uniqueness of almost mythical proportions, its character is complex. Having won independence from Mexico, it is the only state that was a republic before joining the Union. With its immense land area, diverse environment and influences, and larger-than-life legends, it is like a whole other country. From piney woods and rivers of east Texas to the magnificent Hill Country, this is a place of imagination and history set against a backdrop of conflict and conquest.
The history of Texas in conflict is more than just campaigns of army versus Indian and North versus South. It is about people of varied ethnicity and gender. Its cast of players includes thousands of soldiers and their dependents who called isolated outposts home. This new and thought-provoking tour takes you to forts and battle sites in the deserted Texas countryside. Unfrequented and almost unknown, they are silent sentinels of a by-gone era. African Americans, European immigrants, and Anglo Americans came to this remote area to guard the mail routes and wagon roads and protect the settlers moving west. Much of the landscape still resembles what the pioneers found, and a frontier atmosphere remains.
Texas in Conflict spans the time from Spanish arrivals through World War II. The wide range of museums you visit will illuminate the events that shaped Texas history; and Mike Koury, author and publisher of many books on the American West, will bring that history to life.
Cost: $2,575 Single Occupancy, $2,175 Double Occupancy
Click to request a 2012 printed Travel Guide.
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ITINERARY
Saturday, October 20
Gather in Fort Worth for a welcome briefing and dinner hosted by Mike Koury and HistoryAmerica TOURS.
Sunday, October 21
Hear about the Battle of the Neches this morning, which ended Cherokees'attempt under Chief Bowles to settle in Texas. Visit the site of Camp Ford, largest Civil War prison camp west of the Mississippi. After lunch we head to Nacogdoches, one of Texas' early settlements and the site of the Old Stone Fort. Overnight in Nacogdoches.
Monday, October 22
Start the day at Fort Parker, built in 1834, then overrun by some 500 to 700 Caddo and Comanche Indians. Here, Cynthia Ann Parker was captured at age 9 and lived with the Comanche for 25 years. She was mother of Quanah Parker, noted Comanche war chief. Our study this afternoon is of the Texas Rangers, arguably the most famous law enforcement agency in the world. Overnight in College Station.
Tuesday, October 23
This morning finds us in Washington on the Brazos, revered as the birthplace of the Republic of Texas. We then head to Austin and the Bob Bullock History Museum, an outstanding facility presenting the big picture of this enormous state. Last stop today is the restored Blind Asylum building that served as George Armstrong Custer's Texas headquarters. Overnight in Austin.
Wednesday, October 24
Our focus this morning is the Battle of Plum Creek, one of the largest Indian battles ever fought in Texas. See seldom-visited Fort Martin Scott, the first in a series of forts established in the Texas backcountry. Exhibits we see this afternoon at the National Museum of the Pacific War feature some of the bloodiest battles fought by Americans, and tell the story of Chester W. Nimitz, commander of the Allied military forces of the Central Pacific. Overnight in Fredericksburg, Nimitz's home town and jewel of the Texas Hill Country.
Thursday, October 25
Our first stop today will be the ruins of the 1757 Presidio San Saba, a lone bastion of Spanish authority on an otherwise unoccupied frontier. This afternoon we tour Fort Concho, regimental headquarters for the 4th & 10th Cavalry, and visit Fort Chadbourne, a stop on the Butterfield Stage line. Overnight in Abilene.
Friday, October 26
The day begins at Frontier Texas, a state-of-the-art museum presenting the dramatic story of the Old West like you've never seen it before. The last stop on our tour will be the Texas Civil War Museum, showcasing soldier life, military tactics, frugality, and survival by both sides during the war. We return to Fort Worth for our farewell dinner.
Saturday, October 27
Depart at your leisure following breakfast.
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