Day 6 – Clarksville - October 10, 2018

 

    Yesterday was a trip to Fort Defiance in Clarksville. These Confederate forts are very interesting. They are basically just mounds of dirt that the soldiers hid behind. Clarksville, TN was Confederate at the beginning of the Civil War, then occupied by the North where every citizen had to pledge allegiance to the North. This basically meant cause no problems and you will be okay. Then the South took over and then back to the North.

   Our river historians are so talented and so knowledgeable. They explain history much like I did teaching school. They tell it in story form and involve the audience. I guess because I have never lived next to a major river, I have missed a lot of our American history. Here are just two common terms and how they came about:

    The term "stateroom" is derived from the habit of naming each room on a boat after a state rather than assigning a number to it.

    The term “highfalutin” is derived from when the well-to-do passengers travelled by steamboat. They chose steamboats with high fluted smoke stacks on the boats. After all fires on steamboats were very common as burning embers would float out of the funnels and if they landed on deck could easily start a fire. The fancy flutes on top of the stack were designed to break up the embers. The fancier the flute the more they stopped the embers from flying out.  

    What a fun way to learn.

     The photo of the piano tells an interesting story. A prominent Clarksville business man had several teams of mules which were extremely valuable. This business man had the slaves hide his mules and hid himself. He did not tell his wife and children where the mules were hidden in hopes, if they did not know the hiding place, they would be safe. However, the soldiers burst into the home. When they realized she did not know they spread straw all over the home’s floors, poured kerosene over the straw and lit a match. The women and her children barely escaped. The slaves soaked blankets and covered the piano with the blankets. They too barely escaped. After the fire; wife, children, slaves, and this piano were saved. Unfortunately, the mules were found, and the husband killed.

 

“Seek and you will find. Don’t be willing to accept an ordinary life.” – Salle Merrill Redfield

“Take the last train to Clarksville” – The Monkeys

More to Follow

Tom and Holly