On the Frontier of East Alabama

Last week was Frontier Days at Fort Toulouse in Wetumpka.  It is one of the longest lasting events I had the privilege to attend.  This year was my first time as a full participant representing Troupes de la Marine and Fort Tombecbe.  Since most of my experience as a living historian is of me talking to groups by myself or with one other person being a part of a much larger operation offers a new learning experience for me.

The first four days we had school kids from across the state of Alabama.  Most were in third or fourth grade with a few middle and high school classes as well.  Here in Alabama students are taught state history in fourth grade which is way to early for them to remember much of anything when they get older.  In looking over the new Common Core Curriculum being adopted their needs to be tweaking to ensure people learn and remember history of their home state.  Back home in Pennsylvania I do not remember getting much of a state history lesson until undergraduate school.

Anyhow, the students were very receptive to learning about the fort and French Marines.  The unit was typically out marching, shooting or doing some type of demonstration for the roughly 3,000 visitors.  People seemed to enjoy it, but the importance of the fort was not necessarily discussed so by the second day I started to figure a way to go out and interpret the significance of a French fort in eighteenth century Alabama.

Recently I bought a modified French Haversack which was being carried from time to time to help me work out a little more while on the march.  I unrolled the bag, placed an extra set of clothes, cards, pieces of eight, bowl, cup, spoon, blanket and food.  Now completely mobile I could go set up anywhere on the park grounds, interpret French Marine life, discuss why the soldiers were here in Alabama then move on to the next stop or back to the fort for the next group event.

I engaged as many students as possible asking them about the three French forts in Alabama and the four major Native American tribes.  Most of the fourth graders were able to answer the Native American tribe question, but the French forts question caused problems for kids and adults.  Both Fort Conde down in Mobile and Fort Tombecbe in Epes had to be coaxed out of me in order them to know the other forts.  It did provide me with a good interpretive opportunity to teach Alabama history.  Discussing the forts gives me the opportunity to talk about why the French were even in Alabama to begin with something not necessarily discussed all the time.  If people learn the importance of French settlement to the development of Alabama a greater appreciation for the only three sites in the state which interpret that part of it's history.  Only time will tell as word spreads about Fort Toulouse and Tombecbe.

Searching for Fort Assumption

This past weekend I had the great opportunity to attend the First Annual Heritage Festival at Meeman-Shelby State Forest just outside of Memphis, Tennessee.  My task was to interpret a short time period in local history, a French Marine during the Chickasaw Campaign of 1739.  The campaign was a continuation of 1736 effort by Governor Jean Batiste Beinville to attack the Chickasaw village of Ackia near present day Tupelo, Mississippi.  This campaign was wrought with supply shortages, typical military "hurry up and wait" in getting artillery, mines and demolition bombs to tackle the Chickasaw fortifications.  The only bright spot for the French was a peace treaty signed ending hostilities  for the time being between the French, Choctaw and Chickasaws.

The program I developed was a variation of my Fort Tombecbe marine.  The important aspects of typical French Marine life are kept such as clothing & equipment, length of service, demographics, etc but I added in information about Fort Assumption built along in the Mississippi River in Memphis which served as the staging area for the 1200 man French army and 2000 Indians to head towards Ackia.  A few of the visitors had heard of the fort, but not much else.  Upon hearing a 3000 man army with artillery, 200 horses, 80 yoke of oxen and 80 wagons were gathered in Memphis for a few months in winter 1739 and spring of 1740 it got their immediate attention.  From there I went on discuss a reproduction piece of eight coin provided through a grant received earlier this year, playing card money, musket (as always) and food stuffs.  One item I had picked up was a small yellow squash type fruit found near work.  It's scientific name is Curcubina pepo texana and it only ripens in October.  While Memphis is a little north of its range, it provided me with an opportunity to discuss with people native foodstuffs the French could eat.  When cut open the squash looks EXACTLY like a cucumber.  However it smells sweeter, almost citrus in nature.  In having the people smell the squash or ignited black powder I am finding people enjoying the program more.  While it is rudimentary knowledge for public historians, but the incorporation of more than one sensory organ gets the visitors more involved.  Touch, smell, taste, hearing or speaking all allow participants to come to the infamous "ah ha!" moment.  I will now try to use smell in all my new program development.  It has added depth, but also it makes me do more research into 18th century life-ways.

Also while in town I went on my own adventure to find the historical marker for Fort Assumption.  After a quick google search, the marker's location was revealed to be at Tom Lee Park.  After a detour to Beale Street for lunch, we hoped on the trolley and headed off.  Soon we arrived at the proper stop and walked down the steps to Tom Lee Park.  This is what I found:

Apparently the site had not been found at the time of the marker's construction.  I doubt the site will ever be found to be honest.  When I turned around to gazed at my surroundings the rather expensive homes setting up on the bluff made me draw that conclusion.  Even though the fort was rather sizable (five bastions) if anything was dug up in the building of any structure in the past it has long been forgotten.  Over the next year I want to try and find a drawing by the Chief French Engineer in Louisiana of Fort Assumption.  Next year I hope to participate in the 2nd rendition of the Heritage Festival.