Columns

His Daughter, Tootsie

Think quickly and tell me your favorite candy! Whether it’s Milky Way or Baby Ruth or M&M’s I’ll bet any of you have had or may like a Tootsie Roll or its spinoff, a Tootsie Roll Pop. Along with Atomic Firebombs they are my favorite. As a matter of fact. I have several in my desk drawer right now - Chocolate or Cherry, please!

It is hoped that readers of this column have a wide range of historical interest. Today’s article deals with the Yellow Fever epidemic in the early 1900’s which is often compared to the Bubonic Plague which was so deathly in Medieval Europe.

Yellow Fever was introduced into the United States in the 1790’s along the eastern seaboard in ports such as Philadelphia and New York by sailors from ships that had come through the port in Haiti. Philadelphia was especially hard hit with the loss of life to almost one fourth of its population. Some historians contribute Yellow Fever to causing Philadelphia to fall behind in growth and never realizing its potential as the city that it should have been.

One of the m o s t important non-federal projects in the United State is in our own backyard and is known as the Toledo Bend Reservoir. Historically the Rio de Sabinas (Sabine River) separated Spanish Texas from French Louisiana. Since rivers were early boundaries between countries it was natural for this river that runs north and south down to the Gulf of Mexico serve as the separation line.

In 1795 Crow’s Ferry was established at a narrow point on the Sabine where present day Hwy 6 crosses the river. James Gaines operated the ferry for 24 years when approximately 55,000 people migrated into Spanish Texas. After the Battle of the Alamo many left Texas by way of the ferry but after the victory at San Jacinto they returned by the same route.

A time-honored tradition to initiate a new member to the group having been “refined” by the oilfield workers. Prank is defined as “a practical joke usually in good humor and meant to be taken with a grin and shrug”. Far different from the sinister Haze which is “an initiation that can be strenuous, humiliating, or dangerous” made notorious by college fraternities and the military service academies.

Well, let me explain how this fits in. Last Sunday a bunch of my new church friends decided on eating at a place different from the local Mexican restaurant in town. This new place, called “The Log Cabin”, was 21 miles north on Hwy. 371 in Ringgold, La. It featured a big buffet with good country cooking and sounded . just . Great!

Those of you that have read this column through the years know my first love in history is for DeSoto Parish but other things are also interesting. History can take many forms and today’s article relates to the January 1946 Roosevelt Dime. Before 1946 the dime carried the image of a female figure wearing a winged cap representing Lady Liberty and mistakenly called a Mercury Dime.

Take A Break!

The Rock band R.E.M. had a song with this refrain, “Take a break Driver 8, you’ve been on this trip too long.” One or my favorites by them with a great melody, great guitar work, poetic but is very enigmatic Some critics say that the train Driver 8 is on symbolizes hopes and dreams while others say the verses are only stream of consciousness or imagery passing by as the trains moves. No one agrees on what the song really means but I still find some of the lyrics so appropriate at times.

I have gotten numerous phone calls lately about Lawn Burweed aka “stickers” and how to control them. We are too late in the game now for pre-emergent herbicide options because these pesky weeds are already germinating. The good news is that there are numerous post-emergent herbicides out there that will control burweed. Look for products at your local garden center that contain the following active ingredients: Atrazine; Metsulfuron; 2,4- D/dicamba/mecoprop. Some of the brand names of these products include Weed B Gon, Weed Free Zone, Trimec, and other three-way herbicides. Please note that products containing atrazine may cause damage to Bermudagrass that is out of dormancy. It is however safe to use on St. Augustine and Centipede lawns. Always read and follow the labeled directions because in the end, the label is the law.

Most of the historical buffs in our area are very familiar with the April 8, 1864 Battle of Mansfield when the much larger Union Army under Gen. Nathaniel Banks was soundly defeated by the Confederate Army of Louisiana’s Gen. Richard Taylor. Equally as well know is the Battle of Pleasant Hill, which was the second battle that also occurred in DeSoto Parish. Both battles were part of the Union Army’s Red River Campaign to capture Shreveport (then capital of La.) with the intent to further invade Texas.

Little known is that a third battle took place in DeSoto at Blair’s Landing which was the portion of the Blair Plantation in Natchitoches Parish that fronted Bayou Pierre. This was one of the largest boat landings along the Bayou since it served not only the large plantations on the east side of the Bayou but also the communities of Pleasant Hill and Pelican and the area around southern DeSoto Parish.

For just $200, you can get a nonstop round-trip ticket from Shreveport to Denver with United Airlines.

My husband Marshall and I recently took advantage of this deal to celebrate our 21st anniversary.

We arrived in Denver around lunch time, so we rented a car and drove to Larimer Square in downtown Denver. We grabbed a bite at Illegal Burger, which did not disappoint. After that, we checked out 16th Street Mall and the humongous REI Denver Flagship Store.

While in downtown Denver, it began to snow the biggest flakes I’ve ever seen, followed by five inches of snow overnight.

We stayed at the Gaylord Rockies, just minutes from the Denver airport. There aren’t words to describe the breathtaking view of the Rockies — from Pikes Peak to Longs Peak — from the 75-feet-tall atrium window in the Grand Lodge of the Gaylord Rockies.

Last week at our Lions Club meeting we had to improvise a little. In Lions we have a “Tail Twister” official who makes sure everyone’s wearing their pin and fines those without. He also does a game or two after lunch to raise a little money for our Lion Projects like the Crippled Children’s Camp in Leesville, the Eye Foundation, and others. The Mansfield Tail Twister is Robert Powell and he does a great job of coming up with several trivia questions that have multiple choice answers. If you answer all correctly you don’t have to pay, but if you miss just one you have to lose that quarter. We decided to give Robert a break so his Dad, Raymond Powell, and I tried to find some trivia. Man, that’s some hard stuff when you’re actually looking for trivia!