Dixie Broadcasting Interview

I’m excited about my interview tonight at 9:00 CST with Dixie Broadcasting. Just last week, DixieBroadcasting reached another milestone in their history, with a total of 750,000 listeners since the station began on 1 June 2002. The Station’s ratings continue to soar, and they are now ranked at #41 out of 10,000+ Internet broadcasts by the largest rating service of Internet Radio stations in the world. Impressive! Here is their link:

FORT WORTH: Here are some more notes and photos from my weekend in the Stockyards at Fort Worth for the 8th Annual Frontier Forts Days, where we were (according to the brochure) able to “march back in time with the proud legends of Texas history and relive the sights and sounds of early frontier life and Indian heritage. Spectators were able to see camp life; displays of artifacts; parades; military drills; frontier baseball; mounted shooting competition; artillery and infantry firing demonstrations, Native American dance, costumes and stories; and so much more.

Here are two reenactors from the Spanish-American War, 1898, a war probably caused by propaganda and yellow journalism, yet from which we gained ownership of the former Spanish colonies of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. These soldiers patiently discussed their uniforms and weapons and the life of a soldier during that war. I was most fascinated by their rifles, the five-round, bolt action 1896 Krag-Jorgensen, known as a .30-40. They claimed it was one of the best rifles ever made.

Here is the Frontier Brigade Band. They have a really cool website:

Here is a short description of them I lifted from their site:

The Frontier Brigade Band, also performing as The 1859 Marine Band, celebrates the Mid-Nineteenth Century American Brass Band Movement by dressing in uniforms of the period, and playing the authentic surviving musical arrangements of the time. Founded in 2000, the non-profit organization is comprised of over 20 musicians from the Fort Worth, Texas area.

Here are two fiddle players, Ashley and Aaron.  They are with the Cowtown Opry. You can read about all the performers in this group here:

Here is Jay Heflin and Celtic Crossroads. A first class Celtic group with an impressive repertoire.  Here is their site:

With me are Michael and Sarah. They both work with Old Fort Parker. That website is here: Sarah tells the story of Cynthia Parker. I lifted a brief version of that story from the website:

On May 19, 1836, Comanche Indians attacked the fort; 5 were killed, 5 were captured, and the 21 survivors made their way to where Palestine is today. The most famous of the captives was Cynthia Ann Parker. She adapted to Indian ways and later married Chief Peta Nocona. Quanah Parker, the last great Comanche chief, who was involved in the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon, was the most famous of their three children.

I had known the Cynthia Parker story all my life. A brief historical insight: After smallpox decimated the Comanches, they made a determined effort to rebuild their tribal numbers by white and Mexican captives.  So many captives were taken that some estimate that only 10% were of “pure” Comanche blood by the end of the 19th century. Cynthia’s story is a heart-breaking one. Stolen from her people twice.  You can read a good article about here: