Out and About with Carla Killough McClafferty

Out and About

I’ve been “out and about” lately.  How wonderful it is to get out of the office and into the fresh air.  A change in routine can sometimes get the creative juices flowing again.   

Are there places near you that you’ve been intending to visit?  I mean for years and years you’ve intended to visit?  I have several places like that in my mind.   One of them for me is Washington, Arkansas (Historic Washington State Park).  About a week ago I finally went there to attend the Jonquil Festival.  OK in full disclosure, I didn’t plan the trip.  My sister and her husband were going and invited me to join them.  And as an added bonus, my other sister went too. 

Washington is a wonderful little place about and hour and a half from where I live that is full of history relating to Arkansas in the 19^th century.  Have you ever hear of the Bowie Knife?  It was made famous by Jim Bowie-one of those who met their maker at the Alamo.  James Black, the blacksmith, forged his original Bowie Knife in Washington, Arkansas.   

 

Plaque on James Black's Blacksmith Shop where the first Bowie Knife was  forged.

Washington was also a place where many Native Americans walked through on the Trail of Tears as they made the journey to Oklahoma. 

Years later during the Civil War, Washington became Arkansas’s confederate capital after Little Rock was occupied by the Union Army.   

So much history has happened in such a tiny place.  It makes me think about all the powerful stories I could write about.   Yes, getting away from my keyboard is a good thing.   

The old courthouse in Washington, Arkansas

A massive magnolia tree planted just three years after Arkansas became a state.

Carla Killough McClafferty

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THE SECRET OF STORY by Matt Bird.