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Published: August 19th 2013
The RV Park Is One, Big FLAT Field
Farr Park Equestrian Center and RV Campground - Baton Rouge LAWednesday, July 24, 2013 found me heading to an IHOP in Houma LA to have a “see you soon” breakfast with several friends. I had selected the IHOP because of its proximity to a Home Depot and the accompanying large parking lot that would accommodate my truck with the Pilgrim in tow. Today was a great day for a late start because my next destination was Baton Rouge LA – a mere 85 mile drive. After having stayed at half a dozen RV parks in Chapter 2013 of “The Great Adventure,” I am getting back into the routine of campsite set-up and teardown. It’s amazing how rusty the mind can get after seven months of dormancy.
After breakfast, I set out for Baton Rouge. The trip to the Farr Park RV Campground was uneventful. Actually, the name of the facility is the Farr Park Equestrian Center and RV Campground. It’s a municipal park that offers English and Western riding lessons, a therapeutic riding program, guided trail rides and other equine-related services. The campground has 108 sites with water and electric hookups, a dump station and restroom facilities. The sites are spacious and level but most are not shaded (which was
The View From The Pilgrim With My Morning Coffee
Farr Park Equestrian Center and RV Campground - Baton Rouge LA fine for my satellite dish). Setting up the Pilgrim was uneventful.
Thursday produced a marginal weather day, so I took care of some domestic chores. Friday, July 27, 2013 found me heading downtown to the visitor center. The facility was difficult to find but the parking was impossible. I decided to skip the visitor center because I had an abundance of information that would keep me busy for the entire week. Finding a parking spot away from the downtown area generally is not a problem, but the meters have a two-hour time limit. Indeed, I had to return to the feed the meter more than once during the week.
Louisiana has a system of museums scattered around the state instead of concentrating all aspects of the state’s culture and history in one facility. The Louisiana State Museum - Capitol Park is in Baton Rouge and is the Grand Poobah of the state museum system. Appropriately, the visitor is greeted with a gigantic multimedia presentation about the Mississippi River. Just past the multimedia presentation, numerous displays examine the nature of the river and how its course has changed over time. One learns the river carries over 400 million cubic
Food For The Mississippi
Louisiana State Museum - Capitol Park - Baton Rouge LA yards of sediment into the Gulf of Mexico each year, that the sediment deposited on its banks by flood waters averages 132 feet in depth and that nitrogen and phosphorous washed downstream from Midwestern farms creates a large dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Mississippi River is the greatest inland trading route in North America. Commerce on the river is highlighted from the days of the Native Americans to the conflicts between the English, the French and the Spanish that ensued over control of the river. The impact of the Louisiana Purchace on the rise of the great river port cities is discussed as well as the evolution of "The Golden Age of River Travel." One learns that Robert Fulton acquired a monopoly for steam navigation in the Louisiana waters of the Mississippi River and that the poor design of his steamboats stifled the progress of steam powered transportation on the river. (The granting of that monopoly was challenged in court and eventually overturned as a restraint of trade.)
The efforts of man to control the river and the repercussions of those efforts are discussed along with the methods used to cross the river, the use
A Sidewheel "Steamer"
Louisiana State Museum - Capitol Park - Baton Rouge LA of steamboats and barges on the river and the construction of the levy system and navigation channels. The list of topics is seemingly endless but most are very interesting.
The next section of the museum focuses on two of Louisiana’s native sons. Louis Armstrong, born July 4, 1900, grew up in the tough, ethnically mixed New Orleans neighborhood known as The Battlefield. One of the many jobs Louis had as a child was working for a neighborhood family who owned a junk story. They lent him the money to buy his first horn. His friendship with the family endured for the rest of his life.
Edward "Kid" Ory offered Louis the opportunity to become Joe "King" Oliver’s replacement when Oliver left New Orleans for Chicago in 1919. Louis also began playing in jazz funerals for the Tuxedo Brass Band and became well known for his hot playing style. A job playing on a Mississippi River excursion boat took Louis on his first job outside New Orleans in 1918, and in 1922 "King" Oliver invited him to join his Creole Jazz Band in Chicago. Satchmo had arrived!
Louis left the United States for the first time in 1932
One Of Satchmo’s Horns
Louisiana State Museum - Capitol Park - Baton Rouge LA to visit Europe and eventually was designated a cultural ambassador by the U.S. State Department. In that capacity, he traveled to developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America as well as to Communist countries in Eastern Europe. Armstrong died in his sleep of a heart attack on July 6, 1971.
Huey Pierce Long was born on August 30, 1893 in Winn Parish LA and grew up in a prosperous family who espoused a populist politic. That movement by farmers and workers called for better living conditions, tax reform, more economic opportunity and a stronger voice in the politics of the day. Long left high school just before graduation and studied law as a noncredit student in 1914-15. He then requested a special oral examination to test his knowledge. After successfully answering questions from a panel of senior lawyers, he was admitted to the bar by the Louisiana Supreme Court. He then relocated to Shreveport where he established his law office.
Long's first elective office came in 1918 to the Louisiana Railroad Commission (later the Public Service Commission) where he fought to defend citizens from the power of large corporations - particularly Standard Oil Company. From 1918 to
Simple Per Huey's Request
Louisiana State Museum - Capitol Park - Baton Rouge LA 1928, when he was elected governor, he continued to polish his reputation as a voice for the common man and to expand his base of supporters. In 1932, Long was elected to the United States Senate where he served until his death in 1935.
In his four years as governor, Long redefined political patronage and practiced gerrymandering so brazenly that it ultimately resulted in his own demise. Although he never battled segregation or supported equal rights, Long never used race as a divisive issue and, indeed, had the support of many blacks because of his efforts to improve public schools, to issue free textbooks and to improve health care for the poor and the elderly. Transforming Louisiana State University into a modern and well-respected institution was a special project of Long's. Salaries were increased, top-notch professors were recruited and a School of Medicine was launched.
On September 8, 1935, Long was shot one time in the abdomen from four feet away by Dr. Carl Austin Weiss, a respected Baton Rouge surgeon. Long's bodyguards returned fire, hitting Weiss 62 times and killing him. Long was rushed to the hospital but died two days later. I’ll have more about the
New Orleans Battle Flag
Louisiana State Museum - Capitol Park - Baton Rouge LA Long assassination at the end of the blog. Nearly 100,000 people waited in line to honor Long as he lay in state in Baton Rouge. His initial headstone was small and simple per his request but was later replaced with a twelve-foot monument and statue.
Other sections of the museum highlight how various wars impacted Louisiana from the War of 1812 to World War II. I had no idea that the landing craft used in the D-Day invasion was invented and built by Higgins Industries in New Orleans. Likewise, during World War II, that because many agricultural workers enlisted in the military services and because many of those who did not left the fields for higher paying factory jobs in the city, the War Department offered the use of POWs to rural employers to fill vacant positions in the fields.
Another "landscape changing" event that affected Louisiana found its roots in the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804). The successful slave revolt on that Caribbean island quashed Napoleon's aspirations of forming a French empire in the Americas. Absent that ambition, Napoleon decided to sell Louisiana to the United States to acquire funds to wage war against Britain. This notion coincided with
The Separate But Equal Doctrine Ruled Unconstitutional
Louisiana State Museum - Capitol Park - Baton Rouge LA Thomas Jefferson's dream of western expansion and resulted in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Of course, the Lewis and Clark Expedition is surveyed as well.
Britain began commandeering US ships and, indeed, enslaving captured US citizens for seaman duties. When Britain refused to cease and desist, the US declared war. The final major battle of the War of 1812, the Battle of New Orleans, took place on January 8, 1815. The Treaty of Ghent was signed on December 24, 1814 and was ratified by both sides by mid-February 1815; however, hostilities continued until late February when official dispatches announcing the peace reached the combatants in Louisiana. The Battle of New Orleans is considered the greatest American land victory of the war.
The topics of slavery and civil rights are given significant coverage. The 1953 bus boycott in Baton Rouge was an inspiration for the more famous Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 and 1956. The reversal of the 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson case by the US Supreme Court in 1954 is covered in some detail. Segregation on steamboats and desegregation on streetcars are addressed, and the role of books like "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is discussed. The production of sugar,
cotton, rice and other minor crops occupies one section of the museum and mineral resources and oil and gas production occupies another. I’m sure that I missed some topics, but there is something for everyone. Highly recommended.
Just down the street about 5-6 blocks, I found the Louisiana State Capitol Building. I took some exterior photos, including a couple of photos of the new headstone given to Huey Long, and attempted to visit the interior; however, my pocket knife was not permitted so I decided to forego the attraction – at least for the day. By now it was in the low 90s so I decided to return to the Pilgrim.
Friday, July 26 was forecast to be another warm, but beautiful day. I set out for the Old State Capitol Museum in the downtown area. Again, unoccupied parking spaces were at a premium but eventually I had success. Technically, the attraction is called Louisiana's Old State Capitol Museum of Political History. Some locals call it the Louisiana Castle, the Castle of Baton Rouge or the Castle on the River. Indeed, the structure looks like a castle and led Mark Twain to loath the sight of it, "It
is pathetic ... that a whitewashed castle, with turrets and things ... should ever have been built in this otherwise honorable place." Regardless of one’s sentiments about the building, it housed the Louisiana State Legislature from the mid-19th century until the current capitol tower was completed in 1932 under the reign of the infamous Huey Long.
In 1840, New Orleans' population was around 102,000, fourth largest in the U.S. The 1840 population of Baton Rouge, on the other hand, was only 2,269. As in many states, representatives from other parts of Louisiana were skeptical of a concentration of power in the state's largest city. On September 21, 1847, the City of Baton Rouge donated a $20,000 parcel of land to the State of Louisiana for a state capitol building. The land donated by the city for the capitol stands high atop a bluff facing the Mississippi River, a site that some believe was once marked by the red pole, or "le baton rouge," which French explorers claimed designated a Native American council meeting site. Baton Rouge just plain bought the seat of state government from New Orleans.
In 1862, during the Civil War, Union troops used the "old
Quite A Rotunda Dome
Louisiana's Old State Capitol Museum - Baton Rouge LA gray castle," as it was once described, as a prison and then as a garrison for African-American troops. While being used as a garrison the Old State Capitol caught fire twice, transformed the building into an empty, gutted shell and was abandoned by the Union troops. By 1882 the state house was totally reconstructed with the addition of two interior focal points - the spiral staircase and stained glass dome.
After it was abandoned for the new capitol in 1932, it has been used to house veteran's organizations and the Works Progress Administration. Again restored in the 1990s, the Old State Capitol now also serves as the Museum of Political History. The gun that Dr. Carl Austin Weiss used to kill Huey Long is on display. The political component of the attraction probably would be more interesting to Louisianans but the architecture should be interesting to all. Highly recommended.
A Huey Long story related by one of my docents says that at the time the new Capitol was being planned, the Nebraska State Capitol was under construction and was to be 400 feet tall. Huey Long insisted that his capitol be unsurpassed. The Louisiana State Capitol has 34
Huey Got A White House!
Old Governor's Mansion - Baton Rouge LA
stories, is 450 feet tall and remains the tallest capitol in the United States. Huey had to be the top dog!
I still had an hour left on the meter and walked about three blocks to the Old Governor's Mansion to determine the length of the tour. Noting that I needed to return to my truck to feed the meter, the attendant gave me a “Do Not Ticket, Do Not Tow” placard and told me to move my truck to the block directly in front of the mansion. I followed her advice. The meters are only $.50 per hour – it’s finding a space and having to return every two hours to feed the kitty that makes Baton Rouge parking inconvenient.
The Old Governor's Mansion is the second executive mansion to occupy this site. The first was a rather large, though modest, frame structure that served as the official residence of Louisiana Governors from 1887 until 1929. At the beginning of Huey Long's governorship, Long claimed the mansion was termite-infested and requested monies from the legislature for the construction of a new structure. When the docent told me that request was denied, I smiled and said, “The old
Sunshine's Saddle
Old Governor's Mansion - Baton Rouge LA one mysteriously burned.” No, actually Long merely had the old structure demolished by state workers. Money for a new one was appropriated. Love him or hate him, you have to admire his grit.
The Mansion is four stories high and is modeled after the White House in Washington DC supposedly because Governor Long wanted to become comfortable with the floor plan of DC's White House. Ego gumbo anyone? Both have similar entrance rooms, East Rooms and State Dining Rooms on the first floor. Both have Oval rooms on the second floor as well as East Wing guest bedrooms. Just inside the front doors is a vestibule with coatrooms. There is a stairway with a curving marble staircase and a fancy wrought iron banister. The building cost almost $150,000 to complete and was furnished with the finest velvet drapes, crystal chandeliers, hand-printed French wallpaper, and other expensive appointments for an additional cost of $22,000 – quite a sum for depression-era Louisiana. In 1963, a new Mansion was constructed just east of the towering State Capitol building, and in 1978, the Old Mansion reopened as an historic house museum.
Many of the rooms are appointed as they would have been
Thanks, Rudy
Louisiana Memorial Plaza - Baton Rouge LA in the day. Each of the governors who resided in the mansion is showcased in one of the mansion bedrooms. Of course, Huey Long has the honor of occupying the governor’s office! The only former governor I made any connection with at all was Jimmie Davis. I knew of him as the composer of the song, “You Are My Sunshine” among others. I learned that he also had twice been the governor of Louisiana. Who wouldda thunk it?
This attraction is interesting architecturally, the docent was knowledgeable and pleasant and the gubernatorial highlights would be interesting to a Louisianan; however, the $15.00 admission fee seems exorbitant when compared to other similar attractions. I did genuinely appreciate the parking permit. After completing the tour, mine still was the only vehicle parked in the block so I left it there and walked 6-8 blocks to the Louisiana Veterans Memorial Plaza.
The Veterans Memorial Plaza is located adjacent to the USS Kidd – which I chose to exclude from my sightseeing list since I’ve seen numerous ship museums and have other more noteworthy ships to see in the future. The plaza memorializes Louisiana veterans from all US wars beginning with the
American Revolution (three men Killed in Action). Don’t ask me!!! There were no attendants on duty, and my quest on the Internet for an explanation was not fruitful. I made my way to the Vietnam War panels and found the primary objective of my visit – Billiot, Rudolph John. After a few minutes of reflection, I made my way back to my truck and returned to the Pilgrim.
The literature indicates and I had heard that the Louisiana State University (LSU) Rural Life Museum has a large collection, so I earmarked all day July 29 to the attraction. The museum has both outdoor and indoor collections. Actually, the outdoor exhibits begin even before one reaches the entrance. The attendant provided a quick but helpful overview of the museum. I opted to start with the outdoor displays to take advantage of the air conditioning in the afternoon. A nice diagram of the grounds is provided and markedly aids the visitor.
The outside displays, essentially a small community with a slave "village" nearby, are exceptional and are well-documented. Most of the house types in the museum collection I have seen elsewhere but not in a single attraction - dog-trot house,
Sugar House
LSU Rural Life Museum - Baton Rouge LA pioneer cabin, shotgun house, Acadian house, slave cabin and overseer's house. Some of the buildings are relatively common in "pioneer villages," but, again, rarely is this variety found in a single attraction. Many structures are regional - a stoker barn (a double pen barn with an open passage in the center and stalls and storage on each side of the passage), a split cypress barn, two differently styled sugarcane grinders and sugarhouses and a sickhouse in the slave village. Some features I cannot recall ever seeing in a heritage museum - a jail, a post office, a horse-powered grist mill and a commissary. Other structures include a corn crib, a potato house, a church, a cemetery, a schoolhouse, a detached kitchen with an outdoor oven, a blacksmith shop, a chicken coop, a smokehouse and numerous outhouses. This village probably is as complete a representation as I have ever seen.
My stomach was taunting me as I went inside so I spoke to the attendant about returning, drove down the street a few blocks and got a sandwich. As I was walking from my truck back to the entrance, I made a note to self, “Self, you did good by
The Aforementioned Saddles
LSU Rural Life Museum - Baton Rouge LA saving the indoor museum for the afternoon.” Here’s a sample of some of the artifacts in the collection: numerous horse-drawn carriages, farm equipment, wagons and hearses as well as wheelwright tools; cotton bales, bale scales and horse-drawn wagons for transporting the bales; a man-operated hay press and a screw press for baling Spanish moss or cotton; a spinning jenny c.1810 used for spinning thread, a loom and sewing machines; a handbill announcing the "Public Sale of Negroes;" bedside commodes, bath tubs and laundry equipment; woodworkers tools, nails and hinges; saddles, bits and branding irons; trapping and fishing equipment; logging equipment; peanut roaster push cart; wheelchairs; wooden water mains and, finally, numerous models - sailing ships, river steamboats, an operational steam locomotive and a c.1895 tractor used by salesmen of the day to demo their product.
The collection is colossal! Unfortunately, sometimes less is better. This is a GREAT museum; however, some of the artifacts are crammed together so tightly that it’s had to tell where one ends and another begins and others have no documentation. For example, half a dozen saddles were grouped together on saddle stands without documentation. I know what a side saddle is but others might
Cog Gear From The Cinclare Sugar Mill
West Baton Rouge Museum - Port Allen LA
not, and a saddle tree was on the floor without any notation whatsoever. That having been said, the LSU Rural Life Museum is a must see for those visiting Baton Rouge.
July 30, 2013, my final full day in Baton Rouge, took me across the Mississippi River to Port Allen LA and the Port Allen Railroad Depot. I had earmarked the small depot museum as one of those “oh-and-by-the-way” attractions. Since I had allotted more driving time than was necessary, I used the bonus time to take some exterior photos. Although the sign noted an opening time of 10 AM, something seemed amiss so I left for the West Baton Rouge Museum also in Port Allen.
No more than having alit from my truck, I was greeted by a massive cog gear that came from one of the five mills at the Cinclare Sugar Mill in Brusly LA - West Baton Rouge Parish's last working sugar mill. The gear would have turned some of the rollers that squeezed juice (sugar) from the sugar cane. Advancing towards the crisp, tidy museum, I learn from an historical marker that the building was the third parish courthouse from 1882-1957. After exchanging
greetings with the attendants, my hunch that the depot museum had suspended operations was confirmed, and the museum director called the appropriate person to get the signage changed.
The West Baton Rouge Museum consists of three primary areas. The first is a well-done series of 2-3 dozen placards entitled “In the Interest of Our Parish: Three Hundred Years of History in West Baton Rouge.” The permanent exhibit chronicles the changes that have impacted the area from the indigenous inhabitants to the Acadian exile to the Louisiana Purchase to industrialization to quality of life to preserving our past with lots of stops in between.
The second segment consists of a guided tour of several outbuildings that have been relocated to the museum grounds from a variety of locations. The Arbroth Mercantile Company and Plantation Store was a functioning grocery store and post office until it closed in the 1980's and houses dozens of artifacts just as it would have in its heyday. Additionally, there are half a dozen placards describing the history of the Arbroth Plantation, the introduction of steamboats and railroads, the turbulent age of World War I and the "Roaring 20's" (also known as "The Jazz Age")
and the economic hardships of the depression and the subsequent resurgence spawned by World War II. Although the names and places on these placards would make them more meaningful to locals, I still found them quite interesting.
The third, and most unique (i.e. interesting in my opinion), is a 22' hand-crafted model of a sugar mill that depicts the process of making raw sugar from sugar cane. The model was first constructed for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the Saint Louis World's Fair, in 1904. After the exhibition, the model was dismantled and stored for many years before being reassembled at the museum under the watchful eye of employees of Cinclare Sugar Mill. "From Field to Factory: Raising Cane in Louisiana" commemorated the 200th anniversary of commercial sugar production in the state.
The final grinding season at the Cinclare Sugar Mill (where the cog gear that adorned the entrance had its origins) was 2005, but all is not lost – well, sorta.
Cinclare Sugar Mill Historic District is an appendage of the National Park Service and consists of 48 buildings and structures, including the sugar mill, that date from 1855 to 1947; however, the mill and the other buildings are
Sugar Mill Model - Processing Area
West Baton Rouge Museum - Port Allen LA
privately owned and are not open to the public. I think I am having a paranormal experience – they’re there, but you cannot see them! The West Baton Rouge Museum is highly recommended.
After a stop for lunch, I just plain had to see what the
Louisiana Mud Painting Gallery was all about. I mean, I’ve heard of oils and watercolors but MUD!!! I’m about as artistic as I am musical (a color perception deficit doesn’t help) and will not try to explain the technique; however, if you are as intrigued as I, there is a narrated video demonstration (14:32) on the gallery web site that you might enjoy.
I find capital cities interesting, and Baton Rouge is no exception. I tried to get over to the LSU campus to stroll about the historic grounds, but parking was impossible IN JULY!!! Every day I was in town, the highs were in the mid-90s so my tourism hours were reduced a little from what they might have been with better weather; however, the air conditioner, either mine or theirs, was mighty inviting about 1:30 every day. If you visit, I’m sure you’ll have a good time.
Oh, yes, one more note
about Huey Long’s assassination. Long, at the time of his death a US Senator, was in the State Capitol for a special session of the Louisiana legislature to help push through a number of bills including a measure to gerrymander a politically unfriendly opponent, Judge Benjamin Pavy, out of his job. Weiss, the assassin, had attempted to speak to Long to urge his reconsideration of the gerrymandering bill, but Long had twice snubbed the judge’s son-in-law! Weiss later approached Long in a corridor and shot him. Some contend Long was the victim of a bodyguard’s stray bullet, and others say Long died as a result of medical or surgical incompetence; however, I wonder if he might have been a victim of his own political arrogance!
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