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Post by gocav76 on Oct 10, 2007 14:40:15 GMT -6
Fred, I can live with the explanation you and Brokensword have given about the walking restrictions on the battlefield. And I agree with you Fred that escorted tours would be a great option. Seems to me everyone would benefit, but I would imagine insurance would be an issue even if everyone signed a waiver form. I remember reading where a Park Ranger in Gettysburg said that it never fails but at least one tourist every year will ask the following question--"Isn't it strange that they always seemed to fight battles on National Parks during the Civil War"
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Post by fred on Oct 10, 2007 15:59:17 GMT -6
... at least one tourist every year will ask the following question--"Isn't it strange that they always seemed to fight battles on National Parks during the Civil War" Are you kidding me?!Best wishes, Fred.
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Post by gocav76 on Oct 10, 2007 16:07:05 GMT -6
Fred, I'm not kidding! I just can't remember where I read it at. Its the same with people watching a re-enactment-same questions every event--"I bet those uniforms are hot"-( sun is out and about 95 degrees!) and " do you guys use real bullets"
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Post by BrokenSword on Oct 10, 2007 16:15:08 GMT -6
gocav76-
I believe it. At Mt. Rushmore one ranger had a tourist actually say, 'Now I recognize George and Martha but who are those others again?"
GEEZ.. I need a drink!
M
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Post by harpskiddie on Oct 10, 2007 17:00:10 GMT -6
The best I ever heard was at the Grand Canyon [I'm sure that there are better ones I didn't hear], when a woman whined to her husband: "Why can't they put these things closer to the city?"
I can only guess at some of the winners who have asked stupid [not silly] questions at the Little Bighorn National Monument, like : "Did he have another Last Stand after this one?"
Maybe someone will start a thread Stupid Tourist Queries at Famous Battlefields, National Parks or Monuments. We can collect a few hundred and write a book. There has to be more than sufficient material out there. Outside North America examples more than welcome [except from the Custer Association of Great Britain, whose three members will no doubt be too busy tying one on at their Autumn meeting, which is being held at Birmingham, England 10 November 2007, at The Chestnut Tree].
Gordie, I forget the street name, but it is one of those romantic, pastoral-types...................................
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Post by BrokenSword on Oct 10, 2007 17:30:26 GMT -6
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Post by gocav76 on Oct 10, 2007 17:43:02 GMT -6
Brokensword, You can't get any better than those--They were great! My favorite: "Are the bears with collars tame?"
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Post by BrokenSword on Oct 10, 2007 17:46:37 GMT -6
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Post by fred on Oct 10, 2007 17:53:36 GMT -6
... and please remember that these people vote.
And with that, I will give you one of my favorite quotes: There is nothing the rabble fear more than intelligence. If they understood what is truly terrifying, they would fear ignorance. Wolfgang Goethe
Is Custer still dead?
Best wishes, Fred.
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Post by Treasuredude on Oct 10, 2007 18:40:45 GMT -6
Cher once stated that it must be some kind of miracle that we had four presidents that look like the faces on Mt. Rushmore.
About the CBPC -- I was with Fred on Weir Point this past summer. What a great time. We were up on both sides waving a guidon and no one said boo to us. But it is land owned by the CBPC. Part of the allure of joining CBPC was the ability to walk on that land.
I would definitely pay for an off-road tour with a ranger. I would like to view some of those areas and markers close up, instead of from the road with a pair of binoculars.
Do the Civil War battlefields see as much traffic as LBH? I don't know if they do or not. I would also be willing to bet that 99% of people bit by a snake were poking it with a stick or something, in which case they deserved it. I live in South Dakota, grew up in North Dakota, and have seen hundreds of rattlesnakes. They leave you alone if you do the same to them. I think the litter issue and vegetation damage are the main reasons for keeping people from walking all over.
Most tourists don't care. They swung in off the interstate on their way to someplace else. They should stay on the roads/trails. Ranger guided tours for the enthusiasts would seem like a good answer. Or a program where you have an advance reservation to have a ranger take you down to say, Hodgsen's marker, would also fit the bill.
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Post by Diane Merkel on Oct 10, 2007 18:51:57 GMT -6
Cher once stated that it must be some kind of miracle that we had four presidents that look like the faces on Mt. Rushmore. I think it's a miracle she knew they were presidents. With all of the surgery she's had done to her face, she's starting to look like those old boys.
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Post by ltreilly on Oct 10, 2007 19:19:25 GMT -6
The points raised about walking on the battlefield are well taken, but I would point out that the vast majority of the folks who visit the battlefield don't care enough to get off the tour road. Can you imagine some tourist hauling it up a hill and saying gleefully, "yep, Co. E had to be here!". Most people are happy to stay on the tour road. Gettysburg is a good parallel. The tourists flock along the tour roads, but once you get off those and bushwhack about, you have the place to yourself. Gettysburg has little signs around the more popular monuments telling people to stay on the trails...but they have no problem with people who are genuinely interested in the battle in walking all over the field. I think something like that would be fine at LBH. But the point about rattlers and other hazards are well taken, as well.
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Post by fred on Oct 10, 2007 19:43:42 GMT -6
I was with Fred on Weir Point this past summer. Was that you I was with?
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Post by gocav76 on Oct 10, 2007 19:55:02 GMT -6
ltreilly, Your points about the Gettysburg battlefield are right on. I was there 2 weeks ago and loved the freedom to tramp around wherever I liked. Have you ever been to the East Cavalry field-it is always deserted. I think the rattlesnake issue may be overstated.I've only came across a timber ratler once-and it was something I wouldn't wish again.But in the east we have the copperhead snake, which is more sneaky and will bite,yet various National Parks in Virginia and West Virginia don't restrict access because of them. As for destroying the vegation-just walk around Devils Den or the High Water mark at Gettysburg-hardly a blade of grass!
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Post by Melani on Oct 10, 2007 21:56:15 GMT -6
Great links, Broken Sword! At this very moment, many of those quotes are hanging on the wall in our ranger office, under the heading, "Yes, There Are Stupid Questions."
As for walking around the battlefield, I understood that the issues were snakes and the delicacy of the vegetation, especially during the dry season. I was a trail guide there this year, and I was told that I was required to wear high-topped boots because of the snakes. I was stationed at the bottom of the Keogh Trail, and I noticed that the grass in that area was thoroughly trampled and flattened after a couple of days of pilgrimmage. As for the trail being open only seasonally, in 2006 I was told it was only open for the few days of the anniversary, since the visitors couldn't be seen easily from the road, and that was the only time trail guides were stationed there. This year I noticed a sign in the Visitor Center saying that the trail was open all summer, which I consider an improvement. But the grass is definitely going to suffer.
Not to mention the concern about vandalism to the markers--Benny Hodgson's is riddled with bullet holes. Even the ones right on the main battlefield have been chipped away at over the years, and the corners of the monument on Custer Hill had to be beveled for that reason. You guys probably all know that they put a ten-foot fence around it at one point, to keep jerks from carving it up. As for the new Indian markers on Reno Hill, when I was there in June, there was a sign explaining that they really belonged in the valley, but had been placed on Reno Hill temporarily until the details of proper placement in the valley could be worked out. As well as a way to protect them from being used for target practice, one would hope. While it would be nice if the NPS did not totally prevent access to the battlefield, it would also be good to control that sort of thing. Maybe they could sponsor official trail rides for tourists who cared enough and had proper gear. Our park has just started selling tickets to tourists for rides on our scow schooner, and we definitely tell them what they must bring in the way of gear--absolutely no flip-flops!
Fred, your link shows exactly the problem. Somebody has to push and push and push for that legislation to be passed, and it may be that NPS employees are banned from doing so--not sure about that. They definitely can't lobby for money for park programs. Just another of the many reasons I run home from work screaming every day.
However, I do love the fact that the NPS acronym for LBH is LIBI.
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