Wow, that took a while! Turns out the whole COVID-19 thing is quite the occurrence. So much so that I've spent the two weeks changing all my plans. Gone is the adventure in the southeast. I'm hunkered down back in Texas.
That's OK. I'm healthy, and though I'm already suffering from a bit of cabin fever, I've got it pretty good compared to a whole lot of other folks. I can get out and walk the grounds of the RV park, which is a converted ranch with hiking trails, a couple of lakes and even a disc golf course (maybe time for a new hobby?)
So, back to Huntsville. When last we chatted, I was telling you all about Huntsville, Texas and it's relation to one Samuel Houston. But there's another story to this little Texas town, perhaps not as glorious, but nonetheless as profound.
You see, Huntsville is home to the oldest prison in Texas. First opened in 1849, the "Walls" unit is the only prison operated by the Confederacy to be allow to stay open after the Civil War, and is home to the only death chamber in Texas.
And like any institution over 150 years old, the Walls unit has a history. Some of it is, shall we say, less than admirable, while some is also quite interesting, some might call entertaining.
The Texas Prison Museum, just down the road from the prison, chronicles the rich history of not only Walls, but the entire Texas Prison system. As a result, it houses memories and relics of prisoners simple and complex, unknown and celebrity.
A short video at the front of the museum gives the history of the prison system, then a walk through shows artifacts, uniforms, weapons (both prisoner and guard), furniture and artwork done by both.
Two things stood out to me: The collection of Lee Simmons, a former general manager of the prisons, and a exhibit entitled "The Last Statement" by photographer Barbara Sloan.
Simmons was the GM of Texas prisons in the 1930's and is credited initiating reforms in the system. But he's most known for two things not necessarily related to day-to-day operations. He can be said to be responsible for the deaths of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, the notorious bank robbers and killers. When the duo staged a breakout at Eastham prison farm where a guard was killed, Simmons hired Frank Hamer, a former Texas Ranger to hunt them down. After the deed was done, Hamer gave Simmons a nickel plated pistol found in the shot up Ford where Bonnie and Clyde met their end. That pistol, along with other items from Simmons' collection, including contraband and weapons, are on display.
The other accomplishment attributed to Lee Simmons is the Texas Prison Rodeo. As mentioned above, he brought reform to the Texas prisons. Before that, they were a hard place, where men were punished and worked hard, with very little thought given to rehabilitation. Simmons changed that. He had been appointed in 1923 to a commission to study the conditions at the prisons after they had been called "among the most brutal in the world" by The Prison Journal. His work brought him to the attention of the governor, who appointed him to the prison system.
Simmons focused on reason and self-discipline among the inmate population, and he developed many education and enrichment programs for the convicts. Among them was a semi-pro baseball team, a weekly radio show, and the most well known event, the Texas Prison Rodeo.
The rodeo ran from 1932 to 1986, drawing as many as 30,000 spectators to what was billed as "The Wildest Show Behind Bars." May celebrities attended, include Johnny Cash, who held the first of what was to become many prison concerts, and the crew of the Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975.
In the parking lot of the museum are some of the gates used in the rodeo and inside you will see other artifacts such as chariots used during the event.
"The Last Statement" is a book of essays, interviews and photos of those impacted on both sides by an executions. Reading the stories and seeing the pictures in the exhibit drives home the point that criminal killings impact not just the killers and the victims, but also those close to them. It's hard to read them without feeling a huge sense of loss.
I hope everyone is well and safe. Just know that like other trying times, we'll get through this and come out on the other side stronger than ever. In the meantime, I'll keep you in my heart and prayers.
And Tex wants me to say that we're not finished. There's much more to come. Even if we can't travel, we still have a stories to tell.
Later Folks.