abilenet May 20th, 2008
I recently had the privilege to assist in an interview with Sharon Spinks, the author of a book about her grand-father-in-law, Arthur Hill, titled,
Law on the Last Frontier. The interviewer, “Texana Review” owner and moderator Ed Blackburn, talks with Sharon about why she wrote this book, the stories in the book and, of course, Arthur Hill. Join us for this enlightening interview with Sharon Spinks, Ed Blackburn and yours truly behind the camera.
See this podcast at http://texanareview.typepad.com/posts/2008/05/sharon-spinks-t.html
abilenet March 6th, 2008
While researching the episode “Trouble in Buffalo Gap” on this website, I found a reference to Floyd Earl on another web page. I was interested in how Floyd ended up in a story on a website that allows authors to share their stories over the internet so I went in search of this author. Her name is Mary Milstead and she wrote a short-story titled “Ruined” in which the main character takes to spending time at the grave site of Floyd Earl, meditating on her own life. After nearly six months of searching, I was finally able to track down the author, Mary Milstead, and have a conversation with her through email about how she ended up having Floyd Earl in her story and whether or not there was a family connection between her and Mr. Earl. Unfortunately, I have to report that the inclusion of Floyd Earl in her story is purely coincidental. While Mary has family in the Buffalo Gap, Texas area, she merely picked the name Floyd Earl from the cemetery list of Buffalo Gap because she liked the way it sounded. I don’t mind saying that was a real bummer for me. Be that as it may, I found Mary’s story, “Ruined,” to be a well written story and a pleasure to read. As the story does include a real-life historical character from Taylor County’s rich historical heritage, I would encourage you to read this story and some of the Ms. Milstead’s other works. You can link to the story “Ruined” at the
this web site and can see all her stories at her
personal blog.
abilenet December 14th, 2007
This episode is a recreation of a Time magazine article published September 12, 1960, titled, “Trouble in Buffalo Gap.” Join us for this lighthearted look at the life of the Marshall of Buffalo Gap during this time.
Trouble in Buffalo Gap [4:45m]:
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abilenet November 8th, 2007
Thanks to the folks at Content.Robot, this site is now optimized for the iPhone and iPod Touch. What that means is that if you point the browser on your iPhone or iPod Touch to this site, you will receive a version of the website that is designed to run specifically on the Safari browser that is used on those two devices from Apple. If you are using a browser on your desktop or laptop computer to access this site, it will look as it always has.While the iPhone and iPod Touch do an amazing job of displaying web pages the way they were designed to be seen, often visitors want quick access to your website’s content. This new feature displays an optimized version of the content on this website, formatted perfectly to fit the iPhone and iPod Touch’s screen - no zooming in to read the content is necessary.
abilenet August 4th, 2007
The Sharps Rifle was a series of rifles designed by Christian Sharp and manufactured by the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company of Hartford CT beginning in 1850. Listen to a story about the rifle as told by J. Wright Mooar, Buffalo Hunter.
Thanks to Robert Pace for his use of the material from his book, “Buffalo Days, Stories from J. Wright Mooar.” Music is provided by Joseph Firecrow is entitled, “Morning Star Rise.” Mr. Firecrow’s music can be found at music.podshow.com.
The Sharps Rifle by J. Wright Mooar [6:16m]:
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abilenet July 23rd, 2007
J. Wright Mooar was a famed buffalo hunter who later told his stories to a friend. These stories were printed in a now unpublished magazine and have been collected into a book by Robert Pace of McMurry University. Join us as we read the Introduction and Prologue from this book edited by Robert Pace entitled, “Buffalo Days, Stories from J. Wright Mooar.” This is the first in a series of readings from the book.
Buffalo Days Intro and Prologue [9:32m]:
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abilenet June 29th, 2007
If you’ve been to the site before, you may notice a significant change in the way these pages look. My reasons for changing are that I believe this blogging format will allow me to add content to the pages more quickly and I hope it allows you, the viewer, to add your own thoughts, information and histories to these web pages. And, I don’t mind saying that I like the look of it better anyhow. You will find all of the information that was available on the old site, at least all of the podcasts. As always, I hope you find these pages informative, interesting and that they draw out of you a desire to learn about and share stories of Abilene and Taylor County, Texas and the surrounding area.
abilenet April 24th, 2007
Join us for a day at the Buffalo Gap Historic Village for a reenactment of Base Ball as it was played in the 19th century. Sit down with Bob “Bonecrusher” Wetteman, “Fossil Joe” Christensen, “Spider” Simpson, all of the Buffalo Gap Vintage Base Ball Club and Michael “Molasses” Hickey of the Montgomery College Saw Dogs to find out more about this peculiar style of baseball, why they play it and what they hope to accomplish with their Vintage Base Ball teams.
Vintage Base Ball Audio [18:40m]:
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abilenet April 3rd, 2007
In this final episode, part 3 of 3, we will complete our conversation with Don Frazier, professor of History at McMurry University and the Executive Director of the McWhiney Foundation, on the history of Fort Phantom Hill, Texas. This episode also include a poem by Larry Chitenden about Fort Phantom Hill.
Fort Phantom Hill Part 3 Audio [10:34m]:
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abilenet March 21st, 2007
After the initial military occupation and withdrawal, Fort Phantom Hill was used by a number of groups for different purposes. In this episode, part 2 of 3, we will continue our conversation with Don Frazier, professor of History at McMurry University and the Executive Director of the McWhiney Foundation, on the history of Fort Phantom Hill.
Fort Phantom Hill Part 2 Audio [12:32m]:
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