FREDERICKSBURG, TX 9-16-2016

People hunger to be free.  “Don’t fence me in!  Leave me alone!”  Thousands of freedom-starved folks arrived in the United States in the 1800s, many of them scattering from the gulf shore by oxen- and horse-drawn wagons, some on foot pulling two-wheel carts, some traveling up the rivers by boat.  They found wide open land on which to farm, raise crops and raise their families and they would know just the right place when they saw it.  Fredericksburg is such a place.  German immigrants settled here and created a tight-knit community and it is still thick with German influence.  If you can’t find it here, German bread and pastries, lederhosen, Christmas decorations, wine, beer, wienerschnitzel or anything else Deutsch, you are going to have to fly to Germany.

The new settlers weren’t the only ones yearning to be free.  The Indians sought freedom of a different kind:  they wanted their land to be free of invading settlers.  Encouraged by government bureaucrats out east who wanted folks to move out to the wild woolies and establish settlements, a long string of military forts were built and populated by soldiers to protect the newcomers. 

Fort Martin Scott entry

Post Commander's quarters (replica)

Ft. Martin Scott jailhouse (original building)

A few artifacts that were part of Fort Martin Scott still stand just east of Fredericksburg.  The lone original building is the jail house.  Soldiers with not much to do our in the middle of nowhere were bound to dig up a little mischief and get in trouble.  Punishments were brutal for enlisted men and included lashes with a leather whip, branding (a 2” letter “D” on the hip for drunkenness), hard labor in iron shackles, court martial and dishonorable discharge.

In the future, if someone says, “Fredericksburg,” white limestone buildings will spring to my mind.  The supply of this particular stone was apparently boundless and the immigrants of the early 1800s employed it and mortar to construct every building in town.  Thick walls kept the heat out in the blazing summer heat and maintained the warmth of the fire in the cold months.  John Tatsch, a cabinetmaker, built his home with 2-feet thick walls and a massive fireplace, 13 feet wide.  Other homes in the town are called “Sunday houses.”  Farmers and ranchers worked the land far from town but on Saturday, they came in to trade and buy supplies.  Rather than return to the farm and come in again on Sunday to attend church services, they built tiny “Sunday houses” and spent Saturday night in town.  Saturday nights could probably get a little rowdy, and so of course, no town would be complete without a jail.  The old limestone buildings are so sturdy that many of them are still in use today.  What a beautiful town thick with history.

Fredericksburg library

Bank of Fredericksburg

Jailhouse

North of town by about 20 miles, a geological phenomenon, “Enchanted Rock,” rises from the earth.  The surfaces continue to evolve, shift and erode over time leaving some areas bald and other areas sere and cracked.  Chunks slide downhill.  We tried to make it to the top, from which you can see much of Texas, they say, but the heat and humidity were overwhelming.  The younger ones were running up and down against the clock and packing repelling gear.  For us, that ship sailed a long time ago.  We learned that Enchanted Rock is all one piece and only the tip of it is showing.  (How do they know this?)  Beneath the earth’s crust lies the rest of this one rock, probably the size of Pluto (not the dog).  How much does it weigh?  Rob’s running the numbers, stand by.

Enchanted Rock

Sliding downhill - won't be long, now!

Sliding and scraping

That little brown spot is what we see,
above ground.  The green area is below.

Admiral Chester Nimitz, who signed the WWII Japanese surrender documents aboard the SS Missouri, was born and raised in Fredericksburg.  The building where he was born is an historic landmark.  His grandpa owned a hotel which is now the National Museum of the Pacific War, also the Home of the Adm. Nimitz Museum.  The Japanese used two-man subs before the Pearl Harbor attack intending to distract our military from the air raid.  We blew up several of these subs, one at the entry to our shipyard.  The one on display at the Nimitz Museum was captured when it ran aground due to a malfunctioning navigation system, no doubt made in Japan.

Grampa and Chester Nimitz

Chester and me

Two-man Japanese sub recovered
at Pearl Harbor

Well, no visit to an authentic German town would be complete without wienerschnitzel, rouladen, spätzle and cold brews.  And an order of apfelkuchen to go with tomorrow’s morning coffee.  Auf wiedersehn! 

At the Old German Bakery,
Rob gets his wienerschnitzel fix!

At the Old German Bakery-auf wiedersehn for now!