The Spokesrider

(More from April 6, 2006). I hung around Dadeville (known as Beaufort in Theodore Rosengarten’s book) for a while, looking for anything that might have been connected to Nate Shaw’s (Ned Cobb’s) trial there in 1932 (or 33?) when he was put on trial for his part in the shootout at his neighbor’s place. I [...]

More from April 6, 2006. Nate Shaw used to haul logs and then lumber with his mules, though not on this very road. The lumber industry went into a decline after the country got logged over, but is now important again. It’s now being conducted on a more sustainable basis. Here’s a web page about [...]

This old house was on Hwy 49, between Horseshoe Bend park and Dadesville. It’s further north than the places where Nate Shaw lived. I’m not sure if cotton was grown up here or if there had been sharecroppers here, but it reminded me of what Nate Shaw had told about the houses provided to tenants [...]

It was while listening to Theodore Rosengarten’s book, “All God’s Dangers : The life of Nate Shaw” that I got the idea that we should go to Alabama to see the places he told about. Myra reminded me that I had never taken her to Florida. So I devised a trip plan that included Florida [...]

The Battle of Horseshoe Bend was called The Battle of Tohopeka on Gen. Andrew Jackson’s map, It wasn’t spelled exactly that way, but I can’t tell for sure from the handwriting on that image from the National Park Service web site. The little crossroads in the photo is called Tohopeka. It’s not the battle site, [...]

I approached the Horseshoe Bend National Military Park with some trepidation. I wasn’t sure what I’d find by way of interpretation. Indians good, white guys bad? Glorification of Jackson’s military victory? I thought the latter more likely. It turned out to be very nicely done and informative. The exhibits explained the cultural conflicts quite well. [...]

This is the Wetumpka bridge over the Coosa River, facing east. Nate Shaw (Ned Cobb) had occasion to cross this bridge when he was in prison in the 1930s and 40s. At least, I presume this bridge is the same one. The photo is taken from the Wetumpka city side of the river. The far [...]