Fort Griffin Texas

My July travels also took me by Fort Griffin. This would have been one of the largest forts on the Texas frontier. It was also the supply fort for Colonel Ronald Mackenzie.

Click on the pictures for a larger view.



Work began on Fort Griffin in 1867 when Lieutenant Colonel Samuel arrived with four companies of the Sixth Cavalry on July 31st. The outpost, which was first called Camp Wilson was built upon a hill overlooking the Clear Fork of the Brazos River.

Later the name was changed to Fort Griffin, in honor of the late Major General Charles Griffin, Commander of the Texas Army Department and who had originally made the plans for building the new fort.


By the time it was finally complete, the fort would accommodate up to six companies of soldiers and included an administration building, a hospital, officers' quarters in eleven buildings, numerous barracks, a guardhouse, a bakery, a powder magazine, five storehouses, forage houses, four stables, a laundry, and a workshop.


Ft. Griffin - The Most Dangerous Prairie in Texas ~~ Click here to learn more.

Fort Griffin - Lawlessness on the Brazos ~~ Click here to learn more.

BioTracking - Summer Conference

Mid July I was back in Washington state and Idaho. BioTracking, an IDEXX customer, held their 1st affiliate lab conference. The meetings were held in Spokane WA.

Click on the pictures for a larger view.



One evening we drove over to Coeur d’Alene Idaho for a dinner cruise on the lake.



BioTracking’s headquarters is in Moscow ID. The drive from Spokane to Moscow is absolutely beautiful. You may remember seeing pictures from my January travels to this area. Here are pictures of the same area this summer.



It's hard to believe they farm these hills.

Here are the attendees from the conference.

.

.

Click here to see the pictures from my January trip.

.

.

Click here to learn more about BioTracking.

Enchanted Rock - Texas

Enchanted Rock - A single rock 425 feet high and a base 640 acres big. This is truly a must see if you are in Texas. It’s not an easy climb but it is absolutely a beautiful climb.

(click on the pictures for a larger view)


Looking up from the base. About to start the climb up. Look real close and you can see two people standing on the top edge of the rock (you can't see the top of the rock from here because of its curve).
Here is a closer look at the people.
Enchanted Rock State Natural Area consists of 1643.5 acres on Big Sandy Creek, north of Fredericksburg, on the border between Gillespie and Llano Counties. It was acquired by warranty deed in 1978 by the Nature Conservancy of Texas, Inc., from the Moss family.

It is beautiful pink granite.
The state acquired it in 1984, added facilities, and reopened the park in March 1984, but humans have visited here for over 11,000 years. Enchanted Rock was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1970 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Rock is a huge, pink granite exfoliation dome, that rises 425 feet above ground, 1825 feet above sea level, and covers 640 acres. It is one of the largest batholiths (underground rock formation uncovered by erosion) in the United States.
Tonkawa Indians believed ghost fires flickered at the top, and they heard weird creaking and groaning, which geologists now say resulted from the rock's heating by day and contracting in the cool night.
A conquistador captured by the Tonkawa described how he escaped by losing himself in the rock area, giving rise to an Indian legend of a "pale man swallowed by a rock and reborn as one of their own." The Indians believed he wove enchantments on the area, but he explained that the rock wove the spells. "When I was swallowed by the rock, I joined the many spirits who enchant this place."

The first well-documented explorations of this area did not begin until 1723 when the Spanish intensified their efforts to colonize Texas. During the mid-1700s, the Spaniards made several trips to the north and northwest of San Antonio, establishing a mission and presidio on the San Saba River and carrying out limited mining on Honey Creek near the Llano River.