Fort Point NHS

On the very northern edge of land, guarding the entrance to San Francisco Bay, lies Fort Point NHS. The US built it in 1853 to protect the Pacific coast.  Then, when the Civil War broke out, it protected the bay from a potential Confederate attack, manned by 500 soldiers.  That attack never came, though.

The fort was constructed in the same style as most other Civil War-era forts:  of brick, multiple stories high.  Thankfully, it never did come under attack, however, because its construction was obsolete almost as soon as it was constructed since rifled cannon could considerably damage the brick fortifications.  Thus it was largely abandoned after the Civil War and then completely unused by the Army by the early 1900s.

In addition to its role as guardian of San Francisco Bay, its lighthouse also protected friendly mariners entering and exiting.  

Most striking, today, is that the fort sits directly beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, now dwarfing what must have then been an impressive structure.  In fact, it was the bridge's completion in 1964 that forced discontinued use of the lighthouse. 

Tours of the three-story fort are self-guided, allowing you to explore nearly every nook and cranny. The officer and enlisted quarters have been recreated, and Rangers were on duty to answer questions when I was there.  Be sure to take one of the spiral staircases in one of the towers up to the roof, where spectacular views await.  As you can tell from the pictures, I spent most of my time here!  Second only to the views from the fort's roof are the vistas along the peninsula's coast as you make your way to the fort.  I snapped the one below less than a mile away.

Sand Creek Massacre NHS

On a trip back from Oklahoma, I convinced the family to travel lonely two-lane backroads through the seemingly endless plains of western Kansas and eastern Colorado to see a couple of NPS sites.  The first was Fort Larned NHS -- a military fort protecting Santa Fe trail commerce during a time when clashes with the Indians were becoming more common and more violent.  The second was the site of one of America's darkest days and one that most of us have never even heard of, much less studied:  Sand Creek Massacre NHS. 

This site is one of the NPS's newest and is still being developed.  Yet in spite of its primitiveness (little more than a few storyboards and an overlook) and remote location (you have to travel down a couple of dirt roads to get there), the story comes alive vividly even in the site's solemnity.

Overlooking the site of the massacre, which occurred just beyond the trees

In 1851, several Plains tribes signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie, establishing Indian land from the North Platte River in southern Nebraska and Wyoming, south to the Arkansas River in southern Colorado and Kansas.  In 1860, however, the Indians were pressured to sign an updated treaty, downsizing their land by 85%.  Black Kettle was one of the few Chiefs that signed this new treaty, and many Cheyenne refused to acknowledge the new boundaries, hunting and living on the old lands.

Then, early on the morning of November 29, 1864, Col John Chivington left Fort Lyon on a mission of his own devising with 850 men, headed toward the nearby Cheyenne and Arapaho village at Sand Creek.  As the riders approached, Chief Black Kettle raised both an American flag and a white flag.  Black Kettle and three other Cheyenne and Arapaho chiefs approached the soldiers asking for a conference.  In response, Col Chivington ordered his men to fire both rifles and cannon then charge into the village, indiscriminately killing every Indian they could see, including the village's predominantly women and children population even as they all ran from the village seeking safety.  At the end of the massacre, nearly 200 Cheyenne and Arapaho were killed with another 200 wounded.  Many of those that surrendered were executed, and two-thirds of those killed were women, children, or elderly.  As if that were not enough, many soldiers mutilated the bodies, carrying back body parts as trophies.

Two young officers, Capt Soule and Lt Cramer withheld their units, however, and refused to allow them to fire.  Upon return to Fort Lyon, the two wrote letters to their commander, which led to two congressional hearings and an Army inquiry over the tragedy, where they testified against Col Chivington.  Sadly, though a congressional committee condemned the attack, no one was ever tried or convicted for the massacre.  Instead just a few weeks after he testified against Col Chivington, Capt Soule was gunned down in cold blood in the streets of Denver.

The site is considered sacred ground for the Cheyenne and Arapaho to this day.  Consequently, there is an overlook toward the area of the massacre, but it is not possible to walk the ground as many enjoy doing at Revolutionary and Civil War battlefields.  Still, armed with the tragic story in your mind, the silence at the overlook is profound and moving.  Back at the Visitor Center, there is a storyboard detailing the heroics of Capt Soule and Lt Cramer.  Their letters to their commander just surfaced in 2000, directly leading to a congressional act preserving this sacred site while educating those that visit of a horrific act that never should have occurred.

Fort Larned NHS

On the plains of south-central Kansas, lies Fort Larned NHS, a restored mid-1800s Army fort.  In its time, it sat along the Santa Fe Trail, serving as protector for those that traveled it.

Initially, a handful of American adventurers moved west to trap for furs or trade with the Indians for goods to send back east.  As I explained in my post about Bent's Old Fort, at that time, there was a healthy, symbiotic trade relationship between those early pioneers and the Indians.  As more Americans moved westward via the Santa Fe Trail, however, competition for land and resources between the native Indians and the newcomer Americans escalated, with attacks and treaty violations occurring on both sides.  Several forts, including Fort Larned, were established along the Trail to protect the commerce transiting it.  A detachment of the Indian Bureau was also based at the fort, charged with finding peaceful solutions to conflicts between the whites and Indians.

The restored fort is remarkably similar to military bases today, albeit on a much smaller scale.  At the site, you can tour the supply warehouse, officer and enlisted quarters, blacksmith shop, infirmary, and school/training room.  Each area has been restored to exactly how it would have been in the mid-1860s.  In fact, it's so well done, it sometimes feels as if you've gone back in time!

The standard supply warehouse of food, tools, and other supplies you would expect at any 1800s Army fort

In addition to the standard supplies, the fort also issued uniforms to the troops.

The Army issues orders for everything.  They even issue official orders for how to make the bread.

Enlisted quarters:  I believe they packed about 40 soldiers into this room.

Officer quarters:  Interestingly, officers were only allocated a specified amount of space.  For instance, Lieutenants and Captains were authorized one bedroom with an additional living/sitting room.  If they wanted their wives/family with them, they had to fit in that same amount of space.

The doctor's office and infirmary.  No privacy there!  And those beds looked awfully rickety.

Lake Meredith NRA

Who knew there was stunning natural beauty in the panhandle of Texas?  Thanks to my quest to visit every NPS site, we seized a target of opportunity to stop at Lake Meredith NRA on a trip to Oklahoma.  That trip offers precious few areas to stop, so we usually pack a picnic lunch, and we just happened to be in the area about that time.

Lake Meredith is tucked away off the beaten path, but just a short drive north of Amarillo.  As with most lakes, the main activities are boating and fishing.  We obviously didn't have time for that, but there's a picnic and camping area right beside the lake.  You couldn't ask for a better view for lunch!

Driving in is fun, too.  As I mentioned, the lake is somewhat remote.  Driving along FM 1319, it's the standard flat West Texas fare until you round a bend and emerge onto a dam, with the lake and its beautiful, rust-colored cliffs surrounding it.

If you happen to be in the Amarillo area and have an hour to spare, Lake Meredith NRA is an oasis for a relaxing picnic lunch and some great pictures!

Air Force Academy Football: A Bucket List Completion

There's something fun and exciting about going to sporting events.  It's easy to get caught up in the emotion of rooting for your team with thousands of fans surrounding you, isn't it?  That's why I knew when we moved to Colorado that we just had to knock an Air Force Academy game off our bucket list -- especially as a 20-year Air Force veteran.

True to our habit of not planning too far ahead of time, we waited way late in the season to pick a game, and by then, we only had one to choose from that fit our schedule:  the last one.  The last week in November.  In Colorado.  So we bundled up and headed out.

Fortunately, it was a beautiful day for so late in the year -- a balmy 50 degrees and sunny.  Our seats were on the home side on about the 35-yard line -- absolutely perfect!  All Academy football games start with a flyover of some kind.  This one included a two-ship of fighters, loud with the sound of freedom, as well as three members of the parachute team jumping out of a C-130 and into the stadium.  What other college football team can you get that kind of pre-game show?

One landing with the Army and Navy Flags and one headed in with the Marine Corps and AF flags

The final parachutist landing

I thought we'd at least have the entire first half of sunlight, but, alas, by the end of the first quarter, the sun was hidden behind the massive wall of the stadium, leaving us to start adding layers.  By the end of the game, we were cold, but it never got as cold as I feared, even sitting on those aluminum bleachers.

We were starting to get cold.  Oh, and notice the obviously absent AF fan gear!

The Academy was playing Boise State, and it was a great game!  We really got our money's worth!  Just when we thought AF was about to lock it up, Boise State would come back again.  In the end, AF won it 27-20 -- a doubly-sweet finish, not only to see AF win, but also, as an Oklahoma fan, to see Boise State lose (yes, I'm still bitter over the 2007 Fiesta Bowl game).  Our family looks forward to heading back to another Air Force Academy game next year, although perhaps a bit earlier in the season.  Oh, and if we're going to stay in Colorado, we might should invest in some Air Force Academy gear to wear to the ball games!

Brown v Board of Education NHS

Imagine having a school just a few blocks -- within a short walk -- from your house but being told you couldn't go there.  Instead, you have to go to a school several miles away.  That was the case in Topeka, KS for local minister Oliver Brown's daughter.

Monroe Elementary School

Contrary to popular belief, however, this case did not begin with a defiant black family boldly marching their daughter to the white school and demanding she be registered.  Instead, it was part of a systematic and deliberate yet peaceful effort to dismantle segregation by the NAACP.  The landmark Supreme Court case was actually comprised of cases from four states plus DC.  In Topeka, 20 children from 13 families -- 13 families made up of ordinary people that were teachers, welders, secretaries, ministers, and the like -- were convinced to attempt to enroll in the all-white school closest to their house.  They were all denied.  Despite the ruling, however, the US District Court stated that having separate facilities was detrimental to the negro children, paving the way for a more far-reaching Supreme Court ruling.  Finally, in the Fall of 1953, the Supreme Court did rule that separate-but-equal school facilities were unconstitutional.

Brown v Board of Education NHS is housed in Monroe Elementary School, the school Linda Brown attended prior to attempting to enroll in the all-white school closer to her house.  It is remarkably well-preserved, although most of the classrooms have been converted into exhibit halls that tell the story of the civil rights struggle.

Kindergarten Classroom Restored

The kindergarten classroom has been restored to it's original appearance and offers a window into what school was like. Toys line the walls as you would expect in any kindergarten classroom whether today or sixty years ago. A piano lets kids express their creativity while also giving them a chance to learn music. A fireplace was placed in the classroom to downplay the sterility and provide kids a sense of comfort and hominess.  And portraits of American heroes line one wall, giving teachers conversation starters about people important to their history -- George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Frederick Douglass.

Civil Rights Exhibits

The civil rights exhibits really make this site. It was so well done, that, for me, it's one of my favorite NPS sites to date.  They of course tell the story of the historic court case, but it provides timelines and important milestones in ways kids can easily comprehend. For adults, there are pictures, video clips, and sound bites that poignantly depict what it must have been like for those that bravely dared to challenge the status quo or even for those that didn't and found themselves thrust in the middle of a movement that frequently saw raw emotions on both sides. I couldn't help but walk out of there with a new appreciation for what it must have felt like to live that life every day and a renewed commitment to treat every human being with dignity and respect -- to seek first to understand before judging -- kinda like the Golden Rule.

Stones River National Battlefield

Tucked away outside of Murfreesboro, TN, an hour outside of Nashville, is Stones River National Battlefield.  On New Year's Day, 1863, Union troops tenaciously refused to leave the field of battle, despite being pummeled by the Confederate army all day long.  As a result, in the Western Theater, the Confederates were forced to continue the retreat that began in Kentucky two months earlier and continued throughout the remainder of the Civil War.

As with many battlefields, visiting requires imagining.  Imagine still being groggy from just waking up.  You haven't had your coffee yet, and you're in the middle of fixing breakfast, perhaps thinking that the new year could bring an end to this war, when the enemy suddenly comes rushing out of the adjacent woods with a rebel yell loud enough to send you into a panic.  That's how the battle of Stones River started.

The surprised Union troops dug in inside a thickly overgrown thicket with large boulders and shallow gullies.  Ordinarily such a place would be perfect to fend off attackers, but the Confederates thundered into the thicket in force with a shower of lead.  The scared Union soldiers began retreating through the woods.  The boulders and gullies that would have been their defense instead turned into obstacles that severely hampered their retreat rather than helping it.  As a result, the thicket turned into a slaughter pen.

The Slaughter Pen

As the battle raged on for the next four hours, the Confederates continued to roll up the Union line, pushing them back 3 miles, capturing 3000 prisoners, and defeating them in detail.

The only part of the Union line that held that first day was in what came to be known as "Hell's Half-Acre".  Hazen's Brigade fought off attack after attack until bodies littered the field in front of them.

Site of Hazen's Stand:  Hell's Half-Acre

Despite their certain defeat, the Union army refused to leave the field.  Gen Rosecrans even ordered his left flank to move further left to reinforce the heights to the east of Stones River.  The next day, Gen Bragg ordered an assault on the Union left flank, but his troops were decimated by enfilading fire (shooting into their side) from 58 cannons.  The Union seized the initiative with a counter-attack, pushing Bragg's army back to where it started from.  Union reinforcements arrived that evening, and Bragg, realizing he was out-numbered retreated farther south toward Chattanooga.

Stones River is not one of the more famous battlefields, but the Park Service has done a good job with it (as always, viewing a simulation, such as from historyanimated, of the battle beforehand is very helpful).  The auto tour takes you around to the various parts of the battlefield in chronological order to help preserve the story, and the cell phone tour does an adequate job of describing the action at each part.  There is a short trail through the Slaughter Pen (the overgrown thicket) that gives a great appreciation for what fighting must have been like on that morning as Confederates rushed in and Union troops tried to escape.  Metal silhouettes placed around the battlefield help with visualizing the opposing lines.  The highlight of the tour was the monument to Hazen's Brigade.  Established mere months after the battle, it was the first battlefield monument constructed.  It sits right beside the railroad tracks, so troops being moved along those tracks later in the Civil War would have seen it, producing undoubtedly sober reminders of the realities of war.

Hazen's Brigade Monument

The only disappointment was traveling to the heights where the Confederates were destroyed by cannon fire.  Directions to the area aren't great, there are no storyboards to orient you, and I'm relatively certain the cannons placed up there are facing the wrong direction.  Touring the battlefield only takes a couple of hours and provides yet another sobering reminder of the sacrifice required to preserve freedom.

Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park

Most people with a basic knowledge of the Civil War are most familiar with the eastern theater -- famous battles like Gettysburg, Antietam, and Bull Run.  The western theater by contrast is much less well known, except for the fall of Vicksburg, along the Mississippi River.  Just as in our history books, during the war itself, the South also placed much less emphasis on the western theater than the eastern theater, in terms of the generals, units, and resources they sent there.  And, perhaps, that ultimately led to their final undoing in the months following the devastating defeats at Gettysburg and Vicksburg in July of 1863.

In September of 1863, always afraid his army was out-manned and out-gunned, Confederate General Braxton Bragg began retreating through Tennessee.  After stopping briefly in Chattanooga, only to be out-flanked by the larger Union army, Bragg begins retreating again into northern Georgia.  Union General William Rosecrans believes that Bragg would continue to retreat and spreads his army to maneuver Bragg's army by force.  Instead, for the first time in 6 months, Bragg finally decides to make a stand around Chickamauga Creek.

This time Rosecrans gets spooked and makes plans to pull his army back north to the safety of Chattanooga by conducting a series of leapfrog maneuvers with different parts alternately defending against the Confederates and then maneuvering north.  In the confusion of the battle, Rosecrans believes his left flank needs reinforcement against Confederate strikes and mistakenly moves part of his army from the middle to reinforce his flank.  That opens up a hole in the middle of his line right at the time the Confederates charge that part of the line.  Seeing their good fortune, the Confederates charge through the gaping hole near the Brotherton farm cabin, abandoned the day before when the Union troops arrived.

The Brotherton Cabin.  Confederate troops exploited the inadvertent gap in the Union line flanking Union troops from left to right in this picture.

Despite repeated Confederate assaults along the Union line, the Union army tenaciously holds on, refusing to cede control of the field.  As darkness falls, however, the Union troops withdraw back to Chattanooga.  There, just a few miles up the road, the story continues...

The Union army dug in at Chattanooga.  This time, the Confederates have the advantage, setting up a siege line around the city, anchored at the Tennessee River on both sides of the city with strong positions on Lookout Mountain and east onto Missionary Ridge.  Angry at the embarrassing loss at Chickamauga and the choking siege in Chattanooga, Lincoln fires Rosecrans and brings Grant east to take control.

Grant made quick work.  He broke the Confederate line at the Tennessee River on the west side by silently crossing the Tennessee at night, right under the noses of the sleepy Confederate pickets guarding it, and opening a supply line to the west.  Right on the heels of that, he orders Gen Sherman to attack the Confederate right flank with Gen Thomas and Gen Hooker making a noisy demonstration on the Confederate center and left.  Gen Hooker finds that Lookout Mountain has been abandoned and continues charging up the ridge as the Confederates retreat up and over Missionary Ridge just to the east, reinforcing to counter Sherman's attack on their right.  Sherman attacks piecemeal, squandering his advantage, and the Confederates hold off the assault at Missionary Ridge, but Gen Bragg once again gets cold feet and once again retreats back down through Georgia, leaving the high ground and the vital Tennessee River and railways to the Union army.

The battlefield on Lookout Mountain bears little resemblance today to how it must have looked in late 1863.  Rather it affords a spectacular view of the Confederate position as they besieged the Union army down in the city. 

Chattanooga and the Tennessee River from the Edge of Lookout Mountain

While taking in the view, imagine being a Confederate on the line here with the commanding view over the Union army holed up down below.  Imagine cannon behind you, ready to fire at the first massed movement, slowly choking out the Union army.  Then turn east and south, imagining giving up this perfect position because the General feared being overrun and began retreating back to where you had just whupped some Union bootie, leaving your army nothing to show for it.  Thus, Chattanooga was really another defining moment.  By this point in the war, the Confederates were truly whipped in the west and on their heels fighting a defensive war in the east.  It was only a matter of time...

Kingsley Plantation at Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve

Within the National Park system, there are many intriguing sites preserved.  One such site is embedded within Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve in Jacksonville, FL:  A cotton plantation called Kingsley Plantation.  Now, you might think that there are any number of southern plantations preserved for touring or that they're simply monuments heralding a time in our history we would like to forget ever happened.  But, as you would expect from the National Park Service, there are several things that make this site unique.

The House in the Background with the Kitchen Building in Front

The View from the Plantation House

First, the owner, Zephaniah Kingsley purchased a slave from Senegal, named Anna, whom he later freed and married.  In 1814, when they moved to Fort George Island, where they built their plantation, she, in turn, became Zephaniah's business partner, taking an active role in managing the plantation slaves despite being a slave herself only a few years before.

Second, the 1000-acre plantation grew a variety of crops, including sugar cane, corn, beans, and potatoes, but the primary cash crop was Sea Island cotton.  Cotton plantations certainly weren't unique for the time period, but Sea Island cotton was considered the cashmere of cotton because its fibers were long and silky.  Importantly, though, the seeds could not be removed from the bolls using a cotton gin because the fibers were too long and fragile and would thus mutilate the cotton.  As a result, slaves were required to remove the seeds by hand.  The more seeds remaining in the cotton, or the more mutilated the cotton, or the less cotton processed at the end of the day, the more the slaves were punished.  Let me restate that a more direct way:  A slave's reward for turning out enough perfectly seeded cotton by hand was no punishment.

Slaves were given a specific task requirement for each day.  For example, the field hands might be given one or more quarter-acre plots of cotton to pick or to produce five pounds of seed-free cotton.  Obviously, the tasks were designed to take the vast majority of each day.  Once complete, only then could the slaves complete their own personal tasks, like tending to their personal garden, hunting/fishing, cooking their own meals, or doing their own laundry.  Slave quarters were generally two-room houses:  One room with a fireplace for cooking, and a room for the entire family to sleep in.  Most were tiny with dirt floors.  A few were bigger, but they were reserved for the Driver (head slave) and his family or skilled slave craftsmen as a show of status.

Slave Cabin Ruins

Inside the Driver's House (i.e., the Largest One)

As I walked through the slave quarters and stood inside them, I pondered what that life must have felt like:  To produce perfect results and not get an attaboy but just to be thankful for a day without punishment; to work from early morning to late evening only then to realize I still had to take care of my personal chores; to realize that no matter what I did, I could never really be trusted.  It was in that moment that I realized how horrible of an institution slavery was.  We can't undo that today.  We can't go back in time and remove that part of our history.  As much as we might like to, we can't wish it away either -- and perhaps that's not even a smart move; that's called denial.  Conversely, neither should we be overly harsh on the slaveholders, for they were born into an economic system and a values system that seemed impossible to see past even to those that might have wanted to (just as we tend to approach the world similarly to our parents without even realizing it and wonder why the rest of the world can't see the obvious truths that we see).  Instead, what we can do is to put ourselves in the shoes of those slaves and imagine how we would feel to live a life of thankless servitude and then let that shape our interactions with our fellow man.

Historic Coastal Florida Forts

Along the coast of northeast Florida lie three forts that make up part of America's rich history, yet a part that is little told or understood.

The History
Following Ponce de Leon's discovery of Florida in 1513, Spain claimed it as its own and it became a crucial link for ferrying gold and other treasure plundered from the Caribbean islands, along with trade goods, back to Spain from the New World.

At the same time, Britain and France were also vying for control of the New World because of the promise of vast riches and resources.  In 1564, then, France established Fort Caroline just north of what is now Jacksonville.  Viewing this as a clear and present danger to their territory, Spain attempted attack on the French but failed, retreating a few miles south to what is now St. Augustine.  The French, in turn, attempted a counter-attack, but severe weather at sea blew them several miles south and shipwrecked them.  Spain, seizing the opportunity, attacked the nearly defenseless Fort Caroline, wiping the remaining soldiers out.

Following their decisive victory over the French, Spain began establishing forts over the next two centuries all along the eastern coast of Florida from Jacksonville down to the Keys to protect its transit route.

Two of those forts protect the approaches to St. Augustine, the oldest enduring city in America.  Castillo de San Marcos sits right on the bay at the north edge of the city's historic district.  Constructed in the shape of a four-pointed star, it was made out of an innovative and easily-fabricated material called coquina -- a kind of cement comprised of sand and seashells.  Coquina was revolutionary in that it absorbed cannon blasts rather than crumbling, making it difficult to penetrate by attacking ships.

The Large Courtyard of the Castillo

The Spanish used Castillo de San Marcos as a large base not only for protection of St. Augustine itself but also as a major supply and logistics base supporting the rest of the forts down the coast along Spain's trade and treasure route.  An imposing structure, Castillo de San Marcos guarded the entrance to Matanzas Bay and the approach to St Augustine from invaders wishing to interdict treasure ships.  Its four-pointed design allowed it to set up a brutal, overlapping crossfire from adjacent corners to destroy any ships within range. 

As Spain increased its presence and control in the region, other European powers, including Britain, continued to challenge them.  Britain discovered that while St. Augustine itself was heavily guarded, a back channel existed 14 miles south at Matanzas Inlet that led straight to the back door of the city and out of range of Castillo de San Marcos's guns.  After narrowly escaping a prolonged British siege of the city in 1740, Spain began construction on a second fort at Matanzas Inlet -- Fort Matanzas.  Like Castillo de San Marcos, it was also constructed of the resilient coquina.

With the fort under construction, Britain tried once again to navigate up Matanzas Inlet to reach St. Augustine, but the fort's guns were already in place and several cannon blasts forced the British ship to turn around.  That encounter was the last challenge to Spanish sovereignty in the area.

Seeing the Forts
Even in the height of summer, it is quite easy to see all three forts in the space of two days, and I highly recommend seeing them as a group to best grasp the interconnected story behind them.

The Fort Caroline National Memorial is located within the larger Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve on St. John's Bay northeast of Jacksonville. While much is known about what happened here, little is known of the actual fort itself.  Even so, the scarce information available was used to partially reconstruct a replica.  Consequently, there is little to see at this site, but the opportunity to visualize the beginning of this oft-untold story makes the trip worth it.  In addition, there is a boat dock on site from which you might get a glimpse of dolphins swimming by.

A sign describing many of the mysteries surrounding the fort and the French colony here.

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument has a self-guided tour that takes about an hour, give or take.  Exhibits in the many rooms tell the fort's story through both Spanish and, later, British control.  On display are the original main doors to the fort, tools used to prep the cannons for firing, sleeping quarters for British troops stationed there, and the chapel.  The view of Matanzas Bay from the top is quite impressive.  From there, it is easy to visualize sentries keeping watch for approaching attackers and readying the devastating cannon cross-fire against them.

Recreation of Sleeping Quarters During British Occupation

The Imposing View from the Top

Lookout Tower Facing the Entrance to the Bay

The Fort Matanzas National Monument Visitor Center sits in a beautiful grove of massive Live Oaks on the edge of Matanzas Inlet.  We ate a picnic lunch there and climbed along the massive low-slung branches. 

Getting to Fort Matanzas itself requires a free boat ride just to the other side of the inlet a few hundred yards away.  As you can see from the picture above (and below), the fort is small (understandably so since it was only needed to prevent enemy ships from traversing the channel).  The ranger provides a short history and orientation on the boat ride and then you're free to explore the fort and grounds for about 30 minutes before the boat returns, which is plenty of time.  Like at Castillo de San Marcos, it is easy to imagine from the top how cannons perched there would be a strong deterrent to ships trying to navigate the narrow waterway.  While on top, we also spied some marine life:  A very large manatee and a crab the size of a dinner plate!

Manatee Swimming Along the Rocks

Our family enjoyed seeing these three forts and all agreed that seeing them in quick succession helped to paint a more complete canvas of the oft-forgotten history of Spanish colonization in the New World.  Indeed this grouping of parks is a representation of what I love about the historical subset of the NPS sites -- telling a more complete history of this nation and the people and stories that shaped it into the world we know today.