Plum
Creek
Symposium
…exploring Texas history in lecture, verse & song
Saturday, August 13, 2016
9:00am - 5:00pm
presented by
Evenings with the Songwriter
&
Lockhart’s historic
Dr. Eugene Clark Library
Annex-Council Chamber, 3rd Flr, 217 S. Main
Oldest in Texas
Contact [email protected]
Flecha3Music.com
PO Box 82
Lockhart, TX 78644
Welcome
August 12 is the anniversary of the 1840 Battle of Plum Creek – arguably Lockhart's most significant
historical commemoration – providing the occasion for this first Plum Creek Symposium. Our foremost
historian Donaly Brice, given the 2016 Spirit Award by the Lockhart Chamber of Commerce, is the
motive force behind this event. It is presented by Evenings with the Songwriter, the highly successful
monthly series of the Dr. Eugene Clark Library “exploring the art and craft of songwriting”. Producer and
Host Fletcher Clark has teamed up with Library Director Bertha Martinez to bring this series through its
sixth season, occurring on the last Tuesday of each month in the Library's historic lyceum, the oldest
continually used library building in Texas. It is free to the public, thanks to the support of Friends of the
Song Patti Payne & Todd Blomerth, Clare & Donaly Brice, and Esther & Bob Wilson. Songwriters all over
the country sing the praises of this unique event. Fletcher and Donaly collaborated on a program for the
Friends of the Susanna Dickinson Museum in Austin, beginning their path of presenting Texas history in
lecture, song and verse. Donaly had admired Kevin Fontenot's presentation of his paper to the East
Texas Historical Association. Craig Toungate's In the Shadow of Giants had previously been presented in
its entirety in 2012 at Lockhart's Gaslight-Baker Theatre. These common themes of history and music
bring them all together for you.
Program
The Great Comanche Raid
The Battle of Plum Creek
Donaly Brice
Songs of Susanna
Messenger of the Alamo
Fletcher Clark & Donaly Brice
Runaway Scrape
Texas’ Sabine Shoot
Fletcher Clark & Donaly Brice
Stout and High
Country Music Remembers the Alamo
Kevin Fontenot
How I Met and Became
My Own Grandpa
The Tale of the Tale of Meredith Toungate
Craig Toungate
In addition to intermissions between the presentations, the Morning Session will adjourn after
Songs of Susanna for a Lunch Break at 11:30am, to reconvene at 1:00pm.
THE GREAT COMANCHE RAID The Battle of Plum Creek
“The Great Comanche Raid of 1840 was the boldest and most concerted
Indian depredation in the history of Texas,” wrote Donaly Brice in his
landmark work. “The raid resulted in two of the bloodiest and most
significant Indian battles Texas ever witnessed.” The Battle of Plum Creek
began about five miles southeast of Lockhart along the wooded banks of
Plum Creek, when a small group of volunteers defeated Comanche and
Kiowa warriors who had participated in the Great Comanche Raid of 1840.
Veteran frontier leaders like Matthew “Old Paint” Caldwell and Ben
McCulloch were busy gathering the scattered volunteers, militia, and Texas
Rangers who fought the battle, answering the call from Gonzales, Seguin, San Antonio, Austin,
Bastrop, Goliad, Victoria, and La Grange, and from scattered homesteads all across central Texas. In
early August of 1840, under the silvery light of a brilliant full moon, referred to by early Texas
settlers for good reason as a 'Comanche moon', a war party of more than 600 Comanche and Kiowa
warriors had swept out of the 'Comancheria' and rode for the heart of the Republic of Texas. The
massive raid was launched in retaliation for what the Comanches perceived to be the unprovoked
killing previously of twelve Penateka war chiefs and many innocent women and children at the
Council House peace talks in San Antonio. On August 12 several Texan forces, under Maj. Gen. Felix
Huston, defeated the Comanches at Plum Creek near Lockhart. Following this battle, Col. John H.
Moore led an expedition against the Comanches on the upper Colorado River. These Texan victories
brought a crushing defeat to the most hostile Indian tribe in Texas, and the Comanches were never
able to pose another major threat to the settlers of the South Central Texas region.
SONGS OF SUSANNA Messenger of the Alamo
In song, verse and lecture, author/historian Donaly Brice and songwriter
Fletcher Clark bring to life this great Texas heroine. Fletcher’s epic ballad,
There Must Be a Good Man in Texas, tells the panoramic tale of Susanna
Dickinson - in itself a microcosm of the emergence of Texas. We follow Susanna
(nee Wilkerson) in her travels from Tennessee to Gonzales, Texas, with her first
husband Almeron Dickinson, who would become a fallen hero at the Alamo.
As Messenger of the Alamo, she carried Santa Anna’s demand for capitulation
to General Sam Houston, who then prepared his Texian army to join in the
‘Runaway Scrape’. After victory at San Jacinto, she found herself widowed and
penniless with her infant daughter Angelina, Babe of the Alamo. Unskilled and
illiterate, she would marry three more men in Houston, seeking in vain that husband who would
keep her and her daughter happy and secure. Moving to Lockhart, she would marry her fifth
husband Joseph Hannig, a young German immigrant half her age. Moving to Austin, ultimately
Susanna Wilkerson Dickinson Williams Herring Bellows Hannig would become prosperous and
respected.
RUNAWAY SCRAPE Texas' Sabine Shoot
Fletcher Clark and Donaly Brice recount this frenzied flight before the
advancing forces of cruel Santa Anna. RUNAWAY SCRAPE ends with victory
at San Jacinto and the capture and surrender of the tyrant. As a young
officer in the Mexican Army under the command of Joaquín de Arredondo
with his fierce counterinsurgency policy of mass executions,
Generalissimo Santa Anna seems to have formed his policy and conduct in
the Texas Revolution. The Tornel Decree had been initially issued by the Mexican government in
response to depredations by pirates upon Mexican coastal towns and outposts, but when it
became clear that Texian insurgents were intent upon armed response to Mexican military
presence, the decree was invoked against them. So Texians who found themselves in a state of
rebellion - whether their intent be enforcement of their citizenship and loyalty to their
consititutional government or a desire for total independence from Mexico - were soon to realize
that Santa Anna intended to show no quarter and spare no measure in his use of the Tornel Decree.
As the Mexican Army moved north across the Rio Bravo, citizens became alarmed as early as
January of 1836 and as far south as San Patricio, which had been caught up in the failed Matamoros
Expedition of 1835–36. The English translation of the Tornel Decree was then published in New
Orleans and in Texas prior to the Battle of the Alamo with Travis and the Battle of Coleto Creek with
Fannin. Civilians had begun their flight in the ‘Sabine Shoot’ toward the imagined safety of the
United States beyond the Sabine River, while Houston attempted to form a true Texian army in
Gonzales. Further news of the fall of all at the Alamo spurred him to order the burning of Gonzales.
News of the massacre and executions at Goliad and the burning of Bastrop further fed the peoples'
fear. Thus, the frenzied civilian flight and the ragged military retreat known as the Runaway Scrape.
STOUT AND HIGH Country Music Remembers the Alamo
Texas historian and musicologist Kevin Fontenot explores the manner in
which country music artists have used the story of the Alamo and its
defenders to discuss ideas of heroism, patriotism, freedom, and Texas
itself. From the triumphalist view of Marty Robbins' "The Ballad of the
Alamo" and Tex Ritter's "Remember the Alamo" to the harsher realism of
Robbins' "Jimmy Martinez" and the Wagoneers' "Stout and High," the
discussion will examine the complex ways country musicians utilized the
Alamo to confront the Cold War, civil disturbance, and the role of the individual in history. Finally,
the presentation looks at the narrative tradition in country music and the place the Alamo holds in
that little discussed area of the music. The lecture will be illustrated with the aforementioned
songs and more such as Tennessee Ernie Ford's "The Ballad of Davy Crockett," Johnny Cash's
"Remember the Alamo," Brother Dave Gardner's "Coward at the Alamo," and snippets from Bob
Wills, Ernest Tubb, George Strait, and Asleep at the Wheel.
HOW I MET AND BECAME MY OWN GRANDPA The Tale of the Tale of Meredith Toungate
Native Texan troubadour Craig Toungate created In the Shadow of Giants
for the Bob Bullock Texas State Museum. His portrayal of his great
grandfather, Texas pioneer settler Meredith Toungate, is a riveting
historical perspective of the Texas Revolution. The story follows the
exploits of two young men, Meredith and his friend Robert Hancock
Hunter, as they heeded the impassioned call from Travis to relieve the
garrison at the Alamo. Finding it too late, they joined Houston’s army at the
burning of Gonzales, then all the way through to the Battle of San Jacinto,
where they found themselves guarding the captured leader Santa Anna
during a critical juncture. In his full stage presentation, Craig, as Meredith, weaves a multi-media
tapestry of these stories using original songs and monologue based on eyewitness accounts and
primary documents, relying heavily on the memoir left by his running buddy Robert H. Hunter, to
remember the courageous men and women who forged the beginning of the Republic of Texas.
These stories are not the ones found in the school history books; they are full of human emotion,
with both drama and humor, as only can be told by those who lived it. Craig now tells the story of
“How I Met and Became my Own Grandpa”, recounting the uncovering of his family history through
genealogy, and the unfolding of the creation of In the Shadow of Giants. “It’s like being on a treasure
hunt, combined with a mystery novel, interspersed with spiritual intervention from behind the veil,
and all while doing your best to dance with the muses,” says Craig.
DR. EUGENE CLARK LIBRARY
This unique and historically significant building was built with a $10,000 bequest from Dr. Eugene
Clark. The Library has served as cultural center for the city of Lockhart since 1900. President William
Howard Taft has spoken from the stage. The architecture of the building has been a source of
curiosity to many professional architects. Even as the oldest contiunually operating library building
in Texas, today it continues to serve as a focal point for community activities and is the major source
of informational and pleasure reading for Lockhart and Caldwell County residents, capably and
lovingly managed by Director Bertha Maritinez and her dedicated staff, supported by Lockhart's
Friends of the Library. Evenings with the Songwriter occurs on the last Tuesday of each month in
the Lyeceum of Lockhart’s historic Dr. Eugene Clark Library. Fletcher Clark hosts as his guest the
finest songwriters from Texas and around the country, exploring their art and craft. Not merely a
performance, nor an interview, nor a song swap, nor a workshop, it incorporates of all these, as
artists present and discuss their songs and careers. These Evenings are available to the public free
of charge, thanks to the able Library staff and local support from Friends of the Song sponsors Patti
Payne & Todd Blomerth, Clare & Donaly Brice, and Esther & Bob Wilson. In its sixth season, over
fifty guests have appeared. Producer Clark attributes the success of Evenings with the Songwriter to
the Library’s ambiance: “…folks have their library manners and are really listening.”
Born in Austin, Donaly Brice grew up in Lockhart, and has a BS from
Southwest Texas State College (now Texas State University) and a history
MA from Sam Houston State University. First a teacher, he enlisted in the
Navy, stationed in the Pentagon and landing in the Smithsonian Institution
where he was introduced to historical and archival research. Donaly began
in the Archives Division of the Texas State Library in 1977 as a Processing
Archivist, Research Assistant, and, finally, Reference Archivist for the
Library - a job he held until his recent retirement. Donaly attributes his
love of Texas history to his remembrance of going out to his great-uncle's
farm and learning about the historic Battle of Plum Creek which occurred
on the property. A charter member of the Caldwell County Genealogical and Historical Society
and the Caldwell County Historical Commission, he served on the Caldwell County
Sesquicentennial Committee, the Dr. Eugene Clark Restoration Committee and the Caldwell
County Courthouse Restoration Committee, principally responsible for the research that
allowed the Caldwell County Courthouse Historic District to be placed on the National Register
of Historic Places. Donaly has written or co-written four books on Texas history, including The
Great Comanche Raid: Boldest Indian Attack of the Texas Republic and The Governor's Hounds: The
Texas State Police, 1870-1873. He has written a number of historical articles for the The Plum Creek
Almanac and The East Texas Historical Journal. Donaly is a Fellow of the East Texas Historical
Association and the Texas State Historical Association, and a member of the West Texas
Historical Association and the Southern Historical Association, regularly appearing as a guest
lecturer.
Singer-songwriter Fletcher Clark's diverse musical styles are influenced by
the Texas artists for whom he has been sideman or producer, and by his
longtime involvement with the Kerrville Folk Festival. His band Balcones
Fault presented scores of sold-out shows at Austin's legendary concert hall
Armadillo World Headquarters (for which he was marketing director in its
heyday). Growing up in San Antonio, he began playing music
professionally in high school, then attending Williams College in
Massachusetts with concentrations in Economics and Music Theory and
Composition. As a boy, he developed a strong interest in Texas history,
spending much time at the Alamo and its grounds, right across from the old
Medical Arts Building where his father and grandfather maintained their offices. Fletcher is
creator, producer and host for the highly successful Evenings with the Songwriter in its sixth
season at Lockhart’s historic Dr. Eugene Clark Library. He provides music for Emmanuel
Episcopal Church, and has published his Personal Hymnal, Open Up the Doors, releasing a CD
twelve recordings from the collection – a musical ministry which reaches other congregations
with his 'Folk Mass' and 'Parish House Concerts'. Beginning with a commission to prepare a
program for the Susanna Dickinson Museum in Austin, Fletcher continues his collaboration
with his friend and history mentor Donaly Brice presenting programs on Texas history for
interested audiences and groups. This singer-songwriter regularly performs at area listening
rooms, events, festivals and house concerts, working solo or with the support of able sidemen. He
recurrently is a substitute teacher at Luling High School.
Kevin S. Fontenot is a native of Oberlin, Louisiana. He holds degrees in
history from Louisiana College and Tulane University. He taught
Louisiana history and Southern cultural history for twelve years at
Tulane's School of Continuing Studies (SCS). Tulane awarded him the
John Dyer Award for Excellence in Teaching. Fontenot is a widely known
scholar of the history of country music, having studied with famed Bill C.
Malone, and is a frequent speaker at the International Country Music
Conference and other historical associations. He is co-editor of Accordions,
Fiddles, Two Step and Swing: A Cajun Music Reader. His articles and essays
have appeared in Country Music Annual, Country Music Goes to War,
Shreveport Sounds in Black and White, and Louisiana Women. Fontenot has authored liner notes to
CDs by Governor Jimmie Davis, the Lost Bayou Ramblers, and the recent Year o'Jubilo, a
compilation of 1920s country music related to the Civil War. He is co-author with Patrick Huber
of the forthcoming North of the Ohio: Northern Fiddlers and String Bands of the 1920s. The History
Press will soon publish his upcoming history of Cajun music and Zydeco. Kevin lives in Austin,
Texas, where he teaches history at Fulmore Middle School.
While you may never have heard of Craig Toungate, chances are good that
you have heard his voice singing in national commercials for Nissan,
Southwest Airlines, Applebee’s and others. Or maybe from children’s
recordings, as Craig has been a featured singer on 50 recordings released by
Disney since 1997, singing everything from character voices to Rock n’
Roll to a rap song as the Big Bad Wolf. This Round Rock, Texas native and
descendant of the “Old 300” has been playing solo and in various bands
since he was 12. Starting with school buddies playing for school dances and
talent shows, he was soon working in the fertile club scene in nearby
Austin, at legendary clubs such as the Skyline, the Split Rail, the Shorthorn,
the Cricket Club, Soap Creek Saloon, the Broken Spoke, and Liberty Lunch; singing and playing
guitar with bands like Cactus Jack, The Almost Brothers, The All Star Swing Revue, and Ro-Tel
& The Hot Tomatoes. During his 40 plus year professional music career Craig has performed all
over the United States, and has toured Europe, sharing the stage with many top names in the
business. Since the Texas State History Bullock Museum commissioned and debuted In the
Shadow of Giants in 2009, it has been performed there many times, has been the featured show at
the Texas Independence celebration at Washington-on-the-Brazos, the Birthplace of Texas, and
has been performed for community theaters and schools around the state. Currently, Craig is
writing the score for the new musical Rosetta, based on the life of legendary gospel singer Rosetta
Tharpe. Craig and his wife, Susan Lincoln, reside in Austin, Texas.
ACCOLADES
Once experienced, their programs of song and history will not be forgotten. They give new life to
our understanding of our Texas heritage. Clark and Brice working together is indeed a true delight.
Chuck Parsons, Author/Historian
Craig Toungate fills our hearts and minds with this epic journey into his family's history. He has
created an experience where the audience can feel every drop of sweat, smell the dust of the trail,
and hear the sounds of battle through the power of his storytelling and songs. In the Shadow of
Giants is a true masterpiece.
Catherine Kenyon, past Education Director
Texas State History Museum
When I first met Kevin Fontenot and heard his presentation at our Association meeting, I
immediately thought of my colleague Fletcher Clark and how Kevin’s connection between history
and contemporary culture would be a perfect complement to our own presentations.
Donaly Brice, Author/Historian
Fellow, East Texas Historical Association
Lockhart Eateries
Bella Sera Italian Restaurant, 2001 S Colorado (2.0 mi)
Black's Barbecue, 215 N Main
Chisholm Trail Bar-B-Q,1323 S Colorado (1.0 mi)
Garcia's Mexican Food Restaurant, 1711 S Colorado (1.5 mi)
Guadalajara,1710 S Colorado (1.4 mi)
Henry's Restaurant, 215 S Commerce
Kreuz Market, 619 N Colorado (0.5 mi)
Loop & Lil's Pizza, 107 N Main
Lu Lu's Lunch Box, 106 N Main
Market Street Cafe & Apothecary, 102 E Market
Mr Taco, 831 S Colorado (0.6 mi)
Reyna's Mexican Bakery, 119 E Walnut
Smitty's Market, 208 S Commerce
T&C Cafe, 107 E San Antonio