Ramesh and Curt first stopped here on their one-day whirlwind tour of three Texas cities. Our tour of the Texas Ranger Museum, allegedly one of the top tourist sites in Texas, was disappointing. The museum contain mostly guns, badges, and photos of Texas rangers. Many of the guns were interesting but after a few rooms of them, they got redundant. (Though the crossbow was an unexpected surprise.) The badges held little interest, the photos and busts of Ranger old-timers held none; except to note that there were almost no minorities or women among them (far less than 1% of all that we saw were combined minorities and women). There was a large display set up for "Walker: Texas Ranger", (the Chuck Norris TV show). In real life there are only about a hundred Rangers, who act as sort of the FBI for the state. The Rangers are not part of the Highway Patrol or any police force. The most interesting, though still understated exhibit, was the Bonnie and Clyde exhibit. The Texas Rangers were apparently instrumental in tracking down the bank robbers in Louisiana. Adjacent to the Texas Ranger Museum is the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. That wasn't appealing enough for us to spend some of our limited time. We got directions from the nearby visitor center to the grounds of what was once the Branch Davidian Compound, what the Branch Davidians call Mount Carmel.

We drove 10 minutes to get to Mount Carmel and were surprised at what we found. At the entrance to the grounds, we met Amo Paul Bishop Roden, a pleasant, fortyish woman who explained to us that she was a Branch Davidian, unassociated with David Koresh or his group. She was making a legal claim to the grounds. The surviving Koresh followers are also making claims to the grounds and were backing them up by constructing a church on the location of the former compound. Had we not arrived on a Saturday, the Davidian Sabbath, followers would have been working on the church (visitor help in the construction is welcomed). Ms. Roden and the Koreshites do not get along and both have had structures they've built or used burned in acts of arson.

There are no above ground structures of the compound remaining. The government had them bulldozed down, perhaps to hide evidence of its wrongdoing.

These portions of the underground "bunkers" are now exposed.

The compound's foundation was pockmarked where incendiary devices melted the concrete and where tank tracks chipped it away. The large swimming pool was mostly intact, its shallow murky waters attesting to its disuse. Entrances to four underground tunnels were partially obscured. The Davidians buried a couple of school buses to use as below ground habitats, a bent corner of one was visible at ground level. The ceilings of the underground "bunkers" had been torn off in places revealing several large rooms and extensive wiring and plumbing.

Ms. Roden gave us a map of the area and some information related to the government raids on the Branch Davidian Compound in the spring of 1993. We've done additional research on the subject and it didn't take much research to see that government bodies--the Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and the FBI--acted atrociously. Their behavior was immoral and likely illegal. The initial raid on Mount Carmel on February 28 was a tragic version of the ATF playing the role of the Keystone Cops. They used excessive force on the Branch Davidians and themselves (ATF members shot themselves and perhaps each other, and shot Branch Davidians in the back) when a phone call would have sufficed. (It seems the only complaint, within their jurisdiction, the ATF had on David Koresh or his followers, was a $200 unpaid fee for owning a certain type of weapon.) My take on it is the local authorities, Texas cowboys or cowboy wannabees, saw a chance to direct their surging testosterone and took it.

When the FBI took over from the bungling ATF, they too applied Texas sized force against the Davidians. Texans aren't known for their patience. Their cruel heavyhandedness was a critical factor in the April 19, 1993 fire at the compound that killed 80 people including dozens of women and children.

Apparently placed for effect, this baby chair atop twisted wreckage stirs sadness, disgust, and anger. Both the Branch Davidians and the FBI forces present were blind and ignorant. Innocent victims paid.

[Curt's thoughts: I believe higher-ups in the government (for example former Senator Danforth's investigative commission) will wade through the lies and misinformation spread by local bumblers and people covering their butts, and reveal much of the injustice that was done. I don't believe the wrong could be righted or that guilty parties will be punished much if at all.]

Driving into Fort Worth we admired the many crisscrossing highways and supporting structures. (Still, more were in the process of being built.) Other than driving, our time in Fort Worth was spent in the Kimbell Art museum. They had some American Indian, Chinese, and Japanese pieces, but we either skipped or scurried through these. (Time was too short.) Instead we spent our time in the main hall where we works by Picasso, Matisse, Van Gogh, and Cézanne and late European Renaissance art. This was Ramesh's first visit to an art museum and he was most impressed and entertained. He, like Curt, questioned the artistry of Picasso and Matisse, and was little enamored of their contemporaries. But he could not resist the universal appeal of the Renaissance art. Curt was aware of Ruebens, Rembrandt, and Van Dyck; but his favorite pieces were from artists he did not know. Why do Picasso, Matisse, et al get the publicity while the more talented are less acclaimed?

Guess which one is from the more famous "artist"? If you could have the creativity and talent of the painters of either one of these Kimball Art Museum paintings, which would you choose? Picasso gets credit for his creativity in first painting in a cubist style, but after a few dozen works (and he did thousands) it wears thin.

We bought several prints and postcards of our favorite pieces and hoped to pop into the Amon Carter Museum to see some works by Western artist Frederic Remington. Unfortunately, that museum was closed for renovations. That turned out to be fortuitous as we needed all our remaining touring time for Dallas.

The main purpose for us to go to Dallas, and indeed to make the northern excursion from Austin through Waco and Fort Worth, was to visit the Dealy Plaza National Historic Landmark including The Sixth Floor Museum. It was while passing Dealy Plaza that John Kennedy was shot by Lee Oswald from the 6th floor of the Texas School Book Depository. The building is now the Dallas County Administrative Building and its sixth floor has been converted to a museum memorializing the life, times, and death of John Kennedy. (We spent several minutes driving around the Kennedy motorcade route looking for The Sixth Floor Museum, including driving up a "no cars permitted" cobblestone street on which pedestrians gave us bewildered looks.)

It was awesome seeing and being at the location Curt had seen and heard so much about in films and books. (Ramesh hadn't heard anything about the Kennedy assassination but he enjoyed the compelling story.) The Museum does a wonderful job giving one a sense of the early 1960's and conveying the events of that November weekend. It may paint an overly positive picture of the Kennedy presidency, but even that is consistent with the thinking in and about that era and it instills a deeper sense of tragedy as the story of the assassination is told. The Museum uses an audiotape tour (which we took), and over 400 artifacts, photographs, and videos to lead the visitor from the Kennedy campaign, through its (legislatively ineffective) administration, through the instability of the early 60's (the heat of the cold war, space race, and racial unrest), to the assassination and its aftermath including the worldwide shock and grief. To protect the children who tour it, The Sixth Floor Museum does not exhibit photos from or the graphic Zapruder film itself.

The last portion of The Sixth Floor Museum presents the results from

The 6th floor window of the former Texas School Book Depository from which Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly fired an alleged rifle that allegedly killed the alleged John F. Kennedy.

the five government sponsored investigations into the assassination. All of them concluded that Kennedy was hit by two shots fired from behind though only one claimed the killing was part of a plot that went beyond Oswald. (The House Committee in 1978, based on its interpretation of acoustic evidence, concluded that there was a second gunman on the grassy knoll that fired and missed. This interpretation and evidence has since been widely rejected as flawed. In 1988 the Justice Department announced there was "no persuasive evidence" of conspiracy and closed the Kennedy (and King) investigations.) Despite these government assurances, in a "recent poll" (the museum did not give the date of the poll), over 70% of Americans believe there was a conspiracy behind Kennedy's assassination and nearly 70% of Americans don't wish the government to do another investigation. I assume that means many believe that the government won't get to the bottom of a conspiracy, through ineptitude or collaboration, and hence the money spent on the investigation would be wasted. Yet another government report of "Oswald acted alone" is not likely to change many conspiracy believing minds. (See Curt's A General Rebuttal of JFK Assassination Conspiracy Theories. His contribution to quieting the madness of conspiracy theories.)

The corner of the sixth floor from which Oswald fired the shots at Kennedy has been restored to is appearance on November 22, 1963 and sealed off behind Plexiglas. The opposite corner of the 6th floor, where Oswald hid his rifle, has also been restored and sealed off. The sense of history in the Museum is incredible.

Curt's concluding thoughts:

Kennedy in death, especially when and how he died, has done more for his country than he ever did or could do in life. In life, Kennedy was among the most charismatic and the least accomplished presidents. Indeed his was a scandal filled presidency whose scandals (sex, money, drugs, blackmail, assassination plots) did not break while he was in office. The U.S., as a world power, was diminished under Kennedy and he nearly brought the world to a nuclear war. (See Curt's notes on Seymour Hersh's book, The Dark Side of Camelot for a fuller discussion of these scandals and recently revealed stories.) Had Richard Nixon been assassinated prior to the Watergate story breaking, his place in America's consciousness would be much higher. Indeed, many people (including me) now think Watergate and getting rid of Nixon was in the best interests of the country. Yet, Nixon seemed to be less of a weasel, less self-absorbed and oriented and more productive a president than Kennedy. I am in the minority position of believing the assassination of Kennedy was in the best interests of the country. The enduring, appealing Kennedy image and the distance we are now from being offended from his scandals and incompetence, will ensure a high place for John Kennedy in American hearts and minds for generations to come. (Another "recent poll" cited in The Sixth Floor Museum claimed a majority of Americans think Kennedy was the best president in U.S. history.) I believe there will come a time, perhaps when people no longer feel connected to Kennedy through their own personal histories (i.e., when most or all of us who lived during his life are dead), when Kennedy will be looked at objectively and placed towards the bottom rung of presidents who served their country well in life.

Before leaving Dallas, we walked to the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial. This monument looks like a three story cube of cement from the outside, but passing through a narrow opening, one sees there is no roof to the structure. The walls are intended to shut out noise while the open top is "for spiritual communication." We found no spirits with which to communicate so we didn't stay long.

We ate a delicious dinner at a Whole Foods grocery store and headed back to Austin, arriving after 11:00 PM.

By the way, it was Ramesh Somisetty, an India Indian, who Curt photographed running down the grassy knoll, standing amongst the ruins of Mount Carmel, and shooting photographs atop the bell tower on the University of Texas campus in Austin.

© 2000 frantzml@juno.com