Rogersvile, AL – October 1, 2008

We spent a lot of time on the road today and were able to see a lot of the Alabama and Tennessee countryside. There were cornfields, cotton fields, soybean fields, cattle farms, horse farms, steep hills and valleys, creeks … lots of beautiful scenery, and also a Polo Club.

Beth got to see Coon Dog Cemetery. This is the only cemetery of its kind in the world and began in 1937 with the burial of Troop, a legendary coonhound. Since then, other hunters started doing the same thing when their favorite coon dogs died. Today there are more than 185 coon dogs from all across the United States buried here.

There are headstones, some crafted of wood, some of sheet metal. There are also others having granite headstones like those found in a “normal cemetery”. The names, however are different. Patches, Preacher, Smoky, Bean Blossom, Bomma and Night Ranger are some of the names. Burials are still allowed in this cemetery, however the dog must be an authentic coon dog and there must be a witness to verify this.

Beth was, however, disappointed in the cemetery. She felt that because it had been advertised as tourist stop it should have been well kept up and well tended. In reality it was overgrown with grass and weeds. Darrell was happy to leave Coon Dog Cemetery. Beth thinks he did enjoy the roller coaster drive of the twisting, winding road getting there.

Our next stop was to a much more serious place, the Shiloh National Military Park. This park is the actual site of the April 6th & 7th 1862 battle between the Union and Confederate soldiers. 23,000 men were killed or wounded. We took a car tour after watching a 25 minute video. It was very moving to be on the actual grounds where such a horrific battle took place.

It was interesting to find out that there were 2 battalions from Iowa (our home state) involved in this battle. There were also men from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio involved in the fighting. Some of these men ended up at an area called the Hornets Nest where they repelled seven attacks of the Confederate Army. They were finally overrun and captured when the Confederates assembled all available artillery to bombard their position. However, their heroic efforts enabled General Grant to set up defensive positions for his remaining force as well as allowing time for reinforcements to arrive. This enabled his forces to defeat the Confederate forces the following day.

We also stopped at the Tennessee river Museum in Savanah Tennessee. It chronicles the history of the Tennessee river, the animals and the people that lived in and on it’s banks from pre-historic times to the early 1900’s.