Legacy welcomes a taste of the west with its new sculpture park.

The trail drive is headed towards Legacy in Plano. Plans and construction are underway for the massive public art display of 19 longhorns being led to a nearby watering hole (a fountain pool to be located in Baccus Park), with three cowboys keeping close watch along the trail. The trail boss will be posted on a hill next to the fountain area looking back on the herd as they drive their way northward. This wonderful display of rich western heritage is sure to add character as the scenic backdrop to the next phase of The Shops at Legacy retail spread– part of Legacy Town Center, a mélange of shops, eateries and living spaces.

Building on the spirit of the west, the herd of bronzed giants created by Glen Rose sculptor Robert Summers will begin to start down the dusty trail along Bishop Road beginning early 2006. Completion of the new park is scheduled for January– with public walkways and park benches along the trail, Baccus Park will soon become a major attraction for visitors and community members citywide.

This public art display will rest right on the original soil that longhorns grazed along as early as 1846. In fact, the Legacy area has so much interesting history to offer as the foundation for this wonderful new attraction. According the Friends of the Plano Public Library, Henry Cook, one of the early settlers to the area, went east for one hundred head of cattle in 1846.

The Shawnee Trail was a recognized and important cattle route by 1854, and trailing on it mounted steadily until the disruption of the Civil War. The trail began in Brownsville and came through San Antonio, Austin, Waco, Dallas, Lebanon, crossed the Red River at Preston Bend and continued on past Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, and Baxter Springs, ending in either St. Louis, Sedalia or Kansas City, Missouri. In Dallas, where herds of bawling longhorns raised clouds of dust in the streets, people knew the section of the trail from their town to the Red River as the Preston Road. Preston Road began in Dallas at Cedar Springs and came north past Frankford where there was a spring that made a natural camping ground. The trail worked its way past the early home of Clint S. and Kate Haggard. Wagon ruts are said to be faintly visible even now in the former pasture of their grandson, Ray Haggard, and in the Baccus pasture near Baccus Cemetery. The trail next passed the Henry Cook home which was located on a little crest so that it was visible in all directions, a trail marker by day and a light house by night. The Cook house was almost a legend in its time and was known as the “lonesome house” because of its location. From there the trail went on north to Lebanon and thence to Preston Bend.

By 1860, the settlers had begun to build up sizable herds and to prosper. Each year they held great roundups in which every family participated. The calves were branded with the brands of the cows they followed, each settlers having his special brand. Community drives were held. The cattle were herded to Lebanon, which was the assembly point in this area. At Lebanon they joined the Shawnee Trail and were herded up to the northern markets in Missouri and Kansas where a four-year-old steer sold for $10.

For a period of about twenty years, interrupted only by the Civil War, the Shawnee Trail was an important cattle route. But there were problems like taxes levied by the Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Choctaw Indians along the northern part of the route, and the harassment by northern farmers who used the excuse of Texas cattle fever. So, in 1867, when a man by the name of McCoy arranged a successful drive to Abilene, many drovers began to use the new western route, which became known as the Chisholm Trail. This new trail made use of Fort Worth instead of Dallas for its outfitting center and the Shawnee Trail soon became a colorful memory.

The Shawnee Trail has been commemorated by a Texas Historical marker at Lebanon and by a yearly trail ride. The Shawnee Trail Association was formed and each fall a group travels the old trail from the Red River to Dallas in time for the parade, which precedes the opening of the Texas State Fair.

The story is rich, and soon our community will begin to enjoy its full flavor in the midst of modern day progress as we continue to write history for the future.

A season to remember…

Which American president proclaimed Thanksgiving Day a national holiday? Abraham Lincoln, 1863. Although the holiday originated in 1621, it took more than 200 years to really catch on.

A New National Holiday

By the mid–1800s, many states observed a Thanksgiving holiday. Meanwhile, the poet and editor Sarah J. Hale had begun lobbying for a national Thanksgiving holiday. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, looking for ways to unite the nation, discussed the subject with Hale. In 1863 he gave his Thanksgiving Proclamation, declaring the last Thursday in November a day of thanksgiving.
In 1939, 1940, and 1941, Franklin Roosevelt, seeking to lengthen the Christmas shopping season, proclaimed Thanksgiving the third Thursday in November. Controversy followed, and Congress passed a joint resolution in 1941 decreeing that Thanksgiving should fall on the fourth Thursday of November, where it remains to this day.

Presidential pardons for our feathered friends.

Each year the President of the United States is expected to pardon a turkey before Thanksgiving at a White House ceremony. The tradition dates back fifty-seven years to Harry S. Truman and has been compassionately enforced ever since. The turkey is given to Kidwell Farm, a petting zoo at Frying Pan Park in Herndon, Virginia. The turkey in question gets a last minute pardon before arriving, and is then led to his new home at the Turkey Barn after enduring a turkey "roast" full of poultry humor and history.

In 2004 President Bush gave a turkey named Biscuit a last-minute reprieve. The president saved Biscuit from ending up as the main course of someone's Thanksgiving feast.

This year the turkey was chosen from a farm in West Virginia. A number of hatchlings were set aside in July and regularly hand-fed to get them ready for the pardoning. In November two finalists were sent to Washington for the Rose Garden ceremony—a turkey named Biscuit and his alternate, Gravy. An alternate is chosen each year just in case the first bird is unable to perform his duties.

For the second time, people voted for the turkeys' names on the White House web site. Biscuit and Gravy won out over Patience and Fortitude, and Gobble and Peck.

Getting back to the roots…

The “Thanksgiving Story” has a few twist and turns that are often overlooked. Now everyone is familiar with the Pilgrims arrival at Plymouth Rock, but did you know that the majority of the folks on the Mayflower weren’t Separatists at all. In fact only about a third of the original colonists were, and the rest were hired hands to protect the interest of the London stock company that financed the pilgrimage to America in the first place.

Another piece of trivia that is often overlooked concerns the fact that the Pilgrims may not have actually dined on Turkey. The fact is Governor William Bradford sent “four men fowling” after wild ducks and geese. It’s not certain that wild turkey ever showed up on the table, but it is certain that they did have venison. Another obvious tradition at most Thanksgiving Day dinners is the pumpkin pie, but it’s very unlikely that the first feast included that treat. The supply of flour had long diminished and there were no breads or pastries to speak of. But not all was lost! They did eat boiled pumpkin and produced a type of fried bread from their corn crop– could this have been the first taco shells? Likely not. But there’s no doubt that the Thanksgiving Day dinner has evolved over the last several centuries– and thank goodness! Happy “Turkey” Day!