Thursday, November 28, 2019
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
The Wild Bunch
"When they weren’t robbing trains or banks, the two outlaws and their three cohorts—also often referred to as 'The Wild Bunch,' the 'Hole-in-the-Wall Gang' and the 'Fort Worth Five'—spent much of their downtime in Fort Worth. It was here that they, along with cowboys from the Chisholm Trail and fellow Western legends such as Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, indulged at the many saloons, gambling parlors, dance halls and bordellos around town.
"But if a picture is worth a thousand words, a black-and-white portrait taken by a Fort Worth photographer in 1900 has become priceless. It marked the beginning of the end of a long run for the five outlaws, directly leading to their downfall.
"The legend goes like this: A few months after the successful robbery of a bank in Nevada, the 'Fort Worth Five' gang—Robert LeRoy Parker (Butch Cassidy), Harry Longabaugh (the Sundance Kid), Harvey Logan, Will Carver and Ben Kilpatrick—arrived at the gallery and studio of John Swartz located at 705 1/2 Main Street, not far from their home base in Fort Worth's Hell’s Half-Acre. Speculation continues about why the five men were dressed in their best; whatever the occasion, they decided to have their photo taken in their finest formal attire. Apparently satisfied, each gang member ordered 6.5 x 8.5-inch prints to be picked up a week later, according to 'Butch Cassidy: A Biography' author Donna Ernst.
"Swartz proudly posted the portrait in his storefront window, unintentionally tipping off a detective who happened to pass by and recognize one of the outlaws. After ordering 50 copies the detective promptly 'returned to his office, just one block up at 817 Main Street, and began the process of identifying the other four men,' Ernst wrote. It wasn’t long until 'WANTED' posters identifying the members of 'The Wild Bunch' circulated throughout multiple states, soon covering trees, signs, saloons and Western establishments around the country. Accompanying the names of the criminals were mugshots of each criminal—cropped from Swartz’s iconic photograph,
From the Star-Telegram:
"It was chief detective Charles R. Scott of the Fort Worth police, not a private detective, who saw [the photo] in Swartz’s lobby, upstairs at 705 1/2 Main St. Scott wired the Denver office of Pinkerton detective agency ...
"[The gang members] were living in young Elizabeth Maddox’s hotel upstairs over a grocery at 1014 1/2 Main St., a block from the new sculpture and inside a Hell’s Half Acre saloon district that by then encompassed most of the south end of downtown.
"Fort Worth historian Richard F. Selcer, author of the definitive book on “Hell’s Half Acre” (TCU Press, 1991), guessed in a 2011 magazine article that the outlaws may have been celebrating one gang member’s engagement and bought suits and bowlers at the downtown Washer Bros. store, 900 Main St.
"The Main Street buildings are gone now, and the remaining saloons and bordellos were demolished in 1967 to build what is now the Fort Worth Convention Center.
"In 1994, [neurosurgeon George] Cravens bought the nearby Flatiron Building, a wedge-shaped, seven-story office tower built in 1907 for early-day surgeon Bacon Saunders, dean of what later became the TCU medical school. Saunders is credited with performing the first appendectomy in Texas.
"The Flatiron is one of few historic buildings remaining near the Acre, which flourished 40 years but dwindled with World War I. . . . Cravens commissioned New Orleans artist Franco Alessandrini to craft what began as a fiberglass sculpture.
From the Star-Telegram:
"It was chief detective Charles R. Scott of the Fort Worth police, not a private detective, who saw [the photo] in Swartz’s lobby, upstairs at 705 1/2 Main St. Scott wired the Denver office of Pinkerton detective agency ...
"[The gang members] were living in young Elizabeth Maddox’s hotel upstairs over a grocery at 1014 1/2 Main St., a block from the new sculpture and inside a Hell’s Half Acre saloon district that by then encompassed most of the south end of downtown.
"Fort Worth historian Richard F. Selcer, author of the definitive book on “Hell’s Half Acre” (TCU Press, 1991), guessed in a 2011 magazine article that the outlaws may have been celebrating one gang member’s engagement and bought suits and bowlers at the downtown Washer Bros. store, 900 Main St.
"The Main Street buildings are gone now, and the remaining saloons and bordellos were demolished in 1967 to build what is now the Fort Worth Convention Center.
"In 1994, [neurosurgeon George] Cravens bought the nearby Flatiron Building, a wedge-shaped, seven-story office tower built in 1907 for early-day surgeon Bacon Saunders, dean of what later became the TCU medical school. Saunders is credited with performing the first appendectomy in Texas.
"The Flatiron is one of few historic buildings remaining near the Acre, which flourished 40 years but dwindled with World War I. . . . Cravens commissioned New Orleans artist Franco Alessandrini to craft what began as a fiberglass sculpture.
Blue Men and Water Gardens
"Dedicated on October 19, 1974, the four-and-a-half -acre Water Garden is a gift to the citizens of Fort Worth from the Amon Carter Foundation. Motivated by Lady Bird Johnson’s civic beautification movement, the Foundation’s president, Ruth Carter Johnson, selected architect Philip Johnson, who had recently completed the Amon Carter Museum, to enhance several blocks of derelict property located in downtown Forth Worth.
"Flanked by the convention center, railroads, and an elevated freeway, Johnson designed the asymmetrical space to occupy multiple levels. Unlike his rectilinear Museum of Modern Art sculpture garden in New York City, in the Fort Worth Water Garden angular, polygonal forms of concrete, water, and vegetation shift and undulate across the park. The series of walkways, pools, terraces, and a central plaza create varied spaces that are both open, closed, sunken, raised, private, and public. The three main pools, celebrate different characteristics of water. The Quiet Pool features a sheet of water falling down into a still, sunken pool surrounded by bald cypress, while the Dancing Pool boasts forty aerating fountains. The highlight of the park is the Active Pool, where water rushes down steep, stone steps to a roaring gorge forty feet below. Visitors can descend above the gushing water on an elevated walkway of free-standing steps. One critic wrote, after the opening of the garden, that the Water Garden reflected Johnson’s departure from his ‘Miesian’ period to a more activated and dynamic geometry."
Saturday, November 09, 2019
From the sickbed to the scoresheet
Nina woke up sick on Wednesday morning sick and did not go to school the rest of the week, but on Friday night she rallied, and on Saturday, we drove 90 minutes to a U-14 game in Tuttle.
Nina was needed. Though we were supposed to arrive by 10:00 so we could warm up for 30 minutes before kickoff, at 10:35 ,we had 4 players on no coach. Shortly after, though, Coach Carrie arrived with enough girls to field a team of nine--the minimum needed. She arrived late because she had to pick up Evie to replace Naely, who was a late scratch due to a pulled muscle.
Though we were two down and had no subs, we were tied 0-0 at half time.
In the second, Kate scored on a penalty, Josie scored on a breakaway, and a persistent Nina scored the goal below, which was sealed the 3-0 victory.
The Nine: Josie, Caden, Santana, Darby, Evie, Kenley, and Natalia (front row); Nina, Kate, and Coach Carrie (back row).
Sunday, November 03, 2019
The Game-Winner!
We lost to Newcastle on Saturday, 2-4. Nina didn't get any shots on goal. These videos and photos are from Sunday's rematch.
Early in the re-match, Nina launched a quick-foot chip from the 18 that found the keeper's mitts.
We fell behind 0-1, but Kennedy--who wasn't with us on Saturday--scored the equalizer, and then scored a 2nd goal. Newcastle tied it up.
With the scored tied, late in the 2nd, Nina gets the goal that eluded her earlier. We shock Newcastle and win the game: 3-2.
Early in the re-match, Nina launched a quick-foot chip from the 18 that found the keeper's mitts.
We fell behind 0-1, but Kennedy--who wasn't with us on Saturday--scored the equalizer, and then scored a 2nd goal. Newcastle tied it up.
With the scored tied, late in the 2nd, Nina gets the goal that eluded her earlier. We shock Newcastle and win the game: 3-2.
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