One Last Hurrah

During the next 18 months, Joseph Walker, despite being 65 years of age and with failing eyesight, put on a performance which displayed all the skills and knowledge he had acquired during the last half century.  Beyond being Walker's last adventure, it demonstrated all the frontier expertise Americans had been acquiring dating back to his Great Grandfather John Walker in way back in the Appalachian Creek Valley.  (see earlier post about the Walker in Appalachian Valley).

Captain Walker's party followed the Rio Grande, engaging in training exercises since most were young and inexperienced.  Of the 31 men in the party, nearly all were under 35 years of age with rough attitudes and itchy fingers.  Walker instructed them in setting up defensible camp, identifying quicksand, packing mules properly and the importance of staying together.  The party left a very narrow trail with few distinct signs to tell the size or composition of the party.

Next time...Walker vs. Mangas

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This Day in History:   On January 15, 1933, after nearly a century of cooperative living, the utopian Morman Amana colonists of Iowa begin using U.S. currency for the first time.