Tuesday, June 25, 2024
The Texas Heroes Foundation held its 14th annual Stroll Thru Texas History event at the historic Acton Cemetery off Fall Creek Highway May 17-19. It’s a local event held every year on the third weekend of May at the Cemetery. The Stroll gives Hood County and surrounding area students and families a chance to walk through live interactions and reenactments depicting different points and heroes throughout Texas’ colorful and vast history.
The event is put on by the Texas Heroes Foundation. “It’s a nonprofit that was founded in 2012,” said Errol Flannery, a member of the board. “Our purpose is to teach Texas history to people of all ages, in particular our fourth and seventh grade students in schools who are learning Texas history.” The main draw for the event is the live demonstrations and reenactments put on by volunteers.
When asked what people can expect when coming out to the stroll, Flannery said, “We’ve got Tejanos explaining the history of the Tejano People, we have Native Americans, we’ve got Civil War reenactors, black powder demonstrations, we have a group called the Texian army of 1836; they talk about the history of the Texas Revolution. We also have a Texas Rangers reenactors group that go into the history and the weapons of the Rangers.”
Along with the ones Flannery mentioned, this year also featured a working chuck wagon that showed and gave samples of food made in the traditional chuck wagon way. Not only can families learn about Texas’ rich and vibrant history in a fun and unique way, but the weekend also featured live music from singers, guitar players and young fiddle players performing traditional period cowboy music.
The location of the Stroll at the Acton cemetery has very deep Texas history roots as well. “So, I’m a fourth great-grandson of David and Elizabeth Crockett,” Flannery said. “Elizabeth Crockett came to this area and settled in 1854 with three of her children. We are located right outside the Acton cemetery; the burials began in this cemetery in the early 1850s. Elizabeth Patton Crockett died in 1860 and was buried here,” Flannery said regarding the location of the event.
According to the Texas State Historical Association, a bill was proposed in 1911 to the Texas legislature by state Senators Offa Shivers Lattimore and Pierce Ward to elect $2,000 to erect a monument over Elizabeth Crockett’s grave. In 1913, the 28-foot statue depicting a pioneer woman looking west, representing Elizabeth Crockett, was unveiled. It is now just known as the Acton State Historical Site. At one point it was the smallest State Park in Texas, but it is no longer maintained by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and has been in the care of the Texas Historical Commission since 2008.
Mark your calendar for the third weekend of May next year so you and your family can take a Stroll Thru Texas History with the Texas Heroes Foundation to learn and enjoy the history of Texas. For more information about the event and the Texas Heroes Foundation go to texasheroesfoundation.org.
