Paleo Things and Glider Wings

Hi Blog!

It was homecoming weekend here in Lubbock, Texas. The Texas Tech Red Raiders hosted the Iowa State Cyclones on Saturday, October 21, 2017. The Goodyear Blimp was in town to provide national TV coverage. While half the city was crammed into Jones Stadium, we took this opportunity to visit two more museums.

Our first stop was the Lubbock Lake National Historic Landmark. Lubbock Lake is located in a meander of the Yellow House Draw, a tributary of the Brazos River, near ancient springs. People on the High Plains used the water resources in the draw until those resources went dry in the early 1930s. In 1936, the City of Lubbock dredged the meander in an effort to make it a usable water supply. These efforts were unsuccessful, but brought to light the archaeological significance of the site. Today, there is very little standing water and no actual lake at the site. However there is a really cool Visitor Center.

Lubbock Lake Landmark is extremely valuable because it possibly the only site in the U.S. that exhibits a virtually complete cultural sequence from the Clovis Period to historic times.  The site clearly shows many levels of cultural deposits that can be dated accurately due to the presence of clear geological stratigraphy (layers of various sediments representing different periods of time). From these deposits, nearly 175 radiocarbon dates are available. These periods are easily distinguished due to the separation of sediment layers containing cultural material by sterile layers where sediment lacks artifacts.  Here is an actual soil core sample from the site:

Each layer represents a different time period, water regime, group of plants and animals, group of peoples, and climate and environment covering the past 12,000 years of history and prehistory. The time of people in North America generally is divided into five cultural periods, all of which are represented at Lubbock Lake Landmark. The artifacts from each period are exhibited along with artists representations of what life was like during that time.

The Landmark is still an active dig site. Each summer, professors from around the world work with students and volunteers to uncover more clues. There are several trails in the preserve. During the summer you can walk around the dig sites and watch the archeologists at work. However, with winter approaching, the area had been secured. We did get one little peek into one of the dig sites.

We finished up our hike and took off to discover Montelongo's Mexican Restaurant, the second great Mexican restaurant we've visited in Lubbock.  It was as good as its reviews suggested!

After lunch, we drove to the Silent Wings Museum. The museum is located on the site of World War II South Plains Army Air Field, where glider pilots were trained between 1942 and 1945.

We started by watching a fifteen-minute movie entitled, "Silent Wings: The Story of the World War II Glider Program." Afterward, with audio tour devices in hand, we took off to learn more about the exhibits. Here Dave is examining some drawings made by one of the pilots who later worked as an senior animator for Disney Studios.

A hangar was constructed facing the new airport, which houses aircraft related to the WWII gliders. Here, a small training glider appears to be coming in for a landing. The British Flag commemorates the World War II partnership between American and British glider pilots.

One of the Museum's first goals was to locate and restore a WACO CG-4A glider for public display. Several pilots in the Dallas area learned of just such a glider sitting on top of a tire store in Fresno, California. After World War II, the aircraft had been purchased as military surplus, placed on top of the building and used as advertising. In 1979, the glider was purchased, restored and completed in time for a glider pilot reunion in Dallas. After the reunion, steps were taken to build a museum to house the CG-4A. The former South Plains Army Air Field site opened the new Silent Wings Museum with the restored CG-4A glider as the centerpiece of the exhibits.

The CG-4A was as bare bones as they could make it. For the complete tour of the inside, click the link to watch the video of the interior of the glider.

They say timing in life is everything. We just so happened to be at the airport when the Goodyear Blimp returned from the Texas Tech game:

We enjoyed our time here in Lubbock. Tomorrow we move on to Abilene, Texas. Until then, stay thirsty my friends.