Saturday, March 27 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY….PAUL. It was a beautiful day. We took a ride to the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Tribe reservation. The Reservation is located 17 miles east of Livingston. The Alabama-Coushatta Indians are a proud people who have occupied the area since the late 1700's, before Texas became a state. Its location is on a 4,600+ acres of virgin timberland called home by some 500 members of the tribe. They are members of the Upper Creek Confederacy of Indians and are of the Muskogean Nation and their languages similar to the Muskogean dialect. The tribe migrated from southeastern United States (Alabama and Mississippi.
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In the early 1800’s, Sam Houston recommends that the state purchase 1,280 acres for the Alabamas and set aside 640 acres for the Coushattas. The land for the Coushattas is never plotted nor surveyed; and so, either through marriage or special permission, they come to live on the allotted land with the Alabamas - uniting the two to become the Alabama-Coushatta. Many other Coushattas move to an area near Kinder, Louisiana, where a majority of whom still reside today.
The Alabama-Coushatta have lived for 74 years without any assistance. With their land being unsuitable for raising crops or grazing cattle, they are forced to roam the Big Thicket area in search of food. When hunting becomes prohibited during certain seasons, malnutrition and disease strike hard. At one time the Tribal population was reduced to less than 200.
The picture below is the community building. Activities such as meetings, dinners, special events are held here. The public may also rent the facilities.
The Reservation also has a campground, Lake Tombigbee, which open to the public. The campgrounds have complete camping facilities available - primitive sites to RV stations with full hook-ups, new restrooms equipped with bathhouses, covered pavilion, picnic tables, fire rings, swimming areas, hiking and nature trails which are centered around the 26 acre Lake Tombigbee.
The reservation is located 17 miles east of Livingston and 15 miles west of Woodville on U.S. 190.
After our ride, Marsha made my favorite dinner, meatloaf. She got me a delicious carrot cake. I opened my gifts which included a battery voltage monitor that will tell me how much charge my house batteries are holding and a remote monitor for our electrical management system. EMS tells our electrical usage and will automatically shut down if an electrical problem happens. It was a great birthday. We even went out to the Mexican Restaurant for a drink. The girls tell me that they have something in store for me when they come Easter Sunday.
Sunday, March 28 – The weather has been beautiful!!!
Last night Jackson High School, the school Marsha and I taught at and the high school the girls graduated from, won the Boy’s State Basketball tournament. It is the first time any team from Jackson has won a state tournament. Congratulations Jackson!
We went to Ice Cream Social with Ed & Linda Levin. We met this couple in Quartszite, AZ this winter. They will be here for about two weeks and are parked right next door to us! After talking to Ed this evening, I realized they were parked a couple spaces up from us this fall here at Rainbow's End. We didn't know each other, at that time. What a small world we live in sometimes!
Monday, March 29- I hate to keep repeating myself but……another gorgeous day! Paid our rent here at Rainbow's End. Comes out to $14/day which includes utilities! Not bad.
We played a new domino game tonight...Spinner. Lots of fun!.....Old People and their domino....jeesh!
That is all for now. Hope you all have a Blessed Easter.
