By Ken Wyatt
For 20 years now, Concord’s Civil War Days has been the big summer event on the grounds of the Hubbard House Museum. This year, being the nation’s 250th anniversary of independence, the event last Saturday was also dubbed Americana Day. And what better way to celebrate the American experience in a small town than with an echo from the last great celebration – the nation’s Bicentennial in 1976?
That “echo” was a covered wagon and the presence of local people who, half a century ago, were caught up in a magnificent project – the Bicentennial Wagon Train Pilgrimage.
The original vision of that project, as it appeared in a publication of the Bicentennial Commission of Pennsylvania: “Briefly, the Bicentennial Wagon Train Pilgrimage to Pennsylvania is a replay of history – in reverse.” And how powerful an expression of patriotic fervor it turned out to be. Originally, the vision was for a wagon train from each state to head for Valley Forge. As it played out, according to a report from the scene on July 2, 1976:
“They’re coming from every direction. From the west on the Great Wagon Road. From the south through Virginia. From the north through New York. Conestoga wagons and Prairie Schooners, canvas tops bleached by a year of sun, wheels caked with mud from a dozen states. Riders on horseback flank them, hundreds deep. The sound is enormous — hooves, wheels, harness brass, people shouting. After 15 months, 17,000 miles, and 249 official encampments, the Bicentennial Wagon Train Pilgrimage has come home.”
More than 300 wagons arrived at Valley Forge that afternoon and more – including the Concord/Pulaski wagon – arrived the next day.. They were accompanied by some 5,000 people. Last Saturday, a couple of the people present at Valley Forge that Independence Day of ’76 were on the grounds of the Hubbard House Museum’s Americana / Civil War Days celebration.
Todd Holton, who had the original covered wagon in storage on his farm, was the program’s master of ceremonies.
“I was a sophomore in high school back then,” he recalled when introducing guests who either participated in the project or whose family members had done so. There were members of Dr. A.H. Keefer’s family in the lineup (from left in the photo): Daniel Brigham (son of Jeff and Robin), David Keefer, Robin Keefer Brigham, Annette Householder Norris, Brenda Brigham Walters, John Luttenton, and of course Holton himself.
The last three in the lineup with Holton had direct roles in the building of the wagon and its journey east.
– “Johnny” Luttenton was one of the carpenters who built the wagon, using plans from the national committee spearheading the project. The others were Bob Keefer and Roy Brown. The last two took the wagon on the road to Valley Forge. Luttenton was unable to join them because he started a job just before the trip. So, he helped build the wagon but wasn’t able to make the trip.
– Annette Householder Norris wrote an account of her role, which is included in the book, “Reflections in the Pond.” From that account: “It all started for me on May 13, 1976, when I found out that I had won the Concord-Pulaski Train Teen Queen Contest. On May 15, there was a big celebration in Concord for the area wagons which were to make the trip to Valley Forge. There was a parade with the wagons and horses, old cars. President [Gerald] Ford’s son, Jack, and a float with the queen and her court. … I was crowned by Dan Angel, our district’s representative in the Michigan Legislature.”
During last Saturday’s program, Norris was interviewed by Holton, who prompted her with questions about the trip. As she told him, “We traveled somewhere between 15 and 22 miles a day. We spent the nights at universities, shopping plazas – a committee arranged that. We would have campfires, get up the next morning and head out for the next 20 miles.
“Our horses were named Bob and Duke. Once we had to unhook them to help the Michigan wagon get up a hill in Pennsylvania.”
– Brenda Walters and her husband, Carl, were also part of the journey, though not in its entirety. As she explains, “Once school let out, Rubeye Beitzel [who served as chaperone], Annette Householder, Carl and Brenda Walters met up with the wagon train in Meade, Penn. Our trek was a weeklong, but Annette and Rubeye went on to Valley Forge.”
– Though they passed long ago, Dr. and Mrs. Keefer played a major role in that Bicentennial event. Hence the presence of several of their family members. The doctor and his wife were the grand marshals of the parade. They purchased the team of Belgian work horses, Bob and Duke, that enabled the others to haul the wagon from Concord/Pulaski to Valley Forge.
According to the book mentioned above, “Dr. and Mrs. Keefer traveled many weekends with the train throughout the states it covered and were on it when it reached Valley Forge on July 4, 1976. It was an experience no one will forget for a long time.”
There were others present at Saturday’s event who played supportive roles. One of them was 90-year-old Roy Holton, who at the time had a lumber business operating out of the building along the Concord Mill Pond. He provided the lumber used to build the wagon.
By all accounts, it was a time of true community. People were so into it that they formed a Concord-Pulaski wagon train committee to raise funds and coordinate many of the events. After the May 15 parade in Concord, the wagon’s first overnight stay was an encampment at Swains Lake County Park. The committee provided food, entertainment and games for the evening.
The next morning, off went the wagon for a series of encampments at Hanover, Napoleon, Grass Lake, Norvell, Brooklyn and Cambridge Junction, where the team joined the national wagon train. And from there – on to Valley Forge.
It was there that Jack Ford’s dad – President Gerald R Ford, a Michigan man himself – visited the wagon train encampment and made a bit of history by signing legislation that made Valley Forge a National Historic Park.
During his visit, he met many people brought together by the events of the day. One of those was Annette Householder Norris from Concord, Michigan.
Of that experience, Norris remembers that it took place at the Michigan wagon. “He just climbed up in the wagon and signed a bill or something.” She was there and shook hands with him.
Yes, this year’s 250th celebration served well in stirring memories of those who were involved in the events of ’76. It was a year and a celebration to remember.
