"As part of the Bicentennial celebration of 1976, five separate wagon trains roamed the country to commemorate our country’s 200th birthday."
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| (Image: The Greenville Sun, Greenville, TN.) |
The above image is very close to my memory of a similar portion of the Bicentennial Wagon Train as it travelled toward Pennsylvania through rural Northern Virginia on Rt. 671 (Harpers Ferry Road).
I was an 11-year-old boy, a new "transplant" to a very different place, curious and amazed by many things, aware of and attempting to collect the Bicentennial stamps and coins.
And so, for a brief period that summer, my focus was abruptly changed from comprehending the history of the Civil War and my sudden presence in such a historic battle area, to observing the 200th Birthday of the Country.
Meanwhile, the "Wagon Train" was coming.
The Wagon Train had travelled from Leesburg, VA, heading toward Maryland and made camp further downhill about 2 miles away from me at Neersville, VA in a valley near the base of Shorthill Mountain.
The camp was in a large field on/behind the property owned by Joe and Claudia ("Pinky") Clatterbuck. "Pinky" (1927-2018) was a beloved member of the community. A school bus driver and a waitress for 50 years at the local "Cindy Dee" Diner.
This had followed an accident during a parade in Leesburg, VA, involving the Wagon Train and a pickup truck, occurring on June 12, 1976, resulting in multiple injuries.
The residents of Hillsboro and Neersville, VA, gathered to assist the Wagon Train at the camp by bringing food, water, clothing, and other supplies, and by caring for the wagons, horses, and mules.
The response was so overwhelming that the Wagon Train began to turn such assistance away.
After a few days, the Wagon Train continued on its way, passing by my house on Rt. 671, through Neersville to Rt. 340 and crossed the Shenandoah/Potomac River(s) below Harpers Ferry, WV, into Maryland on its way to Pennsylvania.
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