Remembering the 1976 Bicentennial Wagon Train

"As part of the Bicentennial celebration of 1976,  five separate wagon trains roamed the country to commemorate our country’s 200th birthday."

(Image: The Greenville Sun, Greenville, TN.)

The image shown above 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. I was naturally curious and amazed by many things. And attempted to collect the Bicentennial memorabilia, especially the stamps and coins.

(Bicentennial Quarter Dollar Coin)

(Bicentennial Half-Dollar Coin)

(Bicentennial Dollar Coin)

(Series 1976 first day of issue $2 note with a canceled JFK postage stamp.)

And so it was for a brief period that summer, that my focus was abruptly changed from trying to comprehend the overwhelming history of the Civil War and of 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 consisted of about 20 covered horse-drawn wagons with "re-enactors" and "outriders" on horseback, followed by supporting vehicles. It had travelled from Leesburg, VA, heading toward Maryland and made camp further downhill about 2 miles away from me in 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 (Calvin) and Claudia ("Pinky") Clatterbuck.  "Pinky" (1927-2018) was a beloved member of the community. A Sunday school teacher, school bus driver, and waitress for 50 years at the (only) local Diner, the "Cindy Dee".

This followed an accident during a parade in Leesburg, VA, involving the Wagon Train, 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, bringing food, water, clothing, and other supplies, and offering to provide care 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 up the hill and by my house on Rt. 671, then down through Neersville to Rt. 340 , crossing the Shenandoah/Potomac River(s) below Harpers Ferry, WV, into Maryland on its way to Pennsylvania and Valley Forge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh2rWRKGKxM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz9JaxG4abY

https://www.kophistory.org/bicentennial-wagon-train/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-NLLkVh3dg