The Long Walk that Wasn't So Long.....

[BettyO]

I'm sure that Barry and John E probably know this - but according to the Burlington Free Press (VT), July 7, 1865, the walk from the prison door to the gallows was only "2 Rods" or according to conversion, about 33 feet!

Certainly NOT the long mile that was shown in Redford's 2011 The Conspirator....

   

[Gene C]

Is that the Smithsonian I can see on the horizon to the right and the stub of the Washington Memorial on the left center?

[Rsmyth]

Thanks for the graphic Betty. What a scene it must have been on the other side of that door. Prisoners being rounded up, priests praying... Too bad there is no record of anything that was said or orders given at that point.

[Gene C]

A short walk, but a long journey.

I remember reading Sam Arnold commenting that they could hear the gallows being built, but he didn't know what was going on.

[BettyO]

Gene -

Yes, you can clearly see the Smithsonian "Castle" in the distance from this particular view...

There are plenty of "recollections"; however the vast majority of them were made approximately 25 to 40 (sometimes 50) years later and are somewhat "tainted" with errors or faulty memory. Some are even suspect. I wish that we could find some soldiers/guards who gave their recollections right after the hanging - so that there would be a more truthful rendition. They may be out there - we just haven't found them yet. For instance, what did the guards stationed outside the condemned cells hear from within other than sobs and prayers?! What did Mrs. Surratt, Powell, Herold and Atzerodt tell clergy/family members? What did they talk about or say, if anything, about their sentence or role in the conspiracy? You know that these guards heard quite a bit, probably -- did they ever divulge what they heard or experienced?

Gillette did reiterate what Powell said in two articles to the press later on. Did other clergy talk? Did their guards? It would be interesting to find out.

[LincolnToddFan]

(04-16-2014 06:06 AM)BettyO Wrote:  I'm sure that Barry and John E probably know this - but according to the Burlington Free Press (VT), July 7, 1865, the walk from the prison door to the gallows was only "2 Rods" or according to conversion, about 33 feet!

Certainly NOT the long mile that was shown in Redford's 2011 The Conspirator....

I got "The Conspirator" on DVD two or three years ago, but believe it or not I haven't watched it. I just can't bring myself to do it.

[LincolnMan]

33 feet? I had no clue that the distance was so shorth either. Sure wasnt much time for that drum beat you spoke of in one of the other threads.

[BettyO]

I'm going to be a bit fatuous.....

Perhaps they played real fast - Think "Wipe Out!

[LincolnMan]

Yes! The song matches the timing perfectly!
That was the first song I learned to play back "in the day." My guitar playing days are over- haven't picked up a "git-box" in years- fingers too old and slow.

[RJNorton]

I am really showing my age here. In college I had a 45 RPM with that song, and I actually liked the other side better - a song called "Surfer Joe."

[BettyO]

I would imagine that the drumbeat cadence was played from the time they walked out of the prison door to the gallows approximately 33 feet distance, to the time that they mounted the 13 steps to the top of the scaffold - waiting for condemned, clergy and staff to emerge onto the platform. For the male prisoners, it would have more or less been a slow ascent, due to the fact that they were wearing leg irons with 18" chains. The drummers had therefore an appropriate length of time to play in my estimation.

[LincolnMan]

(04-18-2014 11:47 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  I am really showing my age here. In college I had a 45 RPM with that song, and I actually liked the other side better - a song called "Surfer Joe."

Are we talking about the group The Ventures? Funny I liked everything they did but never bought any of their records.

[RJNorton]

(04-19-2014 10:30 AM)LincolnMan Wrote:  

(04-18-2014 11:47 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  I am really showing my age here. In college I had a 45 RPM with that song, and I actually liked the other side better - a song called "Surfer Joe."

Are we talking about the group The Ventures? Funny I liked everything they did but never bought any of their records.

Nope, Bill, it was the Surfaris.

[LincolnMan]

Roger, you got me!!!

[Gene C]

There is another version of this video with old beach movie scenes, but we want to keep the "G" rating.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5D07c0dJuQ

Here's Surfer Joe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJLAyrTN5Fc

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.