Ironclads of the Civil War

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April 20, 2020 – The mid-19th century saw the development of more sophisticated, longer range guns and artillery. The wooden ships used by most navies at the time were ill-equipped to deal with firepower like this. The naval warfare environment was changing rapidly, and so innovation was needed. This innovation came in the form of the ironclad warship.

The first ironclads, developed in Europe by the French, were merely the standard ship design of the time with added metal plates on the side to protect against deadlier artillery. These designs jumped the Atlantic Ocean to see use in the American Civil War, where they were refined and changed to accommodate the shallower western riverfronts where many naval battles took place. Steamboats outfitted with metal plates saw use in battle, and the Union forces eventually developed the gunship that is now synonymous with the word “ironclad.”

These steam-powered ships sat somewhat low in the water and were nearly completely covered with heavy plating, making them quite impervious to standard gunfire, artillery, and even cannon fire. Fleets utilizing the ironclad could finally go toe-to-toe with armored forts, and in March of 1862, at the Battle of Hampton Roads in Virginia, the world saw its first naval engagement between opposing ironclad forces. The USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (formerly the steam frigate USS Merrimack) dueled until the Virginia retreated, neither side able to inflict serious damage to the other.

Naval warfare had changed forever, and the ironclads of the Civil War would evolve into the gunboats and battleships we know today. Be sure to check out our cross-section of a Union ironclad located in our Military Gallery next time you visit Discovery Park of America.

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1800s Lye Soap Recipe Calls for One Pig and One Hickory Tree

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April 17, 2020 – In the 21st century, “soap” has a broad definition. It could refer to the basic hygienic materials we each consume via our local grocery stores, or it could refer to more luxurious cosmetic goods found in shopping malls and high-end shops, like our favorite Buff City Soap. Soap could be in the form of hand soap, body wash, shampoo, laundry detergent, car-wash soap, dish-washing detergent, or countless other industrial forms.

But in the mid-1800s in West Tennessee, there were no grocery stores or shopping malls or Buff City Soap stores. Obion County was on the edge of civilization, which meant that if the pioneers of that time needed a certain item, they would have to make it themselves. This meant that “soap” was typically a rudimentary homecraft made of materials already on hand. Oddly enough, for an overwhelming majority of pioneers, all that was needed to make soap was a pig and a hickory tree.

Due to the ease of preserving meat in colder temperatures, the optimal time for butchering livestock was in December and January, so soap-making typically occurred in the winter. After a hog had been slaughtered and its palatable parts removed, much of what was left was fatty tissue. This soft tissue could then be boiled down into a substance that we are familiar with – lard! Lard is the pork product used in the production of lye soap.

Another benefit of making soap in the winter is that fresh ashes were often available from a wood stove. If the wood burned was that of a hardwood, like oak or hickory, then the ashes would be placed in an ash hopper, like the one on the porch of the Farmhouse at Discovery Park. The hopper would then be filled with water. As the water percolates through the ashes, it becomes saturated with a soluble compound called sodium hydroxide, and then drips from the channel at the bottom of the hopper and into a collection pail.

Another word for sodium hydroxide is lye – hence lye soap! Lye is extremely basic in solution and can cause serious damage to the skin and eyes. Pioneers were aware of the danger and took what precautions were possible at the time. One way they would confirm that the basicity of the solution was in the optimal range was by floating an egg in the lye water. If the egg sank, it was not basic enough. If the egg floated easily, it was too basic. If the egg bobbed up and down near the surface of the water, it was acceptable. The density and basicity of the solution could be adjusted by adding plain water or allowing water to evaporate.

After acceptable lye has been derived from the ashes, it is mixed with warm lard and stirred continuously for roughly an hour. Only then can it be poured into a mold and allowed to harden for 6 weeks. Chemicals in the lard neutralize the harmful effects of the lye over that time, and sodium carbonate begins to form. This compound is commonly soda ash or washing soda and is the primary constituent of most laundry detergents. After the curing time of 6 weeks has passed, the soap can be cut into bars and safely used on bare skin.

Bars of lye soap can be found throughout the Settlement; notably in the Farmhouse, David Crockett Cabin, and even the Escape Room. Lye soap is often manufactured in the David Crockett Cabin by Discovery Park of America’s historical interpreter, Mike Ramsey, who can also be seen making candles, woven goods and even brooms. To see this process for yourself, visit Discovery Park of America in Union City, Tenn.

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What Do Turtle Shells and WWI and WWII Helmets Have In Common?

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April 15, 2020 – We have more than one kind of helmet in the Military Gallery, just as there is more than one “design” of turtle shell, depending on whether they are terrestrial or aquatic. There are also two types of army helmets, based on whether they were designed for the first or second of the world wars.

In World War I, the helmets were wide like saucers to provide as much cover from above as possible, and only went across the top of the head. They were somewhat shallow, only covering the crown, and this was because in WWI, during trench warfare, artillery shells and explosions from overhead were the deadliest hazard faced by a soldier. Troops would be concealed by the trench except for their heads, so protecting very well from the top was extremely important.

In World War II, trenches and emplacements definitely did exist, but fighting in trenches wasn’t characteristic of this war. In a conflict that ranged amid deserts, forests, frozen fields, humid jungles, beaches, and even the desert, troops moved often many miles throughout their experience in the war instead of only moving a few hundred yards for months or even years. This meant an attack could come from almost any direction, and protecting only the top of the head was not good enough, so a WWII helmet is deeper, allowing covering much more of the head.

By looking at the shape of the America helmets, it is clear which of the world wars it was used during because the helmet will either be shallow or deep.

Not only are there two shapes of helmets for WWI and WWII, there are also two shapes among turtle shells. An aquatic turtle, spending lots of time in the water, will dive down or swim away in order to escape a predator, and its shell is thin to give it as much streamlining and speed in the water as possible. This means that an aquatic turtle shell is shallow and will not allow it to withdraw its entire body into the shell.

However, a terrestrial turtle does not need to have a thin shell to help it swim. A terrestrial turtle shell is much larger and deeper, with a significantly higher top. This allows a terrestrial turtle to withdraw its entire body into its shell, which hinges closed like a box. This shell will be bulkier, higher and more voluminous than the aquatic turtle shell.

In other words, the aquatic turtle shell greatly resembles the World War I helmet, and the terrestrial turtle shell instead resembles the World War II helmet. The former two are slim, flattened, and shallow, and the latter two are deep, bowl-shaped and more rounded.

Therefore, the WWI helmet resembles the aquatic turtle shell, and the WWII helmet resembles the terrestrial turtle shell. See our turtles in our Regional Gallery, then head over to our Military Gallery to see the two helmets.

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Prometheus, A Great Titan of Greek Mythology

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April 6, 2020 – Five statues overlook Freedom Square, with the centerpiece of this collection being a Titan of Greek mythology: Prometheus. While the other four statues stand proudly, Prometheus is forced to one knee by shackles, defiantly raising a torch to the sky.

Why is he in shackles on one knee, raising this torch to the sky? First, let’s learn a little about Prometheus. His name can be translated to ‘forethought’, and he’s commonly associated with intelligence, self-sacrifice and inexhaustible empathy. Prometheus went against the wishes of Zeus, king of the Greek gods, by providing fire to humankind, an act which allowed humanity to develop rapidly. His punishment for this deed is immortalized in our statue: Prometheus was bound to a mountain where an eagle would eat his regenerating liver for the rest of eternity. A grueling punishment indeed.

The torch which Prometheus holds represents his unbreakable resilience in the face of oppression, and his determination to bring knowledge to humanity. The story of Prometheus perfectly illustrates how the empathy of one can influence the lives of many, inspiring them to see beyond.

To find out who the other four statues represent, be sure to look for another blog in the future.

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Stumpjumper: A One-Of-A-Kind Boat

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April 6, 2020 – Reelfoot Lake is a local treasure, and it hosts many cultural, historical and scientific details unique to the region. One such unique point of interest is found in the stumpjumper.

This oddly named boat helps fishermen navigate the shallow waters of the lake and the cypress trees dotting its landscape. Immediately identifiable by its slim design, flat underside, and bow-facing oars, these boats jump from cypress to cypress, ferrying its passengers across.

Though there is an aura of mystery surrounding the boat’s original design, which first appeared around 150 years ago, we do know with some certainty who designed one of its most famous features. In the early days of navigating Reelfoot Lake, it was imperative that boaters knew exactly where they were going, making the usual oar design found in other boats rather useless.

However, in 1884, an Illinois native named Fred Allen patented an oar design that allowed the oarsman to face the direction they were moving. This allowed for easier navigation of the cypress trees which otherwise would have made Reelfoot Lake impassable. Since the late 1800s, many boat makers have added to the rich history of the stumpjumper, and to this day, one can still find them for sale to use in navigating the waters of Reelfoot Lake.

Learn more about stump jumpers when you visit the Regional Gallery at Discovery Park of America.

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The Rosetta Stone

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March 30, 2020 – Ptolemy V Epiphanes was crowned Pharaoh in 196 BC, but his deeds as ruler are largely eclipsed by how word of his coronation’s anniversary was delivered to the people of Memphis, Egypt. Priests carved a message cataloging Ptolemy’s noble deeds on stone in three languages: hieroglyphs, Egyptian demotic, and ancient Greek. When French engineers discovered the Rosetta Stone in 1799, the language of Egyptian hieroglyphics was still a frustrating and seemingly unsolvable mystery to scholars.

An English physicist named Thomas Young was the first to understand that some of the hieroglyphs on the stone phonetically spelled out Ptolemy’s name. Using Young’s work as a foundation, French scholar Jean-François Champollion studied how non-Egyptian ruler names were written out in hieroglyphs and created a phonetic alphabet. In 1824 Champollion made his final breakthrough, and the secrets of ancient hieroglyphs were finally unlocked to the modern world.

This otherwise minor decree has become one of the most famous and celebrated artifacts in archeological history. A replica of the Rosetta Stone is just one of many ancient artifacts displayed in Discovery Park of America’s Enlightenment Gallery.

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Uncut Diamonds: Before the Shine

March 27, 2020 – See the brown mineral that looks like a lump of dirt in the featured pictures? These are real diamonds, on display in our mineral case inside Discovery Center. Discovery Park guests who view them are often surprised that their appearance is not what they expected, but these are uncut diamonds, which means they aren’t reflected and shiny yet.

Diamonds can reflect light and shine with incredible beauty, but in order to do that, they must be cut into a shape with flat surfaces. Consider your mirror–it probably doesn’t have a curved surface. Puddles are much the same, since water can reflect light, but the more ripples and waves on the water surface, the less of the reflection you can see.

Diamonds, and many other precious stones, come out of the ground in all kinds of shapes, and frequently need to be cut so that they have flat surfaces to sparkle and shine.

Cutting a diamond is not easy. A diamond is so hard that another diamond is required to cut it. Of course, this doesn’t mean that diamonds are invulnerable to objects that are not diamonds – a diamond can be broken with a hammer, an industrial crusher or any object possessing enough force. Diamonds are unable to be cut or scratched without using another diamond, but they will eventually break just like any other mineral will break into pieces when subject to sufficient force.

Interestingly though, diamonds break in specific directions, called “cleavage planes,” which allow experts to predict how they will come apart and gemcutters to perform wonders. Some diamonds have been cut many times into smaller ones. For example, the Cullinan Diamond, the largest clear diamond in the world, was cut many times into nine major and more than 90 minor stones.

One thing that many people falsely believe about diamonds is that they last forever. Certainly this message is often repeated in advertisements, but diamonds, and other minerals and rocks, are always changing to fit their environment.

Consider a firefighter, underwater welder or astronaut: they wear protective gear in extreme environments, but not in their living room. When protection is not needed, they change into bluejeans, which are more comfortable than a spacesuit or diving gear. Rocks and minerals change to suit their environments, too. Geologists use the term “metamorphism” when rocks change due to heat and pressure into a new form to suit their environment.

Carbon, which makes up diamonds, is formed at ultra-high pressures, where it is stable many miles down in the extreme heat and pressures in the depths of our planet. However, when carbon is removed from that extreme heat and pressure that made it turn into a diamond, it continues, slowly but surely, to change into other substances. Given enough time, the diamonds on rings and necklaces will turn into other forms of carbon. This might take hundreds of thousands of years, but even a million years is less time than forever!

Make sure you come to the Natural History Gallery at Discovery Park of America and enjoy our diamonds, emeralds, fossils, rocks, and minerals, while they still look amazing.

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Thomas Jefferson: Paleontologist

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March 23, 2020 – Did you know that President Thomas Jefferson is considered the father of American paleontology? The Sage of Monticello collected numerous fossils over his lifetime but had a particular obsession with mammoths, which he believed inhabited the unexplored West. In fact, when Jefferson commissioned Lewis and Clark’s expedition, one of their objectives was to find a live mammoth population west of the Mississippi! In Jefferson’s time, paleontologists were not entirely sure how the skeleton of a mammoth was built as a complete skeleton had not been found. Jefferson is known to have played with mammoth bones on the floor of the White House as if they were a puzzle. If only he were able to see the complete authentic mammoth specimen now on display in the Regional History Gallery at Discovery Park of America!

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Naga Feast of Merit

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March 23, 2020 – The Naga of Northeastern India, numbering over 80 individual tribes, lived in a world all their own in the foothills of the Himalayas for around a thousand years before the arrival of the British in the 19th century. The name “Naga” comes from the Burmese word for “pierced ears,” as Burmese guides aiding British regiments referred to the tribes beyond their borders by their ear rings. The Naga tribes practiced a tradition known as the Feast of Merit, in which a married couple who had come into money or saved their wealth would host a feast for their entire village. The feast would last for days, only ending when its host ran out of money.

Hosting such a feast assured a couple honor and prestige both in their village and, per their beliefs, in the afterlife. A couple who had hosted the Feast of Merit would be allowed to place images of a gayal (a relative of the water buffalo) on their home, such as this panel on display in the Enlightenment Gallery at Discovery Park of America. The lower part of the panel is a series of gayal carvings, while the top of the panel represents the Naga villagers who are visibly pleased with the feast.

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Tennessee State Fossil: The Pterotrigonia thoracica

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March 23, 2020 – In 1998, the Tennessee state legislature adopted Pterotrigonia thoracica, a saltwater clam, as its state fossil. This fossil is found exclusively in West Tennessee in the 70-million year old Coon Creek Formation. The Coon Creek Formation, primarily in McNairy County, is one of the most significant fossil sites in the world and has produced some of the most well-preserved fossils from the Cretaceous Period. The deposits formed when sea level was much higher than it is today and the seashore ran along what is now the Tennessee River corridor. West Tennessee was a shallow sea! Discovery Park of America hosts a permanent Coon Creek Formation exhibit which includes two specimens of Pterotrigonia thoracica.

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