Tom and Ranger Lucas have been working on a signaling talk for the last several months. It started with Tom collecting telegraph materials and Lucas gathering signaling flags. When we arrived at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park for the summer, they put the talk together.
The telegraph is very cool and Tom enjoys explaining how it works. But the keys need to be connected to one another to work. This limits the distance Tom and Lucas can be from each other. Another problem is getting Lucas and Tom together at the same time. The signal flags, done by Tom alone, have been a better demonstration for the summer.
But, for Folk Fest in the town of Cumberland Gap, Tom and Ranger Lucas finally pulled it off. They enlisted Intern Rosie and Ranger Dylan to record the messages, while Tom and Lucas sent the messages. They practiced one afternoon to make sure the flags could be seen from the town to the Pinnacle. A signaling demonstration was added to the Folk Fest schedule for 2 p.m.
The day of Folk Fest was cloudy with thunderstorms all around us. The rain held off in town until 12:30, when it poured for about 30 minutes. Impressive thunder and lightning had everyone running for cover. We had a wonderful living history setup with a tent and seven demonstration stations. I was spinning. Tom and Dylan were coopering. McKenzie helped people make cornhusk dolls. Brittony made candles. Lucas demonstrated whitesmithing (pewter). Steve invited people to write with a quill pen. Annie invited people to play games. All of us were very busy talking and enjoying the visitors.
When the rain came, we all took a break for a little while. By 1:40, however, the rain had stopped and Rosie and Lucas headed up to the Pinnacle. People started gathering for the demonstration. By 2, Tom and Dylan had about 40 people gathered. They passed out sheets with Morse code on them and Tom demonstrated how the code was sent with the flags. While we waited for the signal from the Pinnacle, Tom sent the audience messages which the practiced decoding.
About 2:10 a red flag appeared waving from the Pinnacle, 1,400 feet above us. We could see people standing at the railing at the Pinnacle, just as eager as the people in town for the demonstration. Slowly, so the audience could decode what he was sending, Tom sent a signal. “Morgan captured.” Then we waited for the return message.
As Tom was sending the message, some low clouds had started to drift between town and the Pinnacle. By the time he was finished sending the message, the Pinnacle was obscured from view. We found out later that the people at the Pinnacle received the message, but they were not able to send a message back because of the clouds. The clouds cleared away about 30 minutes later, but Lucas and Rosie had already left the Pinnacle.
As far as we know, this was the first time the wig wag flags had been used in the Gap since the Civil War. They were used a lot during Civil War because the high places made good observation points, but running from one mountain top to another took a lot longer than a flag message.
Tom and I always enjoy participating in Folk Fest. It is a way of the park to be supportive of the community that supports the park so well. I love talking to the people who are visiting, telling them about the park, and talking to the vedors. There are also lots of interesting programs during the day – half of them led by park staff. Folk Fest is always the second Saturday of August – mark your calendar now for next year!