Articles by Rufus Ward
Ask Rufus: I Call Them Killdees
One day last week in a conversation with my friends Bert and Sharon Falkner, killdeers, a delightful spring and summer bird of area fields, came up. It is a bird that I have enjoyed watching since I was a child. You will remember them as the bird that acts like it has a broken wing to draw potential predators away from its nest.
Ask Rufus:
It was 166 years ago this weekend that a die-hard group of Mississippians in red shirts and brandishing Bowie knives changed the course of a battle and history. The Battle of Buena Vista on Feb. 22-23, 1847, sealed the fate of Mexican General Santa Anna’s army and ensured a United States victory in the U.S.-Mexican War of 1846-48.
Ask Rufus: A.B. Meek and the Charge of the Light Brigade
Sometimes research and writing takes you in unexpected directions, and that is the case today. As I started writing this column, I stumbled into one of those poignant stories of long ago that touches a present-day nerve.
Ask Rufus: A bomb threat, a windstorm and a gothic church
From a bomb threat to a windstorm, the early buildings of St Paul’s Episcopal Church in Columbus had their problems, but the 154-year-old present structure is a classic. Records of the church provide a view of early church building in Columbus.
Ask Rufus: The Prairie
Deeply ingrained in both the history and culture of Northeast Mississippi is the Black Prairie. The prairie takes its name from the dark, almost black soil that typifies its range. From the time of the earliest European-American traders and settlers, the region has attracted attention.
Rufus Ward: Halberds, ghosts, buttons and Hernando de Soto
Over the years searching for the route of the Hernando de Soto Expedition through Alabama and Mississippi has been about like hunting a ghost. So I guess that in looking for the route of his 1540 trek through what is now Lowndes County, it is only fitting that an old ghost story turned up.
Ask Rufus: An 1858 lawsuit and the building of the railroad
Reading the Dispatch last week one could not help but notice the problems that a potential new industry seemed to have in living up to its commitments. Such problems are not something new. When the Mobile and Ohio Railroad was constructed through this area in the late 1850s, all was not smooth sailing.
Ask Rufus: Sam Kaye
This past week I lost a close friend when Sam Kaye passed away and Columbus lost not only a good citizen, but a gold mine of its history.
Ask Rufus: How Silent the Country Is
As we approach the doom and gloom of the fiscal cliff, its repercussions are mild compared to what was happening here 150 years ago.
Rufus Ward: Three who gave to children year-round
At Christmas we always think of children and gifts and goodwill. But do we ever stop and remember the people in our community or connected to it that year round do so much to help young people. Of course there are teachers and social workers and church youth leaders and scout leaders and so many others that I dare not list for fear of leaving someone out.
Ask Rufus: Christmas, barbecue and global warming
The Christmas season always reminds me of barbecue and global warming. They have both been around our area a long time.
Ask Rufus: African-American builders of early Columbus
Last week, I had an interesting conversation with Sam and Carolyn Kaye about Horace King. King, the subject of a previous column, was a black bridge builder who, in 1842, built the first bridge across the Tombigbee River at Columbus.
Ask Rufus: Every picture tells a story
My new book, “Columbus Chronicles, Tales of East Mississippi,” came out a little over a week ago and I have had a whole slew of people ask me about the cover picture.
Ask Rufus: Holiday libations
Thanksgiving has now passed and Christmas is fast approaching, which raises that perennial holiday beverage controversy: What is the favored Christmas libation, eggnog or milk punch?
Ask Rufus: Baskets hold story of early Choctaws
Most people think the Choctaws were, as a people, gone from Lowndes County after the Indian treaties of the 1820s and 1830s. That is not the case, and the long survival of Choctaw baskets in the area tells the story.
Rufus Ward: It’s just politics
As we near the end of the long slog of another presidential campaign, the mind drifts back to colorful politicians of eras past. The South
Ask Rufus: 1818, A Year of Changes
The first structure built in Columbus was a log house erected in the late fall of 1817, but it was not until December 1819 that the new settlement was officially recognized as a town. In the Tombigbee River Valley 1818, the year that was in between, was a transitional year.
Ask Rufus: Dances, propellers and perceptions
Often what we consider to be important really isn’t that significant, while at the same time events we overlook can be of historic note.
Ask Rufus: Undying character, friendship and history
I recently heard a person comment that the difference between thieves and politicians is that there is honor among thieves. Having spent more than 35 years in politics, I take exception to that comment but I can also understand why sometimes people might think so. It only takes one rotten apple to make a whole bushel basket of otherwise good apples look bad.
Rufus Ward: Grandma’s Old, Old Fairy Tales
Last week our daughter, Sarah, flew into Columbus with our granddaughter for a visit. One afternoon I found myself reading “The Glass Slipper” and “Sleeping Beauty” out of the book “Grandma’s Old, Old Fairy Tales” to my granddaughter. Karen, Sarah and cousin Ashley were there and commented that the stories were not exactly like the Disney movies.