George LaCross

Here are some brief recollections of my late summer 1964 visit:

It rained heavily the day before, thus delaying our visit. The storm left many puddles and mounds of mud on the walkways. The pirate ship cruise: After the "pirate" left us at the tree fort (the ship's hull in the tree), a non-costumed park official handed the pirate a shovel and directed him to dig up mud and push it away from the dock area. The pirate wasn't too happy about his "captain's" order. Shortly after he began digging, my younger brother (age five) enthusiastically asked him, "What's ya digging for, buried treasure?" The pirate was a good sport. He changed his frown to a smile and replied, "Yeah matety, if I find the treasure chest, we'll split the bounty!" or something like that.

I recall seeing water going uphill into the barrel at the Slanty Shack. The titled house didn't make me ill, but seeing the "First Mate" walking the rooms and his shrill voice did. "When my captain first built this house...." like fingernails on a chalk board! I guess it was part of the act.

Several years ago I wrote a story on the Great Escape Tornado dark ride which first debuted at Freedom Land. Check it out at http://www.laffinthedark.com/articles/tornado/tornado.htm and you will see that the ride cars are very similar to those of the Chisolm Trail. Also, notice that the stunts (figures) are similar in design to those in both Chisolm and Wreck of the Hesperus. This supports my theory that these dark rides were all built by the same firm, possibly Arrow.

glacross@projo.com