We are having an unusually active winter, here at the end of February. I took the opportunity to drive down the road to the Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park, and take a few photographs. No one there, except me, the squirrels, foxes, and deer. And a VERY chatty visitor center attendant, who must be going stir crazy from lack of human contact. So…no real historical content to this, other than the location, but I hope it’s enjoyable, nonetheless.
A bad photo of Hindman Hall, lair of the chatty ranger. They have a pretty nice interpretive tour inside. There used to be an enormous diorama in the center of the hall, but it’s now gone. I wonder what happened to it.
Blacksmith’s shop.
Many snows have fallen since 1862.
Snakity snake.
This hill was repeatedly stormed.
This is a one room schoolhouse.
Yes, another building.
This is the end.
ArkieGamer 
Comments
The diorama is gone??????
Yes, sir, it is. I should have asked the chatty attendant what happened to it.
Its a long time since I saw snow, so good to get a nice cold feeling in my heart through these pictures ;). Pitty they removed the diorama, but it could well be that this form of display was perceived as being outdated. Or, maybe critter attack?
Glad to share the coldness :)
They’ve gone for a much wider interpretation, addressing slavery, home life, and material culture (to name a few things) and numerous artifacts are on display. I’d say it’s an improvement, even if it’s a bit of a disappointment for wargamers and kids.
I still think dioramas can have their place in modern exhibitions, but they need to go past idyllic or romanticised depictions. It could well be that this always comes with miniaturisation, but I could see it working if done well.
I bet you could pull off a more nuanced form of diorama, if anyone could.
at least you can get out, some of us are stuck at the bottom of an icy hill . . . that’s why I keep all the glorantha books – to read while waiting for things to thaw
Your collection could get you through a GRR Martin level winter, Brendon! By the way, I met a fellow who used to game with Stafford & Co. out in California. Sadly, he’s not a heavy duty Gloranthaphile.
Well after gaming with Greg et al, you don’t need to be one ;-) Anyway I got my Glorantha fix last GenCon talking to Greg Sandy & the Moon Design and Design Mechanism guys. As for cold weather pursuits, Ive been looking over alot of Traveller stuff, too, as it happens — so yeah, I’m ready for the ice ages
I’m so very ready for spring!
Great pictures, Tim! If memory serves, the gift shop has a great collection of Trans-Mississippi books for sale (well, “great” compared to the lack of any for sale anywhere else). Did you see any good books?
I miss the diorama – I never got tired of examining it from every angle. If State Parks ever decides to auction off the figures, I’m ready to do some bidding.
Yes! They have quite a lot, though mostly on Prairie Grove and, incidentally, Pea Ridge. Also quite a few items on the everyday soldier’s life. I was in non-book buying mode, though-the tower on my night stand is getting precarious!
Do you think the diorama is in a back room somewhere? I wish I’d seen it when I knew a little about miniatures and more about the ACW.
I don’t think they got rid of it. I”ll see what I can find out.
Hindman Hall Museum went through a complete renovation being completed in June 2011 (total interior gut). The current exhibits were over 30 years old. The diorama (12 years old), and what to do with it, was a extremely debated and thought-through topic by park management. The museum is very limited in square footage and we wanted to tell our whole story, which we were currently very delinquent in accomplishing. The diorama was huge and took up a large percentage of our interpretive space and frankly had been there a long time in what is considered, industry standard effective exhibit-time (typically 5-7 years). We saved the Borden House half of the diorama landscape and all of the miniatures. We plan to rebuild this part of the diorama in the future when we renovate the Borden House interior as part of that building’s interpretive exhibit package, which is currently funded for the design stage. And, yes, arkiegamer could have gotten all this information from the chatty Interpreter during his visit. I’m so glad you came to visit on such a beautiful day at the park and you took some great pictures! Thanks! Jessee Cox, Superintendent
Hi, Mr. Cox. I hope my attempt to be humorous about what must be a lonely job, when it snows, didn’t come across as a criticism of the attendant. She was doing a fine job!
I appreciate you stopping by, and thanks for the information on the diorama, the philosophy behind the current interpretation, and the future plans for the Borden House (which sound very exciting). Thanks for the work that you and your team do-it’s always a joy to visit the park and museum.
Tim (arkiegamer)