Ohio Gaited Horse Trailriders

Midwest Trail Ride and the High Water Mark of the War

by Richard Anderson

We have just received word that one of our favorite trail ride horse camps has been sold and will be used for RV camping only. Midwest Scenic Trail Ride Horse Camp was sold in the spring and will be closed permanently as of Oct. 31, 2021. This has always been one of our favorite destinations for riding, and finding another location to ride will not be easy. It was originally modeled after the famous Cross Country Trail ride, otherwise known as Eminence (Missouri), where they continue to host trail rides with riders numbering as high as 4,000 per event. While it never became the ‘Eminence of the East’, as it was originally planned, it still offered a spectacular get away for horses and riders as Indiana’s premier camping destination, surrounded by the Hoosier National Forest with over 100 miles of trails and 365 horse stalls and 12 cabins. Some riders have been coming there for over 30 years, have proven to be quite loyal, and its presence as a horse camp will be sorely missed. Further Notes of our Trip to Gettysburg: As the Historian records the battle of Picket’s charge, one of the most famous battles of the war between the states, on the third day of the battle, more than 5,000 confederates emerged from the trees and were joined by soldiers from two other commands, making a combined force of 12,000 men, forming a line a mile long. Out across the fields they marched with flags waving and muskets glittering. Exploding shells tore holes into the Southern ranks, but as the dead and wounded fell, others came forward to take their places. When the men in gray crossed the Emmitsburg Road and neared the stone wall, the Union defenders decimated them with rounds of cannister and horrible volleys of musket fire, but the survivors continued to charge ahead. Despite staggering losses, General Lewis Armistead led several hundred men across the wall, but the exhausted confederates, outnumbered and low on ammunition could not prevail, and failed to crumble the union defenses. 12,000 confederate soldiers had thrown themselves against the union line, where nearly one half had been killed , wounded or captured. Years after the battle, Picket’s charge, as it came to be known, was refereed to as the ‘High Water Mark of the Confederacy’, and while the war would wage on for two more

Members of our trail riding group at one of the statues built in honor of those who gave their full measure of devotion at Gettysburg.

Richard and Linda Anderson and Terry McKie-Johnson overlooking at High Water Mark of the war outside of Gettysburg, Pa.

years, the High Water Mark would signal the turning point of the war, from which the South would never again recover.

The trip to Gettysburg was another great trail riding adventure and one we would highly recommend to our fellow horsemen. In the meantime, you are welcome to join us, call 614/582-3202 for more information.

2021

Saturday, May 29 Saturday, June 26 Saturday, July 24 Saturday, August 21 Saturday, September 18 Saturday, October 16

DOORS OPEN AT 4 PM • MAIN EVENT AT 7 PM