Riding through Hopkinsville History

I had the opportunity to experience the 27th Annual Night Riders tour of Hopkinsville this weekend, and came away with mixed feelings.

William Turner (right)  is a wonderful story-teller

I think it's very important for people to learn the history of their hometown or place they're currently living. And I am happy the event serves as a fundraiser for the Pennyroyal Museum. However, I think the atmosphere created during the event trivializes and romanticizes what took place Dec. 7, 1907.

Why do we need to see men and women donning black masks and firing guns for history to truly sink in? Yes, I agree, it can be extremely entertaining. But, is it OK to clap for the re-enactors as they depict I wife laying on top of her husband in the street to stop him getting beaten by a whip?

The very tone of the tour lends only the slightest hint that what the Night Riders did is questionable at best; there were times when historians William Turner and Chris Gilkey made half-hearted disclaimers about the riders escaping justice, or the mean wrecking the crops of their neighbors who sold to the man with the monopoly.  Each one, though, was predicated on the idea that the Night Riders did what they had to do because their backs were up against the wall, and they had food to provide for their families.

A re-enactor sits on his horse

First, I think boiling the conflict down to "providing food for their families" is unfair. Yes, I realize their is more money to be made from your product when the man you're selling it to is selling it for almost 50 times what you sold it to him. However, does that give you the right to fire-bomb his business? Or shoot-up the newspaper building because the editor condemned riders when they wrecked crops and intimidated other farmers?

I fear another comparison I made in the printed article is going to be taken at face value; in the story, I ask several people if they think modern drug dealers face the same situation as the Night Riders. First, let me be clear: NO, I do NOT think it's OK to sell drugs. 

Let me write that one more time so it can sink in: it is NOT OK to sell drugs.

A re-enactor protects her husband

But, if it's alright for historians to tell people not to judge the actions of farmers who did what they thought they had to do in order to provide for their families, how is it unfair to make the same comparison to someone who feels they need to sell dope to feed their own family?

Yes, I think there are other options people could turn to today, and I understand social systems have evolved between now and 1907. However, to simply justify the actions of a mass mob because they thought they had no other options is both far too simple and frankly a disservice to the listeners and the farmers themselves. 

In 2010, more than one-third of the households made less than $25,00 in Christian County. I am sure the economic situations were strenuous to the farmers in 1907 too, but it's interesting to see similar economic difficulties more than a century later.

Other tidbits I picked up during the tour: 

• William Turner and Chris Gilkey can certainly tell a story. I know why they crafted the event to run as it does, but it just doesn't sit well with me.
• I'm not a big fan of Civil War re-enactments either, and the tour created the same feeling for me.
• I don't understand the appeal of handing out spent shell-casings to children so they can take them home as souvenirs, but it seemed like the popular thing to do. 
• As part of the reenactment, one of the participants blew into the end of a rifle to show the warning sound the Riders had for one another to regroup. I had never heard the sound before, but it resembles the sound of a deer or an elk call. Also would take a braver man than me to blow into the end of a rifle; I saw the gun was obviously not loaded, but still...
• I did enjoy how many people came out, and the little historical asides provided by Turner and Gilkey. True, a story about Ferrell's and other interesting tidbits in Hopkinsville may not strictly apply to the Night Riders tale, but they're fun, interesting and helped to lighten the mood for me, anyway. 
• We were ferried around on two semi-trucks, and I have a entirely new found respect for those drivers. They were tasked with pulling the trucks next to one another while avoiding the cars and horses filling the narrow downtown streets. There were quite a few times when I thought they'd hit something for sure, only to miss the object by inches. 
• Thanks to Ben Joubert for the pictures. He had to hop on and off the semis before they took off, it required a fair amount of athletic ability. Well done, sir. 

Thanks for the continued comments and suggestions, I appreciate it! Feel free to add comments here, email me at dboucher@kentuckynewera.com or call me at 270-887-3262.