On the last two days of July and the first of August, we finally received some beneficial rains on our ranch near Kempner. The threeday total came to about 3.3 inches.

I always am amazed that after several months of dry weather the brown dormant grasses can green up so quickly. Let's hope and pray the rains will continue this summer and into the fall.

Speaking of green, on our recent trip to Tennessee, the landscape was green and lush from east of Waco all the way to my sister's in Clarksville, Tenn. It was disheartening to come home to a brown, dry pasture. The recent rains, at least temporarily, have changed that.

Last week, I ended my column relating about the Fort Donelson National Battlefield. As I said, at the beginning of the Civil War the Confederate Army constructed Fort Donelson on the banks of the Cumberland River to protect Nashville from invasion.

In February 1862, several Union gunboats steamed up the Cumberland to take the fort. The Confederate cannons, however, inflicted such damage to the boats they withdrew, and the Southern soldiers cheered.

Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant then moved in additional troops and outnumbered the approximately 14,000 Confederate soldiers by more than two to one. In an attempt to break out, the Confederates massed their troops against the Union right, hoping to clear a route to Nashville and safety.

A furious battle ensued, and the Confederates did break out, but for some unexplained reason the Southern troops were ordered to return to their entrenchments. Grant immediately launched a counterattack, retaking most of the lost ground, and the way of escape was closed.

Several Confederate generals fled with some of the troops by way of the river, and they turned over command to Brig. Gen. Simon Buckner, who said he would remain with his men.

Facing starvation, Buckner surrendered to Grant, and about 12,000 men were captured.

Fort Donelson was the first major victory of the war for the Union and as a result, the South was forced to give up southern Kentucky and much of middle and west Tennessee, including Nashville.

There is an ironic twist to the story, as Grant and Buckner were close friends. Before the war, Buckner gave Grant a sum of money to help him overcome a financial situation. The final note of the story came at Grant's funeral; Simon Buckner was one of his pallbearers.

Anyway, my wife and I, my brother and his wife, and my mother attended my sister's 50th wedding anniversary celebration. The event was at the Mt. Zion Methodist Church south of Clarksville, even though my sister's family attends a Baptist church. The Methodist church's fellowship hall could handle a larger group, so the celebration was there.

Several hundred family members and friends attended and enjoyed a good meal of Southern cooking. Later, an old-fashioned Southern gospel singing was held, where several groups and individuals entertained the crowd.

In much of Tennessee, there is a culture of country and gospel music. It seemed that half the people attending the celebration were associated with a musical group or played some type of instrument. I always have been a fan of Southern gospel and bluegrass music, so I really enjoyed the singing.

Unfortunately, we were not able to spend additional time with my sister and her family. There were several things in Tennessee I wanted to visit, such as the Sgt. Alvin York State Park, Tennessee State Museum and Shiloh National Battlefield. Therefore, I have an excuse to return to Tennessee to visit my sister and see more of these sights.

On our return trip, we stopped at the Toltec Mounds State Park near Little Rock. The park contains Arkansas' tallest remaining prehistoric American Indian mounds. The mounds and an earthen embankment are the remains of a large ceremonial and governmental complex that was inhabited from about 600 to 1050 A.D.

The park visitor's center contains a number of exhibits and Indian artifacts. Nelda and I walked one of the self-guided trails with stops near the two largest mounds that are about 50 feet high. The mounds apparently were built for habitation, burial and ceremonial reasons. The Arkansas Archeological Survey Lab also is housed in the visitor's center.

The remainder of the trip home was uneventful, but it was good to be back in Kempner and rest up for a few days.

Former Soil Conservation Service employee and longtime writer Mat Taylor offers his outdoors column for Dispatch Record readers. He can be contacted at (254) 518-2262 or via e-mail at mntaylor@agristar.net.