Ask the Troup: Lee Park Massacre edition

alexander troup, says:

Freaks and Fritters, MAN, ..... sometimes the same thing's happening over ... and over again....pass me that.. ..bud please... while...something's dont change.....Stoney Burns Was the Editor and Publisher of the Dallas Notes along with J.R Compton as the first Underground Newspaper in Dallas... well one of the first in that decade... and a few other freaks.....as the story goes and it has been decade's,.. since it has been told,... while what's going on man....... the Lee Park clash had been brewing for several years.....not just one event of violence came up that fateful year, but several.....and what was the Massacer all about.....

Since early march of 1970, long haired youth's or the term freak's... were swimming in Lee Park on the weekend, nude. Several arrest were made and this became a Cop thing from then on.. with helmets and redneck behaviour,or a show of force to kick these long hair's butt's,.... many of the arrest were made by Highland Park and Park Cities Police, who would side along with the Dallas Police over at a parking garage near the old Phil's restraunt on Oaklawn...April of 1970 was the first major event....leading up the to the Sunday event's......50 people splashed into the Turtle Creek and were later arrested...

Travis Bush, says:

Ha! Thanks A.T! I thought we might bring this up since you don't really hear about it much anymore. I also found this video the other day...rather interesting and a funny look back. BTW what was the final death toll?

<embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" id="VideoPlayback" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=8895116865777417643&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=true" style="width:400px;height:326px" type="application/x-shockwave-flash">

if the video doesn't work,here is the URL.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?doc...

alexander troup, says:

The Lee Park Massacre death toll, it is amazing, no one was dead or is in a wheelchair today, while Brent LaSalle Stein C/O Stoney Burns, was hit over the head with a beer bottle and arrested along with around 100 other protestor's and over the next 6 months of 1970, over 500 people were arrested and put in jail for a new kind of public law..the First event took place on March the 12th, While the local media would hide the event, the Dallas Notes would create such a stink, April the 13th was the date in 1970 for the Main event which would total 5 squad cars, 3000 Freaks against 400 cops of bottle and rock thowing that made Dallas finally come in... late as a Protestors City against the Vietnam War, while the war was not an issue in the beginning, it was just kids becoming out of work adults.

150 arrest were made and 9 policemen were taken to Parkland while 40 protestors were also taken to the clinic....Hoss one of the gang of 9 memebers, got on the intercom from one of the bashed police cars and called the freaks off....Dragon, Jammie, Dog, Zeus and the rest of the Park freaks were also arrested later on and later set free..

Travis Bush, says:

Sounds like quite a shindig there, A.T.!

alexander troup, says:

It was compared to the events that would come about 40 years later....while the freaks were hunted down in the months to come....a lot of Highland Park people got togther to clean up the problem....S.M.U Was the orignal bad boy place where it all began with the Dallas Notes, which was really an ideal of Doug Baker, later editor of the Dallas News, who came up with the ideal in the spring of 1967, while the notes were made on I.B.M xerox of the establishment, The Notes from and Undergound as it was called in the first 5 issues, was sold on campus, then it became a freak's hang out at the park's to sell and read Counter Culture information.

Travis Bush, says:

I could see how swimming nude in Turtle Creek might upset some of the old money driving buy in their battleships..

alexander troup, says:

It was not only the nude bathing that hit the old money and their yatche's driving down Turtle Creek, but the smoking of herb, kid's all over the place, Rock Concerts, traffic, kissing and having a great time, again..... smell the coffee, this is J.F.K week and it was named in 1963 the City Of Hate...... Blue Meanies and the yellow submarine sandwiches...

Travis Bush, says:

Not kissing!!??

alexander troup, says:

NO KISSING, and no tree hugging, I saw this couple just really hugging and kissing....they had really... little left in terms of clothing, and these tourist showed up taking picture's of love in Dallas when it is hate in Paris........and then the Cop's got onto the semi nude loving Couple and harrassed them into an arrest.....I recall the chick's name, Jerrie, and they said she would ball anybody, what is balling I said, I was only 14,,

Travis Bush, says:

Man that is quite funny, A.T...Play ball!

alexander troup, says:

Well,... Travis you are the King of good intention and serving old Dallas Burbon, and it is an honor to serve the Peg with such intresting source's, while I am not done on the lee Park Massacre, I will park my car by Turtle Creek and hear this thing out.... it lasted for around 9 months and created the present law's we have today in our Pubic Parks, while protest is a Amercian virtue and it should be respect as that....

Travis Bush, says:

Thanks for giving us the eye into the past A.T. Lots of Dallas history in a story that doesn't get told very often.

alexander troup, says:

Your welcome Travis,the event's of the 60's and 70's are long gone, while their is some truth in living Dallas today and some folklore,....about the good and the bad and the ugly.....you dont have to get involved, but when you do,...,you have to sometimes stay, and I observed the Lee Park era, but I cant be like most old timmer's, telling an old song,..while it is a good song to tell, lets tell another one soon, until then.... A/T, Birds of a feather might have some loose ends...then again, they may have some feathers to exchange, and call it fun...

Anne Young Fritsche, says:

<i> it lasted for around 9 months and created the present law's we have today in our Pubic Parks, while protest is a Amercian virtue and it should be respect as that....</i>

It sounds as though Lee Park was a Pubic Park indeed.

Thank you for the history lesson, Alexander!

Chris Kidd, says:

That was pretty cool man. I didnt know Dallas actually had people who had an inkling of the hippie/free love/protest scene. I thought it was all white bread and cheese sandwiches ala Leave It To Beaver.

Travis Bush, says:

Here is Steve Brooks website. You might be able to still get a copy by contacting him.

http://www.sbrooksgraphics.com/index....

alexander troup, says:

Well this is a good Freak feed back,.....and to realize....,while my dad was an Insurance Adjustor, his roll was to work out the damages that came up with 30 motorcycle's that were turned over one Sunday in 1969 or around the Pop Festival, as for my going down there, it was with a bunch of other kids and freaks who lived over in the Cole and Oak lawn area, while I saw Jammie some months back doing his Rast garbage thing, as for the other imputs they are now telling the other side of a story...I went their and I did not live there...is how I feel about this Exsperiece..and it is the Peg History chip...until then..A/T,'When a young man was Blue, Red and Green'.