Fairbanks Living: Copena burial mounds, and the Jesse Owen's museum.

As long as I started in Alabama I might as well continue in Alabama. This was a different weekend trip in 2004. I was headed to the Jesse Owen's museum, and found this along the way.

It is a big ol' mound of dirt. There are a few in the area.

It is over 2000 years old. How did it get there?

Funny you should ask. It seems the prehistoric Copena Indians built the mounds.

The next mound was a little different. For one thing it was much smaller and secondly it had crypts placed on it as well.

There was an explanation for that as well.

I guess recycling, repurposing, or whatever we are supposed to call it now, was going on long before the 21st century gave it a fancy name.

I made it to the Jesse Owen's museum. Some things I learned were that Jesse was born in a sharecroppers' cabin. He was born in Alabama but he grew up in Ohio. His real name was I believe James Charles, he went by J.C. He became Jesse after he got to Ohio. When he went to school in Ohio, he had a Southern drawl, and his teacher misheard J.C., as Jesse. He was too afraid of the teacher to correct her, so Jesse he became. (admit it you probably just said, J.C. with a Southern accent.)

I knew about the 1932 Olympics and his disproving Adolph Hitler's master race theory. That was the reason to make this excursion in the first place.

Something else I learned is that he probably was the greatest athlete of all time. I know people may argue with Bo Jackson, Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, etc....... But Jesse actually set 3 World records and tied a 4th at a high school track meet.

Yes, that was correct. In 1 track meet on the same day! He was in high school and set 3 and tied a 4th World record....in the 1920's.

This is what a sharecroppers cabin looked like. It was pretty much 1 or 2 rooms. You could go inside, and I did, but I no longer have those pictures (idiot!!!) His Mom, Dad, and numerous siblings lived in this small cabin, until they moved to Ohio.