I’ve written about my love for anachronisms before.
Tonight I found this beautiful image of Victorians picnicking under a giant cactus in the National Archives. What do you suppose they discussed there on that afternoon all those years ago?
Officers and guests lunch under giant cactus near Fort Thomas, Arizona. February 18, 1886
old spirituals 
Intriguing photo. One has to wonder why or how it came about that 4 Army officers, 2 women and 2 children decided to sit around a Saguaro cactus for a photograph. Saguaro cactus grow in Arizona, parts of California and Mexico. The date of the photo indicates it was taken around the end of Apache Wars. Fort Thomas has a compelling history.
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Can you imagine? I keep looking at the woman in the middle with perfect posture sitting beneath the cactus with the rifle beside her. What must she have been like?
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We have to admire any woman who ventured West and Southwest in the 1880s to be with their husband/family. She had to be a person of great strength, many skills and tremendous intestinal fortitude to live in that region.
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Yes, that’s true! And she was disciplined. Look at her posture!
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Um, it doesn’t really afford a lot of shade for those poor folks baking in that sun.
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Look at how they’re dressed too! It could not have been very comfortable!
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Especially if you accidentally sat upon a thorn! Ouch!
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Lol! Especially then!
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