Dan Showalter: California's Arch Rebel: June 2017

Welcome!

In late 2010, having volunteered to assist Drum Barracks Civil War Museum in Wilmington, California, with research in pro-secession activity in California, director Susan Ogle handed me a list of names, places and events for possible investigation. One of those names was that of Dan Showalter, a California politician turned Confederate cavalry officer of whom I'd never heard.

Becoming fascinated just after reading the barest outline of Showalter's life, the next year found me hunting down everything I could find about this largely forgotten character. When I had finished my research -- which included the discovery of several previously unpublished items as well as obtaining the only known photograph from a Showalter descendent -- I had so much material that Susan exclaimed, "You've got a whole exhibit right here!"

And with her guidance, on November 5, 2011, co-curated by myself and Susan Ogle, my "Dan Showalter: California's Arch Rebel" exhibit went on display at the Drum.

Now being slated for removal in August 2012 in that ongoing round of ever-successive new exhibits that mark good museums, I've started this website as a place where, over time, I can memorialize and expand upon all the material accumulated on this remarkable Californian.

Hope you'll return often as this website expands and enjoy!

Thursday, June 22, 2017

Updating again

We've still heard nothing back from the university press that's now had us in suspension for two years, so we've decided to search out other options in the hope that we can finally get the Showalter biography out there. We have a reasonable expectation that we'll have the upshot of our current explorations within the next month or two; we fully intend, even if it ends up involving self-publishing, not to have this hanging out there anywhere near another two years.

So, if anyone's still out there following this (in which case we are very, very grateful), hang on and we'll try to have a much more positive update online before too much longer!