CADDOAN MOUNDS STATE PARK
JENNIFER PRICE Caddoan Mounds State Historic Site Park Manager
I am very grateful to be the new Caddoan Mounds State Historic Site manager. The site is located in Alto. It has been a long road to success, but an interesting one none the less. Since my first day at Caddoan Mounds SHS, we have hosted an Archeology Fair that brought approximately 600 visitors to the site within a six hour period, local and surrounding school tours weekly during the months of September through November, and have made many preparations for future events and enhancements.

My desire to work with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) began when I entered a degree program at Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) in Nacogdoches. I had just earned an Associate's Degree from Trinity Valley Community College (TVCC) in Athens, yet craved more. After beginning a road towards environmental studies at SFA, it did not take me long to realize that I wanted to study 'how and why' people enjoy their times recreating outdoors in a public environment. It was when a representative of TPWD made a visit to one of my college classes in "outdoor recreation." That visit was a spark of hope to begin a career where I could take the time and effort to care about a visitor's outdoor recreational experience with family or friends. With this provoking thought, I shifted forward in high gear to seek out summer internships with TPWD. As a result, I have completed two terms of summer internships which enhanced my knowledge and ability to work side by side with people seeking time for relaxation and/or family fun.

Caddoan Mounds State Historic Site attracted a crowd of more than 600 in October 2005 during an Archeological Fair.

During my TPWD summer internships, I received wonderful opportunities to assist with the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, day cares, school tours, family reunions, "Kids' Fish Day,' the casual vacationer, fisher, hiker, camper, bird watcher, boater and swimmer. Further handson experiences that I also received led to skills in interpretive discussions, canoeing, hiking programs, office ethics and techniques, inventories, monthly reports/logs, budgeting concepts, maintenance issues, tractor/backhoe use, wood floor installation, water pipe breaks and electrical breaker issues (of which are all very common duties when managing a public facility). With so many people of diverse backgrounds and expectations, maintaining a facility that encourages each and every visitor to enjoy his/ her surroundings have and will always require constant care.

One large goal of any park manager is to deliver an experience to the visitor that will be an enjoyable and memorable one, while minimizing any impacts to the cultural and land resources. This is why I am very excited about coming to Alto and being part of Cad- doan Mounds State Historic Site. It is my goal, duty and desire to give each visitor an opportunity to learn as they enjoy an interpretive stroll across the land where many Caddo Indians came to reside, between the 750 A.D. - 1400 A.D. time era. It also, gives the visitor an opportunity to view artifacts found directly on the site that are now on display inside Caddoan Mounds SHS's museum.

I have a passion for this career and plan to move forward with it. There is a world of fast pacers (such as myself) that need facilities such as these to take time for family or self solitude. Caddoan Mounds State Historic Site offers just that. I encourage every reader to make a trip to Alto and walk away with an increased feeling of 'awe' regarding your state's early Caddo Indians and their culture. As you leave the site, you might find yourself interested in visiting Mission Tejas State Park, six miles west, where you can tour a 1930s CCC Mission and the 1830s Rice Family log home. New hours are 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursdays-Sundays.

I have pushed towards a master's degree in recreational resource management. I will be completing my master's degree by summer 2007. Much credit is due to many professors within the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture at SFA, and many TPWD employees, as providers of guidance and instruction in reaching my educational and career goals.