h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Waco, Texas

We drove to Waco yesterday to see what's left of the Branch Davidian compound and also to see the Texas Ranger Museum. The compound is about ten miles outside Waco
just off Farm Road 2491.

As we drive though this bucolic and sparsely populated area, I can't help visualizing carloads full of FBI Agents in black Suburban SUVs and an occasional flatbed truck hauling out an Abrams M1A1 tank or some other exotic piece of equipment.

The original Government raid on Mt. Carmel in 1993 went badly wrong, leaving four dead ATF agents and six dead Branch Davidians. The FBI took over at that point because of the death of Federal agents and a 51-day standoff began.

The siege ended even more badly than it began with the death of 82 Branch Davidians. Autopsies revealed that 20 had been shot to death and the rest died in a flaming building, including 20 children and two pregnant women. If you read Wiki about David Koresh, you find that Mt. Carmel had a somewhat turbulent history even before this disaster. Both sides claimed the other for the fire and gunshot deaths.

In 1987, the cult was led by George Roden who challenged David Koresh to a contest to raise the dead. Roden dug up a corpse to practice and Koresh reported him to the authorities for corpse abuse. Later Koresh and seven followers entered the compound in camouflage and engaged in a protracted assault rifle gun battle with Roden, who was slightly wounded. The police arrived and broke up the fight. Koresh was charged with attempted murder and released after a mistrial.

It was always a strange place. Now the compound has a sign warning off trespassers. We drive in and take some snapshots of a granite stone and a small new church. A man comes out of the church to stare at us, so we wave "hello". Today we are the only visitors. The church appears to be new. The portable toilet outside is a clue that it’s still under construction.

In 1989 Roden murdered Wayman Adair after Adair claimed to be the true messiah. The deed was accomplished with an axe blow to the skull. Roden was convicted and sent to a mental hospital in Vernon, Texas. As a result, Koresh was able to acquire Mt. Carmel by the payment of back taxes. He aptly renamed the property "Ranch Apocalypse”. After claiming the property, Koresh called in local authorities to have a methamphetamine laboratory removed.

In 1993 a UPS driver reported that a package broken open on delivery contained grenade casings and black powder. That and the frequent sound of automatic weapons fire led to the ill-fated ATF raid on the compound.

The Texas Ranger Museum is also interesting. They have a 45 minute video about the 185 year history of the Rangers and lots of very pretty firearms elaborately engraved. The many portraits of the rangers seem less steely-eyed than I had imagined.

After that, we visited relatives in Killeen and were treated to bourbon and branch water and a Texas steak dinner.

I've been to the Oklahoma Federal Building which was blown up a few years later by an Iraq veteran (Timothy McVeigh) angered over Waco.

Some pictures here http://thefirecloudreport.blogspot.com/2009/05/ranch-apocolypse.html