A Guide to the Hitory of Dallas, Texas: The 1969 Texas International Pop Festival

Son of Bethel

AFTERMATH

"I would trust these people with my life or any of my valuables or belongings. Time and again they proved to me that they were worthy of my trust."

- Lewisville Police Chief Ralph Adams, commenting on festivalgoers

"This sort of thing put too much of a burden upon our city. It does not and will not fit in with our scheme of things."

- Lewisville Mayor Sam Houston, remarking about the pop festival

On Tuesday, September 2, 1969, as the Hoe Farmers cleaned up Lewisville Lake Park, the promoters of the Texas International Pop Festival began to tally up their expenses while the citizens of Lewisville debated the effect the event had on their community. The headline on the front page of The Lewisville Leader told it all: "A Nightmare: 'Pot' Festival Ends, Citizens Sigh In Relief." The Dallas papers were no less critical. "A King-Size Hippie-Over (Groan)," read a banner on the front page of The Dallas Times Herald.

The most controversial topic, in addition to the nude bathing and drug use by some of the festival-goers, was Police Chief Ralph Adams' apparent "hands off' policy. Clemo Clements, editor of The Leader, summed it up for many other Lewisville citizens when he wrote in a front page editorial, "We understand Lewisville Police Chief Ralph Adams was considering resigning his post prior to the Pop Festival, but has since reconsidered and now plans to stay on. We would recommend that he reconsider again and resign." Clements then proceeded to take Adams to task for appearing at the festival where he "whitewashed the' hippies' while in the same breath [he] condemned Lewisville citizens for causing the only problems during the festiva1." Mayor Houston, said the editor, also "needs to do a little soul searching" on account of the fact that he "stated over television, also in news releases to the press, there had been no problems connected with the festival and praised visitors for their good behavior." An editorial inside the paper, entitled "Hippies, Go Home!" was equally critica1.

The same issue carried a number of letters from readers, most of them condemning the festival and the actions (or inactions) of Chief Adams and Mayor Houston. One woman, Mrs. E. R. Denison, wrote a lengthy diatribe that took up three columns. In it she declared she was "sick to my stomach with all the scum, filth, immorality, law-breaking, and "chief-of-police" double standard attitudes that have just been witnessed in our community." Another was upset that Lewisville Police had once arrested her son, then serving in Vietnam, for indecent exposure while urinating against a tree in a park at night. Yet, she said, the police permitted "those' hippies' to swim in the nude in a public park, without doing anything about it." Also addressing this seeming double standard, another resident wrote, "Didn't I read in the Lewisville Leader several months ago about officers raiding a home and arresting a group of young people alleging they were taking drugs? How can one set of laws apply to Lewisville citizens and another to Lewisville visitors?"

Taking exception to city officials' meaning of the term "good behavior," one man said, "Their definition...differs widely from mine." "If," he continued, "they mean there was no fighting, no rioting or attacking police, then I can agree. But is getting high on drugs, indecent exposure and free love good behavior? Not to a "square"...1ike me."

But not all the letters were negative. One resident, after "hearing so much condemnation of the Pop Festival" was moved to write: "I thought it was great. I attended and enjoyed the music and the atmosphere. I saw nothing going on there that was out of the way." A week later, in its edition of September 11th, The Leader published On the same page two missives that could not have been more contrasting. One was a copy of a lengthy letter written by Mr. and Mrs. Fred Huddleston to President Nixon condemning the festival and detailing "an almost complete breakdown of law and order in our community." It's unknown whether or not Nixon ever replied.

A man named Donald Stokes, on behalf of himself and the "family" that worked in the festival's stage area, submitted the other letter. Addressed "To Chief Adams and the People of Lewisville," the tone of the letter displayed a genuine thankfulness. "We came here, not knowing how we would be received," Stokes wrote, "and we were welcomed and made to feel at home." Referring to Lewisville residents who were upset about the festival, the young man said: "We're saddened that certain factions find it necessary to find fault with the way things were handled. For our part...we feel that...Chief Adams...did a marvelous job of protecting not only the people of your city, but all of us workers, participants, etc. of the festiva1. Thank you!" It was signed, "Peace and Love, The People of the Pop Festiva1."

Not surprisingly, Chief Adams had critics among other law enforcement officials. Perhaps the most outspoken was none other than U.S. Attorney General Will Wilson who said, "It just can't be defended," adding, "No [police] officer has a right to grant a license to violate the law." Denton County Sheriff Wylie Barnes was equally critical of what he called a "double-standard," in which only kids found with drugs off the festival grounds were arrested. But Adams, in reply to all his detractors, defended his decision to arrest only drug offenders found off-property, declaring "The quickest way to start trouble is to go in and start making arrests right and left." And although an earlier newspaper headline gave the impression that Mayor Houston and Chief Adams were at odds with one another, Houston publicly supported the Chief, declaring his belief that based on "reports of threats of burnings, murders, and rioting," Adams had done the right thing ? although Houston wouldn't say from where the alleged reports originated. Given the circumstances, both he and City Manager Johnny Sartain agreed, Adams had "done an outstanding job."

Nonetheless, Chief Adams, having already decided a week before the festival began to tender his resignation, went ahead and stepped down. And although Mayor Houston had conceded that "as far as their overall conduct [was] concerned" the festival crowds were well behaved, he declared that Lewisville wanted "no-part" of a second festival proposed for 1970 (which never happened), adding "it's too much of a burden to ask the citizens to have this again."

No doubt to the dismay of festival supporters, the drug issue was further escalated when the Dallas papers reported that an eighteen-year old English girl, "described as an admitted drug user," had come to the area to attend the festival after being at Woodstock two weeks earlier. But after ingesting either LSD or "speed," she was found wandering the streets of Dallas on Friday, August 29th. Later, while in custody at the Dallas County Mental Evaluation Ward, it was reported she had attempted suicide. Although the girl and her companion, another young woman, had never actually attended the festival, media reports seemed to imply a connection.

In defense of the festival, Jack Calmes, a spokesman for its promoters, declared that the drug aspect had been blown out of proportion by the media. Echoing Chief Adams' Sunday night sentiments, which criticized the behavior of the local citizenry, Calmes remarked, "Drugs were not the biggest problem. The biggest problem we had was the people coming to gawk at the nude bathers." Estimating that no more than about three hundred people out of 120,000 were actually indulging in drugs, Calmes also stated, "The problem is not at the pop festival, it's everywhere." Despite the headlines, some media reports lend credence to Calmes' argument. One article said marijuana was actually in short supply and that many kids, instead of taking drugs, were drinking beer. And according to the September 2nd edition of The Dallas Times Herald, the number of people seen by local hospitals for drug-related treatment was incredibly small, given the thousands of young people who attended the event over the entire three-day period. The paper noted that area hospitals treated "only a few more than 50 victims of the Texas Pop Fest" and of those, there were reportedly "only 11 cases of overdoses" - all of which were treated at Parkland. In the same story, it was reported that Denton's Flow Memorial Hospital "saw only two identifiable emergency cases from the pop festival" Neither one was drug-related.

The Dallas Morning News reported that 1,500 people, or a little more than 1 % of those attending, had received treatment at the festival's first aid station. Most of those, said the paper, were seen for "minor cuts, blisters, and heat ailments." The News also quoted Dr. Leonard Riggs of Dallas, a festival physician, who said on Sunday, "No more than five people have required medical attention from drugs."

Drugs and nude bathing aside (neither one of which were unique to the Texas festival), and despite misgivings some members of the older generation may have had about long hair or rock music, it's hard to deny that compared to similar events (including Woodstock), the Texas International Pop Festival was a success. Sure, there were traffic jams, but the freeway never completely closed down as it did in New York State, and there were no shortages of food, water or sanitary facilities. There was also no violence, no gatecrashing, and no riots or clashes with police. That this good fortune was a result of precautions taken by the promoters, as well Chief Adams' so-called "hands-off' policy, there can be but little doubt. (It should also be remembered that Chief Adams had only ten or eleven officers to cover the whole of Lewisville during the weekend of the festival and rodeo.) But credit must also be given to the majority of the young people who attended the Texas International Pop Festival filled with those same feelings of love, peace, and sharing that had also permeated the atmosphere at Woodstock and other places. Examples abound. One kid, barefooted and lacking the $7 he needed to buy even a one-day ticket, went to the festival gate to turn in a wallet he'd found, containing $80 and tickets to the festival. Impressed by the young man's honesty, the promoters rewarded him with a free pass. Other kids, grouping themselves into "families," shared with each other whatever they had that someone else needed. Needless to say, the Hog Farmers' generosity and caring attitude were also contributing factors to the festival's "good vibes."

Despite Ann Sack's declaration that the Texas International Pop Festival would not be soon forgotten, it has been - just as all the other festivals held during the summer of 1969 are seldom recalled - with the notable exception of Woodstock.

A comparison of the two festivals makes it clear why Woodstock is the one that has been remembered. First, the New York event, being near a large center of population, was of course bigger. It attracted a crowd three or four times the size of Lewisville's. That Woodstock remained peaceful despite the numerous unforeseen difficulties the Texas festival was fortunate not to have thrust upon it is another factor contributing to its greater notoriety. It's also noteworthy that - as a result of it being held near media-rich New York City - Woodstock received a great deal more national attention, proving also that sometimes, timing is everything. By mid-August both the first Moon landing and the Chappaquidick tragedy involving Senator Ted Kennedy were already old news, and the murder of actress Sharon Tate and her friends had occurred a week earlier. Woodstock was one of the few events of consequence the weekend it took place. But the Texas International Pop Festival, held on the same weekend as three other festivals (in Louisiana, Washington state, and on England's Isle of Wight), was but one of many.

Several years ago, alongside a road running through the site, the present owners of the cow pasture where the Woodstock festival took place erected a colorful monument. It features the well-known Woodstock logo of a bird sitting on the fingerboard of a guitar. Along either side are the names of all the musical acts who appeared there during that historic weekend. It's said that not a day goes by without someone stopping to look at it. And this year, to mark the festival's silver anniversary, some of the original promoters have planned "Woodstock '94," to be held at Saugerties, New York, while on the original site another commemorative festival ?"Bethel '94," will take place. Already, thousands of tickets have been sold to both events, which will feature many currently popular artists as well as some who were there in 1969.

But in Lewisville, no roadside monument marks the site of the Texas International Pop Festival. And anyone looking for the Dallas International Motor Speedway will not find it. After opening in June 1969, it was closed by 1973. But the site, a large open grassy area across the highway and just to the northeast of Vista Ridge Mall, is still there, surrounded by trees and encroaching development.

As for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Texas International Pop Festival, a commemorative event is out of the question. Only weeks after the original was held, the Lewisville city council passed an ordinance forbidding any future festivals. As a result, if that long-ago weekend is relived at all, it will be only in the hearts and minds of the no-longer-young people who were there and lived through it.

Monday The Principals