JFK GeoTrail – A Day in Dallas
This geocache is part of a 14 cache GeoTrail series. To complete the GeoTrail download the Passport here. You will need to take the Passport with you to each cache and be ready to write, punch, or stamp the appropriate markings that are hidden in each cache. Once complete, follow the instructions to receive your commemorative token.
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Flight from Dealey Plaza
Within 80 minutes of shooting President Kennedy from the 6th floor window of the Texas School Book Depository at Dealey Plaza, Oswald was apprehended. After taking the 3 shots and quickly ditching his weapon, he walked to a bus stop and rode the bus for a block. With traffic at a standstill, he got out and walked several blocks where he hailed a cab just south of downtown which took him several blocks away from his boarding house. Oswald walked to his boarding house and retrieved his revolver and ammunition. He quickly left the house and soon encountered Officer JD Tippit, whom he shot and killed. Leaving the scene of that crime he walked briskly towards West Jefferson Boulevard. On W. Jefferson, he heard the wail of police sirens and ducked into the entry alcove of Hardy’s shoe store pretending to look at the window display of sneakers. This allowed him to turn his back to the street and get off the sidewalk to try and avoid detection. The police sirens traveled westward on W. Jefferson and abruptly turned back eastward on Zang, less than a block before reaching Oswald’s location at 213 W. Jefferson (now a dress shop).
Oswald’s Capture
As soon as the police sirens retreated, Oswald returned to the sidewalk and continued westward towards the Texas Theater. His secretive behavior triggered the suspicion of the 18-year-old shoe store manager, Johnny Calvin Brewer. Brewer followed him heading west down the sidewalk and into the theater. Before entering the theater, he had the ticket girl call the police to notify them of this suspicious fellow. Upon entering the theater, Brewer got the concession man to cover the front exit while he went to the back exit. He could see that no one had recently left the theater through the rear exit, but with the lights down low for the movie, he could not find the man he was looking for in the crowd. When Brewer started to open the back door, he was greeted by an anxious police presence. He quickly explained the situation to the officers and they entered through the back of the theater and raised the house lights.
A peek into the darkened Texas Theater
The theater lobby has multiple balcony entrances and many places to hide.
The Texas Theater marks the end of the chase for President Kennedy’s assassin, even though that wasn’t known at the time of his arrest.
With the lights up, Brewer quickly pointed out Oswald near the back row, and the police quickly advanced toward him. Oswald responded by sucker-punching the first officer to reach him, then Oswald drew his handgun that he had just used to kill Officer Tippit. The gun was wrestled out of his hand and a fight ensued as the officers handcuffed him and marched him out the front of the theater. Brewer, along with several officers and a few members of the press were present in the theater to witness his apprehension. Oswald was arrested for the murder of Officer Tippit, but the connection could not initially be made to President Kennedy. The connection was soon made and charges for the Kennedy assassination were filed later that night.
Oswald was taken into police department custody in a holding cell in the Municipal Building at the corner of Main, Harwood, and Commerce Streets. At 2:25 that afternoon, Oswald was interrogated in the Office of Police Captain Will Fritz. Here is a transcript of the highlights of that interview, in Lee Harvey Oswald's own words:
"My name is Lee Harvey Oswald. . . . I work at the Texas School Book Depository Building. . . . I lived in Minsk and in Moscow. . . . I worked in a factory. . . . I liked everything over there except the weather. . . . I have a wife and some children. . . . My residence is 1026 North Beckley, Dallas, Tex." Oswald recognized FBI agent James Hosty and said, "You have been at my home two or three times talking to my wife. I don't appreciate your coming out there when I was not there. . . . I was never in Mexico City. I have been in Tijuana. . . . Please take the handcuffs from behind me, behind my back. . . . I observed a rifle in the Texas School Book Depository where I work, on Nov. 20, 1963. . . . Mr. Roy Truly, the supervisor, displayed the rifle to individuals in his office on the first floor. . . . I never owned a rifle myself. . . . I resided in the Soviet Union for three years, where I have many friends and relatives of my wife. . . . I was secretary of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in New Orleans a few months ago. . . . While in the Marines, I received an award for marksmanship as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps. . . . While living on Beckley Street, I used the name 0. H. Lee. . . . I was present in the Texas School Book Depository Building, I have been employed there since Oct. 15, 1963. . . . As a laborer, I have access to the entire building. . . . My usual place of work is on the first floor. However, I frequently use the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh floors to get books. I was on all floors this morning. . . . Because of all the confusion, I figured there would be no work performed that afternoon so I decided to go home. . . . I changed my clothing and went to a movie. . . . I carried a pistol with me to the movie because I felt like it, for no other reason. . . . I fought the Dallas Police who arrested me in the movie theater where I received a cut and a bump. . . . I didn't shoot Pres. John F. Kennedy or Officer J. D. Tippit. . . . An officer struck me, causing the marks on my left eye, after I had struck him. . . . I just had them in there," when asked why he had bullets in his pocket.
The historic plaque outside the theater marks the site where Oswald was apprehended. Just down the street at 213 W. Jefferson is the site where Oswald tried to duck the police, but aroused the suspicions of Johnny Calvin Brewer, who led the police to Oswald.
The cache is of a non-traditional variety since hiding spots are few and far between at this location. Stealth is a must here. From the cache site, you can see both the theater and the site of the shoe store where the clerk tracked down Oswald.