tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69646759416786805872024-03-06T12:03:26.591-08:00Wild West HistoryJoin me on my travels through the small towns and ghost towns, museums and libraries of Texas, New Mexico and Colorado as I explore the history, legends, and tall tales of the American Southwest.Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.comBlogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-3282924962272043872020-01-12T20:50:00.001-08:002020-01-12T23:49:09.989-08:00Lotta Crabtree, Protege of Lola Montez<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img alt="Lotta Crabtree." src="https://cdn.britannica.com/700x450/26/62026-004-EB77C7D5.jpg" style="text-align: center;" /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lotta Crabtree.<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Lotta_Crabtree#/media/File:Lotta_Crabtree_half-length_portrait,_facing_right_LCCN2005690002.jpg"> Photo </a>courtesy of the Library of Congress. I love the contrasts in this photo, the sweet innocence of her expression, ribbons on her hat, childish curls in her hair, her head turned shyly from the camera...and she's smoking a cigar! </span></i></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>
</i>
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>In spite of her tough-little-girl look in the above photo, "generosity and compassion" were the words most often used to describe Lotta Crabtree. Along with her mentor, <a href="https://wildwesthistory.blogspot.com/2018/06/lola-montez-beauty-and-song-in-old-west.html">Lola Montez</a>, Crabtree was one of the most famous entertainers in the American Old West. She was beautiful, charming and charasmatic, but in all fairness, she did owe her success to Montez, who taught Crabtree how to use her charm and develop a bold, beguiling personality. </i><i>It was serendipity, magic, a toss of the dice that brought these two together. Lola's career was waning when they met, and Crabtree was a child, but this was her fate, to learn from Lola Montez, one of the most famous dancers in America, and perhaps the world. T</i><i><span style="text-align: left;">he fact that they were both in small town Green Valley, California at the same time was pure chance, but</span><span style="text-align: left;"> when Montez met Crabtree it was magic, and what came next is a story that begs to be told.</span></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIX-SAHwz4wfVwTzg-6TckoKbLzZ1ZGg-jyvvyLjkHFiIDU7qHwXnZVRZu_VFHeZt4sGFOs6aBgfDsNjyEoDZbTYzC5whVH3sJqALWUZz1Ionmut1m7hjhOJECH7PzIsfkK_TFuOtsxhM/s1600/Theatrical_and_circus_life%253B_%25281893%2529+Lotta+Crabtree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIX-SAHwz4wfVwTzg-6TckoKbLzZ1ZGg-jyvvyLjkHFiIDU7qHwXnZVRZu_VFHeZt4sGFOs6aBgfDsNjyEoDZbTYzC5whVH3sJqALWUZz1Ionmut1m7hjhOJECH7PzIsfkK_TFuOtsxhM/s320/Theatrical_and_circus_life%253B_%25281893%2529+Lotta+Crabtree.jpg" width="222" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Lotta_Crabtree#/media/File:Theatrical_and_circus_life;_(1893)_(14766214155).jpg">Lotta Crabtree. </a>Theatrical and Circus Life: 1893. The Library of Congress: Public Domain. </span></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The importance of the story of Lola Montez and Lotta Crabtree lies in more than their friendship or their talent. These were two women who struggled to build careers during distinctly different periods in the history of the American Old West--the early, wild years belonged to Lola Montez and the later, more refined years of Old West entertainment were ruled by Lotta Crabtree. But they did have much in common, primarily the fact that both women loved to dance and entertain and displayed great talent at a young age. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">They also had similar personalities. Lola Montez, "The Spanish Dancer," is described in news articles and other historical documents as spoiled, half-wild, adventurous, notorious, stubborn, and of course, a woman of great beauty. But this was only part of the story of Lola Montez. Her life was a struggle from the day she was born, and this formed her personality. What the journalists often failed to report was that Montez cared deeply about the status of women in the 1800s and used most of her earnings to help other women who were also struggling to survive in the American Old West. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Miss Lotta</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lotta Crabtree's background was far different from that of Lola Montez. She did not come from a wealthy, noble family, but was raised with loving parents who followed the trail to the West. She also had great compassion for others, and perhaps this was part of the life lesson Montez passed on to her protege, to help others in any way she could. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidezHPgud8IF5eC-3Ef1u58A31J-v5-cZeP1oRbWDQXxfHwNwIbmvV8yHMyAMC-AKcCKlKreoREjlLwM5SPQTzi79O0IZiOUDgLnIxsIDg7RIyL5yWTRZbiIO0nj6ebOBWaLOcEJuqKXs/s1600/Lotta_Crabtree_cabinet_card_Mathew_Brady.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidezHPgud8IF5eC-3Ef1u58A31J-v5-cZeP1oRbWDQXxfHwNwIbmvV8yHMyAMC-AKcCKlKreoREjlLwM5SPQTzi79O0IZiOUDgLnIxsIDg7RIyL5yWTRZbiIO0nj6ebOBWaLOcEJuqKXs/s320/Lotta_Crabtree_cabinet_card_Mathew_Brady.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Photo of <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lotta_Crabtree_cabinet_card_Mathew_Brady.jpg">Lotta Crabtree</a> taken by Mathew Brady. Date unknown, public domain. </span></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="md-assembly-caption" style="background: rgb(255 , 255 , 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b6b6b; font-family: inherit; margin: 15px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lotta had many nicknames. By age 12, she was referred to as “Miss Lotta, the <a href="http://www.sfmuseum.org/bio/lotta.html">San Francisco </a>Favorite.” She was also known as "The Nation's Darling." The press described her as "winsome, saucy, and possessing infectious gaiety, charm," and of course, a great beauty. And by the time she retired, she was referred to as "The Richest Entertainer in America."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Her public reputation is far less scandalous than that of Montez, but as I said before, life was easier for Crabtree, times were different, and Montez started her life and career on the opposite side of the world. The American Old West was "wild," but perhaps not as judgmental toward women as the places Montez lived when she was young.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Unlike Montez, who was forced to marry many times to survive, Crabtree never felt that need and remained single her entire life. The life situation of Lola Montez was shared by women for hundreds of years, women who had to choose marriage, a service career, or prostitution.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gold</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lotta Crabtree's family traveled West in search of gold. They encouraged Lotta's endeavors, but didn't seem to try to force her into anything. In the Old West, during the Gold Rush years when miners were plenty and women were few, (and miners had money!) women found another way to supplement their income and maintain a certain amount of freedom by singing and dancing. Therefore, Crabtree's desire to dance and her great skill is equally legendary as that of Montez, because Lotta Crabtree lived to dance.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSDsSENYb6gx3UGW7TiFlpefUzFiYF8prksDYoOZpLiM31zBZZBt7AYOKMbM3fulGjhW4Su362E-3_O90WQidDYn2HKtts2nyRPaLeJz2MhJjAor74XIps55zGPk__58N12YMpu9xS7AQ/s1600/lossy-page1-800px-Lotta_Crabtree%252C_full-length_portrait_in_costume_for_a_theatrical_role%252C_smoking_a_cigar_LCCN2004676403.tif.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1157" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSDsSENYb6gx3UGW7TiFlpefUzFiYF8prksDYoOZpLiM31zBZZBt7AYOKMbM3fulGjhW4Su362E-3_O90WQidDYn2HKtts2nyRPaLeJz2MhJjAor74XIps55zGPk__58N12YMpu9xS7AQ/s320/lossy-page1-800px-Lotta_Crabtree%252C_full-length_portrait_in_costume_for_a_theatrical_role%252C_smoking_a_cigar_LCCN2004676403.tif.jpg" width="220" /></a>\</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lotta Crabtree, full-length<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Lotta_Crabtree#/media/File:Lotta_Crabtree,_full-length_portrait_in_costume_for_a_theatrical_role,_smoking_a_cigar_LCCN2004676403.tif"> portrait </a>in costume for a theatrical role, dressed as a child, and yet, she appears to be once again smoking a cigar! Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain. </span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Montez Meets Crabtree</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lotta was born in 1847 in New York. Her parents named her Charlotte Mignon Crabtree, and over the years, Charlotte became Lotte, which became Lotta. When Lotta was a toddler her father moved the family to California to join the Gold Rush, possibly part of the "49ers. (I assumed they were associated with the mass gold rush of 1849 because of the timeline of their move, and because the entire family moved to California. However, many men left their families behind because gold rush camps could be dangerous, expensive, and deadly, and Lotta's entire family moved, so I could be mistaken). Lotta was approximately six years old when her family arrived in San Francisco, which would have been 1853.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Crabtree family settled in the Grass Valley Mining Camp near the home of <a href="https://wildwesthistory.blogspot.com/2018/06/lola-montez-beauty-and-song-in-old-west.html">Lola Montez</a>, the Countess of Landsfeldt. According to legend, Lotta was playfully dancing in the street while waiting for her parents when she attracted the attention of Montez. Montez was enchanted. She gave Lotta a few short, simple instructions, and realized the girl had talent. Montez convinced Lotta's parents that the child could help support her family as a dancer, and considering the past struggles of Lola Montez, I do believe support for the girl's family would have been her primary concern.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Montez offered to teach the Lotta "The Spanish Dance." Lotta Crabtree's parents, still struggling financially from their move, eagerly agreed with a bit of pressure from their charismatic daughter.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMi-48G-bjGTGvO36KkxlaJPeLeil9Eb0b5-fG6pdR9n5v1s5hPMBG0VJrX8e3HZknWB8mSYElsVbCgE5w6sbmOAXDy7Z1W-VbzfsLSpC0s8oCe0ZLo7WEKirVK2O2Joz9I6lN5KjNhcs/s1600/Lotta_Crabtree_Fountain_1905.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="547" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMi-48G-bjGTGvO36KkxlaJPeLeil9Eb0b5-fG6pdR9n5v1s5hPMBG0VJrX8e3HZknWB8mSYElsVbCgE5w6sbmOAXDy7Z1W-VbzfsLSpC0s8oCe0ZLo7WEKirVK2O2Joz9I6lN5KjNhcs/s320/Lotta_Crabtree_Fountain_1905.jpg" width="243" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotta%27s_Fountain#/media/File:Lotta_Crabtree_Fountain_1905.jpg">Lotta's Fountain </a>in 1905, looking northeast along Market Street; the Palace Hotel is at right and the Ferry Building's clock tower is in the distance. Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain. </span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Famous Meeting at the Fountain</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are more than a few legends circulating about this meeting. Lotta wasn't just dancing in the street, she was also dancing near a popular, but aging fountain near Market and Kearny Streets and attracting a crowd. Lotta paused when she noticed a tired, hot horse standing nearby. She brought water to the horse from the fountain. This random act of kindness did not go unnoticed by the people of San Francisco. Lotta had established a sweet, innocent child reputation before she even reached the stage.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In 1875, after she had saved a small fortune, Lotta Crabtree returned to the fountain. She paid to have it restored and dedicated "Lotta's Fountain" to the people of San Francisco.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKdSQ5zhGgsGf8muGsy55EfrBZINUGRSoQTJ9h2-UClj7BJAE103ONzMTd3Emtm8zH_LHH9jWYXApq6LYcsqn8R7nF-50tBsGJcl-VcZkEV2ohNq25clbOqL7_r5qNCPh2ANGv-utvuKM/s1600/flamenco+dance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1311" data-original-width="1600" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKdSQ5zhGgsGf8muGsy55EfrBZINUGRSoQTJ9h2-UClj7BJAE103ONzMTd3Emtm8zH_LHH9jWYXApq6LYcsqn8R7nF-50tBsGJcl-VcZkEV2ohNq25clbOqL7_r5qNCPh2ANGv-utvuKM/s320/flamenco+dance.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ricard_Canals_i_Llamb%C3%AD_Flamenco_Dance.jpg">Flamenco Dance</a>, oil on canvas, by Ricard Canals i Llambí (1876–1935). Public Domain.</span></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Spanish Dance</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When historians discuss Lotta Crabtree they refer to her dance style as the same "Spanish Dancing" performed by Lola Montez. After searching through numerous sources in an attempt to identify the exact dance that Lola Montez performed and taught to Lotta Crabtree, I am still unable to accurately identify if she performed a variety of dances or Flamenco. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">However, I did discover that when people refer to Spanish Dance, they are often referring specifically to Flamenco, which is a dance based on the folklore traditions of Andalusia Spain. Its<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamenco"> origin</a> is traced back to the gypsies of Romani, Castilians, Moors and Andalusians , as well as Sephardi Jews in Andalusia. The gowns worn by dancers had extensive embellishments. The combination of exotic dance moves, colorful gowns, and hypnotic music was enchanting to audiences in the Old West. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">A Popular Young Dancer</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lotta first performed in 1855 in front of a group of miners. She was born in 1847 which means she was eight years old when she first performed. Over the next four years she toured throughout California visiting many mining camps and appearing in theaters in San Francisco. She danced, sang, and performed short acting roles that were written just for her.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Her first official performance was in Petaluma, California in "Loan of a Lover." In 1864 she performed in New York City, but reviews were poor. After touring the country for three years she again performed in New York City in "Little Nell and the Marchioness," adapted from "The Old Curiosity Shop" by Charles Dickens, who was popular at this time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">By the 1870s, Lotta had her own touring company. The reviews of her touring company were favorable. As for her performance, she was often compared to a sprite, or fairy, which I find interesting since in one of her most popular photos, Lotta she appears to be a child smoking a cigarette (photo at top of page).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Lotta's Life</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lotta's family traveled with her as she toured the Old West. Her mother was her manager and she did not allow Lotta to neglect her education. Lotta was proficient in the French language and in painting.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">At the peak of her career, Lotta Crabtree was earning $5000 a week, and in contemporary dollars that would be approximately $125,000 a week according to the Inflation Calculator. Crabtree invested in houses and land, bonds, and racehorses. She also donated large sums to charities. Lotta's private home was the 18-room summer cottage in Mount Arlington, New Jersey, on the shores of Lake Hopatcong.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lotta Crabtree's Retirement</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lotta retired in 1891 at the age of 44, which may seem young now, but in the 1800s the average life span for women was in the 40s. At the time of her retirement she was the richest female performer in the United States.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lotta's last performance was for "Lotta Crabtree Day" at the San Francisco at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915 in San Francisco. Then she retired to her estate on Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lotta Crabtree never married. She died in 1924 at the young age of 77 in her New York home. She was buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, New York.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When she died, Lotta Crabtree left over $4 million dollars to charities for veterans, animals, and aging actors.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sources:</span><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Crabtree, Charlotte.<i> The Virtual <a href="http://www.sfmuseum.org/bio/lotta.html">Museum </a>of the City of San Francisco.</i> Accessed July 20, 2018.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Crabtree, Charlotte.<a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lotta-Crabtree"> </a><i><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lotta-Crabtree">Encyclopedia Brittanica Online</a>. Accessed May 14, 2017. </i></span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Flamenco." Wikipedia. Accessed July 25, 2019. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Flamenco Dance." Ricard Canals i Llambí, circa 1935. Wikimedia Commons. Accessed July 25, 2019. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Lotta Crabtree." Death Valley Days. Season 2, Episode 9, first aired January 5, 1954.</span></i></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-37075677723904188602019-07-03T08:45:00.001-07:002020-02-20T19:07:10.526-08:00Independence Rock, Wyoming: Birthplace of American Graffiti <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjid6rkCypGiPRn7QUMCbtxN1-c7B38hzIUtY3gcxEOz79M6ltnFNUSDwMUTDlUK5uet9ITUmcwVyg_M_wTpTvGSJsdKJJn3crX2RNlAHUWu8YivhbRSUTPHg1rrsSV0kUifxjwKqugXgg/s1600/Independence_Rock_WY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjid6rkCypGiPRn7QUMCbtxN1-c7B38hzIUtY3gcxEOz79M6ltnFNUSDwMUTDlUK5uet9ITUmcwVyg_M_wTpTvGSJsdKJJn3crX2RNlAHUWu8YivhbRSUTPHg1rrsSV0kUifxjwKqugXgg/s320/Independence_Rock_WY.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Independence_Rock_WY.jpg">Independence Rock</a>, Wyoming. The birthplace of American graffiti. </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Yes folks, it's true. Those silly webpages claiming graffiti started in the 1960s are wrong. Long before it became a popular form of entertainment and vandalism for bored teenagers, America's pioneers were carving their names in a giant rock in Wyoming, the halfway point to their destination: California. As early pioneers made their way across the continent to settle the West, they often stopped at this well-known landmark to leave their mark on history. </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>The rock is now a Wyoming State Historic Site. </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg8PbGQqeY6XSAuhDD2VNxcNcappNsD9-L-U14PuAirC-rbzq9tbED6milTQ34fIXp5rHFB5ANkftSq8_5589hmZpGGbjeHEEtdFrfodeJgdSBoI4U5cbteJ528pJzZsDBg9vpyrl58LE/s1600/Oregon_Trail's_Sweetwater_River_1870.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg8PbGQqeY6XSAuhDD2VNxcNcappNsD9-L-U14PuAirC-rbzq9tbED6milTQ34fIXp5rHFB5ANkftSq8_5589hmZpGGbjeHEEtdFrfodeJgdSBoI4U5cbteJ528pJzZsDBg9vpyrl58LE/s320/Oregon_Trail's_Sweetwater_River_1870.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>The Oregon Trail's <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oregon_Trail%27s_Sweetwater_River_1870.gif">Sweetwater River</a>, circa 1870.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<b>A Comfortable Campsite</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Pioneers making their way along the Oregon Trail to California often traveled alongside the Sweetwater River in Wyoming. They began to notice there were many choice campsites near the river, opportunities for game and fish, fresh water, and a nice place to rest. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
These same pioneers also noticed a large rock, perfect for climbing to get a better view of what lay ahead, and what they'd left behind. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDT5Xd8YIeoVbBRdVSw_0QBdyN9P59CbtB9cDEKKL_ipf2hubdvDNVoc8vR9gL6VNkmsGgdffxdB_tslb8hv74Kv-qjLRGTCwQf-6ExBsqhPNEOgyCTVWjus2-YHqqUk8H7T5UQ4Cfimo/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDT5Xd8YIeoVbBRdVSw_0QBdyN9P59CbtB9cDEKKL_ipf2hubdvDNVoc8vR9gL6VNkmsGgdffxdB_tslb8hv74Kv-qjLRGTCwQf-6ExBsqhPNEOgyCTVWjus2-YHqqUk8H7T5UQ4Cfimo/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Independence Rock from a distance. The View from Independence Rock is magnificent!</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
From the top of the rock it seemed a pioneer could see all the way to California, and after what they'd just experienced, those few moments on the rock were like a slice of Heaven! </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<b>Why Independence Rock? </b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Traveling the Oregon Trail involved careful planning to avoid harsh weather. Pioneers had to arrive in Independence, Missouri, buy their supplies, join a wagon train and start on the Oregon Trail in plenty of time to reach Wyoming by July. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCooL6fk7QlIKyZr0TcmLn11nK6hIk3yA61XUJz7pVpeiWkANkqRDn9dss8rvF9gr88-XjejvTzuUihDrc3sze33aan2iOPIYmMnIPgnnA4Y4FXoEoq9iL1ynhB9B2HRvJDJfbaRBa6J8/s1600/Wagon_train.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCooL6fk7QlIKyZr0TcmLn11nK6hIk3yA61XUJz7pVpeiWkANkqRDn9dss8rvF9gr88-XjejvTzuUihDrc3sze33aan2iOPIYmMnIPgnnA4Y4FXoEoq9iL1ynhB9B2HRvJDJfbaRBa6J8/s320/Wagon_train.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wagon_train.jpg">Wagon Train </a>headed down the Oregon Trail. </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
As it turned out, most pioneers arrived at the Sweetwater River and Independence Rock on the Fourth of July. Hence the name: Independence Rock!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFubQNWBfteESE_yT4KsvigfduzHGFJrOXG_tTMEGBE4ygmWa28agDdUxN_Wqnvm1EBPB9jMyLavkceX96YESMMoL_Y7EtEq-aWvUembwF-vLW4Tzmzy5Q7KvQqtvQk4E_tsF9CsKFAQ4/s1600/Pioneers_Crossing_the_Plains_of_Nebraska_by_C.C.A._Christensen.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFubQNWBfteESE_yT4KsvigfduzHGFJrOXG_tTMEGBE4ygmWa28agDdUxN_Wqnvm1EBPB9jMyLavkceX96YESMMoL_Y7EtEq-aWvUembwF-vLW4Tzmzy5Q7KvQqtvQk4E_tsF9CsKFAQ4/s320/Pioneers_Crossing_the_Plains_of_Nebraska_by_C.C.A._Christensen.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Pioneers crossing the plains by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pioneers_Crossing_the_Plains_of_Nebraska_by_C.C.A._Christensen.png">C.C.A. Christensen</a> (1831-1912).</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
According to Huston Horn's<i> The Pioneers</i>, Phoebe Judson wrote in her journal that she celebrated the Fourth of July at Independence Rock with her family in 1853. They "whipped up a savory pie made of sage hen and rabbit, with a rich gravy; and a crust, having been raised with yeast, was as light as a feather." </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
The family then finished their Independence Day celebration at the Rock with fruitcake, pound cake, and sponge cake. Judson commented that the celebration would have been much more lavish at home, but considering what they'd been through in their travels, she was perfectly content. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<b>American Graffiti</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
In 1841, a missionary passing through Wyoming noticed the rock when he stopped at the Sweetwater River to rest. He examined the rock and the many names already carved into its sides. He called the rock "The Great Record of the Desert." </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIzCcULhRUkezZywKKVeZ4jbvSZCXtUQMOK6mDcuCL4zUaSOrGbzpgNd88qa2LABKDm3eiWIXYSIiwyG8qkpJgy7_EnWGQVUSDA2uNyJ8SNH7CHq_u9_D_1lR_maDUgogMptObj_Jtav0/s1600/IndependenceRock3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIzCcULhRUkezZywKKVeZ4jbvSZCXtUQMOK6mDcuCL4zUaSOrGbzpgNd88qa2LABKDm3eiWIXYSIiwyG8qkpJgy7_EnWGQVUSDA2uNyJ8SNH7CHq_u9_D_1lR_maDUgogMptObj_Jtav0/s320/IndependenceRock3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Independence Rock--note the date carved into the side. Photo by <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IndependenceRock3.jpg">Matthew Trump</a>.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
As time passed, Independence Rock became a famous landmark. Gradually, pioneers noticed that the those who came before them carved their names, dates, epitaphs, or messages for family members coming later into the rock itself. Soon there were thousands of names, dates, monograms and initials in the rock, either painted on or chiseled into the rock itself. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2I7VupPotNYov3JkADerLEiL6Zav7E182ddz8tXxoHcWtxomqLOu88kRmqpPy6vkLyRv_rqah5OcLHIuHD1elb68gfbN4Ml5h3bc79ih0tFXmr-euwPkXrJJ4iMkYgioNagAIdaGNWhE/s1600/Alfred_Jacob_Miller_-_Rock_of_Independence_-_Walters_37194069.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2I7VupPotNYov3JkADerLEiL6Zav7E182ddz8tXxoHcWtxomqLOu88kRmqpPy6vkLyRv_rqah5OcLHIuHD1elb68gfbN4Ml5h3bc79ih0tFXmr-euwPkXrJJ4iMkYgioNagAIdaGNWhE/s320/Alfred_Jacob_Miller_-_Rock_of_Independence_-_Walters_37194069.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="http://wildwesthistory.blogspot.com/2012/06/artist-alfred-jacob-miller-creating.html">Alfred Jacob Miller,</a> <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alfred_Jacob_Miller_-_Rock_of_Independence_-_Walters_37194069.jpg">"Rock of Independence," </a>circa 1851.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Independence Rock is made of granite and is approximately 130 feet high, 1900 feet long and 850 feet wide. Travelers often reached the rock at night. They knew they were in the right place--if the skies were clear they could see the rock from a great distance and it served as an important landmark for travelers. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<b>Independence Rock Today</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Independence Rock is in southwestern Natrona County in Wyoming. You will find it alongside the Wyoming State Highway 220. It was designated a National Historic Landmark on January 20, 1961 and is now part of the Independence Rock State Historic Site, which is owned and operated by the state of Wyoming. In other words, don't show up with your pink and purple paint expecting to leave your mark--it is now an important part of American history and protected by the State of Wyoming. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<b>Sources:</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Horn, Huston. "Independence Rock, Wyoming." The Old West: The Pioneers. Time Life Books. New York: 1974. </li>
<li>Visits and personal experience. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-42019894814773877872018-06-03T22:41:00.005-07:002022-07-20T19:54:52.491-07:00Lola Montez: Beauty and Song in the Old West<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKUogKFuIH4RVkJ_TKgPn_uXUwB9babioo6RqJ0w_AhG0mqphS0paEQoFhubVxdkCchYE145O0Knqs2edVx_aCTtAUqqmlIpa62q88rTm5JkY-3vKqfOJZ15cOw2QcUXrn9M1Ve1rIdfI/s1600/800px-C_Buchner_-_Lola_Montez_Guache_1847_%2528115%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKUogKFuIH4RVkJ_TKgPn_uXUwB9babioo6RqJ0w_AhG0mqphS0paEQoFhubVxdkCchYE145O0Knqs2edVx_aCTtAUqqmlIpa62q88rTm5JkY-3vKqfOJZ15cOw2QcUXrn9M1Ve1rIdfI/s320/800px-C_Buchner_-_Lola_Montez_Guache_1847_%2528115%2529.jpg" width="245" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Lola Montez (de:Gouache by Carl Buchner, 1847. Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Lola Montez is known as the "first tabloid celebrity." She was born in a time when women had to use whatever they had to survive. Lola's story is similar to that of her own mother, reflecting the harsh life women endured and their reluctant dependence on men for everything, including their safety, security, and even their success. Although her story begins in Europe, it ends in the early years of the Wild West. The story of Lola Montez could be the story of any woman in the Wild West years, struggling to survive in a new land ruled by men, and somehow succeeding. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<b>Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert</b><br />
Lola was born Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert was born in Limerick, Ireland in 1824 (although this is disputed, this is the date given by Montez in her autobiography). In her lectures she stated that her ancestors were Irish and Moorish-Spanish. Lola's mother, Elizabeth Oliver, was the child of Irish diplomat Charles Silver Oliver, a descendent of the Spanish noble Count de Montalvo, former High Sheriff of Cork, and a member of Parliament in County Limerick.<br />
<br />
Elizabeth Oliver was also known to be the most beautiful woman in her social circle. Unfortunately, Elizabeth Oliver eloped with a soldier, Edward Gilbert, and although Montez claimed she was born in the second year of their marriage it was rumored that her mother was pregnant with Lola at the time of their marriage.<br />
<br />
Gilbert was an intelligent man and talented soldier. He was made a Captain in the 44th Irish Regiment before the age of 20. Unfortunately, the marriage and rumors surrounding the marriage of the young couple destroyed any chance that either or both would have been welcomed back into society. The couple lived in Boyle, County Roscommon before Gilbert was sent to India in March of 1823.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibxZf0qBmygTCj0Vf4p_7sOfAXFOgiJOD_JeOMPIEBawBS3cKlarOLB2jqdHNNvyh8KnheHLqHhA1co9M9otFEYmq-siP8j4VFO2ECjI5iVglB3vjYMAhzDkYdN2mGGQXMLD_ENTud3qg/s1600/Harvard_Theatre_Collection_-_Lola_Montez_TC-75.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibxZf0qBmygTCj0Vf4p_7sOfAXFOgiJOD_JeOMPIEBawBS3cKlarOLB2jqdHNNvyh8KnheHLqHhA1co9M9otFEYmq-siP8j4VFO2ECjI5iVglB3vjYMAhzDkYdN2mGGQXMLD_ENTud3qg/s320/Harvard_Theatre_Collection_-_Lola_Montez_TC-75.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>
<i style="text-align: center;">Daguerreotype of dancer and actress<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Lola_Montez#/media/File:Harvard_Theatre_Collection_-_Lola_Montez_TC-75.jpg"> Lola Montez </a>(1821-1861). TC-75, Harvard Theatre Collection, Harvard University. Public Domain. </i><br />
<br />
The timing of the young family was poor. There was a devastating Cholera epidemic in India in the early 1800s and Lola's father died of Cholera shortly after their arrival. According to the autobiography of Montez, her father's best friend, Lt. Patrick Craigie, was also in the room at the time of his death and Gilbert begged Craigie to care for his young wife and child.<br />
<br />
Lola's mother married Lt. Patrick Craigie. Craigie, however, either was not familiar with raising young girls or was an impatient man. He did not want little Lola in the home. It was an important experience for Lola, though. A short lesson on the politics of marital relationships and the fact that women had little power or control over their lives.<br />
<br />
Lola was sent to Sunderland, England. Craigie's older sister ran a boarding school in Sunderland, but one can imagine Lola was not greeted with open arms. Her stay in Sunderland lasted less than a year before she was sent on to Bath, the largest city in the county of Somerset, England.<br />
<br />
The ancient city of Bath was known for its constant flow of tourists who arrived from around the world for a taste of the healing waters, the social scene and entertainment. It was the perfect environment for Lola's friendly, outgoing, confident personality. She quickly learned the art of flirtation and social behaviors and became interested in dancing, as well.<br />
<br />
Craigie was promoted to Major and sent to Calcutta. Lola was separated from her mother and lived with the family of Sir Jasper Nichols, commander of the Bengal forces. Nichols had many daughters and Montez was sent to Paris, along with the Nichols' children, to finish her education.<br />
<br />
There were many rumors about Lola's behavior at this time. She was marked as a troublemaker for sticking a flower in a man's hat during church. Apparently, that was all it took to destroy a child's reputation. It was also said that she once through the village naked. In contemporary times, the child would be questioned to see if she was attacked, but instead, Lola was victimized by vicious gossip. She was only ten years old. It was yet another painful lesson for Lola, this time about society and gossip. Beautiful little girls lived the same dangerous lives as beautiful grown women, and Lola would have to learn how to survive.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
\<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh44z87WKhGd-QQYdyC8Q79kVU5TsgGFB1GVt9HLlqmRjbjI5ifG5IxAyQeNN5H2Y9nPYOYmj_4JAA-hR46owxvIdhf4d_btMUb6S8RDniex5JnlYfwHnRqDUhdFqrTFSThKUAEJmbKYdE/s1600/Lola+Montez+as+Mariquita%252C+in+the+ballet+Un+jour+de+carneval+of+Seville.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="449" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh44z87WKhGd-QQYdyC8Q79kVU5TsgGFB1GVt9HLlqmRjbjI5ifG5IxAyQeNN5H2Y9nPYOYmj_4JAA-hR46owxvIdhf4d_btMUb6S8RDniex5JnlYfwHnRqDUhdFqrTFSThKUAEJmbKYdE/s320/Lola+Montez+as+Mariquita%252C+in+the+ballet+Un+jour+de+carneval+of+Seville.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lola_Montez_as_Mariquita,_in_the_ballet_Un_jour_de_carneval_of_Seville_(NYPL_b12145904-5237622).tiff">Lola Montez</a> as Mariquita, in the ballet Un jour de carneval of Seville, 1852. </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain. </i></div>
<br />
Lola was sent to Sunderland, England. Craigie's older sister ran a boarding school in Sunderland, but one can imagine Lola was not greeted with open arms. Her stay in Sunderland lasted less than a year before she was sent on to Bath, the largest city in the county of Somerset, England. The ancient city of Bath was known for its constant flow of tourists who arrived from around the world for a taste of the healing waters, the social scene and entertainment. It was the perfect environment for Lola's friendly, outgoing, confident personality. She quickly learned the art of flirtation and social behaviors and became interested in dancing, as well.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
When she returned to the Nichols family at the age of 14 her mother arrived claiming she was there to take her home. Montez was confused by the number of new gowns and fancy clothing that was made for this trip and when she asked her mother's travel escort, 27-year-old Captain James, she discovered she was promised to be married to a sixty-year-old court judge.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjph16m7sx27_yE0hfgp0GKRCgPJ8U7w0as16djN8N8KN6mYcdP4W_3HAPMVJq0afmt72D0E9ErRQ6WvoyKw8gZWfzopr9Mjgrc0YP2BM4chgl-Tq4GTQqhO_L9WlkXg0aKiYff_PXsd4/s1600/320px-Lola_Montez%252C_dancer.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="320" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjph16m7sx27_yE0hfgp0GKRCgPJ8U7w0as16djN8N8KN6mYcdP4W_3HAPMVJq0afmt72D0E9ErRQ6WvoyKw8gZWfzopr9Mjgrc0YP2BM4chgl-Tq4GTQqhO_L9WlkXg0aKiYff_PXsd4/s320/320px-Lola_Montez%252C_dancer.jpg" width="191" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: left;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Lola_Montez#/media/File:Lola_Montez,_dancer.jpg">Lola Montez</a> at the height of her stage performance career. Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div>
<b>An Arranged Marriage for a Child</b><br />
<br />
Lola was terrified to learn she was to marry a 60-year-old man. She turned to her mother's travel companion, Lt. Thomas James, and begged for his help. In her memoirs, Montez refers to Lt. James in a way that implies he may have been a lover or deeply admired by Lola's mother, but Lola was so insistent with her pleas for rescue from the planned marriage that James proposed an elopement.<br />
<br />
They settled in Ireland, but perhaps "settled" is not the right word to use when discussing the life of Lola Montez. In addition to the scandal created by her young age, Lola's husband was also abusive. He spent his days chasing women and drinking. Lola and her husband returned to Spain, but they were not welcomed by her mother.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: left;">Lola left her husband and headed for England. She met her next lover, another Army officer, on the ship. They were accused of an open and indecent affair--at her divorce trial, other passengers claimed they often saw Lola's cabin door open and Lola, half-dressed, with the officer. Lola was forced to return to Spain where Lola's husband, Lt. James, granted her a divorce. Lola was only 20 years old.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc23c-TDZPTANXAI9CeNlVTJyHpbwo_IdqZFXH8e8Whasqvz1lPke2FIeBy14vEUVXNxrvrnVRXBQbtM0NEbTLvnFZr9O4JTSiqsCxuzmWk9aSKdk1ssG4azkr_MtwYQH42QvyVDdWv0c/s1600/Lola_Montez_as_Mariquita%252C_in_the_ballet_Un_jour_de_carneval_of_Seville_%2528NYPL_b12145905-5237623%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc23c-TDZPTANXAI9CeNlVTJyHpbwo_IdqZFXH8e8Whasqvz1lPke2FIeBy14vEUVXNxrvrnVRXBQbtM0NEbTLvnFZr9O4JTSiqsCxuzmWk9aSKdk1ssG4azkr_MtwYQH42QvyVDdWv0c/s320/Lola_Montez_as_Mariquita%252C_in_the_ballet_Un_jour_de_carneval_of_Seville_%2528NYPL_b12145905-5237623%2529.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: left;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Lola_Montez#/media/File:Lola_Montez_as_Mariquita,_in_the_ballet_Un_jour_de_carneval_of_Seville_(NYPL_b12145905-5237623).jpg">Lola Montez </a>as Mariquita, in the ballet Un jour de carneval of Seville. 1852: Public Domain.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Spanish Dancing</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
In an attempt to redefine her image, Lola began an intense study of Spanish dancing in Seville. She traveled to England in 1843 as Lola Montez where she was booked to appear in the royal theatre. She was thrilled by the opportunity. She finally had a chance to make her way in a man's world alone, but her dream was shattered by a man in the audience who recognized Montez as the former wife of Lt. James, and an Irishwoman. The man shouted out in the middle of her dance that she was not a famous Spanish dancer and revealed her previous identity.<br />
<br />
At that time, the Irish were experiencing extreme prejudice. The audience was easily led to believe by the man--who had unknown motives--that she was trying to deceive the audience. She was chased from the stage with catcalls and insults. She was considered unemployable due to her tarnished reputation and was passed from one man to another as their beautiful Spanish lover. And she was beautiful, but Lola dreamed of being more than a courtesan. Still, it would be years before she could leave that past behind and fulfill her dream of the dance.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_03m1sHGCQNWaAmWC3YM8Fr4995wIPIrenJ0gUB2CfjO7-WTTnE_4ieDXlQBLMxMFO39DNX6IACffaGq0cqs-GajMmyOP7GpgRoGM8U2CF4Lo8Cfk-1Lb5UhVqDIolLGhspP6s9uWSrI/s1600/800px-Jules_Laure_-_Portrait_of_Lola_Montez%252C_1845.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1049" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_03m1sHGCQNWaAmWC3YM8Fr4995wIPIrenJ0gUB2CfjO7-WTTnE_4ieDXlQBLMxMFO39DNX6IACffaGq0cqs-GajMmyOP7GpgRoGM8U2CF4Lo8Cfk-1Lb5UhVqDIolLGhspP6s9uWSrI/s320/800px-Jules_Laure_-_Portrait_of_Lola_Montez%252C_1845.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Jules Laure - Portrait of <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Lola_Montez#/media/File:Jules_Laure_-_Portrait_of_Lola_Montez,_1845.jpg">Lola Montez</a>, 1845.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: left;">Life moved quickly in these days and within a year Lola was in Paris, France. She once again appeared on stage in the opera Le lazzarone, but reviews were poor. She was forced to fall back on her looks and reputation to survive once more and had yet another scandalous affair, this time with the composer Franz Liszt. She was introduced to novelist George Sand who was also known for her scandalous affairs, but Sand's friendship enabled Lola to meet many important people, including author Alexander Dumas. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPLTLXy8XAdY9_swFNzdQTaQ0V_7mP42R6XnbwQNyWMhqdfBgwCs8PCcLUG8dnbNOHrDjNvsKOt9jwItB2x0ZviXbDCYHpbsmpm-u4qbsqEqKeagKynk2qSAaibsdeY0stHpXOmXili0Q/s1600/Lola_Montez_by_George_Dury.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="723" data-original-width="612" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPLTLXy8XAdY9_swFNzdQTaQ0V_7mP42R6XnbwQNyWMhqdfBgwCs8PCcLUG8dnbNOHrDjNvsKOt9jwItB2x0ZviXbDCYHpbsmpm-u4qbsqEqKeagKynk2qSAaibsdeY0stHpXOmXili0Q/s320/Lola_Montez_by_George_Dury.jpg" width="270" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Lola Montez (Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert) by George Dury, ca. 1848, Tennessee State Library and Archives. Public Domain.</i><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It is believed that Lola and Dumas also had a romantic affair. But it was her friendship with newspaper publisher Alexandre Dujarier that helped her move forward with her dream, as well as her acquaintance with the newspaper's drama critic. Sadly, her friendship/romance with Dujarier also ended badly when he confronted another man in a jealous rage and challenged him to a duel. Dujarier lost and Lola was forced to move on. The life of a courtesan depends on her success in finding and keeping a lover, and whatever she may have felt for Dujarier, he could not help her once he had died. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiySF4-3fSqneYpyTwySDjw6tRrXm6jRPVaUGJfNOCpFSFf0QrD3IHwvThz69Pu1ZPUOC7gcEfPqLST1wQhXBY1Bra_kS20azfpTQE6HC8EC8IVODkfcr5NvWkun1A3IvXKDVMVSrrz7ZE/s1600/Wilhelm_von_Kaulbach_-_Lola_Montez_im_historischen_Kost%25C3%25BCm%252C_1847+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="566" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiySF4-3fSqneYpyTwySDjw6tRrXm6jRPVaUGJfNOCpFSFf0QrD3IHwvThz69Pu1ZPUOC7gcEfPqLST1wQhXBY1Bra_kS20azfpTQE6HC8EC8IVODkfcr5NvWkun1A3IvXKDVMVSrrz7ZE/s320/Wilhelm_von_Kaulbach_-_Lola_Montez_im_historischen_Kost%25C3%25BCm%252C_1847+%25281%2529.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Wilhelm von Kaulbach - <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Lola_Montez#/media/File:Wilhelm_von_Kaulbach_-_Lola_Montez_im_historischen_Kost%C3%BCm,_1847.jpg">Lola Montez</a> in a classic costume, 1847. </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>The Countess of Landsfeld</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Lola's life took a dramatic turn when she arrived in Munich around 1846. In spite of her reputation for having an explosive temper and lack of popularity with the people, she became the mistress of Ludwig I of Bavaria who also made her Countess of Landsfeld, a title that came with a large allowance and political power--one minister, Karl von Abel, was dismissed for objecting to her political position. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: left;">Lola, now the Countess, was a liberal in a country divided by its mix of liberal and conservative beliefs. It is possible she was even more politically involved than her husband. When threats of revolution at the local university were relayed to her in 1848, the Countess had the university shut down. The king was forced to reopen the university, but the scandal also forced him to abdicate and Lola barely escaped Bavaria alive. Historians believe Ludwig's relationship with Lola Montez was the cause of his downfall, but he also showed a tendency to use poor judgment in political situations.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJA4O0uRGZ60rINIGzVXPAHuVm5WeMWnW7N8wSq1rnFn6Cp0cDgYSiFrTK9cc5EwSgeP8SntXuoqExzDEN0JnkwzMw5R1SwunscHA1PvPsJtbzdCozTYFrWpExdlxruEG4XKIz4qrAjSk/s1600/lola+montez+with+black+veil+1853.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="909" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJA4O0uRGZ60rINIGzVXPAHuVm5WeMWnW7N8wSq1rnFn6Cp0cDgYSiFrTK9cc5EwSgeP8SntXuoqExzDEN0JnkwzMw5R1SwunscHA1PvPsJtbzdCozTYFrWpExdlxruEG4XKIz4qrAjSk/s320/lola+montez+with+black+veil+1853.jpg" width="281" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Lola_Montez#/media/File:Lola_Montez,_profile_with_black_veil.jpg">Lola Montez</a> with Black Veil, 1853. Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain. </i><span style="text-align: left;"></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
Lola escaped to Switzerland where she waited for her lover, but he never arrived. She then moved to London and married yet another officer, George Trafford Heald, but discovered she would soon be charged with bigamy due to local laws and once again, Lola was on the run. Lola and Heald traveled to France, then Spain. It is believed he drowned in Spain. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>There's Something About Lola...</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Apparently fed up with life in Europe and her terrible luck with love, Lola decided to try the Wild West and bought a ticket for a boat ride to the U.S. She was 35, which was close to the average life span in the Old West, but her beguiling appearance once again brought her fame and notoriety. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3F1dYqUW9vIozac_XT0EIVR4K6dD2Pw09TgHx257ZpTK8VG38drkdN8Pnsir7U6X46uXDNhHcc4dztZs9ND_Lt-NynJz-7noqjbXyEbHnX7EFAW7l8HgAdjJUcxv_mfAnqJBGnqR2jI4/s1600/Conrad_Kiesel_-_A_portrait_of_Lola_Montez.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="354" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3F1dYqUW9vIozac_XT0EIVR4K6dD2Pw09TgHx257ZpTK8VG38drkdN8Pnsir7U6X46uXDNhHcc4dztZs9ND_Lt-NynJz-7noqjbXyEbHnX7EFAW7l8HgAdjJUcxv_mfAnqJBGnqR2jI4/s320/Conrad_Kiesel_-_A_portrait_of_Lola_Montez.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Conrad Kiesel - <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Lola_Montez#/media/File:Conrad_Kiesel_-_A_portrait_of_Lola_Montez.jpg">A portrait of Lola Montez </a>(according to Christie's). Date unknown. </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain. </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Lola Montez was an expert at re-inventing her image, but when it came to decisions on love, she still had a lot to learn. Before the ship reached California, she was engaged to Mr. Patrick Hull, editor of the <i>San Francisco Whig</i>. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
According to an article in The Maritime Heritage Project, she married Hull a few months later and divorced him two months after the wedding. In yet another scandal, a doctor who was named as co-respondent in the divorce was shot and killed, and his body was found on a hillside near the city. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga-GnpscL04qRqYdk9HqAlvB8WUtsbffqcHRZFIK9E-uScfnQwf0Mml4Q0lQbLXMESYqlTU7X_rTlYpGJB1ihFoXyjzuclhSrroK4XkfYu28qTmrvK3OBLMC9PbC-S-lIacJcwFwCFcUs/s1600/Historic_American_Buildings_Survey_Louis_Sanchez_Call%252C_Oakland%252C_California_-_Lola_Montez_House%252C_248_Mill_Street%252C_Grass_Valley%252C_Nevada_County%252C_CA_HABS_CAL%252C29-GRAVA%252C4-1.tif.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="800" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga-GnpscL04qRqYdk9HqAlvB8WUtsbffqcHRZFIK9E-uScfnQwf0Mml4Q0lQbLXMESYqlTU7X_rTlYpGJB1ihFoXyjzuclhSrroK4XkfYu28qTmrvK3OBLMC9PbC-S-lIacJcwFwCFcUs/s320/Historic_American_Buildings_Survey_Louis_Sanchez_Call%252C_Oakland%252C_California_-_Lola_Montez_House%252C_248_Mill_Street%252C_Grass_Valley%252C_Nevada_County%252C_CA_HABS_CAL%252C29-GRAVA%252C4-1.tif.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Historic American Buildings Survey Louis Sanchez Call, Oakland, California - Lola Montez House, 248 Mill Street, Grass Valley, Nevada County, CA. Public Domian.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Peace at Last for Lola</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Looking back on her story it is easy to imagine that something in her childhood had changed Lola so that she found it difficult to truly love, or maintain a loving relationship. After her marriage to Hull she decided to help women, instead. Of course, she continued to perform and was just as popular in the Old West as she had been in Europe. Surprisingly, the Wild West towns were attractive to famous performers--lonely men with gold in their pockets and nowhere to spend it was the perfect situation for skilled, beautiful performers.</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Lola, however, never forgot her life of struggle. She bought a home in Grass Valley where she stayed between performances and was reportedly well-liked by the community. She also started a program helping women who were struggling to survive on her own.</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Lola Montez died in financial poverty. She was still a young woman of 39, and it is believed that she died of pneumonia. However, an article in <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/an-irishman-s-diary-on-the-glamorous-and-dangerous-lola-montez-1.1867228">The Irish Times</a> states that she died from the effects of syphillus. Regardless, it is her life that is best remembered. She was a woman confronted with many obstacles who managed to build a career that was golden and left behind a reputation for her kindness and compassion. She gave everything she owned to help the women in the Wild West. She also met a special young girl who she decided to teach how to dance--Charlotte "Lotta" Crabtree. It was a serendipitous meeting--Lotta Crabtree would become the star of the next generation of Wild West entertainers.</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Sources: (Please note from the sources that this post was started in May of 2017 and published in June of 2018, I apologize for any discrepancy in the source information.)</i></div>
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Collins, Padraig. "An Irishman’s Diary on the glamorous and dangerous Lola Montez." Posted July 16, 2014. Accessed July 25, 2019. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Gilbert, Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna. <i>Encyclopedia Britannica Online,</i> 1911. Accessed May 14, 2017. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">"Lola Montez."<i> Death Valley Days.</i> Episode first aired January 4, 1955. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.maritimeheritage.org/vips/montez.html">"Lola Montez."</a> Very Important Passengers. Ship Passengers: 1846-1899. <i>The Maritime Heritage Project ~ San Francisco.</i> Accessed January 16, 2018. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Montez, Lola. <i style="text-align: left;">Autobiography and Lectures of Lola Montez.</i><span style="text-align: left;"> James Blackwood, Paternoster Rowe. London: 1860.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">"Obituary: Death of Lola Montez." News. <i><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1861/01/21/news/obituary-death-of-lola-montez.html?pagewanted=all">The New York Times</a></i>. Originally published January 21, 1861. Accessed online May 12, 2017.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Roper, Ann. "Her Name Was Lola." <i>Hidden History.</i> Aired March 7, 2007. Accessed on <i>Internet Archive Wayback Machine</i> November 7, 2017. </li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-15450517679052570422018-04-17T21:42:00.000-07:002018-04-17T21:42:04.362-07:00Rocky Mountain Locust: The Plague of the Pioneers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhocTAaPBlJ6wTHA2y4hmlgV3qH1cq3oLYOPqYgNSwXeBbqf19w9wY94l4NP5xtZbw0YPBhkusnVd3oiPF696IXvKj3l8n0ZVvMqc1Dm_ZLJRcxqamL3Hf9u6GinZKkPgxhrotC3yIOJB8/s1600/grasshopper2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="960" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhocTAaPBlJ6wTHA2y4hmlgV3qH1cq3oLYOPqYgNSwXeBbqf19w9wY94l4NP5xtZbw0YPBhkusnVd3oiPF696IXvKj3l8n0ZVvMqc1Dm_ZLJRcxqamL3Hf9u6GinZKkPgxhrotC3yIOJB8/s320/grasshopper2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Photo by Darla Sue Dollman. I believe this was also a locust.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
"No matter what they came to, they went right on. They were crawling up one side of the barn and down the other. Crawling West. They crawled straight into the creek, never stopped. They crawled into it and drowned till they clogged it up and the others crawled across on their backs. Molly...would they do something like that without knowing why? I tell you they were bound to go West. All the powers of Hell couldn't 've stopped them." He and Molly looked at each other for a long moment...Neither of them could say what they felt. The grasshoppers--crawling into the creek and drowning 'till the others crossed on their backs. Grasshoppers, going West--like the railroads, like the people, like cities and settled lands and law and government. Yet grasshoppers were as alien, as indifferent to human beings than human fate itself." </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
--excerpt from <i>Let the Hurricane Roar</i> by Rose Wilder Lane, daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIuJxmmA11n8eQQepP_E-eWbZs9ybdXWYLiEhIACufb3Bb1t8ZtShJBysjtzf_dysRCPAQXxcbmZc3jY2_xCiAEs8171J0q9j-0v_Ok5IkXJt1rFTTFP-AMqxPnwjkBIuVNRAQppFG61A/s1600/grasshopper+in+arroyo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="497" data-original-width="960" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIuJxmmA11n8eQQepP_E-eWbZs9ybdXWYLiEhIACufb3Bb1t8ZtShJBysjtzf_dysRCPAQXxcbmZc3jY2_xCiAEs8171J0q9j-0v_Ok5IkXJt1rFTTFP-AMqxPnwjkBIuVNRAQppFG61A/s320/grasshopper+in+arroyo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Locust in New Mexico arroyo. Photo by Darla Sue Dollman.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Here Come the Bugs!</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i><b><br /></b></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It is spring, and my house is already alive with spiders and creepy crawly creatures. It sometimes seems that every year my home state of Colorado is plagued with some creature, such as moths, butterflies, or bees, but the one that has created a unique history of its own with its massive, nationwide invasions is the grasshoppers, or locust. Perhaps the most famous of these is the Rocky Mountain Locust with their massive attacks on American pioneers. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>The Rocky Mountain Locust and American Pioneers</b></div>
<br />
Rocky Mountain Locust once swarmed in numbers unimaginable to modern farmers who use pesticides to protect their crops. According to the Fort Collins Museum Discovery Science Center, the 1874 swarm of Rocky Mountain Locust covered <b>198,000 square miles</b> with an estimated <b>12.5 million insects</b>. In the 1800s, farmers fought a seemingly endless battle with the locust, year after year, and many believed the locust would win. They gave up their dreams of farming and returned to their homes in the East.<br />
<br />
Katie Bowell, Curator of Cultural Interpretation at the Fort Collins Museum & Discovery Science Center, "From July 20 to July 30 of 1874, a plague of locusts was recorded over the prairie that covered 198,000 square miles (approximately twice the size of my home state of Colorado) and contained at least 12.5 trillion individuals weighing approximately 27.5 million tons."<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGZ2z1Hg4SZhQrv5Kpp7V0OQAG9_4kMAptmAmgBcLTdkWRk3Fy1rwn0ZD1JfjrA-rx7QGe8db0mYJgBTZ0c0tWgdYJtTNmBSnCOv6pNdHLLDgJub0bfn-Xgf6M_351N9dsaVaI9qj03S0/s1600/Laura_Ingalls_Wilder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGZ2z1Hg4SZhQrv5Kpp7V0OQAG9_4kMAptmAmgBcLTdkWRk3Fy1rwn0ZD1JfjrA-rx7QGe8db0mYJgBTZ0c0tWgdYJtTNmBSnCOv6pNdHLLDgJub0bfn-Xgf6M_351N9dsaVaI9qj03S0/s320/Laura_Ingalls_Wilder.jpg" width="252" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Laura_Ingalls_Wilder.jpg">Laura Ingalls Wilder</a>. Wilder and her daughter both wrote about the Rocky Mountain Locust plagues in their accounts of life on the American prairies. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957), Rose Wilder Lane's mother (quoted above) wrote the Little House series about her family life in Independence, Kansas, and also wrote about her family's experiences with the Rocky Mountain Locust in her books, including <i>On the Banks of the Plum Creek,</i> a story of her life on the American prairie.<br />
<br />
Ingalls describes her impression of the locust as they moved toward her family farm: "The cloud was grasshoppers.Their bodies hid the sun and made darkness. Their thin, large wings gleamed and glittered. The rasping whirring of their wings filled the whole air and they hit the ground and the house with the noise of a hailstorm..."</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_f8Zo96Bmoxt1pI8btNINYChDx1Wr475yBfbPtKkpzB5VhaprpZQARyQ9Eyf_1qk1xCJMh8LY7FKrGNnuaittvW7D5Egz4tP15x_ij3wTxk0I79L84uKR_azz-du0FPE3bVxudJpGlYs/s1600/locust+swarm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="800" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_f8Zo96Bmoxt1pI8btNINYChDx1Wr475yBfbPtKkpzB5VhaprpZQARyQ9Eyf_1qk1xCJMh8LY7FKrGNnuaittvW7D5Egz4tP15x_ij3wTxk0I79L84uKR_azz-du0FPE3bVxudJpGlYs/s320/locust+swarm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: both; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<i>Locust swarming on an outside wall in Kansas City. <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grasshoppers_-_NARA_-_285279.jpg">Photo</a> taken in 1933. National Archives and Records Administration/Public Domain.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: both; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<i><br /></i></div>
It is the 1870s and dreamers, pioneers, have suddenly become farmers responding to the 1862 Homestead Act. They packed their families and belongings and moved onto their 160 acres where they built sod homes, shanties, any kid of structure to meet the government residency requirements, but most of these homes were made of mud, sod houses that survived best against the blistering heat, harsh winds, and relentless snowstorms on the Western prairies and thankfully were the only type of home that locust could not eat.<br />
<br />
They lived on their land for five years, planting, harvesting, waiting for the day when they could finally file the title to your property. Then suddenly one a quiet, sunny morning there appeared a black cloud above their homes moving closer, faster, descending on their crops, streams, barns, animals, dreams, like a giant beast destroying every little plant that grew from every little seed that these men, their wives and children dropped by hand into the soil just months before.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbRuZRW9gAfjCluYAWOMZq37dETxc33K_iPdB-t0KVZOH0XupzypKQhMhRw5BqKm9NqQgO1akYTFqOU3fywJfwG-zfaWGxEvCwpnwbdOlYmQZ2GMtWz9Mk6UYx34brB_DVTLkfO5Lz2UU/s1600/Minnesota_locusts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="470" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbRuZRW9gAfjCluYAWOMZq37dETxc33K_iPdB-t0KVZOH0XupzypKQhMhRw5BqKm9NqQgO1akYTFqOU3fywJfwG-zfaWGxEvCwpnwbdOlYmQZ2GMtWz9Mk6UYx34brB_DVTLkfO5Lz2UU/s320/Minnesota_locusts.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Minnesota_locusts.jpg">Rocky Mountain Locusts</a> (titled Minnesota Locusts) of the 1870s. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Jacoby's Art Gallery/Public Domain.</div>
<br />
Those families who were familiar with locust tied the openings of their clothing--shirt sleeves, pant legs--with string so the locust wouldn't climb inside, then rushed to cover their wells with anything they could find. Some tried to burn part of their crops, hoping the smoke would discourage the locust. It did not.<br />
<br />
The families hid inside their mud houses. The sound was horrendous--crunching, crawling, scratching. When the creatures could not find something to eat, they began to eat each other. When the ground was bare, they moved on. For some settlers in the West, the loss was too much and they returned back home to their families in the East.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<b>A Distinct Species of Grasshopper</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_rTvA50Z1kggoyrJUWCbB_WoWXjo3cHgMw2Zr8DwQ8U2YPQpkuHUwKB6yoUFHxH-FTikyd37vr_suqkjAmnGRHStDdU4wohFtl3qExNrLRHfpnmu-Gz7lYhzpIl1k3-pRIfw-ksMEMgk/s1600/rocky+mountain+locust2.jpg++2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="990" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_rTvA50Z1kggoyrJUWCbB_WoWXjo3cHgMw2Zr8DwQ8U2YPQpkuHUwKB6yoUFHxH-FTikyd37vr_suqkjAmnGRHStDdU4wohFtl3qExNrLRHfpnmu-Gz7lYhzpIl1k3-pRIfw-ksMEMgk/s320/rocky+mountain+locust2.jpg++2.jpg" width="196" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Annualreportofag1119021903univ_0052AA2.jpg">Rocky Mountain Locust</a>. Annual report of the Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of Minnesota. (Biodiversity Heritage Library. Drawing by Julius Bien (1826-1909).</div>
<br />
In 2010, when I first wrote this article, sources stated that all locusts are swarming grasshoppers in the Acrididae family. They become aggressive as their numbers grow and food sources become low.<br />
<br />
However, it is now believed that the Rocky Mountain Locust, known as the M. spretus, is distinct. It once lived primarily in the Rocky Mountains, but spread into the prairies as its numbers grew, and continued to grow until clouds of locust filled the air for miles and miles. Between 1873 and 1877, locust swarms caused $200 million in crop damage in Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska. Imagine seeing a cloud of locust so large it covers the entire sky and turns day into night. As terrifying as a Bibilical plague.<br />
<br />
<b>Locust Plagues in History</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXuzuJKQbnkB3PrwNke2PW8b5ka9IcMjFKejRPLnsDWf-qH7rfYE9kQLPfU-UlMhw-ztM4FkLVlK2uawKKAQ6JD8x7M-7Uj9al8PrDhJ6N8OSqY0Uayg1cIZR1tRNt1GubKP2uyIzD1dE/s1600/rocky+mountain+locust2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="600" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXuzuJKQbnkB3PrwNke2PW8b5ka9IcMjFKejRPLnsDWf-qH7rfYE9kQLPfU-UlMhw-ztM4FkLVlK2uawKKAQ6JD8x7M-7Uj9al8PrDhJ6N8OSqY0Uayg1cIZR1tRNt1GubKP2uyIzD1dE/s320/rocky+mountain+locust2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountain_locust#/media/File:Melanoplus_spretusAnnReportAgExpStaUM1902B.jpg">Rocky Mountain Locust</a>. Julius Bien (1826-1909) biography - Annual report of the Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of Minnesota. (11th July 1902-June 1903). Public Domain.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Author Jeffrey Lockwood also states in “The Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of the Insect that Shaped the American Frontier.” that the largest swarm is believed to have happened in the American Midwest: "The 1875 swarm was estimated to contain several trillion locusts and probably weighed several million tons. That was the largest locust cloud in world history." </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
According to an article in the New York Times, the 1875 swarm was equal to the size of "the combined area of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont."</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<b>The Disappearance of the Rocky Mountain Locust</b><br />
<b><br /></b>Twenty-seven years after the largest locust swarm in recorded U.S. history, the Rocky Mountain Locust mysteriously disappeared. The last sighting of a Rocking Mountain Locust was in Southern Canada in 1902. In spite of the size of the 1874 swarm less than 300 specimens of the insects remain. It is, however, still possible to find Rocky Mountain Locust carcasses frozen in glaciers.<br />
<br />
In an ironic twist, it is widely believed that these same farmers who were relentlessly tortured by plagues of locust eventually brought about the locust's demise by exposing their larvae while plowing their fields.<br />
<br />
According to Katie Boswell: "DNA testing from museum specimens of the Rocky Mountain locust suggests that M. spretus was a distinct, and now extinct, species and the days of the locust on the scale of 12.5 trillion individuals are gone. If you do still want to find Rocky Mountain locusts, the best place to look (other than in a museum) is in a glacier. Throughout the west there are glaciers that have preserved the frozen bodies of locusts that once flew over them."<br />
<br />
<i>Sources: </i><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Bennett, Chris.<a href="http://www.westernfarmpress.com/blog/locust-swarms-bring-back-past-us-farmers"> Western Farm Press.</a> Accessed 2013. </li>
<li>Bowell, Katie.<a href="https://fcmdsc.wordpress.com/2010/09/17/the-rocky-mountain-locust/"> The Rocky Mountain Locust.</a> More to Explore. The Fort Collins Museum & Discovery Science Center. Accessed 2010.</li>
<li>Lane, Rose Wilder. Let the Hurricane Roar. Harper & Row Publishers. New York: 1933. </li>
<li>Wilder, Laura Ingalls. On the Banks of Plum Creek. Harper: 1937. </li>
<li>Yoon, Carol Kaesuk. "Looking Back at the Days of the Locust." <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/23/science/looking-back-at-the-days-of-the-locust.html">The New York Times</a>. Posted April 23, 2002. Accessed 2010. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<i><br /></i>
<b><br /></b></div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-69867757250460548732017-09-13T23:19:00.005-07:002018-04-24T09:20:38.129-07:00Colorado's Deadliest Floods<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjch6U14C_ver94sivXCtgVLxvydqz61aZO7iLOoCDS0VTfhGo6iHr_Ju2usZUuPdY4Q2icUwwoDFWt-uM3Qu2LX2oMtzomzaz1h481Q_3rKK0PrXrAT4g1nIehffqhBX4b3oIQz-LJAos/s1600/cover+history+press.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1064" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjch6U14C_ver94sivXCtgVLxvydqz61aZO7iLOoCDS0VTfhGo6iHr_Ju2usZUuPdY4Q2icUwwoDFWt-uM3Qu2LX2oMtzomzaz1h481Q_3rKK0PrXrAT4g1nIehffqhBX4b3oIQz-LJAos/s320/cover+history+press.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
You may have noticed fewer posts over the past year. I've been working on a history book about flooding in Colorado.<i> Colorado's Deadliest Floods </i>was released by </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The History Press on September 4, 2017. </div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Tomorrow morning, September 14, 2017, I will be interviewed by Ryan Warner on "Colorado Matters," Colorado Public Radio. We will discuss the stories in the book, including the story of the Denver flood of 1864.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The show starts at 10 a.m. and ends at 11 a.m., but I believe there are two interviews. I was told by the radio station that "To hear it live, people can stream us online at CPR.org, and on station 90.1 for Greeley. The story and audio will be found online later in the day to access anywhere at anytime." http://www.cpr.org/ </div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;">I've also been asked where to buy "Colorado's Deadliest Floods. You can purchase the book online at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Colorados-Deadliest-Floods-Disaster-Dollman/dp/1467137103">Amazon</a>; <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/colorado-s-deadliest-floods-darla-sue-dollman/1126315911?type=eBook">Barnes & Noble</a>:<a href="https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9781467137102"> History Press</a> --click on the title to go to the page. The book is also available in many bookstores, including independent, local bookstores. You can Google the title. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCdpBn5gyB7XfAEzyQhRFhschw0R9NYuGpUpY-YhWb5T3MvXrLuZxPTA7RrvHfdw3GJ_7uWe3RDQ7mTrXQN2pF67SrdgMwdwr-m_6Vhv5Gsz1zrsF65U7RcxeBipeyxOJDB8S8GkelLk4/s1600/Colorados+deadliest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="959" data-original-width="735" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCdpBn5gyB7XfAEzyQhRFhschw0R9NYuGpUpY-YhWb5T3MvXrLuZxPTA7RrvHfdw3GJ_7uWe3RDQ7mTrXQN2pF67SrdgMwdwr-m_6Vhv5Gsz1zrsF65U7RcxeBipeyxOJDB8S8GkelLk4/s320/Colorados+deadliest.jpg" width="245" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<br /></div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-31845542686283869142017-08-09T23:19:00.003-07:002022-09-15T04:47:55.415-07:00Colorado's Deadliest Floods by Darla Sue Dollman<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicnTKggTwuOCVdCZcqFbMlBnytmfpSNf9Bpp79DR92lSyBhXJJ19WcKqomi1XON29eCBBcdqZkbk6eMPGqRvZF-d7xavMIENPMTAOyM-QAw7gJyJK7qkeVTFZxz1BZGfbJdL-wc0jLLgo/s1600/CO+Deadliest+Floods+Press+Release.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="959" data-original-width="735" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicnTKggTwuOCVdCZcqFbMlBnytmfpSNf9Bpp79DR92lSyBhXJJ19WcKqomi1XON29eCBBcdqZkbk6eMPGqRvZF-d7xavMIENPMTAOyM-QAw7gJyJK7qkeVTFZxz1BZGfbJdL-wc0jLLgo/w490-h640/CO+Deadliest+Floods+Press+Release.JPG" width="490" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-5987332101086716202017-01-07T18:03:00.000-08:002017-08-08T16:42:32.634-07:00The Oregonian, Thomas Dryer, Henry Pittock, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Hood<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4Ee7nRl5OI6Dw29k55ZorUg7v39L20AWZ2O41gRBUYcaU28b3WJlaCq2bc71_J6H_pM5FeBhualMBooQ_7FaVzDq0BoIu4Jw5XJ-F-RAUVJ-crBORyNIcWDZ4LvVUOP-CgCaWXHgfQY/s1600/Mount_Hood_reflected_in_Mirror_Lake%252C_Oregon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4Ee7nRl5OI6Dw29k55ZorUg7v39L20AWZ2O41gRBUYcaU28b3WJlaCq2bc71_J6H_pM5FeBhualMBooQ_7FaVzDq0BoIu4Jw5XJ-F-RAUVJ-crBORyNIcWDZ4LvVUOP-CgCaWXHgfQY/s320/Mount_Hood_reflected_in_Mirror_Lake%252C_Oregon.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/byways/photos/62736">Mount Hood</a> reflected in Mirror Lake, Oregon. Public domain. Courtesy of Oregon's Mt. Hood Territory. Released into public domain when submitted to FHWA with 2005 Nomination Application.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>This is an odd sort of story that I first heard on a television anthology show. It is a story of adventure, exploration, volcanoes, climbers, daredevils, tall tales and great accomplishments. </i><i>It is complicated, but fascinating at the same time. When I attempte</i><i>d to research the tale I discovered </i><i>there was less and more to it than the writers of the show originally implied. I would love to hear from some native Oregonians who know more about this tale than I do! Nevertheless, i</i><i>t is a fun tale, a</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>tall tale about challenges and danger, </i><i>and the insatiable desire for men to be the "first" to go where, in the unforgettable words of Star Trek's Captain Kirk, "no man has gone before!" Whether or not some of </i><i>the men involved achieved their goals is up to speculation,but there is no doubt that they tried, and the attempt </i><i>to </i><i>achieve is part of the great beauty of the history of the American West.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
So, I will begin by apologizing for my very long hiatus. I've been writing a history book, and as it turns out, the book required much more research than originally anticipated. It will be finished soon and I miss hearing from my fellow fans of the Wild West. Therefore, I will begin with a post I started before I disappeared, a story about two men who worked as journalists in the Old West--Thomas J. Dryer and Henry L. Pittock, whose lives were intertwined through their career choices, their place of employment, and their hobby and love for mountain climbing. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLLekIl2Bw4NF3BFi5mayPP7Tas0u-5Pjw2MX4N32DW7OJW6b1QnD1RvPDJhOH3yZnDwLHrbid_gNu90R_0KELszrCrFHzMoFO_mryXqIRG7nJzU0MpLILyaaTd-H0vv6YbLSXC4NbgEY/s1600/MtHood_Sunrise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLLekIl2Bw4NF3BFi5mayPP7Tas0u-5Pjw2MX4N32DW7OJW6b1QnD1RvPDJhOH3yZnDwLHrbid_gNu90R_0KELszrCrFHzMoFO_mryXqIRG7nJzU0MpLILyaaTd-H0vv6YbLSXC4NbgEY/s320/MtHood_Sunrise.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Mount Hood at Sunrise. U.S. Forest Service photo/public domain.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
I feel a connection to these men. I also love the outdoors, hiking, exploring, and that feeling that I am the first human to see a stunning vista or hear a trickling creek. I also started my writing career as a journalist and received my first writing award from the Denver Womens Press Club when I was 19 years old. I know that feeling, that drive to compete. For this and many other reasons the story of Thomas J. Dryer and Henry L. Pittock intrigues me. I am also intrigued that there are many versions of the story and that it is difficult to separate fact from fiction in this tale--a common problem with stories about the American Old West. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBXUn8qN2HKHi6NKVrns97GOCvTMBsI-DPVmMXW4I4cZEffjm4GT9k5oxqmz0rLKuLGeMqEngMeR9w5q8VQyIhvyq6Tl27ujWsBn1E3fiW2s8RRjBqzvXYuFQzlumAhOta6Dh9xrlMuD0/s320/Thomas_Jefferson_Dryer.png" /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i> <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Thomas_J._Dryer#/media/File:Thomas_Jefferson_Dryer.png">Thomas J. Dryer</a></i><i>, </i><i>Publisher and Editor of the Oregonian, public domain.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
The story begins in Portland, Oregon with a man named Thomas J. Dryer (January 8, 1808 – March 30, 1879). Dryer was a popular character in Portland. He founded <i>The Oregonian</i>, one of the oldest newspapers in the Old West. Dryer was a member of the Oregon Territorial Legislature in 1857, so he was also a politician, as was common for newspaper publishers in the Old West. The most important aspect of his life for the purpose of this story, though, was the fact that he was an avid mountain climber and claimed to be the first to climb both Mount St. Helens and Mount Hood in a personal account he wrote and published in <i>The Oregonian</i>. <br />
<br />
According to <a href="https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/oregonian/#.WHFOY1MrLIU"><i>The Oregon Encyclopedia</i></a>, Dryer established <i>The Oregonian</i> at the request of local residents. Dryer had a drier sense of humor (pun intended). In the Old West, newspapers were used to attract settlers and help establish towns by encouraging commerce, and as we learned in an earlier examination of <a href="http://wildwesthistory.blogspot.com/2014/04/william-n-byers-and-rocky-mountain-news.html"><i>The Rocky Mountain News</i></a>, publishers like William N. Byers and Thomas J. Dryer of The Oregonian were well-known for their satirical approach to politicians and others who might disagree with them, an approach that included name-calling, insults, and sometimes bordered on harassment. This approach was both admired and encouraged. In fact, <i><a href="https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/oregonian/#.WHFOY1MrLIU">The Oregon Encyclopedia</a></i> refers to it as "the Oregon style of journalism."<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZV3gzqkQO7opg2Vboo9oFGfeExqD8_5k-umg4Fl16D9IMWIoha4B6Up7fFf7AC_1u7fpRyuBWdHcCFtC1cQer5almRUs-sU9MiC7obJvGIayjBNDH1lbQd-FI9gxFkAlY1KZikTcbN94/s320/St_Helens_before_1980_eruption_horizon_fixed.jpg" /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: right;">
</div>
<div>
<i><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Helens_before_1980_eruption_horizon_fixed.jpg">USFS Photograph</a> taken before 18 May 1980 by Jim Nieland, US Forest Service, Mount St Helens National Volcanic Monument. Public domain. </i><br />
<br />
Dryer first published the <i>Weekly Oregonian</i> on December 4, 1850. On September 3, 1853 he published an account of a climbing expedition that he claimed took place on August 25, 1853. Dryer stated that the expedition consisted of "Messrs. John Wilson [an employee of <i>The Oregonian</i>]; Smith [identit unknown]; Drew [possibly Edwin Drew, a local Indian Agent, or Charles Drew, a militiaman]; and ourself," The men stocked enough rations for three days and established a base camp on Mount St. Helens, (the same mountain that exploded in May of 1980 destroying a large portion of Washington State's forestland. Mount Hood, Mount Adams, and Mount St. Helens are called <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42893/42893-h/42893-h.htm">"The Guardians of the Columbia River"</a>). In his report Dryer says the mountain (volcano) is "sublimely grand, and impossible to describe." He states that they camped for the night at timberline, built a pyramid of rocks to mark their campsite then began their descent on August 27, 1853. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPTijH2dJDQzP1uDAptyfyHYoQdQ7dPBDhHXc1BdLFSO80Ql6fEx6WOUYpbOTQFxA5Rj1nwA1AMQemDPc3nXcijhPFM5JDQHSw66m3cWhaAhotVGkBBTL60kkdojIq3OGVces7FXSy5HQ/s1600/Mt._Rainier%252C_1932.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPTijH2dJDQzP1uDAptyfyHYoQdQ7dPBDhHXc1BdLFSO80Ql6fEx6WOUYpbOTQFxA5Rj1nwA1AMQemDPc3nXcijhPFM5JDQHSw66m3cWhaAhotVGkBBTL60kkdojIq3OGVces7FXSy5HQ/s320/Mt._Rainier%252C_1932.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>View of Mt. Ranier from Ricksecker Point. <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mt._Rainier,_1932.jpg">Photo</a> by George A. Grant courtesy of the US National Park Service Historic Photograph Collection.</i></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Unfortunately, Dryer's accounts of his expeditions were questioned from the start, and to this day. According to an investigation by Harry M. Majors, which appeared in <i><a href="https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/cvo/Historical/first_ascent_st_helens_1853.shtml">Northwest Discovery</a></i> in August of 1980, Dryer's account of the ascent to the summit of Mount St. Helens contains numerous errors. When Dryer referred to Mount Rainer, Majors claims Dryer was actually looking at Mount Adams. Majors also points out that a later ascent made by another expedition group in 1860 and numerous other ascents to the summit failed to locate the "pyramid of loose stones on the highest spot of level earth and ashes" that Dryer claimed he and his party left on Mount St. Helens.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
For these and other reasons Dryer's account is questioned by historians, but most historians do believe Dryer was the first explorer to reach the summit of Mount St. Helens. And yet, to a man like Dryer, his life as a politician, newspaper publisher and his reputation as the first man to climb to the summit of a famous American mountain was not enough. He needed more. He quickly planned another excursion, this time up the infamous Mt. Hood. It is his account of his climb to the summit of Mt. Hood that created a scandal and made his successor at <i>The Oregonian, </i>Henry Pittock, a famous explorer, as well.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjayLKlJqsML-LCYXOB0pIUB6-HnkS0SW5vOAC1H53t4aDVUvgSPk6ZFJjBxLtpOJFTE46ZGpJpMb_UH68JVRpTVuS7q3BlHQwUE7C0QH54NtyGrao0cjcii_rzQvqH4184m9T-bQSneLs/s1600/Thomas_J._Dryer_-_Oregon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjayLKlJqsML-LCYXOB0pIUB6-HnkS0SW5vOAC1H53t4aDVUvgSPk6ZFJjBxLtpOJFTE46ZGpJpMb_UH68JVRpTVuS7q3BlHQwUE7C0QH54NtyGrao0cjcii_rzQvqH4184m9T-bQSneLs/s320/Thomas_J._Dryer_-_Oregon.png" width="245" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Thomas J. Dryer. Photo by unknown photographer from Oregon Native Son, Vol. II, No. 7. Photo is in public domain. </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
Mount Hood rises 11,239 feet (3426 meters) above sea level, its base is 92 feet wide. It is an active volcano, considered a high threat by the USGS 2005 Early Warning System assessment. It is believed to be the second most climbed mountain in the world, and it is a nightmare for mountain rescue crews. Thomas Dryer and Henry Pittock may have been among the first to attempt to climb Mount Hood, but they were not the last. It is estimated that 10,000 people attempt to climb Mount Hood every year. Trying to create an estimate using various sources, I came up with an estimate that more than 170 people have died on Mount Hood since the 1800s, and although many sources site avalanches as the culprit in the Mount Hood death trap, most people die from falls or hypothermia. Sadly, many people have died from attempts to find a position where they could have a clear view from the summit. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The undeniable fact is that Mount Hood is dangerous. It is a fact that was well-known to people even in the 1800s, and when Thomas J. Dryer rushed into his newspaper office shouting that he successfully climbed to the summit his claims naturally attracted a great deal of attention, as well as a bit of skepticism, and perhaps even a little jealousy from other local adventurers. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhJs4rWOSYNxgF8rpobBZlJ82t4YDIH71wc88Bv842etYJCA6y48QSj5IjqZJsRmw74qZcZqFr_2meVE3S2iXgLlIYYQ0ulGnBGHDySEbHKYMaxj8hXilIzzkRhs2xvvwy61oTFGyC-9c/s1600/Pittock_Henry_ca._1861_bb005794_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhJs4rWOSYNxgF8rpobBZlJ82t4YDIH71wc88Bv842etYJCA6y48QSj5IjqZJsRmw74qZcZqFr_2meVE3S2iXgLlIYYQ0ulGnBGHDySEbHKYMaxj8hXilIzzkRhs2xvvwy61oTFGyC-9c/s320/Pittock_Henry_ca._1861_bb005794_1.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Henry L. Pittock, The Oregon Encyclopedia. </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
This is where Henry Lewis Pittock enters the story. In 1853, Henry Lewis Pittock<span style="color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">, </span></span>future editor and publisher of <i>The Oregonian</i> newspaper, was born in London, but raised in Pittsburgh where he worked at his family's printing company. After completing his studies at the Western University of Pennsylvania's Prepatory School at 17 years old, Pittock left Pennsylvania and joined thousands of trappers, traders, and pioneers on the 2,200 mile hike of the historic Oregon Trail. Pittock was searching for a new life in Oregon--the same reason most people headed West in the 1800s, because they wanted a new life. Although Pittock was an explorer in search of an adventure he was also broke and used his education and experience in printing for financial support. He soon found employment as a typesetter for <i>The Oregonian </i>newspaper. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
In 1854,while Pittock was hard at work, his employer, Thomas Dryer, rushed into the newspaper office declaring he had just completed a remarkable feat. He claimed he had climbed Mount Hood, which would make him the first known human to make it to the summit. He told how he could see as far as California from the peak, and printed his story in his newspaper.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64bGq1NNd0_3B-PT3eSTpbtJN4ubETaac87Nx-dwQ8F0LW-b_MRkckwfYLDWu3rBMddXTjEKVzQzvpciGZsNj1ON5oo9hfreH_sB1AgEwjHy4rGjjLJd2V_mE7aj_qtAm9r8dbP1iTyo/s1600/Oregonian_Building.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64bGq1NNd0_3B-PT3eSTpbtJN4ubETaac87Nx-dwQ8F0LW-b_MRkckwfYLDWu3rBMddXTjEKVzQzvpciGZsNj1ON5oo9hfreH_sB1AgEwjHy4rGjjLJd2V_mE7aj_qtAm9r8dbP1iTyo/s320/Oregonian_Building.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oregonian_Building_(1892)">The Oregonian Building</a> in 1900. This building was completed in 1892, and was demolished in 1950. The newspaper moved to another building in 1948, and both the old and new buildings were/are called The Oregonian Building. Public Domain.</i><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Now, to understand how remarkable this claim would be, one has to understand Mount Hood. The mountain is 11,000 feet above sea level and known for its dangerous weather conditions, such as sudden, blinding blizzards and deadly glaciers. Nevertheless, over 10,000 people attempt the climb each year. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKMKutwtMuK8akMjPpKaJteR9k1tp8lrNebdzG01RgI87rUH0G8I79DQUQHPfwj-6hPrEOgxJRy8X0EoR3Hgvz0jwXhO2JKMIrBXt2ffaB3KgLREWHDL2q5m3iBH9FEqXGIG7TAlLi7oI/s1600/Mount_St._Helens%252C_one_day_before_the_devastating_eruption.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKMKutwtMuK8akMjPpKaJteR9k1tp8lrNebdzG01RgI87rUH0G8I79DQUQHPfwj-6hPrEOgxJRy8X0EoR3Hgvz0jwXhO2JKMIrBXt2ffaB3KgLREWHDL2q5m3iBH9FEqXGIG7TAlLi7oI/s320/Mount_St._Helens%252C_one_day_before_the_devastating_eruption.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Mount St. Helens. <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mount_St._Helens,_one_day_before_the_devastating_eruption.jpg">Photo</a> taken by Harry Glicken, USGS, on May 17, 1980, one day before the volcano exploded. Public Domain. </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Pittock could not help but feel a twinge of jealousy and frustration. According to <i>Mysteries at the Castle</i>, Pittock not only doubted his employer's claim that he climbed to the summit of Mount Hood, he also decided he would take the challenge himself, document the event, and prove his employer wrong. It took Pittock a few years to save his money and gather his friends for the ascent, but in 1857, 22 year old Henry Pittock left the newspaper office and headed for Mount Hood. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhN3bdzdMX1v2PW2Y7ACxdTGaEYz7yh6mZ8fwmeIipFDwpzuTUKGoj_a4Hmhhb7gcLzMox_Nd4jSqhuJ3njy6bJGh_r-woinuCnKS_u3btgrdCiWcW2t5N0sudLJ8kxYFuIvTrmryyqVg/s1600/Mount_Hood%252C_Oregon_by_William_Keith%252C_c1881-83.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhN3bdzdMX1v2PW2Y7ACxdTGaEYz7yh6mZ8fwmeIipFDwpzuTUKGoj_a4Hmhhb7gcLzMox_Nd4jSqhuJ3njy6bJGh_r-woinuCnKS_u3btgrdCiWcW2t5N0sudLJ8kxYFuIvTrmryyqVg/s320/Mount_Hood%252C_Oregon_by_William_Keith%252C_c1881-83.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Mount Hood Oregon. <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mount_Hood,_Oregon_by_William_Keith,_c1881-83.jpg">Painting </a>by artist William Keith, circa 1881.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
On August 6, 1857. Pittock and four of his friends established a base camp on the south side of Mount Hood and began their ascent. They passed Crater Rock, climbed the Hogsback snow ridge, then completed their journey to the summit. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The men were beyond thrilled when they realized they had reached the summit. They were young, bold, adventurous, and knew in their hearts that they had just achieved what many men in Oregon could only dream of accomplishing. They had also made detailed observations every tortuous step of their climb. By carefully surveying their surroundings and comparing these details to the account made by Dryer, the men quickly realized that Dryer had actually stopped his climb at least 350 feet below the summit, most likely because he and the rest of his expedition members had chosen the eastern route and became confused. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Using Pittock's detailed records, historians have concluded that Henry Pittock and his friends were the first men to reach the summit of Mount Hood. They carved their names in a rock to make certain no one would question their claim and left a flag waving in the wind at the summit before returning to their base camp then to Portland. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
One of Pittock's friends and a fellow expedition member, James G. Deardorff, wrote about the achievement in the <i>Democratic Standard</i>, <i>The Oregonian</i>'s competition. <i>The Oregonian</i>'s Thomas Dryer responded with his usual disdain in an editorial, claiming the "young men" were simply bragging, trying to make themselves appear tough and strong to an older, more experienced generation of climbers. <span style="text-align: center;">Pittock waited seven years to tell his own story </span><span style="text-align: center;">so he would not insult his employer and lose his job. By the time he told his story, Pittock had climbed Mount Hood several times. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-wKBZTEbYt1_eRCl2cQG-aX1em4wzhbbgcz3DvTZE0ujGDvgfNeR2_GkOFxd739qO-E5AoHav6Ary-7SpyulCjAHvJW8xi2cqfZ5a9btxd0m_SJM-0sBUStGo0rmn_E-X29rd4sCNKBg/s1600/Henry_Pittock_-_Oregon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-wKBZTEbYt1_eRCl2cQG-aX1em4wzhbbgcz3DvTZE0ujGDvgfNeR2_GkOFxd739qO-E5AoHav6Ary-7SpyulCjAHvJW8xi2cqfZ5a9btxd0m_SJM-0sBUStGo0rmn_E-X29rd4sCNKBg/s320/Henry_Pittock_-_Oregon.png" width="255" /></a></div>
<i>Henry Pittock, March 1, 1835 – January 28, 1919. Photo circa December, 1900. <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_Pittock_-_Oregon.png">Public Domain</a>.</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Dryer may have been bold and adventurous, but as it turned out he was not a particularly skilled businessman. In 1860 he was forced to turn over <i>The Oregonian </i>to Henry Pittock in exchange for unpaid wages and on February 4, 1861, Henry Pittock, editor and publisher, introduced his six-day a week <i>Morning Oregonian. </i>Pittock's mansion is now on the National Register of Historic Places. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6xP5v50ABXa3lJWiAfm9MC49HdmCk5GP6gFf4SVFCKDYQi3mWcBrI6hb20emQWTINPAGXIB42wYqqwppofJvjO-kn8zACMrLoUXPoKeRb32zuDQpswjfVYtO2at8VcXVwyxCSe_1ozGc/s1600/Pittock_Mansion_%2528north_side%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6xP5v50ABXa3lJWiAfm9MC49HdmCk5GP6gFf4SVFCKDYQi3mWcBrI6hb20emQWTINPAGXIB42wYqqwppofJvjO-kn8zACMrLoUXPoKeRb32zuDQpswjfVYtO2at8VcXVwyxCSe_1ozGc/s320/Pittock_Mansion_%2528north_side%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>The Pittock Mansion. This photographic work of art by <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pittock_Mansion_(north_side).jpg">Geremia</a> is one of few that I found that captured the mansion's great beauty. The photograph is in public domain. The Pittock Mansion is listed on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Register_of_Historic_Places">National Register of Historic Places</a>, reference number <a href="http://focus.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/73001582">73001582</a>.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Sources: </b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Dryer, Thomas J. "First Ascent of Mount St. Helens, Washington. August 26, 1853." Excerpt from <i>The Columbian</i>, originally posted on September 24, 1853. The article originally appeared in <i>The Oregonian </i>on September 3, 1853. Accessed 1/7/2016 on <a href="https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/cvo/Historical/first_ascent_st_helens_1853.shtml">USGS website</a>: Volcanoes/Volcanoes and History/Cascade Range Volcanoes.</li>
<li>"First Ascent of Mount Hood, Effects of a High Elevation Up the Human System.", Vol.VII, p.321, 1854.<i> Littell's Living Age</i>, 1854,</li>
<li>Stein, Harry H. "Henry Lewis Pittock". <i><a href="https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/oregonian/#.WHFOY1MrLIU">The Oregon Encyclopedia</a></i>. Accessed March 19, 2016.</li>
<li>"Mysteries at the Castle." <i>Travel Channel.</i> First aired 3/10/2016.</li>
</ul>
</div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-44052046897690677592016-04-14T23:51:00.001-07:002016-04-15T00:12:55.692-07:00Employment Opportunities for Women in the Old West<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin_Uw_8fYCsr-xgVZ-_RUeUmP_RZqIMe9M5IP2PZaKxoLmyIhW9rW1FnpXF83B9YfSJFsDsECYNQb-5Dm-k5Ty9TR69hKj9pZXhzpEk71CL_CJS0oq_25MxRNmWtO2DAfJgyP4N7Edk-g/s1600/367px-Judy_Garland_The_Harvey_Girls.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin_Uw_8fYCsr-xgVZ-_RUeUmP_RZqIMe9M5IP2PZaKxoLmyIhW9rW1FnpXF83B9YfSJFsDsECYNQb-5Dm-k5Ty9TR69hKj9pZXhzpEk71CL_CJS0oq_25MxRNmWtO2DAfJgyP4N7Edk-g/s320/367px-Judy_Garland_The_Harvey_Girls.JPG" width="196" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Judy Garland from a scene in the movie <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Judy_Garland_The_Harvey_Girls.JPG">The Harvey Girls,</a> 1946. Public domain.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
The first time I saw Judy Garland in a film was in <i>The Harvey Girls</i>. It may not have been her most famous movie, but it was a great film that helped show the world that women in the American West had far more employment opportunities than what was portrayed in most Westerns--employment as prostitutes, or if they were lucky, madams.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
My last post was about divorce. Women in the Old West were not necessarily tied to a bad marriage due to financial constraints (although they could be trapped in an awful situation if they lived miles from anyone else!) In fact, there were many employment opportunities available to women, and in a few days I'll discuss some of the more popular jobs that could be found in the medical field. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5ChLF1iX4XGoUF6QCvGpjk8RIWrg8FJcx-RQ4dP-ZDE8wnIZTFfmALAVi3GRjvONSBA-52_KdFocdFz_3rULBFNQePGM6mll0GHstS4xaig-Vq84TD3SOxpVIbK3xPgFetCYWqk3TkQ/s1600/Judy_Garland_John_Hodiak_The_Harvey_Girls.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5ChLF1iX4XGoUF6QCvGpjk8RIWrg8FJcx-RQ4dP-ZDE8wnIZTFfmALAVi3GRjvONSBA-52_KdFocdFz_3rULBFNQePGM6mll0GHstS4xaig-Vq84TD3SOxpVIbK3xPgFetCYWqk3TkQ/s320/Judy_Garland_John_Hodiak_The_Harvey_Girls.JPG" width="224" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Judy Garland and John Hodiak in <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Judy_Garland_John_Hodiak_The_Harvey_Girls.JPG">The Harvey Girls</a>.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I first wrote about the Harvey Girls in a <a href="http://wildwesthistory.blogspot.com/2013/04/fred-harvey-brings-fine-dining-to-old.html">post about Fred Harvey</a> and his attempts to raise the standards of dining in the Old West. Fred Harvey believed all customers should receive good food and good service, and he was particular about the women he hired to work in his restaurants. The women had to be single, between the ages of 18 and 30, educated, attractive, and well-mannered. Harvey originally hired young men to serve the cowboys and travelers who came in to dine, but found that most of these travelers were men, and hiring attractive women added to the pleasant dining experience. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
These hard-working women were paid well for the times, worked hard, and were expected to represent Mr. Harvey in a respectable manner. They lived in houses with house mothers to watch over them, had strict curfews, and were discouraged from fraternizing with the customers, though it is estimated that over 5000 Harvey Girls eventually found their true loves through their employment! </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Women and Photography</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><br /></b></div>
Daguerreotypes were invented in France by Louis Jacques Mande Daquerre around 1839 and the process was slowly perfected so that by the 1860s, around the time of the American Civil War. Daguerreotypes were also high in demand during the time of the Civil War as families wanted pictures of their sons, husbands and fathers before they left for war, but they were also a popular form of creative expression for men and women and a way for women to make money to support themselves or supplement the family income.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyrEa2Ls9mEPH6YMvxJXgbX38ZbWTsieeBP4q1y9W3G9F_4f8nNpHCmgH9t9-rPGwGSfRjLg892XNh6UziBvv_dgWd5kFRJ9vQ8B0cA0_7urozL60PdBLyIIf3s3FQA8yxKc2lkFCsQFI/s1600/Elizabeth_Alice_Austen_in_June_1888.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyrEa2Ls9mEPH6YMvxJXgbX38ZbWTsieeBP4q1y9W3G9F_4f8nNpHCmgH9t9-rPGwGSfRjLg892XNh6UziBvv_dgWd5kFRJ9vQ8B0cA0_7urozL60PdBLyIIf3s3FQA8yxKc2lkFCsQFI/s1600/Elizabeth_Alice_Austen_in_June_1888.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Austen#/media/File:Elizabeth_Alice_Austen_in_June_1888.jpg">Elizabeth Alice Austen</a> in 1888, public domain.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
There was a surprising number of female photographers, including Alice Austen (1866-1952) whose family was abandoned before she was born.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvfP0Mo_3R2QcDM9QgGOL3o6dRqU2_zG_u5jQ1-8P0cg8ojPuvrkl9rfqQw1UJnnfuqQYXqeT3Zl9uTMNR3v0gTvNiauuHaQ3IU3pZEMLu7ZExlmeSjL3lnI35oTFezEBcS8DOLcX1DF0/s1600/Alice_Austen%252C_Trude_%2526_I_Masked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvfP0Mo_3R2QcDM9QgGOL3o6dRqU2_zG_u5jQ1-8P0cg8ojPuvrkl9rfqQw1UJnnfuqQYXqeT3Zl9uTMNR3v0gTvNiauuHaQ3IU3pZEMLu7ZExlmeSjL3lnI35oTFezEBcS8DOLcX1DF0/s320/Alice_Austen%252C_Trude_%2526_I_Masked.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Trude & I Masked by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Austen#/media/File:Alice_Austen,_Trude_%26_I_Masked.jpg">Alice Austen</a>, public domain.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Austen arrived at Staten Island with her large extended family and something inside her told her she had to document everything that was around her. Her uncle was a chemist, which may have influenced Austen's interest in photography.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The Staten Island Historical Society has negatives of over 8000 photographs taken by Austen at Staten Island. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0hvOIoWlB1dVWLuHD3C6vcoV2AzEQXHO-vxzulMrZkleupkkfy1V5O2aLUCusz_K4jjWSVuh2uO10tJLbjTSWdY0Wxikmd101uSHxw1xtEBOkG9Kx5GxanidnhjfiT_24LgaHGCTa_yY/s1600/Elderly_Chinese_American_Man_with_Queue.close_crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0hvOIoWlB1dVWLuHD3C6vcoV2AzEQXHO-vxzulMrZkleupkkfy1V5O2aLUCusz_K4jjWSVuh2uO10tJLbjTSWdY0Wxikmd101uSHxw1xtEBOkG9Kx5GxanidnhjfiT_24LgaHGCTa_yY/s320/Elderly_Chinese_American_Man_with_Queue.close_crop.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>"Elderly Chinese American Man with Queue" </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>by Laura Adams Armer, public domain.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Laura Adams Armer (1874-1963) studied at the California School of Design in San Francisco and was famous for her work depicting the Navajo and Chinese. Her photographs of Chinatown are included in the collection of the California Historical Society.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhzlqX62hAyxh0WYK0sjbDc6J7j-UrcdvOjXiZZaF8GQtgb7h59iaYsoIjAy2yFiJmBQztebElUg_SdPrVwts8ZP7IIacVoQeB5Z4-iPINJJ0qh89y2BTw8rCc4S_1nXTx9vqFtpOaRxs/s1600/SarahLadd-EarlyMorning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhzlqX62hAyxh0WYK0sjbDc6J7j-UrcdvOjXiZZaF8GQtgb7h59iaYsoIjAy2yFiJmBQztebElUg_SdPrVwts8ZP7IIacVoQeB5Z4-iPINJJ0qh89y2BTw8rCc4S_1nXTx9vqFtpOaRxs/s320/SarahLadd-EarlyMorning.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Early Morning Above Vancouver by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Ladd#/media/File:SarahLadd-EarlyMorning.jpg">Sarah H. Ladd.</a> Published in Pacific Monthly, public domain. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Sarah Ladd (1860-1927) was an early landscape photographer. It is unknown how she became interested in photography or if she ever had any formal training. Many of her photographs were published in <i>Pacific Monthly Magazine</i>. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Making it Happen in the Old West! </b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
My admiration for Augusta Tabor should be obvious by now. From the day she married Horace Tabor Augusta took it upon herself to support her family in any way she could, from washing shirts for miners to baking bread and renting tents. Many women used their household skills to make money, particularly in the laundry field.<br />
<br />
In 1854, a woman in Ravine, California was making 15 to 20 dollars a week washing clothes for the miners (Reiter). The woman was Clara Brown, a freed slave from Kentucky who eventually saved $10,000 to find work for other former slaves in Colorado. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
However, according to Joan Swallow Reiter's The Women: The Old West, "Laundering was only one of the ways an enterprising woman could strike it rich in the gold fields." According to Reiter there was a woman in Los Angeles who owned and operated a restaurant and made money on the side by offering lessons in swordplay to her customers. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>If at First you Don't Succeed...</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Luzena Wilson traveled to Nevada City with her husband in 1849 with the intention of supplementing the family income with a boarding house. She discovered she had competition, but not enough to stop her. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Wilson bought supplies at a local store, set up a tent restaurant and started serving food to the miners. She saved enough money to build a small boarding house, with room enough to accommodate between 75 and 200 homeless, sleepy miners. She continued to cook and clean for the miners, saved $500, then loaned out the money to grubstake the miners. She soon had her own store and her husband was working for her. One night the store caught on fire and Luzena thought all was lost, then her husband discovered he still had the days profits in his pocket, $500, and the couple started again. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Sources:</b> </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>The Harvey Girls.</i> Dir. George Sidney. MGM, 1946. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Morris, Juddi. <i>The Harvey Girls: The Women Who Civilized the West</i>. Walker Publishing, 1994.</span></li>
<li>Reiter, Joan Swallow. <i>The Women: The Old West.</i> Time Life Books. New York, Canada: 1978.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<b><br /></b></div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-88007522449031723102016-04-13T22:50:00.003-07:002016-04-14T23:32:10.893-07:00Divorce in the American Old West<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7hHkxlc2oO80cxwF_ZWVI8GzPW_idqnFPx5nCdDOqr2Q9vSa3vjlt-DJvhwSYrFZoYwQZIF7C2RR1_RBbaz-Y4NUoAWWOZZcKXvEUpWnmpmpLS5ENrq2MHcHqfmaLXxOHikQOozPLaeE/s1600/Z%25C5%2582ote_obr%25C4%2585czki_%25C5%259Blubne_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7hHkxlc2oO80cxwF_ZWVI8GzPW_idqnFPx5nCdDOqr2Q9vSa3vjlt-DJvhwSYrFZoYwQZIF7C2RR1_RBbaz-Y4NUoAWWOZZcKXvEUpWnmpmpLS5ENrq2MHcHqfmaLXxOHikQOozPLaeE/s320/Z%25C5%2582ote_obr%25C4%2585czki_%25C5%259Blubne_3.jpg" width="192" /></a></div>
<i></i><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><i>Engagement Rings. Photo by <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Z%C5%82ote_obr%C4%85czki_%C5%9Blubne_3.jpg">Piotr Frydecki</a>.</i></i></div>
<i>
</i>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Although the days of the American Old West ran concurrently with the Victorian Era, and in spite of the fact that one of the most powerful countries in the world, England, was controlled by one of the most respected women of the world, nevertheless, women were rarely allowed to choose their own future, particularly when it came to issues such as marriage and divorce. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvIUPzOsUCO25ebYuOri4hgA28x3bRSrO13acURTTZ0at0zCz7faJQSOCcjthoS3yCQZgtshSdSm4CgjTZ1zQZms8HlCpyVWEPuXdrl7ogbJGDg4z0rrJdNeodTtDetkCPgL5AjyLC-uU/s1600/Queen_Victoria_%25281819-1901%2529%252C_Carl_Rudolph_Sohn%252C_1883.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvIUPzOsUCO25ebYuOri4hgA28x3bRSrO13acURTTZ0at0zCz7faJQSOCcjthoS3yCQZgtshSdSm4CgjTZ1zQZms8HlCpyVWEPuXdrl7ogbJGDg4z0rrJdNeodTtDetkCPgL5AjyLC-uU/s320/Queen_Victoria_%25281819-1901%2529%252C_Carl_Rudolph_Sohn%252C_1883.jpg" width="272" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Queen Victoria wearing her white mourning headdress, painting by<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Carl_Rudolph_Sohn">Carl Rudolph Sohn</a>, 1883. Queen Victoria set the standards for moral behavior throughout her entire reign.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
However, in the American West, where women were scarce and morals were, well, questionable at times, divorce was far more commonplace. Oddly, this changed the way divorced women were treated. Just as a widow would be forced to fend for herself, so would a divorced woman, and her situation was viewed with sympathy and compassion. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>A Painful and Shocking End</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Divorces are never easy, but in the Old West where news traveled slowly (unless the news was about a recent discovery of gold) divorces could be particularly painful. In her book <i>The Women: The Old West</i>, Joan Swallow Reiter tells of one man who was visiting family back East and inquired about the welfare of his wife as he hadn't heard from her in some time. Unfortunately, the news was not good. His wife had divorced him six months earlier and never bothered to tell him. This was not a rare occurrence in the Old West where divorce was easily obtained, often against the wishes of one of the parties involved. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>The Tabor Scandal</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEnxKy2L9WMIhl_C3lzN_BzebHoklZnVHWMFyfzS2Xj8DediBogJYj6UAcEkAgZrLMtQSNKw4TExfmRH10QVzJsGsO0mC6ExdIXfgaaaQcaFnfWHSa3jY5Pximn4OuaNFv2pXFFZjOwNk/s1600/AugustaTaborPinceNez.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEnxKy2L9WMIhl_C3lzN_BzebHoklZnVHWMFyfzS2Xj8DediBogJYj6UAcEkAgZrLMtQSNKw4TExfmRH10QVzJsGsO0mC6ExdIXfgaaaQcaFnfWHSa3jY5Pximn4OuaNFv2pXFFZjOwNk/s1600/AugustaTaborPinceNez.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Augusta Tabor, 1880.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
One of the most famous divorces in the Old West occurred between <a href="http://wildwesthistory.blogspot.com/2013/04/augusta-and-horace-tabor-founders-of.html">Augusta Tabor</a>, an adoring and loyal wife, and her philandering husband, Horace, who fell in love with a much younger woman, moved out of the home and left Augusta to fend for herself and care for their child alone.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Augusta refused to divorce her husband, to no avail. The divorce was finalized and the young "Baby Doe" became the new Mrs. Tabor. Horace Tabor died a broken man. He lost his fortune and his reputation. At the time of his death he was working as the Postmaster in Denver, but for a short time was forced to live in a mid-class hotel with his new wife and their children. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Augusta Tabor, who had supported her husband's ventures every step of the way by cooking for miners, setting up tents, renting rooms in their home, and doing everything she could to provide for her family, was told she would receive nothing from her husband when he left her. However, she continued to work hard and became a shining example of the women of the American Old West--determined and proud. When she died she left their son an inheritance of over a million dollars. Baby Doe Tabor died in a shack outside a mine once owned by her husband. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Divorce could be nasty business in many ways, and always painful, but most women found ways to make lemonade out of lemons. Augusta Tabor sold a lot of lemonade! </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuy2LtbfcnX003DBB-Ze0CDYbttu9UAXJ02cd9sba2XHEwEa2Y5vSfrqlxihpm0nbePVuPEvcOh0IVxh1QONsTZGEXdV4tQRSO_WpNxb7LEyGFG4dgiw0TXUH88CUH_uX5fdGc2CL55Gk/s1600/543baby_doe_tabor+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuy2LtbfcnX003DBB-Ze0CDYbttu9UAXJ02cd9sba2XHEwEa2Y5vSfrqlxihpm0nbePVuPEvcOh0IVxh1QONsTZGEXdV4tQRSO_WpNxb7LEyGFG4dgiw0TXUH88CUH_uX5fdGc2CL55Gk/s320/543baby_doe_tabor+%25281%2529.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>"Baby Doe" Tabor, also known as "the homewrecker." </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b> </b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>The Odds...</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
According to Keith Wheeler's <i>The Townsmen</i>, single women often gathered in large groups to travel to the West in search of husbands, and for good reason. For instance, after the American Civil War, few men returned home and the wives and daughters of these deceased soldiers were forced to fend for themselves. This changed society in many ways, particularly marriage. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
An 1880 census showed that in Colorado the white population consisted of 1577 women and 32,654 men. (The Federal census only counted the white population at that time). The odds that these single women would find husbands were in their favor, but women were not always treated with the respect they desired or deserved, as we learned with the story of the Tabors. Thankfully, these situations were easily remedied. If a woman chose to seek a better life, in many states she was granted her request for divorce in as little as ten days and was then able to move forward however she should choose.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Taking Charge of Their Lives </b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The difference between divorce in the Old West and other areas of the world is that women were able to make their own decisions about their future and take charge of their own lives while still retaining the respect of their peers. They were also able to support themselves with respectable employment without feeling censured by the local society. As Augusta Tabor proved, there were plenty of jobs to be had other than working in saloons.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Reiter quoted a young woman in her book who, around 1880, wrote to her family to explain the difference in social views. Young Nannie Alderson explained that in her home town in West Virginia, "...you have to have your pedigree with you to be accepted anywhere." </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Alderson was pleased with the society she found in the West. "What impressed me the most," she said, "was the fact that a girl could work in an office or a store, yet that wouldn't keep her from being invited to the nicest homes or marrying the nicest boys. This freedom to work Seemed to me a wonderful thing." </div>
<br />
<b>Sources:</b> <br />
<div>
<ul>
<li>Reiter, Joan Swallow. The Women: The Old West. Time Life Books. New York, Canada: 1978.</li>
<li>Wallace, Robert. "The Halls of the Mining Kings." The Miners: The Old West. Time Life Books. New York, Canada:1976.</li>
<li>Wheeler, Keith. The Townsmen: The Old West. Time Life Books. New York, Canada: 1976.</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<i><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; line-height: 21.28px; text-align: left;"><br /></span></i></div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-63576166722601837802016-04-06T00:02:00.003-07:002016-04-06T09:04:19.063-07:00Colorado's Pike's Peak in the Days of Exploration<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiylIWGdM-Y5PhFuzqHWyNLn6eVM4bjvk-psIyHKMIJvVjhSewb1sc88o-V1gsMZHEX1blOYc9OcovmPiiwfqHxtujAG5UOt5rQVQeTEdNdViCSQWCviOnkzNCi7ZNHo1vBKOiOraimlzg/s1600/1024px-Bierstadt_Albert_Pikes_Peak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiylIWGdM-Y5PhFuzqHWyNLn6eVM4bjvk-psIyHKMIJvVjhSewb1sc88o-V1gsMZHEX1blOYc9OcovmPiiwfqHxtujAG5UOt5rQVQeTEdNdViCSQWCviOnkzNCi7ZNHo1vBKOiOraimlzg/s320/1024px-Bierstadt_Albert_Pikes_Peak.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Albert Bierstadt's painting of <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Pikes_Peak#/media/File:Bierstadt_Albert_Pikes_Peak.jpg">Pike's Peak</a> in Southern Colorado, public domain.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Pikes Peak is the highest summit in North America's Rocky Mountain's Front Range, t</i><i>owering above Southern Colorado at an elevation of 14, 114'. This lovely mountain has inspired one of America's most famous songs--America the Beautiful--and played an important role in the story of the American West. It has also had many names, but my favorite is the first known name--Sun Mountain Sitting Big! </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>\</i></div>
<ol data-ved="0ahUKEwiKyte3hvnLAhVHnIMKHdxDAQEQ_xcIeg" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="kp-header" data-ved="0ahUKEwiKyte3hvnLAhVHnIMKHdxDAQEQ3z4IeygA" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.12px;">
<div class="kp-hc" style="margin-bottom: 0px; padding-bottom: 12px; padding-top: 12px;">
<div class="_IWg _HWg mod" data-hveid="133" data-md="16" data-ved="0ahUKEwiKyte3hvnLAhVHnIMKHdxDAQEQhygIhQEwEQ" style="clear: none; line-height: 1.24; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; padding-top: 0px;">
<div aria-level="3" class="_fdf _odf _rdf" role="heading" style="margin-bottom: 4px; position: relative;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl10i91rDmeNRrACeMo7OUydiQJ7obhVy_d27Pkf7i74g4mZP_Va659IMRSsQ1GnfyB-Vu_RxCa4ztVsFGyGZ29pDrwhfqFp_sjwzjjl1s6HyhStnISp2cWeEaU4nMlwZpxIKqYe7fpGw/s1600/800px-Ute_Indians%252C_by_C._W._Carter.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl10i91rDmeNRrACeMo7OUydiQJ7obhVy_d27Pkf7i74g4mZP_Va659IMRSsQ1GnfyB-Vu_RxCa4ztVsFGyGZ29pDrwhfqFp_sjwzjjl1s6HyhStnISp2cWeEaU4nMlwZpxIKqYe7fpGw/s320/800px-Ute_Indians%252C_by_C._W._Carter.png" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="kp-header" data-ved="0ahUKEwiKyte3hvnLAhVHnIMKHdxDAQEQ3z4IeygA" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.12px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Stereoscopic view of<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ute_Indians,_by_C._W._Carter.png"> Ute Indians</a> by C.W. Carter from the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, public domain. Photo taken approximately 1865.</i></div>
</div>
<div class="kp-header" data-ved="0ahUKEwiKyte3hvnLAhVHnIMKHdxDAQEQ3z4IeygA" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.12px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
</div>
<b>The First Known Explorers</b><ol data-ved="0ahUKEwiKyte3hvnLAhVHnIMKHdxDAQEQ_xcIeg" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></ol>
Although researchers are fairly certain that the Clovis Native Americans lived in the Pike's Peak area approximately 12,000 years ago, it is also believed that the Ute were the first to document Pike's Peak. The Ute were also known as the Blue Sky People according to <a href="http://www.pikespeak.us.com/Learn/history.html">Pike's Peak--America's Mountain</a>, and the mountain was known to the Ute as Sun Mountain Sitting Big. It is not known for certain if any Ute ever reached the peak, but there can be no doubt that they tried, or at the very least carefully explored the region. After all, they did believe that their entire world was created at the location of the Sun Mountain Sitting Big!</ol>
<ol data-ved="0ahUKEwiKyte3hvnLAhVHnIMKHdxDAQEQ_xcIeg" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></ol>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFNZge3CUBOGiUU7wYOwWrD02L894EEz3UKM0R3NtuRQo6S-yw-0AXkLv5WQfp-gWADV-rMWxSszibgFnutfj0V_MzVbAU86ZRoOaO9fRJPZbARZ02pb39bwbkL6MhVqgwSZBEt_UVMxw/s1600/Lieutenant_Zebulon_M._Pike_-_History_of_Iowa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFNZge3CUBOGiUU7wYOwWrD02L894EEz3UKM0R3NtuRQo6S-yw-0AXkLv5WQfp-gWADV-rMWxSszibgFnutfj0V_MzVbAU86ZRoOaO9fRJPZbARZ02pb39bwbkL6MhVqgwSZBEt_UVMxw/s320/Lieutenant_Zebulon_M._Pike_-_History_of_Iowa.jpg" width="257" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Lt. Zebulon M.<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Zebulon_Pike#/media/File:Lieutenant_Zebulon_M._Pike_-_History_of_Iowa.jpg"> Pike,</a> public domain.</div>
<br />
<b>Zebulon Pike and the Pike's Peak Expedition</b><br />
<br />
In his forward to the printed edition of Zebulon Pike's journals and letters Donald Jackson aptly stated that "Nothing...Zebulon Montgomery Pike ever tried to do was easy, and most of his luck was bad,” This may be true to some extent, but he never stopped trying, and for this reason the Sun Mountain Sitting Big was named Pike's Peak. <br />
<br />
Pike was originally from New Jersey and followed in his father's footsteps, joining the U.S. Army when he was twenty, serving under James Wilkinson Commander of the U.S. Army and a secret double-agent for Spain.<br />
<br />
Wilkinson provided Pike with an important assignment. In 1805 Pike led an expedition to explore the upper Mississippi while Lewis and Clark were exploring west of the Missouri. Unfortunately, Pike incorrectly identified the river's source and made few friends with the local tribes, but he did return with important geographical information according to Bob Moore's "Zebulon Pike: Hard-Luck Explorer." <br />
<br />
The following year Wilkinson sent Pike and his men on a dubious assignment that eventually led them to what is now Southern Colorado. This is when Pike's story truly captures my attention.<br />
<br />
For years I made a two day drive from Texas to Colorado then back again to visit my grandchildren. I lived in Colorado most of my life, but spent a few years in the Texas Hill country, which I loved, but every time, without exception, that I drove close enough to view the mountains on these many drives--sometimes six times a year--to visit my family and saw the Colorado Rocky Mountains once again I cried like a child who hasn't seen her mother since childhood. If I made the drive through Eastern Texas, into Northern New Mexico, across Raton Pass and into Southern Colorado. Then I stopped by the side of the road to stare up at Pikes Peak, mesmerized by her magnificent beauty.<br />
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzbY0Pl-WzSZyRwo__ju9vGduY5apmgfIetExGncyNna0mYJZHaEyl5wB7nmU7fXBVYAiOrZUEVgl4-D428oG0dgbPBX-TGjtGn61fb6cnoZdsu1QPNFkeEqyede2Lln_Oeneldx3CHBw/s1600/Pike%2527s_Peak_mountain_with_Manitou_Springs_in_the_foreground..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzbY0Pl-WzSZyRwo__ju9vGduY5apmgfIetExGncyNna0mYJZHaEyl5wB7nmU7fXBVYAiOrZUEVgl4-D428oG0dgbPBX-TGjtGn61fb6cnoZdsu1QPNFkeEqyede2Lln_Oeneldx3CHBw/s320/Pike%2527s_Peak_mountain_with_Manitou_Springs_in_the_foreground..jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<i></i><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><i><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pike%27s_Peak_mountain_with_Manitou_Springs_in_the_foreground..jpg">Pike's Peak</a> mountain with Manitou Springs in the foreground. The image was taken from Stop at Pike's Peak on your Way to or from the Expositions (for 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition). Public domain.</i></i></div>
<i>
</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
So, how are my memories connected to those of Zebulon Pike? When Pike first set his gaze upon Sun Mountain Sitting Big he mistakenly thought he was staring up at a small blue cloud, then his heart was filled with amazement and wonder as he realized it was not a cloud at all, but a towering blue mountain. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Of course, his first thought was that he would have to climb the mountain. My first thought was the same when I saw the mountain as a child, but we traveled to the top in a car packed tight with my large family that recently moved from Ohio and was eager to view the gigantic trees, thick forests, and abundant wildlife.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Pike settled most of his men in the City of Pueblo 35 miles south as it was nearing winter and he didn't want to risk the entire expedition, but he knew he had to return to the mountain, which he did. He called it Grand Peak. Unfortunately, he was unable to return until November. Pike and his men had reached one of the smaller peaks and were still in their summer uniforms. The men failed to reach the peak of the blue mountain, but they did climb Mt. Rosa and became the first documented Europeans to complete a high-altitude ascent of a North American mountain, so his luck wasn't all bad! </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>The Name Game</b> </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In 1820 Major Steven Long left with 22 men on the Long Expedition. His intention was to explore the mountain. They reached the base, but it took longer than expected and Long wanted to return home, but naturalist Dr. Edwin James who was also on the expedition convinced Long to give James a chance to climb the peak. Long agreed to wait for three days, and as it was a summer expedition with little to impede his progress, James easily succeeded in reaching the summit with two other men in just two days. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img src="http://www.pikespeak.us.com/images/dr_edwin_james.jpg" /></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.pikespeak.us.com/Learn/history.html">Dr. James</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
They spent one hour at the top before returning to base camp with copious notes including documentation of what would become Colorado's state flower, the blue Columbine. Major Long was so impressed he decided to call the mountain James' Peak. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Another famous explorer, John Charles Fremont, made the final decision to name the mountain Pike's Peak because Zebulon Pike was the first explorer to officially document the mountain's existence, but another mountain was later named after Dr. James and Long's Peak, the highest point in Rocky Mountain National Park is named for Major Long, but Pike's Peak, thanks to John Fremont, is still named Pike's Peak.<br />
<br />
<b>"America the Beautiful"</b><br />
<br />
I am not the first woman to be overwhelmed by the great beauty of this mountain. In 1893, 33 year old Katherine Lee Bates, a professor at Wellesley College (she also taught university level English, so I feel a connection with her, as well), traveled by train to Colorado Springs. She was scheduled to teach summer school at Colorado College, but fell in love with Sun Mountain Sitting Big.<br />
<br />
Sitting on the mountain top, words, descriptions, and rhymes began to flow in the mind of Katherine Bates, and when she returned to her room at the famous Antlers Hotel she sat at her desk and wrote her most famous work. The mountain inspired Bates to write a poem that includes references to the wheat fields of Kansas, references I think of every time I pass these fields on my travels, as well. Pikes Peak brought "For purple mountain's majesties" to the page. The poem was combined with the music of Samuel A. Ward in 1910 and became "America the Beautiful."<br />
<br />
This song, and "The Star Spangled Banner," will always be my favorites songs. I taught them to my children and grandchildren, explaining each reference in great detail, and believe they are two of the most important songs Americans should know by heart and hopefully feel deep within their souls when they hear the words. </div>
<br />
<b>Sources:</b><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Higgins, William J.<i> The Trailblazers.</i> The Old West. Time Life Publications. Canada: 1971. </li>
<li>"History." <a href="http://www.pikespeak.us.com/Learn/history.html">Pike's Peak--America's Mountain</a>.Accessed April 2, 2016. </li>
<li>Moore, Bob. "<a href="http://zebulonpike.org/pike-hardluck-explorer.htm">Zebulon Pike</a>; HardLuck Explorer." Zebulon Pike--The Real Pathfinder. Accessed April 1, 2016. </li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-4581036468976828032016-04-03T00:53:00.000-07:002016-04-03T00:57:47.161-07:00Baca: How the Young, Tough, Elfego Baca Fought and won the Frisco War<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjUuZj339_qza8zjMVaH5mF4TBp-Rl9ZUvZzfOzABoKlp4ekhptt9SAOb0_Qa6huhCTQO889N49ds853R8pFs43iE2XieNAjX578WHvwtPOaRbts-ZKGfnjRWCAwmD-xmYMYswM6Mfn0/s1600/ElfegoBaca.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjUuZj339_qza8zjMVaH5mF4TBp-Rl9ZUvZzfOzABoKlp4ekhptt9SAOb0_Qa6huhCTQO889N49ds853R8pFs43iE2XieNAjX578WHvwtPOaRbts-ZKGfnjRWCAwmD-xmYMYswM6Mfn0/s1600/ElfegoBaca.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Deputy Sheriff Elfego Baca was 19 years old when he made his name as a fearless lawman and became a popular New Mexico folk hero. Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-elfegobaca.html">Legends of America</a>. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
So, stop me if you've heard this one...<br />
<br />
A young deputy, new to his job, arrests a bad cowboy and makes everyone angry. Dozens of men chase the deputy into a building and shoot it full of holes--estimates claim 4000 bullets in 30 hours. The building looks like a block of cheese. They believe the man is dead, then they smell something cooking. The deputy not only survived, he was frying bacon and eggs for breakfast. <br />
<br />
Sound like a scene from The Lone Ranger or a black and white Western? This one's a true story. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-eiAHD8E-kBC2fmAxd4iM4d-ViNrw_5BdwQLJn0C7HK0950MPt0zFPLLBZ6LcS1kDfNG4seBcz8MLoRkwLECDl-TaGUvq3KLIR0I7nJzcjWJ_zPTcjthJvjHPFREX0SbxHJzn1TzbzEE/s1600/cactus+flower2.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-eiAHD8E-kBC2fmAxd4iM4d-ViNrw_5BdwQLJn0C7HK0950MPt0zFPLLBZ6LcS1kDfNG4seBcz8MLoRkwLECDl-TaGUvq3KLIR0I7nJzcjWJ_zPTcjthJvjHPFREX0SbxHJzn1TzbzEE/s320/cactus+flower2.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><i><i>Prickly pear cactus flowers in New Mexico. </i></i></i><br />
<i><i>
</i></i></div>
<i>
</i>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><i><i>Photo by D.S. Dollman.</i></i></i><br />
<i><i>
</i></i></div>
<i>
</i><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
New Mexico is a place of great beauty, abundant wildlife, and exciting stories and legends, but it also has a violent past, from the Navajo death marches to Billy the Kid, there are true stories to be told in every town. This story, the story of young Deputy Sheriff Elfego Baca is fascinating because it is a mixture of truth and legend, but ultimately, the young man's survival is nothing short of a miracle. The story may have changed a bit in the retelling, but you really couldn't ask for more witnesses to the event!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>The Early Life of a Legendary Hero</b></div>
<br />
It's always best to start a story in the middle, but I already gave you a few juicy details, so lets jump back to the beginning. Baca was born in 1865 in Socorro, New Mexico.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj67ubkiAFvx6-YQVF1Sx4-NAxZQ1bxLwmfGUxBSObXVn2CS3B6AFeH0GFIPllEPcvIdRTOXvaMFoScW6FiR-xzqe7zjIS-78r9dZbr7_SnSYBR_jwYKX6RF5ecbBN2Y3nLzcoXcNYk-Ko/s1600/800px-MMountain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj67ubkiAFvx6-YQVF1Sx4-NAxZQ1bxLwmfGUxBSObXVn2CS3B6AFeH0GFIPllEPcvIdRTOXvaMFoScW6FiR-xzqe7zjIS-78r9dZbr7_SnSYBR_jwYKX6RF5ecbBN2Y3nLzcoXcNYk-Ko/s320/800px-MMountain.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>A mountain view from Socorro, New Mexico. <a href="http://puro%20spana/">Photo</a> by <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Puro_spana" style="background: none rgb(249, 249, 249); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; line-height: 21.28px;" title="User:Puro spana">Puro spana</a>, public domain.</i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Like all great heroes, he has a legendary birth. According to <a href="http://epcc.libguides.com/content.php?pid=309255&sid=2604128">EPCC Libraries and Borderlands,</a> Baca's pregnant mother was playing a game called Las Iglesias, (softball) and when she jumped up for a fly ball Elfego popped out. So it's not as exciting as the Virgin Mary's tale. He may not have landed in a manger full of hay, but he fell onto the grass!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Another story tells of how Baca was kidnapped by Navajo while still a baby, boiled in oil, then returned to his family unharmed. When he was 15 he claimed he was friends with Billy the Kid. (Billy the Kid spent a lot of time in New Mexico, but he was not in the state when Baca was 15). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXIluLxdl1SVWqLoFMDfCPslRCJM3EPL6M7LnE2AH0V313wqxEsiG7ecNmbECB54AXrLLQv9qLjJlZLMIAhmPoNlaV8OUyJh9WbHWFrajd1_t0fuhykG4LqZzTpflQr2_UFrRQTBK0E8g/s1600/800px-Pronghorn_-_Magdelena_Background.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXIluLxdl1SVWqLoFMDfCPslRCJM3EPL6M7LnE2AH0V313wqxEsiG7ecNmbECB54AXrLLQv9qLjJlZLMIAhmPoNlaV8OUyJh9WbHWFrajd1_t0fuhykG4LqZzTpflQr2_UFrRQTBK0E8g/s320/800px-Pronghorn_-_Magdelena_Background.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Pronghorn Antelope with the Magdelena Mountains in the background. <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pronghorn_-_Magdelena_Background.JPG">Photo by CibolaLover.</a></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
As in most of the Southwest, New Mexico had its share of prosperous mining operations in the 1800s. In 1867 silver was found in the Magdalena Mountains and the area was suddenly flooded with nearly 3000 miners seeking their fortunes, as well as prostitutes, entertainers, gamblers and gunfighters. Socorro's reputation changed overnight to that of a party town.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Baca Makes an Adult Decision</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Elfego Baca was no longer a child and wanted to prove himself. He had a mail order deputy badge and a stolen gun. This is where the story becomes a bit confusing for me because apparently Baca was in Reserve, New Mexico, trying to help with the troublemakers that had transformed Socorro into a rough town, but according to my memories of the years I spent in New Mexico the two towns would have been far apart. Regardless, Baca somehow ended up in reserve because there was trouble from all the miners who arrived in the mountains and in Socorro. Stay with me--it gets better. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Fighting in Frisco</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
There were three plazas in Reserve where the cowboys liked to cause trouble. Baca overheard a story from Frisco's Deputy that drunk cowboys at Milligan's Saloon tied another cowboy to a post and used him for target practice. It was a horrid sight for the people of the town, but the deputy of Frisco refused to arrest the cowboys, fearing for his own life. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It is not known if the deputy officially deputized Baca or, as another story claims, Baca deputized himself with his mail order badge. Regardless, Baca made an authoritative decision and went in search of the cowboys. He found them. He challenged a man named Charlie McCarthy who promptly shot Baca's hat right off his head. Baca responded by arresting the man and McCarthy and his friends started shooting at Baca. One man was killed by his own horse. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK5YLB-_jBwarO-uxGEtkfsCpzpSndKMGX4Qpcfhieo94Wn2hTTXqsRva3iecLqah6GrLpc53Cn-IGhu6YS317llQtvGSUReGY0-9Tk8Q5c6X5Hc-TLIWEH2fs1IMOuFk5AQgc8szl29E/s1600/ho.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK5YLB-_jBwarO-uxGEtkfsCpzpSndKMGX4Qpcfhieo94Wn2hTTXqsRva3iecLqah6GrLpc53Cn-IGhu6YS317llQtvGSUReGY0-9Tk8Q5c6X5Hc-TLIWEH2fs1IMOuFk5AQgc8szl29E/s1600/ho.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>"Oops. Sorry, Dude. Didn't mean to squish you!" (Photo by D.S. Dollman)</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Baca was a brave man, especially for 19 years old, but he was also in over his head and grossly outnumbered. After a brief and likely phony trial the cowboy McCarthy was fined for drunk and disorderly. Baca realized he was in trouble and crept from the courtroom with his hat pulled low over his eyes. A mob formed and chased him into an adobe shack with dirt walls that were below ground level--this is what likely saved him, or course. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
One cowboy--William Hearne--actually tried to open the door and Baca responded with gunfire, killing Hearne instantly and sparking what became known as The Battle of Frisco, or The Mexican War, or the Baca County War.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>A Short, but Miraculous Battle</b> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It didn't take long for 80 more cowboys to surround the building. They all took cover and started shooting at the building for approximately 36 hours while Baca lay still and quiet on the dirt floor. It grew dark and the cowboys, believing they had killed Baca, slept, but no one was willing to check the door. When they awoke the next morning, to their amazement they saw smoke coming from the adobe structure that was shot full of holes, and their stomachs started growling as they smelled the bacon cooking in a pan inside the "holey" building.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Baca surrendered to Socorro Deputy Frank Rose for the killing of Hearne. He was charged with murder and in August of 1885, Baca was found not guilty. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMY0_7cq2ZSUq2vAMe-c5PLlYEfMELNRx8pdZFxs8sLM00DrkHrf9rVKKb7mQ8kVHTtISZQl1VssrynupmBDJ5pEKAB3f-7C9kPsCyX3V4elCWE5gHOFhV9fqt8rtG1Oxk-rTWCelQ76w/s1600/22_elfego_baca_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMY0_7cq2ZSUq2vAMe-c5PLlYEfMELNRx8pdZFxs8sLM00DrkHrf9rVKKb7mQ8kVHTtISZQl1VssrynupmBDJ5pEKAB3f-7C9kPsCyX3V4elCWE5gHOFhV9fqt8rtG1Oxk-rTWCelQ76w/s320/22_elfego_baca_.jpg" width="272" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Elfego Baca, public domain.</i></div>
<br />
<b>The Hero Becomes a Legend</b><br />
Of course, with a story like that it didn't take long for the hero to become a legend. Baca held many political offices in his lifetime and even ran for congress. Eventually, Disney made a film about his life, and there was also a television series about Baca, but in my opinion his later life deserves a second post because it distracts from the beauty of the story of Baca's miraculous survival when the 19 year old man survived a shootout with 80 cowboys by lying on a dirt floor of an adobe shack. <br />
<br />
<b>Sources: </b><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>"Elfego Baca Battles Anglo Cowboys." This day in History. <i><a href="http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/elfego-baca-battles-anglo-cowboys">The History Channel Website</a>.</i> Accessed April 1, 2016. </li>
<li>Santana, David et al. "Elfego Baca Lived More than Nine Lives." <a href="http://epcc.libguides.com/content.php?pid=309255&sid=2604128">Borderlands</a>. <i>EPCC Libraries.</i> Originally posted 2003. Accessed April 1, 2016. </li>
<li>"The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca."<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0561046/"> IMDb. </a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
</div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-90789531497776655752016-04-01T20:30:00.002-07:002016-04-01T20:44:07.048-07:00Audubon: North America's Birds and the Bird Mystery<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0-lM-zoiiNd3Vg9SI1FKtVcg2DM3KHB7EW7-F3XukfCfLVDfFd00TE4YEMt5AaVKw6Gu1anUPitonJI4J1Szl6p5_AfaG9u1K_uQ7OuHDJcSHl599-QYMG9TzNOsNtaw2e05_qgVRBOw/s1600/800px-John_James_Audubon_1826.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0-lM-zoiiNd3Vg9SI1FKtVcg2DM3KHB7EW7-F3XukfCfLVDfFd00TE4YEMt5AaVKw6Gu1anUPitonJI4J1Szl6p5_AfaG9u1K_uQ7OuHDJcSHl599-QYMG9TzNOsNtaw2e05_qgVRBOw/s320/800px-John_James_Audubon_1826.jpg" width="251" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>John James Audubon by <a href="https://www.blogger.com/By%20John%20Syme%20-%20The%20White%20House%20Historical%20Association,%20Public%20Domain,%20https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9359700">John Syme</a>, December 31, 1825. Public domain.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
He wasn't the first person to try and document all the birds of America, but he was certainly the most famous, and the legacy of John James Audubon lives on through <i>The National Audubon Society </i>and their diligent work to protect America's precious birds. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzeHqikP6q7GkNAkukpQlDEmFWQlIojJUv_ZMYmF9b1BLD9q4-lViZSIeZuJ1Zwnui-bv3mWb2A6Ey46Pf0DDdmGMXI2tneYy7_VDLUq-p2WfKXkIRtPabcjGUDcvXtrhfcMDO-gcgOoQ/s1600/800px-John-James-Audubon-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzeHqikP6q7GkNAkukpQlDEmFWQlIojJUv_ZMYmF9b1BLD9q4-lViZSIeZuJ1Zwnui-bv3mWb2A6Ey46Pf0DDdmGMXI2tneYy7_VDLUq-p2WfKXkIRtPabcjGUDcvXtrhfcMDO-gcgOoQ/s320/800px-John-James-Audubon-001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/John_James_Audubon#/media/File:John-James-Audubon-001.jpg">Trumpeter Swan </a>by John James Audubon, The Birds of America, 1836. Public Domain. </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
As many of you know, I also write the blog <i><a href="http://blessedlittlecreatures.blogspot.com/">Blessed Little Creatures</a> </i>and have a special place in my heart for the lovely birds that seem to congregate around my home wherever I live, from the tiny House Sparrows that fill the evergreens beside the house to the magnificent Turkey Vulture that perches in the tree at the end of the road, waiting for a speeding truck driver to provide his meal.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I have participated in activities through The National Audubon Society on many occasions and contributed to assist them in their work, but always wondered how the organization started, so I decided to begin the A to Z Bloggers Challenge with a post on John James Audubon, who did not start The National Audubon Society, but he did influence those who did start the society. Read on, it does make sense, I promise.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfP9n4JOBbTrHJhA0MiP-F9Gc5mX-woQyo9k8TsCavZiARpIODOLg5wUeK5nooUnJKqaI1I-CEP2HmE9Osz-FRnUk5LMOgCCv8gg4J7OchaRQye2DrYsqEGk0pUED5M356XtQkCAG4X94/s1600/JJAudubon.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfP9n4JOBbTrHJhA0MiP-F9Gc5mX-woQyo9k8TsCavZiARpIODOLg5wUeK5nooUnJKqaI1I-CEP2HmE9Osz-FRnUk5LMOgCCv8gg4J7OchaRQye2DrYsqEGk0pUED5M356XtQkCAG4X94/s1600/JJAudubon.JPG" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/John_James_Audubon#/media/File:JJAudubon.JPG">Portrait </a>of John James Audubon from 19th century book. Public domain.</i> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Although John James Audubon was not the first person to try and document all of the birds of America (this was first attempted by the Scottish-American poet and illustrator Alexander Wilson) Audubon did create the stunning collection of 435 life-size prints collected in his book <i>Birds of America</i>. The collection consists of hand-colored. life-size prints of each bird made into 39 by 26 inch engraved plates first published as a series between 1827 and 1838 in Edinburgh and London, </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIDCQny8x4cvQuuY8NzuLWxvE1PGFeJiKEXPNrztcYBDc2-wnqpHLOiyvxDFNCnExr0jBy5xKgwfEZZ8btfjSz-TpRz0S_8rojou7bcvLvkIX2rkQhl8eJU5r_BRJfDiKOD8Bw6MoJZZQ/s1600/Ectopistes_migratorius%2528s.XVIII%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIDCQny8x4cvQuuY8NzuLWxvE1PGFeJiKEXPNrztcYBDc2-wnqpHLOiyvxDFNCnExr0jBy5xKgwfEZZ8btfjSz-TpRz0S_8rojou7bcvLvkIX2rkQhl8eJU5r_BRJfDiKOD8Bw6MoJZZQ/s320/Ectopistes_migratorius%2528s.XVIII%2529.jpg" width="218" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/John_James_Audubon#/media/File:Ectopistes_migratorius(s.XVIII).jpg">Passenger Pigeon</a> by John James Audubon. Public Domain. </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
It was the careful details, brilliant colors and lovely poses that made the book popular. In contemporary society we have cell phones and high-tech cameras, but in Audubon's day, people relied on the artist to introduce them to the wonders of nature in America, particularly the Old West where turkey vultures and hawks of many kinds rule the skies. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV3ZDqFkTwnAhqBBnbY34ja5ubqKnLWX6hxY79G6LHSql4QxpWMiV2gwgrTu5l1kY8OPnBGHh6dxionaXBoBZJf0iuqZIfMs_C_2SQx8NG1YVSV_pTm-Is_lMiinIORA3D1N4vKfX3jZ4/s1600/800px-151_Turkey_Buzzard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV3ZDqFkTwnAhqBBnbY34ja5ubqKnLWX6hxY79G6LHSql4QxpWMiV2gwgrTu5l1kY8OPnBGHh6dxionaXBoBZJf0iuqZIfMs_C_2SQx8NG1YVSV_pTm-Is_lMiinIORA3D1N4vKfX3jZ4/s320/800px-151_Turkey_Buzzard.jpg" width="222" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birds_of_America#/media/File:151_Turkey_Buzzard.jpg">Turkey Vulture</a> by John James Audubon. Public domain. </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
However, when it came to documenting all of the species he wanted to display, Audubon had a problem. He lived in the North. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<b>A Short Biography of John James Audubon</b> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
John James Audubon was born in Haiti. His father was French, a ship's captain, and his mother was his French mistress. He spent much of his childhood in France with his stepmother where he learned about birds, nature, music and art. When he turned 18 he escaped to America to avoid Napoleon's army and lived at another family-owned estate--Mill Grove near Philadelphia, where he also met his wife, Lucy Blackwell. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Audubon also enjoyed hunting, and it was during this time that he invented what we now know as banding as a method of tracking bird and animal migration--he tied strings around the legs of Eastern Phoebes to see if they returned to the same nest each year. They did. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Audubon continued to draw as a hobby while working as a businessman and helping his wife raise two sons--Victor Gifford and John Woodhouse--but in 1819 he was jailed for bankruptcy. When he was released, Lucy and the children moved in with wealthier families in town to work as a tutor and John left with a young assistant, his art supplies and his guns to document the plants and wildlife of America.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJMxpg-F7QMEKpzt333lOO-L-yWmr1exvuCwLxckxVjtAwJOTAbOJNznRKhMe4x0ULB1_IEKh75ZHRlNmb1_tl0l0C8V1OOoF71VJgDwWfsHTCWpgsz8aB3lD5usFgfcWAlBRQgC2gDCA/s1600/800px-171_Barn_Owl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJMxpg-F7QMEKpzt333lOO-L-yWmr1exvuCwLxckxVjtAwJOTAbOJNznRKhMe4x0ULB1_IEKh75ZHRlNmb1_tl0l0C8V1OOoF71VJgDwWfsHTCWpgsz8aB3lD5usFgfcWAlBRQgC2gDCA/s320/800px-171_Barn_Owl.jpg" width="221" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>The<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birds_of_America#/media/File:171_Barn_Owl.jpg"> Barn Owl</a> by John James Audubon. Public domain. </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
In 1862, Audubon returned to England with his collection of paintings, found a printer for Birds of America in Edinburgh, then in London, and became an overnight success. He later worked with Scottish Ornithologist William MacGillvray to document the life history of each bird.<br />
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>The Mystery of the Missing Birds</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
For many years now scientists have puzzled over five of Audubon's bird paintings. To put it simply, they could not locate the birds! These birds include The Townsends Bunting; Cuvier's Kinglet; Carbonated Swamp Warbler; Small-Headed Flycatcher; and Blue Mountain Warbler. It has been speculated that the birds became extinct before the formation of <i>The National Audubon Society </i>increased awareness of the importance of saving the species. Audubon preferred to paint his birds live, so it's also possible that he made mistakes when identifying birds. However, it is also rumored that Audubon sent for bird carcasses from a friend in order to complete the book because he could not travel across the country and needed examples to work with while painting. It's possible we will never know the answer to the question of the mystery birds. </div>
<div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbs5bFKGM0H4DgvWEcfH5j-VqUu_cqF76KubktF4RkdqxmWlsStM6tNhEE0Jgue9t4nebAFXafmrwGFZYgzrCUhLkPmV2u6f4OzUO9qBvap5bisa58cN3zKn8AwqWRHwWVdN8YvOSadA/s1600/AudubonMarshHareS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbs5bFKGM0H4DgvWEcfH5j-VqUu_cqF76KubktF4RkdqxmWlsStM6tNhEE0Jgue9t4nebAFXafmrwGFZYgzrCUhLkPmV2u6f4OzUO9qBvap5bisa58cN3zKn8AwqWRHwWVdN8YvOSadA/s320/AudubonMarshHareS.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Marsh Hares by John James Audubon. Public domain. </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>A Different Approach</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Audubon traveled America on many more occasions to complete his work, then in 1843 he traveled to the American West for a different project, documenting animals for his book <i>Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, </i>which was completed by his sons. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpcm-CBDYdKuNb2wjD2b-FOSnGKndXunvF6hq3mE54feqwA0vhhB_U4chyphenhyphen8_cyZFth5LlafxDHmEXR5iKdR2x6QKwMiZI6MHcbTK9ONq8MRiOzFjyjmGikm9bLCX4XSPpMJaMyJtC6TQI/s1600/BachmanJohnMugColor01t.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpcm-CBDYdKuNb2wjD2b-FOSnGKndXunvF6hq3mE54feqwA0vhhB_U4chyphenhyphen8_cyZFth5LlafxDHmEXR5iKdR2x6QKwMiZI6MHcbTK9ONq8MRiOzFjyjmGikm9bLCX4XSPpMJaMyJtC6TQI/s1600/BachmanJohnMugColor01t.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Lutheran Pastor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bachman#/media/File:BachmanJohnMugColor01t.jpg">John Bachman</a>, Audubon's close friend and author of the text of Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America. </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The text for <i>Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America</i> was composed by Audubon's friend, Lutheran Pastor John Bachman<i>. </i>Both of Bachman's daughters were married to Audubon's sons. John James Audubon was 65 years old when he died and was buried at the Trinity Cemetery in New York. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>The National Audubon Society</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The formation of <i><a href="https://www.audubon.org/">The National Audubon Society</a></i> is interesting considering John James Audubon generally used dead birds as models for his portraits. George Bird Grinnell, Editor of Forest and Stream magazine believed the wanton slaughter of birds in North America was reckless and appalling. In his time, Christmas bird hunts took place where young boys would take their guns into the forests and shoot as many birds as they could find to win the Christmas contest. Now we have a bird count. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
When Grinnell came across<i> Ornithological Biography</i> by John James Audubon he became determined to stop the slaughter of birds. The fact that he found this book was not a coincidence. Grinnell was a student at a school for boys run by Lucy Audubon. Grinnell founded The National Audubon Society and within a year of its founding had recruited 39,000 members. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>(I apologize for the late post. I generally write at night, but I woke up this morning to find an entire blog had disappeared! It's been a rough start. Thank you for reading.) </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Sources:</b><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="https://www.whitehousehistory.org/search?q=Audubon">"Audubon."</a> <i>The White House Historical Association </i>website. Accessed April 1, 2016. </li>
<li><a href="http://www.audubon.org/content/john-james-audubon">"John James Audubon."</a> History. <i>Audubon </i>website. Accessed March 30, 2016. </li>
<li>Pollack, Michael. "Five Mystery Birds Among Audubon's Paintings." <i>The New York Times</i>. Published August 21, 2015. Accessed March 30, 2016. </li>
<li>Tanner, Ogden. <i>The Canadians.</i> The Old West. Time Life Books. 1977: Canada.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-86563719539428491102016-01-18T09:54:00.000-08:002016-01-18T09:59:34.459-08:00Denver Colorado's Flood of 1864<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDTO56z5RGvAgLeNdhKRGJTcO0xn7A5rkA7r3OyqvLA8j762y68TNR5PrQIF7ltSw5cx4t75NMgfr64_58oI6XIy_DkXFFz1Wc8tLXQCF1wwLkILnvHXxkRejjjh0d9RdVdlGeZkRGUps/s1600/NM+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDTO56z5RGvAgLeNdhKRGJTcO0xn7A5rkA7r3OyqvLA8j762y68TNR5PrQIF7ltSw5cx4t75NMgfr64_58oI6XIy_DkXFFz1Wc8tLXQCF1wwLkILnvHXxkRejjjh0d9RdVdlGeZkRGUps/s320/NM+001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Flooding in Kingsland, Texas. Photo copyright owned by Darla Sue Dollman.</i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Sad to say, I am intimately familiar with floods. When my husband and I first traveled to Texas in June of 2007 we spent three days looking for a home. We signed a contract on a beautiful, circular hillside house and started on the drive back. When we reached Oklahoma, my daughter called. "The town you are moving to is flooded!" she said. We turned to the news on the radio. Sure enough, Marble Falls, Texas was flooding. Marble Falls received 18 inches of rain in a few hours causing massive flooding and 11 deaths. My oldest son was almost swept away in the June, 1997 <a href="http://www.coloradoan.com/news/coloradoanpublishing/SpringCreekFlood/index.html">Spring Creek flood</a> in Fort Collins, Colorado. Details regarding emergency responses to that flood are now used in flash flood training films for emergency responders.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Vxhm6JLCym4-G3TQXJfP3QNW7TMfNDIlOikFLjlQYg2pERDwCprEotfEOkLxlhLx-050WoH9Xtb8O6ADp0o021jBM3H5leoSBW44ag0_zIXQFGYkWvbBGIjv0ann9yraI_qUmEoZNNg/s1600/deer+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Vxhm6JLCym4-G3TQXJfP3QNW7TMfNDIlOikFLjlQYg2pERDwCprEotfEOkLxlhLx-050WoH9Xtb8O6ADp0o021jBM3H5leoSBW44ag0_zIXQFGYkWvbBGIjv0ann9yraI_qUmEoZNNg/s320/deer+005.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Bubble in the flood. Photo by Darla Sue Dollman.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
Colorado has had more than its share of catastrophic flash floods. In fact, one of Colorado's first documented flash floods occurred on May 20, 1864 in Denver City and Auraria. Denver City and Auraria, struggling and competing mining towns, were perched on opposite banks of the Cherry Creek, but they had one thing other mining town's lacked, one thing that bonded the two towns together in a way that eventually caused them to merge--a stubborn and determined newspaper editor named William Newton Byers.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIofLTygavGhlPAFqal8HaMyCarri_E39YwicMDrw_qww_uOCVgPC77GEAYG-FMBj2mafy0u0AObDB0dlCpH_f615ZRxVbjGha-eREfsHXjHry-Ue6b8RmJXyYjBW1HG6LCWxM3ytAJzk/s1600/439px-William_Newton_Byers00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIofLTygavGhlPAFqal8HaMyCarri_E39YwicMDrw_qww_uOCVgPC77GEAYG-FMBj2mafy0u0AObDB0dlCpH_f615ZRxVbjGha-eREfsHXjHry-Ue6b8RmJXyYjBW1HG6LCWxM3ytAJzk/s320/439px-William_Newton_Byers00.jpg" width="234" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Newton_Byers00.jpg">William N. Byers</a>, Publisher of the Rocky Mountain News. Public domain.</i></div>
<br />
William Newton Byers produced his first copy of the <i>Rocky Mountain News</i> on April 23, 1859. He has worked through the night beneath a sagging tarp used to keep the snow falling through holes in the roof off his press. Byers was trying to beat another editor, Jack Merrick, who was set to publish the maiden issue of his newspaper, <i>Cherry Creek Pioneer</i>, on that same day. Byers beat Merrick with the first Denver newspaper copy by 20 minutes and Merrick sold Byers his equipment to join the hoards of prospectors heading west in search of gold in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.<br />
<br />
In addition to his determination, Byers also had faith, faith in himself and the city. When the gold dried up and disappointed prospectors loaded their equipment to return home, Byers insisted the city would survive and used his newspaper to taunt those who moved on, calling them "Gobacks!" Byers was right. The city prospered, and Byer's <i>Rocky Mountain News</i> survived, as well.<br />
<br />
The Denver City/Auraria flood followed the typical Southwest pattern of drought followed by flood, and there is a logical reason why this pattern leads to flash floods. When a drought occurs the plants die and there are no trees, grass, weeds--roots--to absorb and hold the rain when the drought eases.<br />
<br />
In 1862 and 1863, Colorado experienced a severe drought and strong spring winds raged down the mountains in early 1863, increasing the fire danger. According to Keith Wheeler's <i>The Townsmen</i>, at 3 a.m. on April 19, 1863 a heavily intoxicated man stumbled into the Cherokee Hotel and kicked over the wood-burning stove. The wind fed the flames that jumped from building to building for three hours transforming the main business section of the city into a pile of ash and rubble with damages totalling $350,000--a lot of money in 1863! The fire was not, however, enough to stop the proud, determined people of Denver who quickly rebuilt their town while young boys in the neighborhood picked through the rubble, searching for nails they could straighten, making as much as $10 a day selling the nails to those performing the reconstruction.<br />
<br />
In 1864, the rains returned to Colorado with a vengeance. Day after day, massive thunderheads rolled across Colorado's Front Range filling the lakes, streams, ditches, and thirsty soil with rain until the entire area was so saturated it could no longer absorb one more drop. Denver received average rainfall and the people of the city were unprepared for what was to come.<br />
<br />
On May 20, 1864, a wall of water barreled down Cherry Creek and smashed into Denver City and Auraria. The wall of water was filled with trees, brush, broken furniture, and human bodies. It crashed into the <i>Rocky Mountain News</i> building, which Byers had built in the middle of the creek on stilts in an attempt to show his loyalty to both competing towns. The flood waters shredded the structure like scissors on paper, destroying the 3000 pound steam-powered press William Byers brought with him from the East.<br />
<br />
At the time of the flood, William Byers was at home with his wife and family. They were rescued by boat from the roof of their home by Byer's friend, Major John Chivington who later led the infamous Sand Creek Massacre, killing 163 Cheyenne women and children.<br />
<br />
The estimated damages from the flood of 1864 was over a million dollars and 20 people lost their lives. Nevertheless, the <a href="http://wildwesthistory.blogspot.com/2013/04/denver-colorado-city-built-by-miners.html">City of Denver </a>survived, just as Byers predicted, and once again, William Newton Byers and the <i><a href="http://wildwesthistory.blogspot.com/2014/04/william-n-byers-and-rocky-mountain-news.html">Rocky Mountain News</a></i> survived. Byers had steadily invested in other ventures over the years and used his financial gains to purchase a competitor's operation. The Rocky Mountain News continued to provide news to the people of Denver until February 27, 2009, when the last edition went to press and the newspaper closed its doors forever.</div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-57608252449485754112015-11-15T00:15:00.000-08:002015-11-15T00:15:03.560-08:00"Gone to Texas" or "GTT" <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYlT3Rgj-M9Ixwk2ST_HOS4et6owqwQzhEAhzX8OJL_-0Q-ihrWlyYICePYjI8nOv5q8bPSspaKAQv5ptkc9CQFDhxF2UO2K5bvQyGJtgjLVRv84liLKhYaq-zb-z96BE0UItZD_VQOCg/s1600/deer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYlT3Rgj-M9Ixwk2ST_HOS4et6owqwQzhEAhzX8OJL_-0Q-ihrWlyYICePYjI8nOv5q8bPSspaKAQv5ptkc9CQFDhxF2UO2K5bvQyGJtgjLVRv84liLKhYaq-zb-z96BE0UItZD_VQOCg/s320/deer.jpg" width="319" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Deer in Kingsland, Texas. Photo by Darla Sue Dollman.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I've lived in Colorado most of my life, but I did spend around eight blissful years living in the gorgeous Texas Hill Country town of Kingsland. My home was round, with floor to ceiling windows and sliding doors. The house was on five acres of live oak trees with a running stream and forest land on all sides. It was like living in a fish bowl, but I was the fish with the wildlife staring at me through the glass day and night. It was an animal lover's dream. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
About that time I started working on my family genealogy, trying to fill in spaces on an extensive piece of work belonging to my younger sister. I was surprised to learn that most of my ancestors originally lived in Texas. However, a few of my ancestors moved to Texas during the American Civil War to live on a piece of inherited land. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Because my great great (etc.) grandfather originally came from Ohio he was considered a possible threat to the minority of northern Texans who wanted Texas, which had just joined the United States, to secede from the Union and join the Confederacy. My ancestor was rounded up by a group of former Southern plantation owners who arrived in Texas around the same time trying to protect their old way of life, then murdered during The Great Hanging at Gainesville, a rather disturbing title for a deeply traumatizing event where 41 Texas residents were executed in an act of mob violence spurred on by the local press. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Unfortunately, this type of event was not uncommon in Texas because Texas was a wild place at that time where people often sought refuge when they were in trouble with the law or trying to run from their personal problems. When they left their homes for Texas family members marked the door GTT in chalk, which stands for Gone to Texas. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpv_IDLhuffC-GBeFrTTb_rO8txMNOf5Xzczwr0HFhadwYgMxpMdrHyY2pQ9AMEQxi3QECtbiCk2kh28_l-CYp3mcyMNE8oyqLcznr4-RrzYTUerOT_w_RTCtPd9ZjtkL7uTLb26PwFT4/s1600/longhorn+caverns+017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpv_IDLhuffC-GBeFrTTb_rO8txMNOf5Xzczwr0HFhadwYgMxpMdrHyY2pQ9AMEQxi3QECtbiCk2kh28_l-CYp3mcyMNE8oyqLcznr4-RrzYTUerOT_w_RTCtPd9ZjtkL7uTLb26PwFT4/s320/longhorn+caverns+017.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>The entrance to Longhorn Caverns, a favorite hideout for outlaws in the Texas Hill Country located a few minutes from my former home. Photo by Darla Sue Dollman.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
According to the Allen Heritage Guild Depot Museum's<a href="http://starlocalmedia.com/allenamerican/news/gone-to-texas-exhibit-brings-history-to-life/article_bc7c2e20-c415-11e3-b79c-001a4bcf887a.html"> “Gone to Texas”</a> exhibit, the phrase became popular around the 1840s, about the time that the Peters Colony Land Grant Company offered 640 acres of land to "heads of households and 320 acres to single men" in the to entice immigrant families to populate the Blackland Prairie of Texas. Contrary to the popular view of Texas as a desert land filled with cactus and cattle, Texas is actually known for its magnificent beauty. It contains 23 percent of the woodlands of the southern United States and thanks to Former President Lyndon B. Johnson's wife, "Ladybird Johnson," it is also known for its vast fields of wildflowers. <div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT1zUlz8AzJGcIKLVGzPsTvkpRcFmWS1ZbRjjiQXiU5f6y2iztjD2vpok1zEbuT9xQm1bKOXqc7HDYECHMTl1TXLTaPrw73F_P6no7GC4ZTg2Uj9wOgBusiRchJKVKK7iFS8U9EAhQ6Zo/s1600/NM+107.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT1zUlz8AzJGcIKLVGzPsTvkpRcFmWS1ZbRjjiQXiU5f6y2iztjD2vpok1zEbuT9xQm1bKOXqc7HDYECHMTl1TXLTaPrw73F_P6no7GC4ZTg2Uj9wOgBusiRchJKVKK7iFS8U9EAhQ6Zo/s320/NM+107.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>In addition to outlaws and its abundance of wildlife, Texas is also known for its massive spring blooms of Bluebonnets. Fields of blue everywhere you look entice visitors to the Hill Country each year. These were photographed at my former home. Photo by Darla Sue Dollman. </i></div>
<div>
<br /><div>
However, according to an <a href="http://martinparmer.tripod.com/id12.html">article</a> posted in Philadelphia's National Gazette (quoted from the original source contained in the collection of Kameron K. Searle) the phrase Gone to Texas was in use long before the 1840s. The article, dated December 29, 1825, discusses vacancies that needed to be filled in the Missouri legislature. According to the article, one of the vacancies was created by a Colonel Palmer who "is said to have taken French leave and gone to Texas." (French Leave meant to leave without permission, similar to the phrase "absent without leave" or "AWOL," a popular contemporary term borrowed from the American military). </div>
<div>
<br />I am unfamiliar with Colonel Palmer, but according to information in <a href="https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/pfg01">The Handbook of Texas Online </a>it is possible that the reference to Palmer leaving for Texas was not meant as a compliment. The Handbook of Texas Online quotes from a book by Frederick Law Olmstead titled <i>Journey Through Texas</i> and published in 1857. In the book, Olmstead states that he is unsure of exactly when the phrase "Gone to Texas" acquired a negative context, but at some point in the 1800s the phrase came to mean that, unlike my ancestors who moved to collect an inheritance, the inhabitants of the home left for Texas for "some discreditable reason." <div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Texas Handbook Online also quotes from the 1844 book<i> GTT</i> by Thomas Hughes who explains in the preface to his book that "When we want to say that it is all up with some fellow, we just say, `G.T.T.' as you'd say, `gone to the devil, or `gone to the dogs.'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOizsPfQUjTgA14ur8wPlDHX6XCbDvFBjBbePLsurZT2iTufGSLHFUkpql2yq_0QEyGOhyFDisTl4PW7OeikdU-gAJj3RZA4cstPdNaAQhDPXmbd7oY-XMudDAozGB0U5QOPE8QXe5lNo/s1600/NM+163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOizsPfQUjTgA14ur8wPlDHX6XCbDvFBjBbePLsurZT2iTufGSLHFUkpql2yq_0QEyGOhyFDisTl4PW7OeikdU-gAJj3RZA4cstPdNaAQhDPXmbd7oY-XMudDAozGB0U5QOPE8QXe5lNo/s320/NM+163.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Texas Longhorn near Llano, Texas. Photo by Darla Sue Dollman.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
In addition to its reference to outlaws or troublemakers, the phrase also became synonymous with the idea that Texas was the place to be for those who were trying to start over, to start a new life. Since communication with families in other states was a challenge in the early 1800s, the phrase "Gone to Texas" or "GTT" was marked on front doors to notify family and friends who traveled from other parts of the country that the home's occupants moved to the former country of Texas (Texas became its own country in 1836 and became its own country in 1845). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<b>Sources: </b><ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>"Gone to Texas." Allen Heritage Guild Depot Museum. Uploaded April, 2015. Accessed November 11, 2015. </li>
<li><a href="https://www.blogger.com/(http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/pfg01)">"GTT,"</a> <i>Handbook of Texas Online </i>, accessed November 15, 2015. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.</li>
</ul>
<br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-66239452402624558332015-06-17T21:01:00.001-07:002015-06-17T21:05:40.330-07:00Wounded Knee Massacre: Zintkala Nuni, Little Lost Bird<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicXJfP-5U9ENMMDVQQSBgUasTgriURbFjNDFrCA12PIXZUV0NYgxrZaKpOb8lEOdX0bhgakq_SGHlP7WKLO8a9GT9oa0ZmrF9hFwSK5nRXE71ikeKhKtUnOyAiWKupae3Y-_WG5nME3e4/s1600/_Return_of_Casey%2527s_scouts_from_the_fight_at_Wounded_Knee%252C_1890-91___Soldiers_on_horseback_plod_through_the_snow_-_NARA_-_531103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicXJfP-5U9ENMMDVQQSBgUasTgriURbFjNDFrCA12PIXZUV0NYgxrZaKpOb8lEOdX0bhgakq_SGHlP7WKLO8a9GT9oa0ZmrF9hFwSK5nRXE71ikeKhKtUnOyAiWKupae3Y-_WG5nME3e4/s320/_Return_of_Casey%2527s_scouts_from_the_fight_at_Wounded_Knee%252C_1890-91___Soldiers_on_horseback_plod_through_the_snow_-_NARA_-_531103.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<em>The return of Casey's scouts. Soldiers plow through the ice and snow following the massacre at Wounded Knee, South Dakota in 1890.</em> <em><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22Return_of_Casey%27s_scouts_from_the_fight_at_Wounded_Knee,_1890-91.%22_Soldiers_on_horseback_plod_through_the_snow_-_NARA_-_531103.jpg">Photo </a>part of the National Archives and Records Administration/Public Domain.</em></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<em><br /></em></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Oh Zintkala Nuni, precious Little Lost Bird, since I first read your story I have cried so many tears for you, a miracle, a gift to your people who all stopped to admire you when you were born, feeling grateful to have someone so lovely among them. Your true name is lost forever, but your memory lives on in the hearts of those who still fight for justice for the victims of the Wounded Knee Massacre and your ancestors. </i><br />
<i> </i><br />
<i></i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj21X2X0_b8TivNy1gey1g8ZQk-mtLlkKx_Z3r1LOrEk8I_B1S5d8tqu5xiz3V-msnas57yA8D9I14TrBT-P37FlePeWgSoyApCjK72Js05vPN8Xfa1lR7PBzEhpoxOaR2szYCBCYKIVuw/s1600/untitled.png" /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<em>Zintkala Nuni, the Little Lost Bird of Wounded Knee.</em></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<em><br /></em></div>
<i></i><br />
<i>Your family was massacred and you seemed to survive, but no one can survive an experience such as yours and after years of suffering the worst pain imaginable--the knowledge of what was done to your family and the horrific story of how you survived--you finally joined them. </i><br />
<br />
<i>It is my hope that you have also, finally found peace.</i><br />
<i> </i><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXXmXffeWBw1WP1Jq3vd2Lgnxc9QRYyqvMhLvQSzkwV9SfJzrdvR_TMhqt3tJCEErk2Pa7_051DWQdEU3OygHMWwm-sxNmC1AHP-wj0UXNpXOoxi0JAwk3htf7Eikyd_flo0Y5RNt74B8/s1600/450px-Eric_Holder_at_Wounded_Knee_Memorial.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXXmXffeWBw1WP1Jq3vd2Lgnxc9QRYyqvMhLvQSzkwV9SfJzrdvR_TMhqt3tJCEErk2Pa7_051DWQdEU3OygHMWwm-sxNmC1AHP-wj0UXNpXOoxi0JAwk3htf7Eikyd_flo0Y5RNt74B8/s1600/450px-Eric_Holder_at_Wounded_Knee_Memorial.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<i> US Attorney General Eric Holder laying a wreath at the site of the Wounded Knee Memorial. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eric_Holder_at_Wounded_Knee_Memorial.jpg">Photo </a>taken September 26, 2009/Public Domain. </i><br />
<em></em> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
I have spent the past year struggling with the painful loss of members of my family and a writers block that I began to think I would not break! This post is an attempt to jump start my writing, as well as to complete my participation in last years A to Z Bloggers Challenge. Here I will discuss one of the few survivors of the Wounded Knee Massacre: Zintkala Nuni, or Little Lost Bird, how she suffered through the loss of her mother, her extended family, most of her tribe, and what little self-respect she had left after she was found in a ditch following the massacre at Wounded Knee. <br />
<br />
I wish I could offer you a happy ending with the story of this child who miraculously survived the Wounded Knee Massacre, but out of respect for this child and her family I can only share the cold and bitter truth, a story of terror and unimaginable horror that will break your heart, as it should.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuUBowjoWUFqNwIICZpwxivQ5wN1e55zAtWOLvdjhLojbivBm1soLhJd2pG14VvQR7uBfYLT-t50kZklxZyH_NJGbsMvm0-CRXSsSE7CuX3VikYjdYQkeM6xzzSg0V6JPNd66D33gGRhc/s1600/Wounded_Knee_aftermath3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuUBowjoWUFqNwIICZpwxivQ5wN1e55zAtWOLvdjhLojbivBm1soLhJd2pG14VvQR7uBfYLT-t50kZklxZyH_NJGbsMvm0-CRXSsSE7CuX3VikYjdYQkeM6xzzSg0V6JPNd66D33gGRhc/s1600/Wounded_Knee_aftermath3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<i>The bodies of four Lakota Sioux, victims of the Wounded Knee Massacre. Photo taken three weeks after the massacre circa January 17, 1891. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wounded_Knee_aftermath3.jpg">Photo</a> is public domain.</i><br />
<em><br /></em><br />
<br />
<b>Zintkala Nuni, The Little Lost Bird of Wounded Knee</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
What is your earliest memory? A birthday party with cupcakes and friends? Falling asleep in your father's arms? Imagine lying beneath the body of your dead mother on the bloody snow in a South Dakota field for four days. No comfort for your fear, no food, too terrified to make a sound and no one to hear you even if you did cry. These were the early memories of Zintkala Nuni, Little Lost Bird. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Zintkala Nuni, or Little Lost Bird, was born somewhere on the prairies of South Dakota in the spring of 1890. She was a victim of the Wounded Knee Massacre. Some call this event the Battle of Wounded Knee, others believe it is more accurately described as attempted genocide. The Massacre at Wounded Knee occurred on December 29, 1890, on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. <i> </i><br />
<br />
<br />
<em></em><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEood2AbVvahvnKiYpTzjdbrQ56PZinq92T5xMXFFsb9yWTrir7lgQcva5i5VkSDAW3W2neHwgKbzyrQ2cEPL4KyTemrM8kmcgvokjln_zr4M1ZPT7a5tfSIUiufYgvhHJmi7LDbJoQZs/s1600/800px-Wounded_Knee_96.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEood2AbVvahvnKiYpTzjdbrQ56PZinq92T5xMXFFsb9yWTrir7lgQcva5i5VkSDAW3W2neHwgKbzyrQ2cEPL4KyTemrM8kmcgvokjln_zr4M1ZPT7a5tfSIUiufYgvhHJmi7LDbJoQZs/s1600/800px-Wounded_Knee_96.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEood2AbVvahvnKiYpTzjdbrQ56PZinq92T5xMXFFsb9yWTrir7lgQcva5i5VkSDAW3W2neHwgKbzyrQ2cEPL4KyTemrM8kmcgvokjln_zr4M1ZPT7a5tfSIUiufYgvhHJmi7LDbJoQZs/s1600/800px-Wounded_Knee_96.jpg"> </a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEood2AbVvahvnKiYpTzjdbrQ56PZinq92T5xMXFFsb9yWTrir7lgQcva5i5VkSDAW3W2neHwgKbzyrQ2cEPL4KyTemrM8kmcgvokjln_zr4M1ZPT7a5tfSIUiufYgvhHJmi7LDbJoQZs/s1600/800px-Wounded_Knee_96.jpg"></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Wounded Knee, Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota, USA Entrance gate to cemetery, and the location of the Hotchkiss gun used during the Wounded Knee Massacre. It is also the location of the mass grave for the Lakota Sioux massacre victims, including Little Lost Bird's mother. Photo by <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wounded_Knee_96.jpg">Napa</a>, taken during the summer of 1997. </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<em><br /></em></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Guns, Fear, a Stray Shot and Panic Leads to Tragedy for Little Lost Bird</b><br />
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
It is believed that the Wounded Knee Massacre began when a deaf Lakota named Black Coyote refused to hand over his gun to soldiers of the U.S. Seventh Cavalry who were instructed to disarm the Lakota living on the reservation. (For more information, read the previous set of posts on this event below.) <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4jeqF8bGYFQoe6STJk9lg6BabTCz8p6UoCoaw_jJnRh0Qkh0LjA8zRcdSsh3tH6ow2aaxPwuygSK1x7AZ8E9mK0mlmvArjDfa8icMF37lsBMqS1a1nGXe9vkXBfypFHQv_69hgEzPQEE/s1600/800px-Hotchkiss_rapid_fire_gun_42_mm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4jeqF8bGYFQoe6STJk9lg6BabTCz8p6UoCoaw_jJnRh0Qkh0LjA8zRcdSsh3tH6ow2aaxPwuygSK1x7AZ8E9mK0mlmvArjDfa8icMF37lsBMqS1a1nGXe9vkXBfypFHQv_69hgEzPQEE/s320/800px-Hotchkiss_rapid_fire_gun_42_mm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<em>Three Hotchkiss Rapid Fire Guns used at the Wounded Knee Massacre.</em><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hotchkiss_rapid_fire_gun_42_mm.JPG"><em> Photo</em></a><em> part of the John C.H. Grabill Collection, Library of Congress. Public Domain.</em></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<em><br /></em></div>
<br />
A shot was fired during the scuffle and the soldiers started firing on all men, women, and children, including the unarmed women trying desperately to save their families by running for any shelter they could find. Later, their dead children were found held tight and frozen stiff in the arms of their mothers as they lay together in the snow.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUWHjXj6Q7Sc6kHBg2EsjDiwHHpPbge1V71bA5EJH0SIahk4c2NPBB8izWbDao5775w241TiImugb9FZ-_eHUYo2cIPZK3w_gJ-O36kEO71Iwu8LuXL6nzHGYFFqe3T3y2Gmq6NYQ0etQ/s1600/Wounded_Knee_massgrav.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUWHjXj6Q7Sc6kHBg2EsjDiwHHpPbge1V71bA5EJH0SIahk4c2NPBB8izWbDao5775w241TiImugb9FZ-_eHUYo2cIPZK3w_gJ-O36kEO71Iwu8LuXL6nzHGYFFqe3T3y2Gmq6NYQ0etQ/s1600/Wounded_Knee_massgrav.jpg" width="276" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>The mass grave of Lakota Sioux victims of the Wounded Knee Massacre. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wounded_Knee_massgrav.jpg">Photo</a> in public domain.</i><br />
<em></em> </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
What was the mother of Little Lost Bird thinking as she crawled through the freezing air to the river bank and lay dying in the snow? Like any mother, she thought only of her child. She moved slowly through the damp cold trying not to attract attention, searching for the only shelter to be found on the frozen prairie, near the banks of the river, where she could hide from the gunfire and possibly save her child. Exhausted, and with little life left in her body, she lay on top of the child, hoping to both hide her from the soldiers and keep the baby warm. The child lay beneath her for<em> four days</em>, protected by the dirt wall, snow mounds, and her mother's frozen body. By the time she was rescued she was likely close to dying. No one knew her real name, so she was called the Little Lost Bird of the Wounded Knee Massacre.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCUfE2bNALerOeYifssrCyoyXHXq7QtbWBbt5OOlnw4Sd3CSewJjjge2m2DkA3exocYR6BK_z1Kei3p8PS1H90kD3QLmcuCiGW031vdlzJBSlUe_rqfMWyvcFny2bnuzxz05RW2xQzBKc/s1600/767px-Grabill_-_Survivors_of_Big_Foots_band.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCUfE2bNALerOeYifssrCyoyXHXq7QtbWBbt5OOlnw4Sd3CSewJjjge2m2DkA3exocYR6BK_z1Kei3p8PS1H90kD3QLmcuCiGW031vdlzJBSlUe_rqfMWyvcFny2bnuzxz05RW2xQzBKc/s1600/767px-Grabill_-_Survivors_of_Big_Foots_band.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<i>Survivors of the Wounded Knee Massacre, 1891. John C. H. Grabill Collection/public domain. </i><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>A Life Saved and Peace Denied</b><br />
<i> </i></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Following the massacre the news of the atrocity spread quickly around the world and many people were appalled by what they heard of the events at Wounded Knee. The story of Little Lost Bird may have provided some with hope--there were few survivors--but most people were sickened by the thought of a helpless baby lying for days beneath her mother's frozen body.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh88jXRMI2JQthr4spq9cXA5646sa4-dJSh1udz_HmTMzW6_1XT0xGW9phjTdQwBVzMw3GkMuUPIWYTQ8Bs9NvodPzunkgqJTG_o8W_R7iRCqoxo37ikDXXw2goy4VuM9_9pid4dWNOeWs/s1600/482px-thumbnail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh88jXRMI2JQthr4spq9cXA5646sa4-dJSh1udz_HmTMzW6_1XT0xGW9phjTdQwBVzMw3GkMuUPIWYTQ8Bs9NvodPzunkgqJTG_o8W_R7iRCqoxo37ikDXXw2goy4VuM9_9pid4dWNOeWs/s1600/482px-thumbnail.jpg" width="257" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i> Portrait of General L. W. Colby of Nebraska State Troops holding Zintkala Nuni: Little Lost Bird who he adopted after a bitter custody battle when she was found on the Wounded Knee
Battlefield, South Dakota, 1890. Public domain/photographer unknown. </i><br />
<em><br /></em><br />
<br /></div>
<br />
As her story spread across the country Little Lost Bird was moved from one family to another in a different sort of battle, a custody fight. She was finally given to General Leonard Colby of the National Guard, future Assistant Attorney General of the United States, who posed proudly for photographs showing the child in his arms. Unfortunately for him General Colby failed to inform his wife, Clara Bewick Colby, that he adopted the child. <br />
<br /><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdyQ4Nu0qhm1PYCBtrIWLpVFVSyZeWpglIH2SI7nXTVQE5b7s0cQZN8Gnz35mH5HeDj0Tfs3Q7tfC2FMxuo6ixMUE38TjaTziUiymr9j3jSEjHVzP_QNxcSPWsWTy790vnGpYbl3_ViNs/s1600/Clara_Bewick_Colby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdyQ4Nu0qhm1PYCBtrIWLpVFVSyZeWpglIH2SI7nXTVQE5b7s0cQZN8Gnz35mH5HeDj0Tfs3Q7tfC2FMxuo6ixMUE38TjaTziUiymr9j3jSEjHVzP_QNxcSPWsWTy790vnGpYbl3_ViNs/s320/Clara_Bewick_Colby.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Clara Bewick Colby, wife of General Colby, circa 1880s/<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Clara_Bewick_Colby#/media/File:Clara_Bewick_Colby.jpg">Public Domain</a>.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
Clara was a suffragist, activist, lecturer, publisher, and writer, and she happily took on the role of mother to Little Lost Bird. She later expressed her belief that her husband had kidnapped the child in order to draw clients to his law practice, to exploit her even further. Leonard Colby's intentions were far from honorable. He later abandoned Clara and Zintkala Nuni to start a relationship with Little Lost Bird's governess. Clara Colby and Little Lost Bird struggled to survive, and when she was 17, Zintkala Nuni ran away from home. She was recovered and sent to live with her father and his new wife, then discovered she was pregnant and was sent to a reformatory. Her child was stillborn and she returned to live with her adopted mother, Clara Colby. Clara Colby testified in court that Zintkala Nuni was sexually abused by her former husband, General L. W. Colby, while she was living in his home with his second wife. <br />
<br /><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEhgF0NTXyelbZbTA5Rn2vfwRIwTREnR2X2cjq9zdsIIE7LK3QoQdB31iey-i_ofJg2_H7SUpVpp32AJrgzlrOT3VOVq-Fjmzq66VHHk8aLMdqyEtxWmJmTAYmKeFG8A8amTzhwWpywAE/s1600/Clara_Bewick_Colby2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEhgF0NTXyelbZbTA5Rn2vfwRIwTREnR2X2cjq9zdsIIE7LK3QoQdB31iey-i_ofJg2_H7SUpVpp32AJrgzlrOT3VOVq-Fjmzq66VHHk8aLMdqyEtxWmJmTAYmKeFG8A8amTzhwWpywAE/s320/Clara_Bewick_Colby2.jpg" width="222" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Clara Bewick Colby. <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Clara_Bewick_Colby#/media/File:Clara_Bewick_Colby2.jpg">Photographer </a>unknown/Public Domain. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<strong>The Little Lost Bird Leaves her Nest</strong></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<strong><br /></strong></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Zintkala Nuni returned to South Dakota on numerous occasions seeking information about her family and any possible surviving relatives. She married briefly, then discovered she had contracted syphilis. They did have children together--two died, and she gave one of her children away. She eventually ended up in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. According to author Renee Sansom Flood, Zinkala Nuni also appeared in silent films and Vaudeville. It is possible she worked as a prostitute on occasion in order to survive. She continued searching for her family and desperately seeking peace, but there would be no answers or peace for the Little Lost Bird. On February 14, 1919, Valentine's Day of her 29th year, the Little Lost Bird of Wounded Knee died of influenza while in California. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQvGeBjQlz5uPZOxzxqjq1u96CGVCinvb84S00KSIdjhh7OXiwS9wIxX7zsPeH5wps6ohvSYYWh7DB_oXZIac5ip8vG3ooS9mlLHWO7cWiggCQ_3A3YJFm1z55odYVukTSqQ3OZKY-DNM/s1600/nuni.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQvGeBjQlz5uPZOxzxqjq1u96CGVCinvb84S00KSIdjhh7OXiwS9wIxX7zsPeH5wps6ohvSYYWh7DB_oXZIac5ip8vG3ooS9mlLHWO7cWiggCQ_3A3YJFm1z55odYVukTSqQ3OZKY-DNM/s1600/nuni.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<em>Zintkala Nuni appeared in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and in silent films, but succumbed to alcoholism at the age of 29.</em> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
After her death, Zintkala Nuni, the Little Lost Bird of Wounded Knee, became a symbol of the oppression of her people and the terrible events that occurred at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
In July of 1991, the remains of Zintkala Nuni were moved from her burial site in California and reinterred near the mass grave where the rest of her people were buried. According to Eric Harrison writing for<a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1991-07-13/news/mn-1832_1_wounded-knee"> <em>The New York Times</em></a>, Zintkala Nuni was buried with a photograph of her adopted mother, Clara Bewick Colby, on her coffin, along with an Indian blanket. The burial ceremony was conducted in both Lakota and English and leaders of her people in attendance purified the gravesite with sage and by planting cherry trees, a symbolic tree of life. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Sources: </b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul>
<li>D. Dana. Zintkala Nuni Lost Bird. <a href="http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=19715163">Find A Grave</a>. Retrieved June 17, 2015. </li>
<li>Flood, Renee Sansom.<em> Lost Bird of Wounded Knee: Spirit of the Lakota.</em> Da Capo Press: 1998.</li>
<li>Harrison, Eric. "A Girl Called 'Lost Bird' Is Finally at Rest : History: Lakota infant survived Wounded Knee killing and was adopted by whites. Now she is buried among her people." <em>Los Angeles Times. </em>Posted July 13, 1991. Retrieved June 17, 2015. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong> </strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-68788996514451218702014-10-16T00:25:00.000-07:002014-10-16T00:56:41.394-07:00Yellowstone National Park: Early Explorations of America's First National Park<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYJyYbagPEIlN5V3u6xNstxVq_dsShtpiMOzlLtXz6-pjfu-mcikZ9QvmdNEnLZkYhQw4OOJLAXn4kwpC9p_H5EQIRgB0gqEeFRu2E1tfcM4NH9Tlu74O69eaaPQNRbq185rAXKIr5-k0/s1600/800px-Mammothhotsprings.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYJyYbagPEIlN5V3u6xNstxVq_dsShtpiMOzlLtXz6-pjfu-mcikZ9QvmdNEnLZkYhQw4OOJLAXn4kwpC9p_H5EQIRgB0gqEeFRu2E1tfcM4NH9Tlu74O69eaaPQNRbq185rAXKIr5-k0/s1600/800px-Mammothhotsprings.jpeg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Mammoth Hot Springs: Yellowstone National Park/<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_National_Park#mediaviewer/File:Mammothhotsprings.jpeg">Public Domain</a></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
It is home to grizzly bears, wolves, huge herds of bison and elk and the world's largest collection of natural geysers. It is one of the last nearly intact natural ecosystems in the world. It was America's first national park, established in 1872, making it all-around unique. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Once called Roche Jaune (Yellow Rock) by French trappers, it is now known as Yellowstone National Park, a wonderland beyond compare. It is also on a dormant volcano, a volcano overdue for an explosion, a volcano many people believe could destroy most of North America at any time, which in my opinion just adds to its mystique!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_GTYNvthkvnVBp2SL0u00zmwmAjQm8jFtmiZcH9MhDcPhSplUbTBm1JgytvRYXNlsuS5IGvc_Y1i4FieAVy6bW35FubP-HAGakulXfP8QkIrEEgF6dv6eRwiUPb4szR2TBqsgLiM4TbA/s1600/A107,_Yellowstone_National_Park,_Wyoming,_USA,_elk,_2004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_GTYNvthkvnVBp2SL0u00zmwmAjQm8jFtmiZcH9MhDcPhSplUbTBm1JgytvRYXNlsuS5IGvc_Y1i4FieAVy6bW35FubP-HAGakulXfP8QkIrEEgF6dv6eRwiUPb4szR2TBqsgLiM4TbA/s1600/A107,_Yellowstone_National_Park,_Wyoming,_USA,_elk,_2004.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<em> This adorable photograph was taken by </em><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Brian_W._Schaller"><em>Brian W. Schaller</em></a><em> at </em><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone#mediaviewer/File:A107%2C_Yellowstone_National_Park%2C_Wyoming%2C_USA%2C_elk%2C_2004.jpg"><em>Yellowstone National Park</em>.</a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Yellowstone National Park was established as a National Park by the US Congress in 1872 in an effort to preserve its unique geothermic features and protect the wildlife. This mystical, magical park consists of 3,468 square miles of shimmering lakes and raging rivers, towering mountain ranges, and deep canyons. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It is on top of a volcano, which is the cause of the large amounts of geothermic activity including 300 geysers; hot springs; mud pots; and fumaroles (openings in the planet's crust emitting steam and gas). It has two of the most famous geysers in the world--Old Faithful and Steamboat Springs. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It is also home to 50 animal species; 311 bird species; 18 fish species; six reptile species; four amphibian species; and five endangered or threatened species. It is like a combination biopark and wildlife refuge! </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42GrTAKB6Chf3C3IBKGJzoW_iqrB33IJi6azxfQKFkPAsFg_ppbebmolfn6D7rgI_cWzxKSaeHExOJ7DOVkfZsBZZ9uSzH-Csfj9FgboNnel2-fVM1wdYEvdmtciT7HPKwRfMtIvKrZA/s1600/Old_Faithful_in_Yellowstone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42GrTAKB6Chf3C3IBKGJzoW_iqrB33IJi6azxfQKFkPAsFg_ppbebmolfn6D7rgI_cWzxKSaeHExOJ7DOVkfZsBZZ9uSzH-Csfj9FgboNnel2-fVM1wdYEvdmtciT7HPKwRfMtIvKrZA/s1600/Old_Faithful_in_Yellowstone.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em>Old Faithful in Yellowstone at its peak of eruption. Photo by</em><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Faithful_in_Yellowstone.jpg"><em> Debeo Morium</em>.</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Since its early discovery, Yellowstone has endured rumors of hauntings, as well as accusations that its very existence was a rumor. When trappers and explorers first reported its existence the public reaction was that nothing so fantastic could possibly exist, but to this day it continues to inspire artists and leave tourists with a sense of wonder and awe beyond compare.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Yellowstone's Wild West History</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Why is Yellowstone National Park a part of the Wild West? In order to understand its historical importance we have to go back to the early explorers and mountain men who reported Yellowstone's magnificent beauty. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdbTKdwQ6q9hfFm6Nf3-hQQ_Jp12bqY2n_jeXyKGLzasUhk8c_7v7SEQqp5yZaVCGuLaViKXor-OW5_8O718CNESBcsrBKdIzu6mT26MZVaBiWbfw_diMwzC6VA74RCsi6JLgh7OFvv8A/s1600/Albert_Bierstadt_Yellowstone_Falls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdbTKdwQ6q9hfFm6Nf3-hQQ_Jp12bqY2n_jeXyKGLzasUhk8c_7v7SEQqp5yZaVCGuLaViKXor-OW5_8O718CNESBcsrBKdIzu6mT26MZVaBiWbfw_diMwzC6VA74RCsi6JLgh7OFvv8A/s1600/Albert_Bierstadt_Yellowstone_Falls.jpg" height="320" width="220" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Art_of_Yellowstone#mediaviewer/File:Albert_Bierstadt_Yellowstone_Falls.jpg">Albert Bierstadt </a>'s "Yellowstone Falls," 1881. </i><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Close your eyes for a moment and imagine yourself as the first trapper or explorer to see these incredible natural wonders. You might even question your own sanity! </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Early Reports</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
According to<a href="http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/parks/yellowstone/"> PBS.org</a>'s National Parks, the first reports of Yellowstone came from explorers such as John Colter, who was actually a respected member of the original Lewis and Clark expedition, but when he tried to explain that he had found a magical place in the northwest corner of Wyoming territory where "mud boiled, water spouted, and steam came out of the ground" Colter was mocked and humiliated, and Yellowstone was referred to jokingly as "Colter's Hell." </div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
The famous trapper, law enforcement officer and politician Joe Meek also saw Yellowstone and reported his findings to the public. His stories were also dismissed. Trapper <a href="http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/parks/yellowstone/">Jim Bridger </a>said there were canyons so deep that a man could shout into its depths at night before he went to sleep and be awakened by the echo of his voice the following morning, and his report was also dismissed as the exaggerations of a storyteller. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
However, the intense, mysterious beauty described by these men was too great to ignore. A series of expeditions were planned and financed in order to confirm the rumors of these early mountain man explorers. If you've visited Yellowstone National Park, follow along with the descriptions of these expeditions and see if you recognize any of these names:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<b>Yellowstone Expedition</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
An early frontier expedition was first authorized by US Secretary of War John C. Calhoun in order to establish a military fort near Bismarck, North Dakota where the Yellowstone River begins. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj38NWN8Y5Tndyia6zpMJHnb5refWSB11l0HeYdQ99a9AKBTTJVF5-QajEs5fGQwRs1Xk8Yk8w1Gv2ZciyCGOYt-lHQS43HDqzK6xBM1jvBe6_YKsMeE5qNEK2-1V-lHfPHKHoCqDgY8f4/s1600/Steamboat_Geysir_Yellowston.jpg" /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone#mediaviewer/File:Steamboat_Geysir_Yellowston.jpg">Steamboat Geyser</a>, Yellowstone National Park, Public Domain.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
This early expedition is often referred to as the Atkinson-Long Expedition and is credited with establishing Fort Atkinson in Nebraska, which was the first US Army post west of the Missouri. Unfortunately, the fort was considered a failure due to its extreme cost. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<b>Cook-Folsom-Peterson Expedition</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
The first organized expedition of Yellowstone National Park took place in 1869 and was privately funded by David E. Folsom, Charles W. Cook, and William Peterson of Diamond City, Montana. The group kept carefully-detailed journals of their trip, which proved to be invaluable to the expeditions that followed.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Cook, Folsom and Peterson left Diamond City, Montana on September 6, 1869 traveling up the Missouri River to Three Forks, Montana. At Three Forks they started on foot up the Gallatin Valley making a brief stop to resupply in Bozeman on September 8. They made camp at the base of Bozeman Pass four miles east of Fort Ellis and two days later started over the pass then down Trail Creek reaching the Yellowstone River near Emigrant Gulch. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
The men followed the river into what is now the region of Yellowstone National Park on September 13, 1869, entering where Gardner and Yellowstone Rivers converge. They crossed Gardiner then traveled along the west side of Yellowstone to Tower Fall where they crossed the Yellowstone River to explore the Lamar Valley. They returned to Yellowstone traveling West into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
The men then turned south and were forced to cross the Yellowstone River twice before reaching Yellowstone Lake near Pelican Creek. They continued to follow the western shore of the lake to West Thumb, then crossed the Continental Divide, emerging on the north side of Shoshone Lake. There they turned northwest, crossed the Divide again and traveled down Firehole River to the geyser basins. Can you imagine the sights that greeted them there! </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
The group followed Firehole River and Madison River to exit the Yellowstone Park area near what is now the town of West Yellowstone on October 3, 1869, but their trip was not over. The continued to follow the Madison River through the Madison Canyon and into Virginia City, Montana. They ended their expedition on October 11, 1869 when they returned to Diamond City, Montana after 36 days of hard travel. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<b>The Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
In 1863, engineer Walter De Lacy created a map of Yellowstone using journal notes from the previous expedition, and one year later a second expedition of nine men left to verify the information of the first expedition--apparently such great beauty was still believed too good to be true, but this is America, where great natural beauty is found in abundance. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXkzc51dpYvVszLfCGDUzVv3OIKQeXkXpCWTTfed41YaMxbzpi9XK-Da-yYHJaa1yAsYPXK-s6s_PexV4YiTiC1aOv-IfssKfjoJoP-X_KvqAQO8BCDmNzPPP3BhuDYBp5_fTpgrQEWkY/s1600/HenryDWashburn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXkzc51dpYvVszLfCGDUzVv3OIKQeXkXpCWTTfed41YaMxbzpi9XK-Da-yYHJaa1yAsYPXK-s6s_PexV4YiTiC1aOv-IfssKfjoJoP-X_KvqAQO8BCDmNzPPP3BhuDYBp5_fTpgrQEWkY/s1600/HenryDWashburn.JPG" height="320" width="232" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Henry D. Washburn, a surveyor from Montana, was made the captain of the expedition into Yellowstone. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Historic_Yellowstone_personages#mediaviewer/File:HenryDWashburn.JPG">Photo in public domain.</a></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
One year after the last expedition nine men decided to defy the warnings of their families and friend--and the Crow, who believed the land was haunted by angry spirits--and set out to prove the existence of these magical geysers; pools of boiling color; and mountains that appeared to be made of glass. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The men were shockingly unprepared for such an expedition--middle-aged businessmen including merchants; a bank president; and a lawyer; a county assessor--but they had determination on their side. They decided Henry D. Washburn, a surveyor from Montana, would be their captain, and the expedition began. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
An IRS collector, Nathaniel P. Langford, was the first to begin the adventure, riding ahead to request protection from Lt. Gustavus C. Doane of the United States Cavalry. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYmG7ny_A3OxUl2tOJgAMSnmB1BGsL0YxkIKOTk7eD-8JorOpFX_NAM0W7xlohLvwNCQz85wliRTKx3Z27Wp-VvPMR_xXvFTspH5TCOsRNtTX8cylJDnRKs0qYmH_9_zwLl0WuMiWGEP8/s1600/GustavusCDoane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYmG7ny_A3OxUl2tOJgAMSnmB1BGsL0YxkIKOTk7eD-8JorOpFX_NAM0W7xlohLvwNCQz85wliRTKx3Z27Wp-VvPMR_xXvFTspH5TCOsRNtTX8cylJDnRKs0qYmH_9_zwLl0WuMiWGEP8/s1600/GustavusCDoane.jpg" height="320" width="219" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Lt. Gustavus C. Doane.<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Historic_Yellowstone_personages#mediaviewer/File:GustavusCDoane.jpg"> Photo in public domain.</a></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Doane later wrote an account of the expedition in his diary and descriptions of what the men found. A post from 1870 reads, "fairy-like, yet solid mound of rock growing up amid clouds of steam and showers of boiling water...the period of this geyser is fifty minutes. First an increased rush of steam comes forth followed instantly by a rising jet of water which attains...the height of one hundred and twenty-five feet." </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlQwbUTn8S2b6CAwklD3JBc9OuYQKNNPOxkZLjLX7cKRlh97eQvENDCannH5W_xQUbgTx5K4A3ExpVwCx_suLd_Y2Bl2JcOtDbU8g_4-FzednhwY0bEcbetEkb4T_sBxZ_oA1m-cmaUHo/s1600/FerdinandVHayden1870.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlQwbUTn8S2b6CAwklD3JBc9OuYQKNNPOxkZLjLX7cKRlh97eQvENDCannH5W_xQUbgTx5K4A3ExpVwCx_suLd_Y2Bl2JcOtDbU8g_4-FzednhwY0bEcbetEkb4T_sBxZ_oA1m-cmaUHo/s1600/FerdinandVHayden1870.jpg" height="320" width="226" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Ferdinand V. Hayden, 1870. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Historic_Yellowstone_personages#mediaviewer/File:FerdinandVHayden1870.jpg">Photo in public domain.</a></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The men succeeded and the detailed journal accounts of their expedition inspired the United States Congress to fund the next expedition, a more "official" expedition led by Dr. Ferdinand V. Hayden. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>The Hayden Expedition</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
In 1871, the Hayden Geological Survey was federally funded to explore and document the Yellowstone region. Led by Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden, the expedition led to the passage of legislation establishing Yellowstone as the country's first National Park. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The expedition began in 1894 and was a bit different from previous expeditions because it was federally funded with $40,000 by the Pacific Railroad Survey, a bill passed by congress in 1853 with the intention of finding the most efficient routes for railroad travel from the Mississippi to the Pacific. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The Hayden Expedition, as you will see, was much more extensive, and included explorers, engineers, scientists, topographers, and artists to document the area and included famous experts, such as John Wesley Powell; Clarence King; and George Wheeler. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
On June 8, 1871, the Hayden Expedition left Ogden, Utah traveling north to Taylor's Bridge on the Snake River, which they reached on June 25. Five days later the party reached Montana and camped near Monida Pass near the Continental Divide. Following the path of earlier expeditions, they moved into Virginia City, Montana on July 4, 1871 then Fort Ellis near Bozeman on July 10, 1871. Unfortunately, their botanist, George Alle, and entomologist, Cyrus Thomas, were both forced to leave the expedition at this time due to health issues. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The group resupplied and coordinated their efforts with the US Army at Fort Ellis then started out once more on July 15, moving along the Yellowstone River. They met up with another expeditionary group--the Barlow-Heap Expedition--and traveled together for 45 days. Colonel Barlow was the Chief Engineer for General Sheridan and was sent into Yellowstone on orders from the US Army.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
They survey team moved alongside the Yellowstone River until they reached Paradise Valley, then realized the trail was impassable and they would have to leave their supply wagons behind. They established a base camp near Emigrant Gulch for communications where they left the wagons and headed for Yankee Jim Canyon on July 20, 1871. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0hzDcyy0WWHVbxB3pbPf5sQM3GgaVbInGAX6pg4lU6fTADHzJMpmAvbO-5FF3SIvm7BkR4rCnRvEd_qWbPZCS2Ou49b9_2dyO4aXmAmL1YlHRyRMgOxm4JoR_THKHexGBZpScQrXi1ZQ/s1600/yellowstone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0hzDcyy0WWHVbxB3pbPf5sQM3GgaVbInGAX6pg4lU6fTADHzJMpmAvbO-5FF3SIvm7BkR4rCnRvEd_qWbPZCS2Ou49b9_2dyO4aXmAmL1YlHRyRMgOxm4JoR_THKHexGBZpScQrXi1ZQ/s1600/yellowstone.jpg" height="320" width="301" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Hayden Expedition Map of Yellowstone, 1871/<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayden_Geological_Survey_of_1871#mediaviewer/File:Yellowstone_1871b.jpg">Public Domain</a></i></div>
<br />
<br />
The Hayden Survey Expedition didn't actually enter the park region until July 21, 1871 when they arrived at the Gardner River and traveled to Mammoth Hot Springs. They remained at the hot springs for two days. There they discovered two men--J.C. McCartney and H.R. Horr--claimed 320 acres as their own and had already established a ranch and bath house near Liberty Cap. The men were eventually evicted when Yellowstone became a National Park.<br />
<br />
The Hayden team left Mammoth on July 24 traveling along Mammoth-Tower road past Undine Falls and Wraith Falls on Lupine Creek. They reached Tower Creek the following day, then spent three days exploring Mount Washburn and the western edge of the Yellowstone River in what is now known as Hayden Valley in order to locate the source of the Yellowstone. They camped at Cascade Creek and W.H. Jackson took the first known photographs of Yellowstone Falls. <br />
<br />
Four days later, members of the Hayden expedition carved oars from trees and built a boat, which they called Annie, the first known boat to sail the Yellowstone Lake and explore the islands. The first trip was made by James Stevenson and Henry Elliot to what is now known as Stevenson Island. <br />
<br />
While some team members stayed behind to continue documenting the area, Hayden and other members of the survey team left on July 31, 1871, to head back into Hayden Valley then west into the geyser basins of the Madison River. They reached the Nez Perce and traveled six miles from Firehole River then spent two more days in the Lower, Midway, and Upper Geyser Basin. They left the area on August 6, 1871, following Firehole River back to Madison Lake then over the Continental Divide to Shoshone Lake where they established camp at Lost Lake near the West Thumb area of Yellowstone Lake. They remained in this area for two days to document their findings while some members of their military escort returned to Fort Ellis to deliver specimens. <br />
<br />
For the next ten days the Hayden Survey party traveled along the south and east sides of Yellowstone Lake and crossed the Continental Divide numerous times in their exploration of the Yellowstone River. They arrived at Steamboat Point on August 19, 1871 and camped near Turbid Lake, then returned to Yellowstone River. While there, the men experienced two extreme earthquakes lasting 20 seconds or more, but long enough to leave them in a state of shock as they watched the trees shake and bend and the horses leap to their feet and try to run. They documented three aftershocks. <br />
<br />
Poor Annie was taken apart on August 23, 1871 (wouldn't she have made a great museum exhibition!) and the Hayden party move northeast to Pelican Creek then on to Mirror Lake. The following morning they followed the Lamar River to Soda Butte Creek where they camped for the night. On August 25, 1871, they crossed into the Lamar Valley and traveled to Baronette Bridge. <br />
<br />
<br />
It was about this time that one of the men, Truman C. Everts, became separated from the expedition and lost along the Yellowstone River. A Helena prospector, John C. Baronett, helped the man return to the expedition. After he rescued Everts, Baronett went on to construct a pack train bridge across the Yellowstone above the Lamar River--the first bridge across the Yellowstone. Hayden named a nearby peak Baronett Peak in honor of the work of the compassionate prospector.<br />
<br />
On August 26, 1871, the survey party left the park region and camped north of Gardiner on the Yellowstone, then met up with the rest of their group at Bottler's Ranch to post a report of their progress. They spent two days traveling back to Fort Ellis and six days recuperating from the long expedition while they prepared their correspondence and shipped specimens for documentation. The party then traveled on the Union Pacific Railroad to Fort Bridger and on October 2, 1871, Hayden officially declared that the expedition was concluded and the group disbanded.<br />
<br />
Yellowstone National Park, which is primarily located in the state of Wyoming, but extends into Montana and Idaho, as well, was established and signed into law by American President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872.<br />
<br />
<div>
<i>"We trace the creation of the park from the Folsom-Cook expedition of 1869 to the Washburn expedition of 1870, and thence to the Hayden expedition (U. S. Geological Survey) of 1871, Not to one of these expeditions more than to another do we owe the legislation which set apart this "pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people."</i> --Nathaniel P. Langford, Yellowstone National Park's first park superintendent and a member of the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/f2Ca5K3_9eM/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/f2Ca5K3_9eM&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/f2Ca5K3_9eM&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Yellowstone: The First National Park, Full Vintage Documentary</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Sources: </b></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="http://www.nps.gov/yell/historyculture/index.htm">"History and Culture." </a>Yellowstone National Park. National Park Service. Retrieved July 7, 2014. </li>
<li><a href="http://www.yellowstonepark-trip.com/history-of-yellowstone-park.php">"The History of Yellowstone National Park."</a> Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone Park-Trip.com. Retrieved July 7, 2014.</li>
<li><a href="http://yellowstone.net/history/">"Timeline."</a> Yellowstone History. Yellowstone.net. Retrieved July 7, 2014.</li>
<li>"Yellowstone." The National Parks: America's Best Idea. Film by Ken Burns. <a href="http://pbs.org/">PBS.org</a>. Retrieved October 1, 2014. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<b><i>I did not know that!</i></b> The controversial fires that struck Yellowstone National Park in 1988 affected 793,880 acres, which accounts for 36 percent of the park's lands. This natural disaster consisted of five fires that actually burned into the park from nearby public lands. The largest fire--North Fork Fire--burned more than 410,000 acres and was started by a single discarded cigarette.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-s6-Ru5XK5I4%2FU37O7E8waEI%2FAAAAAAAAJeg%2FQB5qH-RmRmE%2Fs1600%2FSteamboat_Geysir_Yellowston.jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj38NWN8Y5Tndyia6zpMJHnb5refWSB11l0HeYdQ99a9AKBTTJVF5-QajEs5fGQwRs1Xk8Yk8w1Gv2ZciyCGOYt-lHQS43HDqzK6xBM1jvBe6_YKsMeE5qNEK2-1V-lHfPHKHoCqDgY8f4/s1600/Steamboat_Geysir_Yellowston.jpg" -->Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-72959869638555276852014-06-10T12:51:00.004-07:002014-06-10T12:51:37.769-07:00Peace--Black Elk<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVxZ4001tvTOkzs1oaeziQocOOie3jKNNau7rmFGhk3DQbNQw4ebHlinEj5VBcLJf9lTj6yqMLDWl1SZNlXDXi0xLIDzVWadvTW7QpqAnI8nsnlIjubb61YpS3RNIXcH1p5Pd683XEwHk/s1600/white+dove.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVxZ4001tvTOkzs1oaeziQocOOie3jKNNau7rmFGhk3DQbNQw4ebHlinEj5VBcLJf9lTj6yqMLDWl1SZNlXDXi0xLIDzVWadvTW7QpqAnI8nsnlIjubb61YpS3RNIXcH1p5Pd683XEwHk/s1600/white+dove.jpg" height="303" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Dove, a symbol of peace, photographed in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Photo by Darla Sue Dollman.</i></div>
<br />
"The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize at the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that its center is really everywhere.<br />
It is within each of us."<br />
<br />
--Black Elk, Black Elk Speaks by John G. Neihardt, 1932<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-72606982210442646582014-06-08T12:24:00.000-07:002014-06-08T12:24:04.793-07:00Colorado, Here I Come! <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlublaNHCw0Tjp6STLAiFbmx0deIJMnyj5fnI_hnxoY_zzI-I5b2aAvsQVtlHC1P5RXzFvvFGu-6nRuesrTvE_sUNNE9qJ9xMZgNTB4UH6q9TUH8nnAKAfMRxz5zhJQQBQL9VCdq8LgAQ/s1600/Eli's+4th+birthday+pics+of+Horsetooth+251.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlublaNHCw0Tjp6STLAiFbmx0deIJMnyj5fnI_hnxoY_zzI-I5b2aAvsQVtlHC1P5RXzFvvFGu-6nRuesrTvE_sUNNE9qJ9xMZgNTB4UH6q9TUH8nnAKAfMRxz5zhJQQBQL9VCdq8LgAQ/s1600/Eli's+4th+birthday+pics+of+Horsetooth+251.JPG" height="214" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Horsetooth Mountain, one of the most famous landmarks in Northern Colorado. Photo by Darla Sue Dollman.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Just a short note to let you know I am moving, which explains the long delay in posts--selling, buying, and moving to another state is a time-consuming process, but by the end of the week I will be living in a small town in Northern Colorado</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I will be living closer to my family and friends and where I also attended and taught at the local universities. I lived in Colorado most of my life. I love Colorado and I am fascinated by its wild west history. If you notice a change in my posts, a few more focusing on mining towns, ghost towns, and the history of Colorado, now you know why!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
There is still so much about the Wild West that I haven't even touched on, such as mining, logging, the early explorers, and the far western states such as California, Oregon and Washington. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
If you study a particular topic regarding the Old West and would like to guest blog or trade guest blogs, please contact me at dsdollman@yahoo.com.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-54383375803958460522014-05-21T14:16:00.003-07:002014-05-22T13:12:29.517-07:00XIT Ranch: The Largest Fenced Ranch in the 1880s<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZUkF_UccwgSVRUdij9405SDfl0atlV1hsVUCtsH1CrYm3Gh_95dajsSIhuyIKh-Tb5gHSZ9ysA-feCwsUgaddqa2ISnUeQZ7ALWdr3DUNM-5AW-r-GN6aLsQlC03X8kdaiTN9rYDqRqk/s1600/XIT_cowboys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZUkF_UccwgSVRUdij9405SDfl0atlV1hsVUCtsH1CrYm3Gh_95dajsSIhuyIKh-Tb5gHSZ9ysA-feCwsUgaddqa2ISnUeQZ7ALWdr3DUNM-5AW-r-GN6aLsQlC03X8kdaiTN9rYDqRqk/s320/XIT_cowboys.jpg" height="257" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Cowboys at Escarbada Bunkhouse at the XIT Ranch, 1891. <a href="http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth13563/?q=XIT">Image </a>from the Portal to Texas History.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Moving closer to the end of the alphabetical journey through the American Old West, we will take a short break from Wounded Knee to examine the XIT Ranch for the letter X, then return briefly to Wounded Knee for yet another terribly painful story starting with Z for Zintkala Nuni, the little girl found four days after the massacre beneath the body of her mother. Let's take a breath, though, first, and a look at a 3,000,000 acre cattle ranch, the XIT Ranch. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxzm7tZ59ZpiVjYSpBpKsDNvf43_O4HNyNGQfaoJ7SdRoyJU6fA6XUQXJevkVLoRYIlyHVT30aKBnf0ZHCAi8L0EnsRaHHFe0umJA2zmQ8lv0pU4krN2ZgJbkKT4QWUuWQt681VtSKjgY/s1600/800px-XIT_Ranch_office_plaque_IMG_4934.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxzm7tZ59ZpiVjYSpBpKsDNvf43_O4HNyNGQfaoJ7SdRoyJU6fA6XUQXJevkVLoRYIlyHVT30aKBnf0ZHCAi8L0EnsRaHHFe0umJA2zmQ8lv0pU4krN2ZgJbkKT4QWUuWQt681VtSKjgY/s320/800px-XIT_Ranch_office_plaque_IMG_4934.JPG" height="234" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>XIT Ranch Office Plaque. Photo taken in Channing, Texas by <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:XIT_Ranch_office_plaque_IMG_4934.JPG">Billy Hathorn</a> (who quite often makes his photos of the Old West available for use for educational purposes. Thank you Mr. Hathorn!) </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
In the 1880s, the XIT was the largest ranch in the world, and believe it or not, it was completely fenced, too. Three million acres stretched out from the "Yellow House" headquarters to Lubbock, Texas. The ranch land resembled a strip that was only 30 miles wide with the remainder of the ranch in its length. It had pieces in ten different counties--Dallam, Hartley, Oldham, Deaf Smith, Parmer, Castro, Bailey, Lamb, Cochran, and Hockley--and according to the XIT Museum many people believed this was the reason for the name, that XIT stood for Ten in Texas. In fact, XIT was a brand chosen because it would be difficult for rustlers to imitate. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih9Zdp6FRQtssZmQ7xmKItpU46Ph6Moitekk8-NRTpAEvzWewMTX-CXhFifTLQLEc6DYnkZ_JJvQ4HszGlVIojtv0zO84O4pL1jZMrfKnAyDvLAZr6M4X6RbC1I9WR3lo4mu6Hh1olPQg/s1600/800px-Revised_XIT_Ranch_office,_Channing,_TX_IMG_4935.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih9Zdp6FRQtssZmQ7xmKItpU46Ph6Moitekk8-NRTpAEvzWewMTX-CXhFifTLQLEc6DYnkZ_JJvQ4HszGlVIojtv0zO84O4pL1jZMrfKnAyDvLAZr6M4X6RbC1I9WR3lo4mu6Hh1olPQg/s1600/800px-Revised_XIT_Ranch_office,_Channing,_TX_IMG_4935.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<i>A beautiful photo of the revised <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Revised_XIT_Ranch_office,_Channing,_TX_IMG_4935.JPG">XIT Ranch Office</a> in Channing, Texas. Photo by <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Billy_Hathorn" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333015441895px; line-height: 28.373334884643555px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none;" title="User:Billy Hathorn">Billy Hathorn</a>.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So, where did this ranch come from? How did a ranch this size possibly get started? It was a trade! The Texas State Capital Building in Austin was too small to handle the business for all of Texas and to make matters worse, it suffered from a terrible fire on November 9, 1881, destroying most of its structure. Purely by coincidence, just two years earlier, in 1879, Governor Oran M. Roberts called a Special Legislative Session to discuss the matter. The Texas Constitutional Convention had already set aside 3,000,000 acres in the Texas Panhandle to help pay for a new capital building. After the fire, Charles B. and John V. Farwell, brothers from Chicago, agreed to buy the 3,000,000 acres for exactly $3,000,000. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinFVgMVXVPPrUOeTXsz31otRO4n_8lArQ-KFB3iMhctoyjqDbxkTEY42CXlyj-MnCbxVkyJofcZ9NTMm4qAeYcsjioD5hNI23rl1dhldGo2LvuSDG7gwQIxse2HWCGl-NBBTe7WoOjowU/s1600/800px-Texas_Capital+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinFVgMVXVPPrUOeTXsz31otRO4n_8lArQ-KFB3iMhctoyjqDbxkTEY42CXlyj-MnCbxVkyJofcZ9NTMm4qAeYcsjioD5hNI23rl1dhldGo2LvuSDG7gwQIxse2HWCGl-NBBTe7WoOjowU/s1600/800px-Texas_Capital+(1).jpg" height="224" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<i>This lovely photo of the<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Texas_Capital.jpg"> Texas State Capital</a> at 1100 Congress Ave. in Austin, Texas was taken by photographer <a class="new" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Roger_heslop&action=edit&redlink=1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; background-image: none; color: #a55858; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333015441895px; line-height: 28.373334884643555px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none;" title="User:Roger heslop (page does not exist)">Roger heslop</a>. The building is made of red granite and is still one of the largest state capitols in North America, second in size only to the US Capitol in Washington, D.C. according to the XIT Museum. It's dome stands seven feet higher than the US Capitol's dome. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The corrals, foreman's house and bunkhouses were built at the Springs in Dallam County and still remain as the oldest structures in Dallam County, Texas. The first cattle--mostly Longhorns--arrived on the XIT ranch in 1885. At one point the ranch had over 150,000 head of cattle! They were well-contained within the 1500 miles of fence. The ranch also had 325 windmills and 100 dams to regulate the water supply. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
They also had strict rules for their many employees, including no alcohol allowed on the premises; no gambling or card playing; no hunting of wild game using any ranch horses; no non-ranch horses allowed on the ranch (which would just about cover any of the previous listed activities as the employees could not leave the ranch); and no employee-owned weapons. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4EKHq7GM8yZfmkQa_mCrABMmNwDpqb93t_MpPyVNhbamWMphF7ZNtkhamy94HW5FssdWJxWa45n3eWvRAAHTjD3a-waE9f9d7D-ObwbXt9MhDQ8LwcDZ59Ilia375638WQdemANfxutw/s1600/longhorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4EKHq7GM8yZfmkQa_mCrABMmNwDpqb93t_MpPyVNhbamWMphF7ZNtkhamy94HW5FssdWJxWa45n3eWvRAAHTjD3a-waE9f9d7D-ObwbXt9MhDQ8LwcDZ59Ilia375638WQdemANfxutw/s1600/longhorn.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<i>A gorgeous Texas Longhorn grazing among the bluebonnets outside Kingsland, Texas. Photo by Darla Sue Dollman</i>.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
With a ranch of this size you may wonder why we don't hear more about it! Because sadly, it didn't last long. With a ranch that size it was difficult, if not impossible to thwart cattle rustlers and predators, such as wolves. The ranch was actually syndicated, and when the cattle market crashed in 1886 the Farwell brothers were forced to sell off large parcels of land to repay investors.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Edited to add: While researching my next post I found a note stating that in the late 1880s the XIT Ranch added 15,000 square miles of Montana land to its Texas holdings (remember it was syndicated) then established a trail between the two properties through seven states--now that's a cattle trail! </div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Resources:</b> </div>
<div>
</div>
<ul>
<li>Anderson, Allen H.<a href="http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/apx01"> "XIT Ranch."</a> <i>Texas State Historical Association.</i> Accessed December 2, 2013.</li>
<li>Forbis, William H. <i>The Old West: The Cowboys.</i> Time Life Books. Canada:1974.</li>
<li>"Thumbnail History of the<a href="http://www.xitmuseum.com/history.shtml"> XIT Ranch.</a>" <i>XIT Museum Website</i>. Accessed December 2, 2013.</li>
<li>"XIT Ranch." <i>Story of the Great American West. </i>Reader's Digest Association, Inc. New York: 1977.</li>
</ul>
</div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-86975311182373790762014-04-06T14:35:00.000-07:002015-09-14T11:06:00.806-07:00William N. Byers and the Rocky Mountain News<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI5CMS1PvaNRMxUTtdu0GQQWIJ6FQO4j7MKfvmHGXexqMGBak7oGtEQwtRB5i8Cd7mdGvgHLqvCxMwr9TACw9R2tpUyOTMGq8eZqk8dHYOTTXm09OkiGMoEmCqx542iIzR0ILhejgizxE/s1600/439px-William_Newton_Byers00.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI5CMS1PvaNRMxUTtdu0GQQWIJ6FQO4j7MKfvmHGXexqMGBak7oGtEQwtRB5i8Cd7mdGvgHLqvCxMwr9TACw9R2tpUyOTMGq8eZqk8dHYOTTXm09OkiGMoEmCqx542iIzR0ILhejgizxE/s1600/439px-William_Newton_Byers00.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:William_Newton_Byers00.jpg">William N. Byers</a> circa 1903. Photographer unknown, public domain.</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I still remember reading the Rocky Mountain News as a child. When I was raised in Colorado there was only two newspapers worth reading--The Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post--and they were constantly at war with each other. And yet, between them they provided flawless coverage of every event in the state. Odd as it sounds, I was deeply saddened when the Rocky Mountain News shut down, as if I'd lost a part of my childhood. But the story of the Rocky Mountain News is more than the story of a newspaper, it is a chronicle of the history of the City of Denver and the State of Colorado, as well. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>This is the story of the man who created The Rocky Mountain News. The history of the Rocky Mountain News begins with two mining towns and one man, William Newton Byers, with a dream of uniting a community.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFm6o5QtnKUc_KDpFMxAwoe7pM971UXmDWNyEjUzAWkWT5iOLCQWnxHYxa8PP9l3ic5UYswmByvJhd7qq-Gxsg3CcpXo2Yuh3iWCtn5mFC__UqyKjeGFabHL2Kdn1YrpXz3Vudtm01Kg4/s1600/800px-Panorama_of_Denver%252C_Colorado%252C_from_Robert_N._Dennis_collection_of_stereoscopic_views_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFm6o5QtnKUc_KDpFMxAwoe7pM971UXmDWNyEjUzAWkWT5iOLCQWnxHYxa8PP9l3ic5UYswmByvJhd7qq-Gxsg3CcpXo2Yuh3iWCtn5mFC__UqyKjeGFabHL2Kdn1YrpXz3Vudtm01Kg4/s1600/800px-Panorama_of_Denver%252C_Colorado%252C_from_Robert_N._Dennis_collection_of_stereoscopic_views_2.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Panorama of <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Panorama_of_Denver,_Colorado,_from_Robert_N._Dennis_collection_of_stereoscopic_views_2.png">Denve</a>r taken sometime between 1865 and 1900, photographer unknown. </i></div>
<br />
Ohio farm boy William Newton Byers had little formal education, but a tremendous amount of courage and pluck. According to the Nebraska State Historical Society, at twenty-four years old, Byers had served as the first deputy surveyor of the Nebraska territory, issued the first official plat of Omaha, was a member of Omaha's first city council and a member of the first session of the Nebraska Territorial Legislature.<br />
<br />
Byers had already demonstrated an inclination toward reinventing his life, but when he heard that gold was discovered in the Pikes Peak region of Kansas territory, he made a drastic move. He bought a used printing press and hired a couple of employees with the intention of starting a newspaper in the mining towns.<br />
<br />
Before he could leave Omaha, Byers got into a scuffle with some men attacking a German immigrant and was shot in the shoulder. According to Keith Wheeler's <i>The Townsmen</i>, Byers spent his recovery time writing a guidebook to the Pikes Peak region and selling advertising space to Omaha business owners for the front page of his newspaper.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2bsPYoQBHtNkLcQ0lBVc8xJxb9yd1h2hRuZwNkfg4vL-xWODhLTuu0OVuO77Z2xhrJ_3i-yYqCDKlhk0G56MrPm9hRtHMrN3V3yAFk8VltRkw_kxGReWZ-r0mce3vTPhGOJxtwfPHtOE/s1600/800px-Manitou%252C_Colorado._Pike%2527s_Peak_in_the_distance%252C_14%252C336_feet_high%252C_by_Gurnsey%252C_B._H._%2528Byron_H.%2529%252C_1833-1880_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2bsPYoQBHtNkLcQ0lBVc8xJxb9yd1h2hRuZwNkfg4vL-xWODhLTuu0OVuO77Z2xhrJ_3i-yYqCDKlhk0G56MrPm9hRtHMrN3V3yAFk8VltRkw_kxGReWZ-r0mce3vTPhGOJxtwfPHtOE/s1600/800px-Manitou%252C_Colorado._Pike%2527s_Peak_in_the_distance%252C_14%252C336_feet_high%252C_by_Gurnsey%252C_B._H._%2528Byron_H.%2529%252C_1833-1880_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manitou,_Colorado._Pike%27s_Peak_in_the_distance,_14,336_feet_high,_by_Gurnsey,_B._H._%28Byron_H.%29,_1833-1880_2.jpg">Pikes Peak </a>Mountain viewed from Manitou Springs region of Colorado, circa 1870. Photographer B.H. Gurnsey, public domain. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
Byers decided to name his newspaper the <i>Rocky Mountain News</i> because he had no specific town in mind when he left Omaha on March 8, 1859. What he did have was two wagons filled with paper, a press, and type set for the front page of his first issue.<br />
<br />
<b>A Fierce Competition Produces the First Issue of the <i>Rocky Mountain News</i></b><br />
<br />
According to Wheeler's <i>The Townsmen</i>, Byers arrived on the banks of the Cherry Creek on April 17, 1859. At that time, there were two mining camps, one on each side of the river, called Auraria and Denver City. As soon as he arrived, Byers discovered that another publisher, Jack Merrick, was busy setting up type in a nearby cabin. According to the<i> Rocky Mountain News</i> "History Timeline," Byers rented a room in the attic of Uncle Dick Wooten's Saloon, which would now be located at 1413-15 11th Street, and furiously went to work interviewing the local residents for stories.<br />
<br />
Byers finally had his stories and the necessary type in place. He started the press, then snow began to fall. The roof leaked, and Byers had to rig a tarp over the press. He somehow managed to print his first issue and rushed into the street just as the sun began to rise on April 23, 1859 waving a few snow-smudged copies in his hand. He completed his first edition 20 minutes before Merrick. Byers' advantage, of course, was his previously-set first page. According to Wheeler's <i>The Townsmen</i>, Merrick conceded his defeat, sold his printing equipment to Byers and became a prospector.<br />
<br />
In his premier edition of the<i> Rocky Mountain News</i>, Byers stated, "With our hat in our hand and our best bow, we make our first appearance upon the stage in the capacity of Editor." In <i>The Townsmen</i>, Wheeler described Byers as an "extraordinary voice," and his premier publication of the <i>Rocky Mountain News</i> as a "bragging, scolding, counseling, jealous, defensive, aggressive and thoroughly irrepressible newspaper."<br />
<br />
<b>Byers and the "Gobacks"</b><br />
<br />
According to<i> The Miners</i> by Robert Wallace, newspapers around the country called the Cherry Creek "the new Eldorado." By April of 1859, 100,000 men and women left their homes, destined for the Cherry Creek. Wallace states that less than half of these emigrants arrived alive. Many travelers lost their wagons and supplies on the plains, or died from starvation and disease.<br />
<br />
In <i>The Townsmen</i>, Keith Wheeler tells the story of three brothers who lost their pack horses. Two of the brothers died of starvation and the third was found by an Arapaho hunter, so desperate he was eating the body of one of his deceased siblings.<br />
<br />
When they arrived to find the promised river of gold had already run dry, some emigrants headed back home. Byers, who quickly gained a reputation for castigating editorials, did not respond well to the retreating masses. Byers referred to those who left the area as "Gobacks." As quoted in <i>The Townsmen</i>, one of Byers' many editorials on this subject said 'Farewell to these 'gobacks.' They have had their day and soon will be forgotten."<br />
<br />
Byers predicted in his newspaper that more gold would be found. A few months later, John Gregory announced his discovery near Clear Creek, and two weeks later, 'Gregory Gulch' was packed with 30,000 returning "gobackers" returning to the mining camps.<br />
<br />
<b>Byers Convinces the Miners to Create the City of Denver</b><br />
<br />
According to Byers, it was illogical for the two mining camps to divide their efforts toward building communities and he repeatedly urged Auraria and Denver City to join forces. On April 3, 1860, the inhabitants of the two mining camps took a vote and merged under the name Denver City. This act not only strengthened the community, but the reputation of William Byers, as well.<br />
<br />
Soon, a Masonic Lodge and Ladies Union Aid Society formed. the Colorado National Bank was created with the combined efforts of brothers Luther and Charles Kountze, and two other brothers named Clark, along with E.H. Gruber, constructed a two-story brick building and started Denver City's mint. The first $10 gold eagle coin was presented to William Byers, Editor of the <i>Rocky Mountain News</i>.<br />
<br />
<b>Byers Fights City Crime</b><br />
<br />
According to Wheeler's <i>The Townsmen</i>, Byers primary concern for the City of Denver was crime control, and his enemy in this endeavor was Charley Harrison, a Southern-born ruffian, and owner of Charley Harrison's Criterion Saloon. Harrison used threats and violence to control saloon owners and brothels.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately for Harrison, he grossly underestimated Byers' determination to eliminate crime. On July 12, 1860, Harrison shot the local blacksmith when the man tried to join a card game. Byers described the act in the <i>Rocky Mountain News</i> as "cold-blooded murder." Within three days, the100-man Denver Committee of Safety was formed on the urging of William N. Byers.<br />
<br />
Charley Harrison was infuriated by what he perceived to be a threat to his control over the city. His thugs, known as "Bummers," were also tired of Byers' editorial criticism. They stormed into the offices of the <i>Rocky Mountain News </i>one morning and marched Byers down to Charley Harrison's bar. Harrison wisely ushered Byers out the back door with a warning.<br />
<br />
The Bummers, angry that Byers was released by their boss, once again marched into the newspaper offices. This time, Byers was waiting with a shotgun. He wounded one of the Bummers. The other three were chased out of town by the Denver Committee of Safety, but the remaining Bummers were not ready to surrender and tried to burn down the newspaper building. Soon, Byers was forced to travel to and from work in disguise to protect himself from attacks.<br />
<br />
In response, the Denver Committee of Safety became a vigilante group. They broke into houses, using violence and other means to extract confessions, then hung suspected murderers and thieves. According to Wheeler's <i>The Townsmen</i>, Byers would later state: "We never hanged on circumstantial evidence. I have known a great many such executions, but I don't believe one was ever unjust."<br />
<br />
<b>Denver and the American Civil War</b><br />
<br />
On February 28, 1861, President James Buchanan signed an Act of Congress establishing the Territory of Colorado. On May 27, 1861, Colorado's first governor, William Gilpin, arrived in Denver. Gilpin organized the First Colorado Volunteers and issued $375,000 in drafts from the U.S. Treasury to purchase uniforms and other necessities from Denver merchants. The First Colorado Volunteers, guided by Major John Chivington, destroyed Confederate General Henry H. Sibley's dream of capturing Denver and its wealth of mines by burning Sibley's supply wagons.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrROrxdhGZKVA7MKwzpFtZCErYN5mB0jqeAdZPA96W3FzumJZkbMNCS-38lDNE58RC70XObP00bDUCM22JKb9PLQ-CSDq62cx0wXfunAGITBXK6JFCKDa7YY0anm6RqSyAi88t4n_OGEQ/s1600/Chiving1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrROrxdhGZKVA7MKwzpFtZCErYN5mB0jqeAdZPA96W3FzumJZkbMNCS-38lDNE58RC70XObP00bDUCM22JKb9PLQ-CSDq62cx0wXfunAGITBXK6JFCKDa7YY0anm6RqSyAi88t4n_OGEQ/s1600/Chiving1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chiving1.jpg">Major John Chivington,</a> US Army, Public Domain.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Sibley's men retreated back to Texas, but the Union government refused to honor Gilpin's $375,000 in drafts. Infuriated by this financial slight on his city, Byers posted scathing editorials demanding a replacement for Gilpin. President Lincoln responded to public demand and replaced Gilpin with John Evans, a physician and founder of Northwestern University.<br />
<br />
In 1864, Chivington and Governor Evans met with the chief of the Cheyenne, Black Kettle, at the Camp Weld Conference to sign a peace treaty. Then, on November 29, 1864, Chivington and his men attacked the Cheyenne at their encampment while the warriors were hunting for food. They slaughtered 163 Cheyenne women and children, then scalped and mutilated their bodies in the Sand Creek Massacre. In the <i>Rocky Mountain News</i>, Byers' editorial hailed Chivington and his men as heroes, but most of Denver and the rest of the United States was horrified. Governor Evans was forced to resign and Chivington's career was over.<br />
<br />
<b>The<i> Rocky Mountain News </i>Survives Fire and Flood</b><br />
<br />
Denver continued to struggle with the basic necessities of a city, and on April 19, 1863, when the city's fire department was little more than a plan, a fire broke out and burned through the center of town. Damages were close to $350,000, nearly the equivalent of the losses from Gilpin's unpaid drafts, leaving Denver in dire straits. <i>The Rocky Mountain News</i> building survived because it was located in the center of the Cherry Creek on pilings, a position Byers chose to show his neutrality with the affairs of what had once been two separate mining towns.<br />
<br />
The following year brought record snow and spring runoff. On May 20, 1864, a flash flood tore through Denver and destroyed the Rocky Mountain News building and all that was inside. According to Wheeler's The Townsmen, 20 Denver residents died in the flood. By this time, however, Byers was a successful businessman. He used his savings to purchase the Commonwealth, a competitive newspaper, and the <i>Rocky Mountain News</i> was in business once more.<br />
<br />
<b>Byers Greatest Political Mistake</b><br />
<br />
The popularity of William Byers, as well as the<i> Rocky Mountain News</i>, continued to grow. In 1876, the year Colorado achieved statehood, William N. Byers was considered the best candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor of Colorado.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCtZyAyuSMXU57mPxqdnDh__DPNko6lyvfUkKp0y_4NDeszdsjmyfSrJQNAnhzybtm2vw6xHnoiX2wY5MwpxTseG3vH5-4Ytg3sgWAGodNB06YTRpK3dT8GJfbe0ydIASSFpu5AY6by2M/s1600/800px-CO_Denver_1887.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCtZyAyuSMXU57mPxqdnDh__DPNko6lyvfUkKp0y_4NDeszdsjmyfSrJQNAnhzybtm2vw6xHnoiX2wY5MwpxTseG3vH5-4Ytg3sgWAGodNB06YTRpK3dT8GJfbe0ydIASSFpu5AY6by2M/s1600/800px-CO_Denver_1887.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Bird's eye view of <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CO_Denver_1887.jpg">Denver, Colorado</a>--William Byers must have been amazed by how much it had grown by 1887! US Library of Congress Geography and Maps Division.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Then Byers made his greatest political blunder--a romantic affair. According to Wheeler's <i>The Townsmen</i>, when Byers tried to end the affair with the attractive Hattie Sancomb, she stopped Byers near his home and fired on him with her pearl-handled revolver. Byers' wife, Elizabeth, ran for the family carriage and rescued her husband before he was harmed, but news of the sex scandal traveled quickly through Denver and Byers' reputation and political career was destroyed.<br />
<br />
<b>The Legacy of William Byers and the <i>Rocky Mountain News</i></b><br />
<br />
Byers sold the <i>Rocky Mountain News</i> in 1878. He became the Postmaster of Denver in 1880, initiating free home delivery of mail to Denver residents.<br />
<br />
From his early days in Denver, Byers showed constant concern for the basic necessities of a city, including food and water. In 1860, he homesteaded 140 acres, experimenting with irrigation techniques and crop rotation. Although his home was eventually torn down to build the William N. Byers Junior High School, may of the trees originally planted by Byers still remain on the property.<br />
<br />
William Newton Byers died March 25, 1903 and was buried in Fairmont Cemetery in the City of Denver. He is now considered one of the founding figures of both Omaha, Nebraska and Denver, Colorado.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, the City of Denver suffered a tremendous loss to its heritage when the Pulitzer Prize-winning <i>Rocky Mountain News</i> permanently closed for business on February 27, 2009.<br />
<br />
<b>Sources:</b> <br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Hudson, Barbara. "<i>Rocky Mountain News </i>History Timeline." Denverpost.com. Posted Feb. 27, 2009. Retrieved June 1, 2011. </li>
<li>"The Rush for Gold." <i>The Real West.</i> History Channel Documentary. Originally aired Nov. 19, 1992. </li>
<li>Wallace, Robert. <i>The Old West: The Miners.</i> Time Life Books. Canada: 1976. </li>
<li>Wheeler, Keith. <i>The Old West: The Townsmen.</i> Time Life Books. Canada: 1975. </li>
<li><a href="http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/timeline/byers_william_n.htm">"William N. Byers."</a> Nebraska State Historical Society. Official Nebraska Government Website. Retrieved June 9, 2011. </li>
</ul>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" class="MsoNormalTable"><tbody>
<tr><td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-O1oePNpyjIc%2FU0G7Sff0aLI%2FAAAAAAAAIpw%2FKO8Dbg6MtfU%2Fs1600%2F439px-William_Newton_Byers00.jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI5CMS1PvaNRMxUTtdu0GQQWIJ6FQO4j7MKfvmHGXexqMGBak7oGtEQwtRB5i8Cd7mdGvgHLqvCxMwr9TACw9R2tpUyOTMGq8eZqk8dHYOTTXm09OkiGMoEmCqx542iIzR0ILhejgizxE/s1600/439px-William_Newton_Byers00.jpg" -->Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-17390799724951277852013-12-25T07:47:00.001-08:002013-12-25T07:47:22.821-08:00Christmas in the Old West<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgrFarRAmV4YEByvwi4EBUEoDUDiE0zLcmjvECZtJ4y3P1YjG6MPkn5b601cEHyNtgMEul4xz3jYZkb1gO1UsdL7QfUL1asW9P7in_AKFT9EpYQeo_LKvB9yluQVgch0oyp4zCVAZGf7g/s1600/1497713_10152145828838799_1864263782_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgrFarRAmV4YEByvwi4EBUEoDUDiE0zLcmjvECZtJ4y3P1YjG6MPkn5b601cEHyNtgMEul4xz3jYZkb1gO1UsdL7QfUL1asW9P7in_AKFT9EpYQeo_LKvB9yluQVgch0oyp4zCVAZGf7g/s320/1497713_10152145828838799_1864263782_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Christmas dinner for a family, from a series of photos documenting Gen. John J. Pershing's 1916 Punitive Expedition into Mexico.<a href="https://www.facebook.com/NewMexicoHistoryMuseum"> Photo</a> courtesy Center for Southwest Research, University Libraries, University of New Mexico.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIeXbSQaeYl0chd3v1qhehdicVA5RxQn6zL79qY1wgEWBMXT-AGSrhyphenhyphennmAJJZF1PVYtDEHQl5PHMQmK7oc-UXfnKRm0DO-r6SMpIkYXpycwwl4MIk1hOf_OF1573tXAsHruCmT0OqeL-Q/s1600/Christmas-1876-400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIeXbSQaeYl0chd3v1qhehdicVA5RxQn6zL79qY1wgEWBMXT-AGSrhyphenhyphennmAJJZF1PVYtDEHQl5PHMQmK7oc-UXfnKRm0DO-r6SMpIkYXpycwwl4MIk1hOf_OF1573tXAsHruCmT0OqeL-Q/s320/Christmas-1876-400.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Old West Christmas, 1876, Harper's Weekly. Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-christmas.html">Legends of America.</a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizlIw7FAOgjKPxz5ft3qOcvm8YQOXmshcGpu0SxRd6KPd-wW45n6-jclshTHiItZsgfdyRXVyj3qtHJgF7Vs6QQggdcrrbtaZZzOMmHY7WOSEj-zlNPX-b2I9G3oUm0uUy2PYp2SyyvfY/s1600/Christmas1897-300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizlIw7FAOgjKPxz5ft3qOcvm8YQOXmshcGpu0SxRd6KPd-wW45n6-jclshTHiItZsgfdyRXVyj3qtHJgF7Vs6QQggdcrrbtaZZzOMmHY7WOSEj-zlNPX-b2I9G3oUm0uUy2PYp2SyyvfY/s1600/Christmas1897-300.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Christmas in the Old West. Photo taken in 1900. It's likely these were not Old West pioneers judging from the many household luxuries.<a href="http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-oldwest/Christmas1897.jpg"> Photo</a> courtesy of Legends of America. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-44746684146410760322013-11-22T16:50:00.001-08:002013-11-25T15:52:50.436-08:00Massacre at Wounded Knee<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgCryToE_DO2lxMN4Zuf9OU_VB8bdxIJX0hUkTexiN5MP18b_oLGFhz0uo4e8wpiZwCYxY2ItkToQkGgsLchCwWoiJ82eBuSNj1pPItc3UDDsfF2Uw_z_a27ARHhrWW7Q3gzzNyipCgKM/s1600/450px-Eric_Holder_at_Wounded_Knee_Memorial.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgCryToE_DO2lxMN4Zuf9OU_VB8bdxIJX0hUkTexiN5MP18b_oLGFhz0uo4e8wpiZwCYxY2ItkToQkGgsLchCwWoiJ82eBuSNj1pPItc3UDDsfF2Uw_z_a27ARHhrWW7Q3gzzNyipCgKM/s320/450px-Eric_Holder_at_Wounded_Knee_Memorial.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<i>US Attorney General Eric Holder laying a wreath at the site of the Wounded Knee Memorial. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eric_Holder_at_Wounded_Knee_Memorial.jpg">Photo </a>taken September 26, 2009.</i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>November
is Native American Heritage Month. As you will read below, November and
December are also the months leading to the tragic massacre at Wounded
Knee. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Moving along in my A to Z
challenge we are now on W, and a topic that has caused me great
heartache every time I think of it, from the time I first read Bury my
Heart at Wounded Knee. My mother bought the book when I was 12, and it
was a brutal, harsh, painful introduction to American history for a 12
year old, but one that has never left me. (Note: I have revised and removed photos of the dead at Wounded Knee out of respect for those who died and their ancestors.) </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>"All Indians must dance,
everywhere. Keep on dancing. Pretty soon, next spring, Great Spirit
come, He bring back all game of every kind. All dead Indians come back
and live again when Great Spirit comes this way. Then all Indians go to
mountains, high up away from whites. Then while Indians way up high, big
flood comes and all white people die. After that, water go away and
then nobody but Indians everywhere. Then Medicine Men tell Indians to
send word to all Indians to keep up dancing and the good times will
come." --Wovoka</i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFHd49CFWkPNel2rRYduQ0bt6M41273Y9HlMPV-TTYAOAqTdV3BmC0w5H3CkiIN1Z69oj2cLJxv-blXvkOOqy3AN9V365EzSrh46znqZ_sYXzIVv5cLyW7D-nNThyphenhyphena_SbgqzJ49xEMF5c/s1600/Wovoka_Paiute_Shaman.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFHd49CFWkPNel2rRYduQ0bt6M41273Y9HlMPV-TTYAOAqTdV3BmC0w5H3CkiIN1Z69oj2cLJxv-blXvkOOqy3AN9V365EzSrh46znqZ_sYXzIVv5cLyW7D-nNThyphenhyphena_SbgqzJ49xEMF5c/s320/Wovoka_Paiute_Shaman.jpg" width="200" /></a>'</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=Wovoka&title=Special%3ASearch&uselang=en">Wovoka</a>, Paiute Shaman.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>"Indian
people were ready to try anything, and what Wovoka proposed sounded
reasonable. To a drowning man, he would reach for a straw floating by,
and it was in that state that the coming of the Messiah idea was
presented, and they grasped it." --Johnson Holy Rock, Lakota</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sioux_ghost_dance,_1894.ogg">Sioux Ghost Dance, circa 1894</a> (If video fails to play, click on link.) </i><br />
<br />
<i>"Yes,
it is so about Jesus, and all the Indians are talking about it. He has
come to save the Indians. It is the first time he has come to save just
the Indians. It was too far to go to him where he was before, up in the
sky. Now it is not half so far to where he is, so you may come to him.
All Indians may." --Crooked Nose.</i><br />
<br />
<i>"Dancing
was a way of life. Even the wind or the tree, everything seems to
dance. So everything begins with a song and a dance. It's a ritual. This
is why the Ghost Dance was acceptable." </i><br />
<i>--Birgil Kills Straight, Lakota</i><br />
<br />
<i>"Our
elders speak of a one brief period of time that the divine being gave
our people the opportunity to make a connection with the life hereafter.
The Ghost Dance was powerful, it was real, and it came to pass."
--Leonard Little Finger, Descendant of Big Foot </i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>December 29, 1890: The Beginning of the End</b></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
It
was December 29, 1890. The Great Indian Wars were over, but the tension
remained. The white settlers feared the Native American Indians. The
surrender of the Sioux was less than a decade behind them. The Native
American Indians, cheated and lied to in nearly every promise made to
them, were equally distrustful of the white men. This one battle, the
battle of prejudice, was not over. <br />
<br />
On that fateful
day, December 29, 1890, the atmosphere of hatred and distrust exploded
in a tragedy that shocked the nation with the Massacre at Wounded Knee
Creek on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.<br />
<br />
<b>The Ghost Dance </b><br />
<br />
As
you may recall, the Ghost Dance moved from one reservation to another
like wildfire to the desperate Indians on their drought-parched land. It
reached the Sioux in the Dakotas around 1890. By the time it reached
the Sioux it was obvious that the government and white settlers were
afraid of the implications of the dance, in spite of its ties to
Christianity. The dance, the shirt, the press, the desperate-sounding
messages of naive Indian Agents added together to form a lethal mix. </div>
</div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTG3ik-EvW_bX-ph3reP68SmWFmX2yFBFPuPQZhqgSaaxTUmWzUREHDgAFhzkeVnVL9zhdqtzEh8vJ4Rnp63kKxMp6w1athmfjcabzwI36gG3aX-9zl5xBj2HDFjDopYpkd51Ie7rC-3g/s1600/ghost+dance+shirt.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTG3ik-EvW_bX-ph3reP68SmWFmX2yFBFPuPQZhqgSaaxTUmWzUREHDgAFhzkeVnVL9zhdqtzEh8vJ4Rnp63kKxMp6w1athmfjcabzwI36gG3aX-9zl5xBj2HDFjDopYpkd51Ie7rC-3g/s320/ghost+dance+shirt.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Kiowa Ghost Dance shirt. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woolaroc_-_Kiowa_Hemd.jpg">Photo</a> by Wolfgang Sauber.</i></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>The Implications of the Ghost Dance Shirt</b></div>
<br />
The
impact of the Ghost Dance Shirt must be understood when piecing
together the events of that day. The shirts were not in the vision of
Wovoka, they were introduced to the Sioux by a warrior named Kicking
Bear. Kicking Bear told the Sioux that the symbols--the eagle,
stars--would protect them from bullets should the military try to harm
them.<br />
<br />
The military believed the magic symbols were a sign
that the Sioux were planning an uprising. "Why would they need
protection if their intentions were honorable and their actions were
peaceful?" the settlers asked. Suspicion and mistrust was everywhere.<br />
<br />
By
this time the military knew the way of life of the Native American
Indians. I believe they would have/should have known that painting
symbols on their shirts was part of their spiritual practice, similar to
painting their bodies, shields, teepees, and even their horses.<br />
<br />
According
to "Native American Tech," the symbols used on shields, teepees,
bodies, and clothing were often chosen because they came to a person in a
vision or dream. For instance, Oglala Sioux warrior Crazy Horse painted
lightning bolts on his face and white circles resembling hail stones on
his horse and his own body.<br />
<br />
According to Oglala Lakota
Nation Historian Aaron Ten Bears speaking on "Native American Tech,"
these symbols represented their medicine, and every warrior walked his
own path and had his own medicine. Therefore, painting symbols on the
Ghost Shirts for protection would be a logical action and a way of life,
and not necessarily preparation for war.<br />
<br />
Paint came
from ground minerals mixed with bear grease. Black came from charcoal,
white from clay, blue from duck poop. Images decorating shields,
teepees, and horses were believed to help protect them from enemy
arrows. The Ghost Shirt symbols were certainly not new to the military.
They should have known the painted symbols had the same meaning as all
other painted symbols used by the Native American Indians--protection,
not a declaration of war. <br />
<br />
<b>Fear and Panic Inspired by Indian Agents</b><br />
<br />
The
dance and its promise of the return of the prosperity and great leaders
of past years was the last hope to the desperate Sioux. They left their
jobs and schools and everything the white government tried to force
them to do to make them more "white," and they danced and danced into a
frenzy.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, it was not the dance that spread
fear among the pioneers as much as the Indian Agents, their messages to
the government and military and their quotes to the press. All Indians
were practicing the Ghost Dance, but only the Sioux wore the
Ghost Shirts, and it was the Indian Agents who were supposed to be
working with the Sioux who inspired fear in the hearts of the settlers. <br />
<br />
According to the <i>Story of the Great American West</i>,
Indian Agent James McLaughlin of the Standing Rock Agency wrote, "A
more pernicious system of religion could not have been offered to a
people who stood on the threshold of civilization." It was one of the
few logical statements made by McLaughlin, in my opinion. At least he
recognized the religious connection, but failed to see that the white
civilization had failed the people, all of the people. It did not bring
peace to the community. It did not bond the Native American Indians and
the settlers. Forcing one's beliefs on others does not create unity.<br />
<br />
According to the US National Park Service website, Valentine
McGillicuddy was the Indian Agent at Pine Ridge from 1879 to 1886, and
McGillicuddy clashed regularly with Oglala Chief Red Cloud over
education, farming, and social and religious changes forced upon the
Sioux. McGillicuddy was replaced by Indian Agent Hugh D. Gallagher from
1886-1890, and Gallagher seemed to have a more calming affect on the
situation, but the resentment still existed between the Sioux and the
white settlers.<br />
<br />
On October 9, 1890, when the Ghost Dance religion was at
its peak, the inexperienced agent Daniel F. Royer replaced Gallagher,
which proved to be one of the worst decisions the US government could
have made in Indian relations. Within four days of his arrival he was
already sending frantic pleas for help and military protection based on
his misunderstanding of the Sioux way of life and the meaning of the
Ghost Dance. <br />
<br />
According to Leonard Little Finger,
descendant of Big Foot, speaking on
"Wild West Tech," Indian agents were political appointees who rarely had
any understanding of the ways of life of the Native American Indians,
little understanding of their dreams and hopes, or what they had lost.
It is certain that Daniel F. Royer did not
understand the culture of the Sioux.<br />
<i><br /></i>The local
Indians referred to Daniel F. Royer as Young Man Afraid of Indians, and
their description was spot on. Royer felt fear and spread fear like a
contagious virus. "Indians are dancing in the snow and are wild and
crazy," Royer said in an urgent appeal for help, help that was
unnecessary as there was no real threat. Nevertheless, he begged in his
message to the military, "We need protection and we need it now."<br />
<br />
In
Washington, D.C., far removed from the events taking place on the
reservations, the only information US President Benjamin Harrison had
available in order to guide him on the situation in South Dakota was the
frantic messages sent by Daniel F. Royer, so he sent troops to both the
Pine Ridge and Rosebud Agencies.<br />
<br />
<b>The Arrival of the Military</b><br />
<br />
On
November 20, 1890, the first contingents of military troops arrived at
the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations. They came from
Omaha and Forts Robinson and Niobrara, Nebraska. Within a week,
thousands of troops filled the reservations from surrounding states.<br />
<br />
According to the National Park Service Website, "nearly half the
Army's infantry and cavalry and some artillery, the largest
concentration of troops anywhere in the United States between the Civil
War and the Spanish-American War and one of the largest ever assembled
in one place to confront Indians." <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbFDroS-xcLeDL6pyFxYKrTIg02tb63niPOiWKtJ2wT7Squf0I7uHKAoYqFqBu4MsK6xbWkcYghOpYLy1I4WU0mHQPa-s3rnWMmSqP4gsEExXzCXBuUKCibGBdrhGok-aU3c2Q-VSslmQ/s1600/481px-Nelson_Appleton_Miles.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbFDroS-xcLeDL6pyFxYKrTIg02tb63niPOiWKtJ2wT7Squf0I7uHKAoYqFqBu4MsK6xbWkcYghOpYLy1I4WU0mHQPa-s3rnWMmSqP4gsEExXzCXBuUKCibGBdrhGok-aU3c2Q-VSslmQ/s320/481px-Nelson_Appleton_Miles.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nelson_Appleton_Miles.jpg"><i>Major General Nelson Appleton Miles</i></a></div>
<br />
At
Pine Ridge Reservation, Major General Nelson A.
Miles commanded the operation with approximately 3000 troops, including
the entire 7th Cavalry Regiment serving under
Colonel James W. Forsyth. The soldiers essentially sat and waited while
their leaders tried to gather information and calm the situation, but
their presence alone was enough to incite fear in the Indians. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"Troops or no troops, we do not intend to stop dancing." --Little Wound</i></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGP5GtcyPV-EwKssejrrB-IvC3TxicpbehYoVFNySGkWQb9pJCoKYDHBCDYLxa_Cd8VvsSEjH2c_pavPe-QVbTJKCkVJdwbvzIcaToeHZP7Gpjth_VYzd5KW9Gn4qd0pXmgYOGrcFI860/s1600/James_W._Forsyth.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGP5GtcyPV-EwKssejrrB-IvC3TxicpbehYoVFNySGkWQb9pJCoKYDHBCDYLxa_Cd8VvsSEjH2c_pavPe-QVbTJKCkVJdwbvzIcaToeHZP7Gpjth_VYzd5KW9Gn4qd0pXmgYOGrcFI860/s1600/James_W._Forsyth.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:James_W._Forsyth.jpg">Colonel James W. Forsyth </a>commanded the 7th Cavalry Regiment at Pine Ridge Reservation.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Then
the reporters arrived looking for a war that wasn't there. They
gathered each morning over coffee and concocted stories to send across
the nation. They did not imply, they outright claimed that a war was
taking place, and the government and the people believed every word they
read. The Indians knew what was being said, and they could sense what
was coming. </div>
<br />
<b>Sitting Bull</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Sitting Bull became the focus of much of the fear and anxiety of the
white community. He was feared more than the Ghost Dance. Sitting bull
was a Hunkpapa Sioux, a medicine man, one of the last of the great
warriors to surrender to the military, one of the last to accept the
white government's authority and many believed he never did accept the
white government's authority.<br />
<br />
Sitting Bull was the man
who had a vision of the defeat of Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer
and his 7th Calvary at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, and the man
who made that happen. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSUojyk6HgRrhSb18uGDqwvmud3XL47YUvJsrUQfJRDeqmScEM7Py1ZXQjErf8GpcDFTUJ0FBz1Q4i4IrUmVJ8_I0cW_Mj9eFlfcNZrVD-QZ_4KLtorOLdViWtO5SiO-cuSt9A9OpUPGo/s1600/334px-Sitting_Bull.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSUojyk6HgRrhSb18uGDqwvmud3XL47YUvJsrUQfJRDeqmScEM7Py1ZXQjErf8GpcDFTUJ0FBz1Q4i4IrUmVJ8_I0cW_Mj9eFlfcNZrVD-QZ_4KLtorOLdViWtO5SiO-cuSt9A9OpUPGo/s320/334px-Sitting_Bull.jpg" width="178" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Sitting Bull, circa 1885. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sitting_Bull.jpg">Photo</a> by David Francis Barry (1854-1934).</i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Sitting
Bull led the Sioux in the Battle of Little Bighorn and The Great Sioux
War of 1876. He escaped with some of his followers to Sasketchewan, but
surrendered to US soldiers in 1881. He then worked for Buffalo Bill
Cody's Buffalo Bill's Wild West where he was paid $50 a week. He was a
celebrity, a warrior, and earned a small fortune before returning to the
Standing Rock Agency. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-s2vxC6gQjnq8xFYnMPkMXmsd2PUXTlCxlzwkKeRzGhjxBr0labKZiQG1qWT3o-UCBjN9teI5hrg6OICff0parq3EzzisPpf5MlLhzAjOTGT_oyDOwwsILe2ba4nflcLpMrd8AXjdfio/s1600/419px-William_Notman_studios_-_Sitting_Bull_and_Buffalo_Bill_(1895)_edit.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-s2vxC6gQjnq8xFYnMPkMXmsd2PUXTlCxlzwkKeRzGhjxBr0labKZiQG1qWT3o-UCBjN9teI5hrg6OICff0parq3EzzisPpf5MlLhzAjOTGT_oyDOwwsILe2ba4nflcLpMrd8AXjdfio/s320/419px-William_Notman_studios_-_Sitting_Bull_and_Buffalo_Bill_(1895)_edit.jpg" width="223" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill Cody. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:William_Notman_studios_-_Sitting_Bull_and_Buffalo_Bill_%281895%29_edit.jpg">Photo</a> taken in 1885.</i></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
According to the <i>Story of the Great American West</i>,
Sitting Bull was also one of the few leaders of the Sioux who
questioned the power of the Ghost Dance, but he kept a respectable
distance and did not interfere.<br />
<br />
Then James McLaughlin,
Indian Agent at Standing Rock Agency, heard rumors that Sitting Bull
converted to Catholicism. For some reason, this incised McLaughlin, who
began a campaign to bring about the end of Sitting Bull. McLaughlin
insisted that Sitting Bull was responsible for what he considered to be a
dangerous religious frenzy created by the Ghost Dance and argued both
with the government and in the press for the immediate arrest of Sitting
Bull. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
In
spite of all evidence to the contrary, McLaughlin's accusations
regarding Sitting Bull were believed by military leaders and in December
of 1890, Major General Nelson A. Miles at Fort Yates on Standing Rock
ordered the arrests of Sitting Bull and Big Foot, leader of the
Miniconjou Sioux on the Cheyenne Reservation. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheBDnbd8lMcGyQJwp6nFw1Aut3KRdzeJtq7bHs53GsYSmzzycFtmpLtt2_RKB0bc0i7AQqYvIUpRANPoDYRSv-mzGefN4nga7uy4lkqhzVM6772XEKXn2261UDl00zctOJhtpKOeLqLJ8/s1600/Chief_sitting_bull.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheBDnbd8lMcGyQJwp6nFw1Aut3KRdzeJtq7bHs53GsYSmzzycFtmpLtt2_RKB0bc0i7AQqYvIUpRANPoDYRSv-mzGefN4nga7uy4lkqhzVM6772XEKXn2261UDl00zctOJhtpKOeLqLJ8/s320/Chief_sitting_bull.JPG" width="222" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chief_sitting_bull.JPG">Chief Sitting Bull</a></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
On
December 14, 1890, McLaughlin sent a letter to Lt. Henry Bullhead with
instructions on how to capture Sitting Bull, recommending an early
morning arrest. The troops arrived at Sitting Bull's camp at 5:30 a.m.
on December 15 and included 39 officers and four volunteers. They
surrounded his house, shouted out that he was under arrest, then
entered. Sitting Bull was led outside and told to mount a horse.
Bullhead told Sitting Bull he would be taken to meet with an Indian
Affairs agent, then he could return. Sitting Bull refused and the
officers grabbed him and a struggle ensued. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
Lakota
Catch-the-Bear shot Bullhead who turned and fired his revolver at
Sitting Bull. Another officer, Red Tomahawk, shot Sitting Bull in the
head. The Great Chief Sitting Bull died in the arms of his people. </div>
<div>
</div>
According
to the show "Native American Tech," Sitting Bull's horse, a gift from
Buffalo Bill, was trained to do a dance in the Wild West show. Sitting
Bull's horse survived the shooting of Sitting Bull and his followers
believed this was a sign, that the horse was telling them to continue
with the Ghost Dance as the horse pranced and bowed for the people. Some
believe the horse was simply doing a trick, but to the mourning,
desperate people, it was a sign. (I know animals, and love them as much
as they love me. I would have also believed it was a sign, that Sitting
Bull's horse was speaking to the people.) <br />
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNyXL8hNauG_qhAmW1FkMC8abgllIrqMw_iGNHiMqAgKcr5Q26StAlmhXp6dqOTtN0v5RpWQ9Q0Ol8qqX-IPwEA4P4n68kwbb99gogNogMMGwk4YEkY6Ywio_eewmLTpEoOGe_oN3zDY8/s1600/Sitting_Bull's_grave.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNyXL8hNauG_qhAmW1FkMC8abgllIrqMw_iGNHiMqAgKcr5Q26StAlmhXp6dqOTtN0v5RpWQ9Q0Ol8qqX-IPwEA4P4n68kwbb99gogNogMMGwk4YEkY6Ywio_eewmLTpEoOGe_oN3zDY8/s320/Sitting_Bull's_grave.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>The <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Sitting_Bull%27s_grave.jpg">grave</a> of
Chief Sitting Bull, circa 1906. Sitting Bull was originally taken to
Fort Yates for burial, but in 1953 Sitting Bull's ancestors had his
remains removed and reburied near his birthplace at Mobridge, South
Dakota. </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
At
this point the military, white settlers, US government and the press
were closely following three "hot spots" and three Indian tribes
involved in the situation: The Oglala Lakota at Pine Ridge Reservation
led by Chief Red Cloud; the Hunkpapa at Standing Rock where Sitting Bull
died; and Chief Big Foot and the Miniconjou at the Cheyenne River
Reservation. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Around
400 of the Hunkpapas attempted to flea to the Cheyenne River
Reservation led by Sitting Bull's half brother Spotted Elk, but
Miniconjou Chief Hump, with the assistance of US Army officers, managed
to convince most of them to surrender and they were taken to Fort
Bennett. However, 38 of the Hunkpapa turned to Big Foot for help,
joining him at his village on the forks of the Cheyenne River west of
Fort Bennett. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3zwiJNb1F45M6KrB76kJ9Yux5bqxJB-jNupu54hkBc4PMCHFnbnhW0ZqIJhmc1Di9MWi19dSPS_fBaGv61tDbUjs2degZMFo2vpPQAgr8IrA0DOAQupp680jlkmrhrQLu0VGZXpXwyns/s1600/Big+Foots+Band.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3zwiJNb1F45M6KrB76kJ9Yux5bqxJB-jNupu54hkBc4PMCHFnbnhW0ZqIJhmc1Di9MWi19dSPS_fBaGv61tDbUjs2degZMFo2vpPQAgr8IrA0DOAQupp680jlkmrhrQLu0VGZXpXwyns/s320/Big+Foots+Band.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Big Foot's band of Miniconjou Sioux at a dance at the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota, circa August 8, 1890. </i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Fear and Tension Inspires Desperate Acts</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Lt.
Col. Edwin V. Summer was given the responsibility to arrest Chief Big
Foot, but considering the tragic circumstances he decided to hold off on
the arrest and keep the village under surveillance. His actions only
increased the tension and fear in the village. More troops arrived for
the surveillance operation and the tension and fear in the village grew
stronger. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Chief
Big Foot was in a terrible position. He knew he had to act to bring
peace to his people and the Hunkpapa refugees, 350 in all, but what
could he do that would not incite a violent reaction from the military?
He must have known that any action would bring violence. In his heart,
he must have known he was facing his own death. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Late
in the evening on December 23, in an act of desperation to save his
people, Big Foot led his people and the remaining Hunkpapa Sioux out of
the village and into the darkness. They quietly headed south through the
Dakota Badlands toward the Pine Ridge Reservation. Big Foot's intention
was to ask for help from Chief Red Cloud on how to make peace with the
military and save his people and the people of Sitting Bull.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHJCCG0htS16BZKyqP0_xrfo0eZRRM6l9CZrZ71Hfa6jxV-3zxxzvWxbGhXRHHx1GK5TsY5UYqPifhrwqujj8f1SYGn54xOjuy7h-6OvlxLRjzyaAyXkxDhkiY7uXq6B5TNdclOWCyEcw/s1600/lossy-page1-476px-Chief_Red_Cloud,_Oglala_-_NARA_-_523825.tif.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHJCCG0htS16BZKyqP0_xrfo0eZRRM6l9CZrZ71Hfa6jxV-3zxxzvWxbGhXRHHx1GK5TsY5UYqPifhrwqujj8f1SYGn54xOjuy7h-6OvlxLRjzyaAyXkxDhkiY7uXq6B5TNdclOWCyEcw/s320/lossy-page1-476px-Chief_Red_Cloud,_Oglala_-_NARA_-_523825.tif.jpg" width="254" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chief_Red_Cloud,_Oglala_-_NARA_-_523825.tif"><i>Chief Red Cloud</i></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The
military were not as quiet in their pursuit. They were angry, and
perhaps felt foolish that they had missed Big Foot's escape. The 7th
Calvary, the former command of deceased Lt. Col. George Custer serving
under Major Whiteside, left in pursuit of Big Foot who of course
surrendered without violence--it was never his intention to do anything
else. Big Foot and his followers, now numbering around 350, all made
camp at Wounded Knee Creek 20 miles from the Pine Ridge Agency while 500
soldiers positioned themselves in the surrounding hills. Big Foot, who
by this time had pneumonia and was very sick, had no intention of
running anywhere. Nevertheless, the entire 7th Calvary was called in, as
well. The military, and the press, was prepared and aching for a war.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieiGAHoiHLkiwfcLhj1R6hWejzWbiMgQLfqiprL6G03xQon53ECU9Lw4H4DVqw0LtsiOost4ymBsUS1_6TUtgsN6INEvKN-NxOL1WEMsE9GdI9HmgrqmrJI1z1kF9tQZZeEg6TFINL4ls/s1600/769px-Woundedkneeencampment.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieiGAHoiHLkiwfcLhj1R6hWejzWbiMgQLfqiprL6G03xQon53ECU9Lw4H4DVqw0LtsiOost4ymBsUS1_6TUtgsN6INEvKN-NxOL1WEMsE9GdI9HmgrqmrJI1z1kF9tQZZeEg6TFINL4ls/s320/769px-Woundedkneeencampment.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>A 1923 <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woundedkneeencampment.jpg">re-enactment </a>of
the encampment at Wounded Knee Creek showing a line of US troops in the
background. The rest of the troops were positioned in the nearby
hills. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Then,
early in the morning on December 29, 1890, Col. James W. Forsyth
ordered the surrender of all weapons. The military and the press would
have their war. They insisted on it, no matter how the Indians felt, no
matter what their intentions. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>The Shot Heard Round the West</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
On
the morning of December 29, 1890, Chief Big Foot and the 350 men, women
and children who looked to him for guidance awoke to find themselves
completely surrounded by military with a line of military on the
hillside and orders to surrender all of their weapons to the US
military. Chief Big Foot was so sick he could barely stand unassisted.
His warriors refused to surrender their weapons--they were already
surrounded and the request, to them, was illogical and might place them
in danger. They were right. They were in danger.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The
warriors were lined up and ordered to bring their guns out of their
teepees. They said they had no guns. Forsyth was angry, and impatient.
He ordered his soldiers to enter the tepees, the homes of the
Miniconjou, and the Hunkpapa refugees, to search for and confiscate all
weapons. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
The medicine man, Yellow Bird, sang and danced and called to the people to resist. <br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Forsyth
then ordered his men to search the Miniconjou and Hunkpapa. It was
unwise for a white man to lay hands on a Sioux, particularly military
men, but they were not even respectful in their search. They were
bullying, rough, and insulting. And what happened next was confusing,
fast, and deadly. It is believed that a young man named Black Coyote,
angry over the rough treatment he received at the hands of a soldier,
stood up and said, "This is my rifle, I paid for it, and no one is going
to take it from me without paying me for it." He was grabbed by two
soldiers.<br />
<br />
Then came that horrible moment. A shot was
fired. There was a struggle. Who fired the shot was never verified. It
was the shot heard round the West. It's source was never identified, but
that one shot will never be forgotten. <br />
<br />
The massacre
began. The peaceful valley was suddenly filled with the screams of women
and children. The soldiers on the hill were infuriated that the women
and children were escaping in the ravine and pursued them for two miles,
shooting them down, making certain that they would all die. It was
ghastly. It was torture. It truly was a massacre. Over 200 men, women,
children, and tiny babies lay dead in the snow.<br />
<br />
A nearby
church, still decorated for Christmas was used as a makeshift hospital.
Men were hired to bury the dead at $2 per body in a mass grave. The
press stayed on, reporting every last horrible detail they could find,
propping up the frozen bodies of the dead to take pictures that were
later made into postcards and sold to tourists. </div>
<i><i><br /></i></i>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Closing Thoughts on The Wounded Knee Massacre</b></div>
<i><i><br /></i></i>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
The Wounded Knee Massacre was a
symbol, a threat, really, for those who refused to adopt the ways of the
white man. The white American government was dissatisfied with simply
rounding up the Native American Indians like cattle and watching them
with armed guards like criminals, the government wanted to see the
Sioux, and anyone else who stood up for their rights for fair treatment,
destroyed. Wounded Knee was the last confrontation, a violent end to
the spirit, culture, and dreams of the Native American Indians.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOkzyjwwKl8j4l-nXBWjtvwyim54CsKa5G5EqadHNuNihCLacLvtwNIDF-a7WJ0XCW1CWZDrwTyGNTmHzKgO6rWEWR0Lu9msv9LbITmnCbzP6sWxW2MpoYwiX1YwmlMY5G5lCdYIBjI6c/s1600/bigfoot3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOkzyjwwKl8j4l-nXBWjtvwyim54CsKa5G5EqadHNuNihCLacLvtwNIDF-a7WJ0XCW1CWZDrwTyGNTmHzKgO6rWEWR0Lu9msv9LbITmnCbzP6sWxW2MpoYwiX1YwmlMY5G5lCdYIBjI6c/s1600/bigfoot3.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="text-align: center;">Big Foot at the Cheyenne River Delegation in 1888. I removed the previous photo because I spoke with one of Big Foot's ancestors who feels Big Foot's death photo is sacred, and I agreed and removed the photo. There were many photos taken of the dead after the shooting and these photos were printed on postcards and sold to tourists.</i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
"Wounded
Knee was the last act in the government conspiracy to dispossess the
Sioux," according to Paul Andrew Hutton, Professor at University of New
Mexico speaking on <i>The Final Clash: Wounded Knee</i>. "When all of
their nefarious schemes and with bogus treaties with false negotiations
with broken promises failed, the government reacted with thuggery, and
they achieved their ends with violence."<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDDpUI-_4G2W23ptQFvyL8YxXZ9BGTkw-yf1D-HrUX44dlqbpr0Jf-4qrLKcJe2KaVs5C4Y4RcHp2_AScSX-J-4e3NvC7-gsDSaK4X3LTL_9f1PDIOw_jaTrp6kSVsa0iQjHgpALPnELU/s1600/lossy-page1-800px-'Return_of_Casey's_scouts_from_the_fight_at_Wounded_Knee,_1890-91.%27_Soldiers_on_horseback_plod_through_the_snow_-_NARA_-_531103.tif.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDDpUI-_4G2W23ptQFvyL8YxXZ9BGTkw-yf1D-HrUX44dlqbpr0Jf-4qrLKcJe2KaVs5C4Y4RcHp2_AScSX-J-4e3NvC7-gsDSaK4X3LTL_9f1PDIOw_jaTrp6kSVsa0iQjHgpALPnELU/s320/lossy-page1-800px-'Return_of_Casey's_scouts_from_the_fight_at_Wounded_Knee,_1890-91.%27_Soldiers_on_horseback_plod_through_the_snow_-_NARA_-_531103.tif.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Soldiers on horseback return to the Cheyenne River Reservation following the massacre at Wounded Knee. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22Return_of_Casey%27s_scouts_from_the_fight_at_Wounded_Knee,_1890-91.%22_Soldiers_on_horseback_plod_through_the_snow_-_NARA_-_531103.tif">Photo </a>from the Office of the Chief Signal Officer.</i></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
According to Dee Brown, author of<i> Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee,</i> "Wounded
Knee is usually listed as the last battle of the American Indians. It
was not a battle, it was a massacre. There is no way it could be called a
battle, or even a fight." </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Black
Elk said the Sacred Hoop was broken at Wounded Knee. According to Black
Elk, "Everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the
power of the world always works in circles, and everything tries to be
round. In the old days when we were a strong and happy people, all our
power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation, and so long as the
hoop was unbroken the people flourished," he explained in <i>Black Elk Speaks. </i>"And
I, to whom so great a vision was given in my youth, — you see me now a
pitiful old man who has done nothing, for the nation's hoop is broken
and scattered. There is no center any longer, and the sacred tree is
dead."</div>
<br />
<div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Resources:</b></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Brown, Dee. <i>Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West.</i> Sterling Innovation Publishing. New York: 1970. </li>
<li>"Native American Tech." <i>Wild West Tech.</i> Originally aired May 11 2004. Accessed August, 2007. </li>
<li><a href="http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/soldier/sitec15.htm">"Pine Ridge Agency: South Dakota."</a><i> National Park Service Sites and Building</i>s. Accessed October 4, 2013. </li>
<li>"The Final Clash at Wounded Knee." <i>Story of the Great American West</i>. Reader's Digest Association, Inc. New York: 1977.</li>
<li>"The Final Clash: Wounded Knee." <i>Wild West Tech.</i> Greystone Television. First aired September 16,1993. Accessed February, 2011. </li>
<li>"The Ghost Dance." <a href="http://nativeamericanencyclopedia.com/the-ghost-dance/">Native American Encyclopedia.</a> Accessed October 4, 2013.</li>
<li><i>The Spirit World</i>. Time Life Books. Alexandria, Virginia: 1992.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-89418141810697336492013-10-30T00:21:00.000-07:002013-10-30T00:31:01.256-07:00Wounded Knee Massacre: More on The Ghost Dance (Natdia)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_KBONIwUImTIulychmYKDwXUUse-QOw2DwzjznnJGG41HpFHNl1XN2Dg3U56CUGTPkT6CZoXLMple13QDHm5b9dF9Fef7OxunFgq9MopeuhyphenhyphenFbw_nf1Fuj5Fwp5J6UP8tvhLi-7Bz9mo/s1600/GhostDancePainting-400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_KBONIwUImTIulychmYKDwXUUse-QOw2DwzjznnJGG41HpFHNl1XN2Dg3U56CUGTPkT6CZoXLMple13QDHm5b9dF9Fef7OxunFgq9MopeuhyphenhyphenFbw_nf1Fuj5Fwp5J6UP8tvhLi-7Bz9mo/s320/GhostDancePainting-400.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Ghost Dance Painting. Image courtesy of <a href="http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-ghostdance.html">Legends of America.</a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;">The importance of The Ghost Dance in the history of the Native American Indians cannot be over-stated. The Ghost Dance was more than a dance, it was a spiritual movement that brought hope to the Native American Indians at the most desperate moment in the history of their existence--the late 1800s. It began with a dream of the return to a beloved way of life and the disappearance of the invaders that had destroyed that way of life. It ended on December 29, 1890 with the deaths of more than 200 Sioux men women and children, as well as the death of any hope that remained.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdz4tPoorzAwaAwTzBFsLtu1PPX1C2ymioXjB72EWg8ubTBUtpkybdGUnSNfYj2fMQTmJaP94vYe8849dxRrumQak5tHLq1R8tCLUdOLFdWdtmJlyMXPvEUqEe7vG4JYmcxidTaoJ_5cg/s1600/Ghost_Dance_at_Pine_Ridge.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdz4tPoorzAwaAwTzBFsLtu1PPX1C2ymioXjB72EWg8ubTBUtpkybdGUnSNfYj2fMQTmJaP94vYe8849dxRrumQak5tHLq1R8tCLUdOLFdWdtmJlyMXPvEUqEe7vG4JYmcxidTaoJ_5cg/s320/Ghost_Dance_at_Pine_Ridge.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>The Ghost Dance performed by the Ogallala Sioux at Pine Ridge Agency. This <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ghost_Dance_at_Pine_Ridge.png">painting</a> was made by Frederick Remington based on sketches he made while witnessing the Ghost Dance. </i><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
There were many signs that this moment was coming, many dreams and movements leading up to Wounded Knee, but it was The Ghost Dance that brought the crisis to its peak. An odd name, when you think about it, words that could have various meanings--a dance to bring the ghosts of ancestors back to their people, or a dance that transformed great warriors and skilled caretakers of their mother, Earth, into mere memories. <i> </i></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<b>Prophetic Visions and Movements Prior to The Ghost Dance </b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
The Ghost Dance was not the only "movement" viewed as rebellions by the white government. In fact, there were many prophetic visions that sparked movements prior to the final crisis at Wounded Knee, and these movements were often seen as rebellions by the white government. Whether or not they were rebellions is debatable, but they most certainly represented the seriousness of the conflicts between the beliefs of the various tribes and the life the white government was forcing upon them, a life of farming.</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
These visions generally had a similar theme. For instance, one 18th century Seneca medicine man had a prophetic vision that warned of the complete eradication of the Native American Indian if they followed the ways of the white man. The Medicine Man was named Handsome Lake and he suffered from the disease of alcoholism. When he was in his trance he would have experienced withdrawal, and alcohol withdrawal is deadly. He had a near-death experience and his vision during this time attracted thousands of followers who continue to believe in his prophesies to this day, according to <i>The Spirit World. </i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
Another Wanapum shaman led a group called "Dreamers" who had a belief that I personally relate to as it is similar to my own. The shamen, Smohalla, who lived in the mid 19th century, taught his followers to resist anything they considered harmful to nature.<br />
<br />
However, Smohalla also considered farming harmful to nature, and it's possible that they type of farming the white men practiced was harmful--many farming practices used today are still harmful to the land. When confronted by government agents about the logic behind his teachings Smohalla replied, "You ask me to plow the ground. Shall I take a knife and tear my mother's bosom? Then when I die, she will not take me to her bosom to rest." To the Wanapum, the earth was their mother, just as the <a href="http://wildwesthistory.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-navajo-long-walks-bosque-redondo.html">Canyon de Chelly </a>was mother to the Navajo.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Wodziwob and the Railroad</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
According to <i>The Spirit World</i>, in 1869 a Paiute medicine man named Wodziwob, or Grey Hair, had a vision that started one of the largest movements among the Native American Indians. In Wodziwob's vision the recently-completed transcontinental railroad brought back the deceased ancestors in a miracle that would mark the revival of the Native American people.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJAqOnAIqKl2aGVhfcjOSEu0xXVNOgTStfTjLIx968JJA0a5XZ0z8z6k7dOpm6T23C5RXT7X_KopMiz7Sit0PwIDAPE4-WS34AcxUPNYeYyXk3rkQiL7XM-nzzrq1phBNrxQ_pUDRodHo/s1600/steam4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJAqOnAIqKl2aGVhfcjOSEu0xXVNOgTStfTjLIx968JJA0a5XZ0z8z6k7dOpm6T23C5RXT7X_KopMiz7Sit0PwIDAPE4-WS34AcxUPNYeYyXk3rkQiL7XM-nzzrq1phBNrxQ_pUDRodHo/s320/steam4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Union Pacific steam engine. Photo taken near Eaton, Colorado by Darla Sue Dollman.</i></div>
</div>
<div>
Wodziwob told the Paiute should prepare for this miracle by reviving a traditional Round Dance symbolizing the sun's journey through the sky. The Round Dance was referred to by many observers as a "religious frenzy," Wodziwob's movement lost its great popularity when the train filled with deceased ancestors failed to arrive and instead, the Paiute reservation was struck with severe drought, which destroyed the Paiute's hopes and Wodziwob's credibility. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For the next two decades the lives of most tribal Native American Indians living on reservations rapidly declined. To make matters worse, the success of the railroads attracted the same wave of white settlers, gamblers, prostitutes, and business owners that the discovery of gold would bring to small towns. As they traveled through the West on trains, the white men slaughtered what few buffalo were left. Some trains would make short stops so travelers could randomly shoot buffalo from the train windows, watching the majestic animals slowly fall to the ground and die.<br />
<br />
The United States Government continued to provoke the situation by breaking treaties and promises, reducing land holdings--not a few hundred acres, but millions of acres previously approved by Congress--food allotments, promised clothing and supplies. According to the <i>Story of the Great American West</i>, the years 1889 and 1890 were the most painful yet for all of the various tribes now living on small reservations that were stricken with drought. The lack of food supplements from the government led to starvation and disease, particularly among the children. It was a time of great despair among people desperate for hope.<br />
<br />
<b>Wovoka Revives The Ghost Dance</b><br />
<br />
In 1889, the Paiute Shaman <a href="http://wildwesthistory.blogspot.com/2013/10/wounded-knee-wovoka-and-ghost-dance.html">Wovoka </a>also had a vision, a dream that his people would regain their former strength and power, but his dream would prove to be apocalyptic. As discussed before, Wovoka assured his followers that if they followed his instructions, wore the protective clothing and danced The Ghost Dance the buffalo would fill the plains, dead tribal members would return to their families, and the Native American Indians would live a blissful life free of the white men.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVxyLtM3pnxJ-3HwDsyszRaltbGDPFvy9hs2VuPH38qxAV-Cbw-8-rSVthjsBuuyifp9CcWzEBabp43_wy3KYspFJnze3W8cptmOQ_FKaaT6PSb6Czs1y3nxy9DV80unuCiQvOgpNlOcQ/s1600/GhostDancePaiute-280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVxyLtM3pnxJ-3HwDsyszRaltbGDPFvy9hs2VuPH38qxAV-Cbw-8-rSVthjsBuuyifp9CcWzEBabp43_wy3KYspFJnze3W8cptmOQ_FKaaT6PSb6Czs1y3nxy9DV80unuCiQvOgpNlOcQ/s1600/GhostDancePaiute-280.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Paiute Ghost Dance. Courtesy of <a href="http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-ghostdance.html">Legends of America.</a></i></div>
<br />
Wovoka's timing was impeccable, and his revival of The Ghost Dance became a cult that moved across the West like a rogue wave. By 1890 it had reached the Sioux in South Dakota. They were desperate with drought and starvation and embraced the symbolism of The Ghost Dance, dancing to the point of exhaustion. They wore their shirts with magical symbols painted on them with the belief that the shirts were blessed and would repel any bullets shot at them, which naturally intimidated outside observers.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXr-3-2ziQYV9KAcFhYUWyEDxKfWs_Ua3UIUCixZM538EomFXmIoHdDqEa_CJp__ex6d2COLUJdkXafq0hCc8Gu9Wu07Wn2wB4LZ6HzGjs1IiHAAr6Anx3rpebJT3-K1Lv6a221oNrFro/s1600/Ghost+Dance+of+the+Sioux,+Illustrated+in+London+News,+1891-280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXr-3-2ziQYV9KAcFhYUWyEDxKfWs_Ua3UIUCixZM538EomFXmIoHdDqEa_CJp__ex6d2COLUJdkXafq0hCc8Gu9Wu07Wn2wB4LZ6HzGjs1IiHAAr6Anx3rpebJT3-K1Lv6a221oNrFro/s1600/Ghost+Dance+of+the+Sioux,+Illustrated+in+London+News,+1891-280.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Ghost Dance of the Sioux, illustrated in the London News, 1900.</i></div>
<br />
The adults left their chores, the children left the schools, and they all danced with a frenzy that caused great panic among many of the white people, including Indian Agent James McLaughlin who sent a desperate message to the military, stating: "Indians are dancing in the snow and are wild and crazy...We need protection and we need it now." The government responded, sending troops.<br />
<br />
According to Lakota Birgell Kills Straight on <i>The Real West</i>, "Dancing was a way of life. Even the wind in the trees--everything seemed to dance. There's songs all over. Everything begins with a song and a dance. It's a ritual."<br />
<br />
"This is why The Ghost Dance was readily acceptable," he continues. "It wasn't an elaborate ceremony. People linked hands and danced a very simple step to the left. And that's basically all it was."<br />
<br />
According to author Joseph Marshall, III: "They tried to dance themselves into a trance so they could communicate with their ancestors." Day and night, round and round they danced until they collapsed from exhaustion, then they would rest, rise, and dance again.<br />
<br />
<b>The Ghost Dance: Harmful or Harmless? </b><br />
<br />
There were some who viewed The Ghost Dance as harmless, as a dance of hope among a people filled with despair, seeking hope. Indian Agent Valentine McGillycuddy (love that name) sent his own dispatch to the U.S. Government recommending that the government refrain from interfering. "I should let the dance continue," he said.<br />
<br />
"The coming of the troops has frightened the Indians," he continued. "If the Seventh Day Adventists prepare their ascension roves for the second coming of the Savior the United States Army is not put in motion to prevent them. Why should not the Indians have the same privilege?"<br />
<br />
Why indeed? The West was flooding with people of every religion you could possibly imagine, so why stop the Native American Indians from worshiping as they pleased? Because they were Indians.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Resources:</b><i> </i></div>
<div style="orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; widows: auto;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">"The Final Clash at Wounded Knee." <i>Story of the Great American West. </i>Reader's Digest Association, Inc. New York: 1977.</li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">"The Ghost Dance<i>." <a href="http://nativeamericanencyclopedia.com/the-ghost-dance/">Native American Encyclopedia. </a></i>Accessed October 9, 2013.</li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>The Spirit World. </i>Time Life Books. Alexandria, Virginia: 1992.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-89889229927243715862013-10-14T11:14:00.002-07:002013-10-14T16:29:45.775-07:00Wounded Knee: The Measuring Woman Attempts to Avert Disaster<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgM_7EW4N8Wagpkan3k-KtRsYCp5PlcyJdE3-UQxMaoHd2-t07_UncoXt1fqzv0DQayeACFD_Gw3HXFTdskYzk2Cai_zDye8RRGVzVe8dSfLkHIDcGZjfUtoo9O4dKGS-b13J7CPt-Nho/s1600/Alice_Fletcher2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgM_7EW4N8Wagpkan3k-KtRsYCp5PlcyJdE3-UQxMaoHd2-t07_UncoXt1fqzv0DQayeACFD_Gw3HXFTdskYzk2Cai_zDye8RRGVzVe8dSfLkHIDcGZjfUtoo9O4dKGS-b13J7CPt-Nho/s320/Alice_Fletcher2.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Alice Fletcher meets with Chief Joseph at the Nez Perce Lapwai Reservation in Idaho, 1889. The man on one knee is James Stewart, her interpreter. The <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alice_Fletcher2.gif">photograph </a>is by Jane Gay, who wrote in her book With the Nez Perce that James Stewart only knelt on one knee when he was anxious. Although Alice Fletcher seemed calm and determined, her work was quite dangerous considering the tensions between the white men and Native American Indians at that time.</i></div>
<br />
Alice Cunningham Fletcher (1838-1923) was an American Ethnologist who studied and wrote about the culture of the Native American Indians. She was also one of many people who saw the crisis of Wounded Knee coming in the near future and tried to intervene, to do what she could to help the Native American Indians. She was a surprise to the people--small of stature and tireless in her work, but her efforts were greatly appreciated.<br />
<br />
<b>Alice Cunningham Fletcher</b><br />
<br />
Alice Cunningham Fletcher came from a wealthy family in Havana, Cuba. Her father was a graduate of Dartmouth and successful attorney in New York who moved the family to Cuba for health reasons. According to the National Anthropological Archives, when Fletcher's father died, her mother, who was also educated in the best schools, moved her children back to Boston so they could continue their education in the United States.<br />
<br />
After graduating from college, Alice Fletcher worked as an educator, but she was also active in organizations for the advancement of women. She also had a lecture tour where she discussed the history of human life and her belief that ancient history was best explored through archaeology and ethnography, or the "scientific description of the customs of individual peoples and cultures."<br />
<br />
Fletcher attracted the attention of Frederick Ward Putnam, Director of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peabody_Museum_of_Archaeology_and_Ethnology">Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University</a>. He was impressed by her knowledge, as well as her determination and invited her to study with him. At first she was reluctant--in spite of her determined spirit she still believed she was not qualified for such a distinction, but she soon realized the magnificent opportunity Putnam's invitation promised to further her education, so she agreed. It was Putnam who encouraged Fletcher to study the remains of the Indian civilization in the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCfgnom4kZdnfDUJhvgrNv4WmZsfZECDuAseH12Y5YKJ_rJU9NTVuQjFADUwUCBJjjoFlPHuzydyhQNb2f4HmvfqvtxSlI3SbdWw7SykaDX5im7MHjsfpT2hs24DaymZ7ZGBKyFseA-to/s1600/435px-PSM_V43_D609_Alice_Cunningham_Fletcher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCfgnom4kZdnfDUJhvgrNv4WmZsfZECDuAseH12Y5YKJ_rJU9NTVuQjFADUwUCBJjjoFlPHuzydyhQNb2f4HmvfqvtxSlI3SbdWw7SykaDX5im7MHjsfpT2hs24DaymZ7ZGBKyFseA-to/s320/435px-PSM_V43_D609_Alice_Cunningham_Fletcher.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Alice Cunningham Fletcher. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PSM_V43_D607_Alice_Cunningham_Fletcher.jpg">Photo </a>taken in 1893.</i></div>
<br />
Putnam also encouraged her to join the Archaeological Institute of America. These were great accomplishments for a woman in the 1800s, but not enough for Alice Fletcher. During her explorations she learned too much about what was happening to the Native American Indians and she knew she could not turn away from the atrocities she witnessed.<br />
<br />
<b>Proving the Critics Wrong</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
She was an unmarried woman of 43 at the time and I think her decision to travel and study among the Native American Indians at her age and without military protection of any kind surprised everyone. She was discussed in many scientific circles--few people believed she would succeed in her goals.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs3Yng_E9xd63fmZWdZLk04n7rKWBO-oCs4dhl6agdJ1rKPYQqCbETHhSqZpyI-BMyqMwAtQ4AayKQXFLHU5XwH8-OR4oT5NX3ac2N3rhTCG4F9V_sIr9sxqidhY7esnywDHVE9KB4iT0/s1600/459px-PSM_V41_D318_Alice_C_Fletcher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs3Yng_E9xd63fmZWdZLk04n7rKWBO-oCs4dhl6agdJ1rKPYQqCbETHhSqZpyI-BMyqMwAtQ4AayKQXFLHU5XwH8-OR4oT5NX3ac2N3rhTCG4F9V_sIr9sxqidhY7esnywDHVE9KB4iT0/s320/459px-PSM_V41_D318_Alice_C_Fletcher.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Alice Cunningham Fletcher. Photo taken in 1892 for Popular Science Monthly.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Nevertheless, on September 16, 1881, Fletcher left with her companions--Susette La Flesche, an Omaha Indian, and Thomas Henry Tibbles, a journalist--to begin her studies and prove her critics wrong. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
She first traveled to the Nebraska Territories in 1881. She lived in the camps among the Omaha, Winnebago, Poncas, and Nez Perce. According to Story of the Great American West, she would tell the people as she entered their camps, "I came to learn...your ways, your songs, and to see if I can help you in any way."</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Fletcher documented the history of the people, their culture, language, and religion as she visited the various tribes. More importantly, she documented what was happening between the Indian Agents and the Native American Indians, and the fact that they were not receiving their allotments of food, supplies, and clothing. What she discovered appalled her. She was angered by the amount of corruption in the Indian Agent system and the lack of government oversight.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Alice Fletcher Visits Washington</b></div>
<br />
In 1883, Alice Fletcher decided she'd seen enough government corruption and she left for Washington, D.C. to talk to politicians about the mistreatment of the Native American Indians and ask for assistance. She worked on a bill that allowed the Omaha people to claim title to their own land and helped promote it's passage through Congress. She returned to Nebraska, and from 1883 to 1885 worked as a government agent. She personally supervised the parceling out of 76,000 acres of land to the Indians.<br /><br />This same year, Fletcher was appointed Special Agent to the U.S. to allot lands to the Miwok tribes. The following year, in 1884, she was sent to the World Cotton Centennial to present and exhibit on the progress of civilization among the Native American Indians. In 1886 she extended her explorations to Alaska and the Aleutian Islands to investigate the education of tribal people. When the Dawes Severalty Act was passed in 1887, Fletcher was again appointed Special Agent in the allotment of lands, this time to the Winnebago and the Nez Perce.<br /><br /><b>The Measuring Woman</b><br /><br />In 1889, Fletcher was once again in Idaho working with the Nez Perce, directing surveys of allotted lands to the people. She worked for 22 months straight in challenging conditions described as "blazing heat and bitter cold." She impressed the Native American Indians so deeply with her tireless efforts to help them that they referred to her as The Measuring Woman, the woman who measured everything, making sure the people received what they were promised.<br />
<b>A Grievous Error?</b><br />
<br />
Although clearly her heart was in the right place, according to the National Anthropological Archives many believed Fletcher's land allotments and other benevolent works were a grievous error due to her attitude, perhaps because she encouraged the Indians to argue for what they were promised, which turned out to be a dangerous move. Or maybe because she also encouraged them to try to educate themselves in the ways of the white people, claiming this would make them more productive as Americans, which they may have found insulting.<br /><br />The article "Camping with the Sioux" implies that Fletcher may have also realized the error in her attitude. I did not get this impression in my studies. I suspect she simply realized that there was too much prejudice against Native American Indians at that time and her efforts were useless.<br />
<br />
After Wounded Knee, Fletcher confined her work to ethnography. She returned to Harvard's Peabody Museum where she held a fellowship for the next 25 years. Her studies of the Native American Indians still influence American archaeologists to this day.<br />
<br />
<b>Resources:</b><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>"Camping with the Sioux: Fieldwork Diary of Alice Cunningham Fletcher." <i><a href="http://www.nmnh.si.edu/naa/fletcher/foreword.htm">National Anthropological Archives.</a> </i>Smithsonian Institution. Accessed October 13, 2013.</li>
<li><i>Story of the Great American West</i>. Reader's Digest Association. New York: 1977.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6964675941678680587.post-20852106099509553262013-10-04T23:37:00.001-07:002013-10-04T23:37:35.898-07:00Wounded Knee: Wovoka and the Ghost Dance<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-9OZJVDk8rr9jE9JqKRogoy8MgJv3buidP1BY0reAfenOqgTGhQ_e1-bLoc-v__kXPs1RLLHLuyt8Tb-TpSi1NEJ9vn6rH3H4jhiYKFlI8eRoknRC6-0Bn5vewhB7uCDLa1_SzdYia60/s1600/Wovoka_Paiute_Shaman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-9OZJVDk8rr9jE9JqKRogoy8MgJv3buidP1BY0reAfenOqgTGhQ_e1-bLoc-v__kXPs1RLLHLuyt8Tb-TpSi1NEJ9vn6rH3H4jhiYKFlI8eRoknRC6-0Bn5vewhB7uCDLa1_SzdYia60/s320/Wovoka_Paiute_Shaman.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wovoka_Paiute_Shaman.jpg">Wovoka</a>, (1856-1932), who was also known as Jack Wilson. Wovoka was the Northern Paiute religious leader who founded the Ghost Dance movement that is believed to have added to the fear and mistrust that led to the Wounded Knee massacre. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Leading up to the discussion on the Wounded Knee Massacre it seems there is so much preliminary information that should be discussed in order to fully understand what occurred on that day, so many seemingly minor incidents, major issues, people, places, all mixed together to create a situation that led to the horrific events of December 29, 1890. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Of the many people involved in the incidents leading up to that fateful day, Wovoka, or Jack Wilson, plays one of the most intriguing roles, for it was Wovoka who introduced the people to the Ghost Dance in the spirit of reviving their hope for a better future, and yet, it was Wovoka's belief that anything that brought a better future to his people should come about through non-violent acts. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_tIGxJiAG042xIKHyA1yUmx3fZ1TNEzltEX7UUeMRP4nJ41Yi5Kyj9Y9LksKsaAPxub_5gBwmkv2UcqjaQXZzL13IN7-dzWsinznU9Z-xBf2DlNXU0Gh-gS8ggRNvCVEgeFdUtkaDkQI/s1600/Ghost_dance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_tIGxJiAG042xIKHyA1yUmx3fZ1TNEzltEX7UUeMRP4nJ41Yi5Kyj9Y9LksKsaAPxub_5gBwmkv2UcqjaQXZzL13IN7-dzWsinznU9Z-xBf2DlNXU0Gh-gS8ggRNvCVEgeFdUtkaDkQI/s320/Ghost_dance.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Depiction of the <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wovoka_Paiute_Shaman.jpg">Sioux Ghost Dance </a>by the Philadelphia Publishers Union, 1891.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Wovoka was born in Nevada, possibly in or near Carson City, around 1856. It is believed that his father was the famous religious leader Tavibo, also known as Numu-Taibo. Wovoka's religious teachings were similar to, or based on, the same teachings of his father. Wovoka also had training as a medicine man, a Native American Indian spiritual healer. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Wovoka's father died when Wovoka was a young teen, around 14 years old. It was then that David Wilson, a nearby rancher, took Wovoka into his home and continued his religious instruction, this time teaching Wovoka the beliefs of the European American Christians. Wovoka worked on Wilson's ranch during the day, and at night, Wilson and his wife, Abigail, taught Wovoka Christian theology and read to him from the Bible. Wovoka was given the name of Jack Wilson.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Wovoka Gains a Reputation as a Healer and Magician</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
As he grew older, Wovoka became a popular and respected medicine man. It is also believed, however, that he knew many magic tricks, but it is difficult to say whether or not this would have affected his reputation in any way, or how it would affect his reputation. It depends on how "magic" was perceived by his followers. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Wovoka was known to have performed a popular Old West trick known as the bullet catch, which made it appear as if he survived being shot with a shotgun. This may have influenced the Lakota in believing their "ghost shirts," worn during the Ghost Dance, were capable of stopping bullets. He was known for many "tricks" though, including levitation, and influencing the weather, which was another common trick used in the Old West as pioneers and Native American Indians both depended on the weather for survival of their crops and livestock. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>The Prophecy</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
On January 1, 1989, during a solar eclipse, Wovoka claimed he saw a vision that the Paiute dead were resurrected and the white men disappeared from the land. According to the book <i>Great American West</i>, Wovoka told visiting tribal representatives that he had this vision during a seizure, and he believed he visited the Great Spirit in Heaven during this seizure, which would make sense to Wovoka who was raised to believe in a mixture of both Native American and Christian spirituality. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
During this vision, he said, he was told that the buffalo would once again fill the plains (if only this were true!) and their dead tribesmen would return to their families to live a peaceful life. Wovoka claimed he was told this would only come to pass if his followers performed the proper ritual dance, which became known as the Ghost Dance due to its association with the resurrection of the dead. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>The Cult of the Ghost Dance</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The Native American Indians at this point were desperate, and Wovoka's vision offered them hope. Word of his vision spread quickly among many tribes, but most notably the Lakota in the Dakotas. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Unfortunately, the Indian Agents, Federal Officials, and Army personnel, as well as the local residents viewed the Ghost Dance as a threat. To them, if Wokova preached that the Ghost Dance would stop bullets, then he must also be encouraging an uprising. This is believed to have been a large factor in what occurred at Wounded Knee. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEToD-8acffovgxISI0HDTdZtZRcQbeSqjKy7-KD_6K-9wlOAg2Z1e6ewKdT2ijquc9Csbo75kLW6Sl095LNZv9tI_60KQ1lVdE7Bis41FnMllFiiOGkZK1BxrZKFWPAzeznrme2jXi00/s1600/800px-Woolaroc_-_Kiowa_Hemd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEToD-8acffovgxISI0HDTdZtZRcQbeSqjKy7-KD_6K-9wlOAg2Z1e6ewKdT2ijquc9Csbo75kLW6Sl095LNZv9tI_60KQ1lVdE7Bis41FnMllFiiOGkZK1BxrZKFWPAzeznrme2jXi00/s320/800px-Woolaroc_-_Kiowa_Hemd.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Kiowa Ghost Dance Shirt. Photo by <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woolaroc_-_Kiowa_Hemd.jpg">Wolfgang Sauber.</a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Guilt and Responsibility </b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I believe it would be wrong to blame Wokova for the violent reaction to the dance since he made it very clear that he believed in non-violence. It was the mystery involved in the dance that frightened the white men, and the speed with which the cult spread across the country. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Two Miniconjou leaders--Short Bull and Kicking Bear--also emphasized the elimination of the whites when they spread the word of Wovoka's vision, which certainly didn't help, but I wouldn't blame them, either. As I said before, the Wounded Knee Massacre was a horrific tragedy, and all tragedies have many factors leading up to the final event. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I do not know if Wovoka felt responsible for what happened at Wounded Knee, but I feel certain he felt remorse, and though I hope he did not feel guilty, I suppose it is possible that he felt a certain amount of guilt for his involvement in inspiring the people to act in a way that ultimately brought their deaths. I do not believe he was responsible. Wovoka had a dream, and many leaders share their dreams with their people in times of trouble. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Wovoka did not die at the Wounded Knee Massacre. He died on September 20, 1932 and is buried in the Paiute Cemetery in Schurz, Nevada. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Resources: </b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.4em;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><i>Great American West</i>. Reader's Digest Association, Inc. New York: 1977.</li>
<li>Trafzer, Clifford E. <i>American Indian prophets: religious leaders and revitalization movement.</i> Sierra Oaks Publishing Company. Indiana:1986.</li>
</ul>
<br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
Darla Sue Dollmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15295727215740074345noreply@blogger.com5