tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14098878125666252842024-03-18T19:37:40.161-05:00Western FictioneersOfficial Blog of the Western Fictioneers, Professional Authors of Traditional Western Novels and Short StoriesWestern Fictioneershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01683314579075461026noreply@blogger.comBlogger1527125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-9327094921968916862024-03-13T08:30:00.002-05:002024-03-13T08:30:00.136-05:00Loops and Swift Horses are Surer Than Lead, by Charles Marion Russell (1916)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcx_Sv0cRZynTTvhyQzWIku9lncrjTNUWhXD1bQYexIeZEpZ1CxdBB7pyAjuczdoMR3G57NndfMciGybNdbFYMlwrm8sA0_uZZnJZalCCKKYSAjKkdC1kEtHYmc91dDV6znTBKBvoxNIEf5H0HPalRLLlLXDx5XIvbNRC1WboCMj6S5UsYMV7GjjZ_2yKx/s1280/1280px-russell_loops_and_swift_horses_are_surer_than_lead_1916.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="777" data-original-width="1280" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcx_Sv0cRZynTTvhyQzWIku9lncrjTNUWhXD1bQYexIeZEpZ1CxdBB7pyAjuczdoMR3G57NndfMciGybNdbFYMlwrm8sA0_uZZnJZalCCKKYSAjKkdC1kEtHYmc91dDV6znTBKBvoxNIEf5H0HPalRLLlLXDx5XIvbNRC1WboCMj6S5UsYMV7GjjZ_2yKx/w400-h243/1280px-russell_loops_and_swift_horses_are_surer_than_lead_1916.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;">Hello There!</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;">First off, I wanted to thank everyone for the kind words! I am a Western Writers of America Finalist for Best Western Juvenile Fiction for my book, Tom Mix and The Wild West Christmas. This is, simply, the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me, and I am thrilled beyond words. Thanks to everyone at Western Fictioneers who sent best wishes.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;">This month, I wanted to look at a painting by cowboy artist Charles Marion Russell. </span></span></p><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;">We can start with the obvious: the
title of this work, <b>Loops and Swift
Horses are Surer Than Lead</b>. In my study of Western Art over the years, I have had occasion to
look at several pictures that include bears in an attitude of menace. In fact, after Native Americans, bandits and over-zealous
lawmen, perhaps the bear is the most frequently represented foeman in Western
Art.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;">However, most any of Charlie’s
contemporaries would take the obvious route, and paint a picture of Western
figures shooting and killing the bear.
(Or, reaching for their rifles to do so, or putting them down after they
have done so.) Not Charlie. His cowboy heroes, though obviously
well-armed, rope and scare the bear away to safer climes. Always more <b>Roy Rogers</b> than <b>Clint
Eastwood</b>, Charlie didn’t see the West as a vast panorama of hardship and
cruelty, but, rather, a boyish paradise of freedom and fun.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;">This is where Charlie differs most
significantly from the artist frequently associated with him, <b>Frederic Remington</b> (1861-1909). For Remington, the West was unending
hardship, merciless desert and physical exertion, a battle for survival to be
won or lost. It is Remington, of course,
who created in his work the now-familiar Western trope of the bleached steer
skull that can still be seen in countless depictions of the West. Make a wrong move, Remington implied, and you’ll
end up the same.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;">If this picture is any indication,
perhaps Charlie’s vision was the truer one.
Loops and Swift Horses now hangs in the <b>Amon Carter Museum of American Art</b>, and is based on a true-life
incident. This painting came about by
way of his friends, the Coburn brothers of the famous Circle C Ranch in eastern
Montana, where they described the roping of a giant brown bear. Artistic
license was taken when Charlie turned the bruin into a Grizzly, but the rest of
the story was true right down to the landscape in the background: the scenic Coburn
Buttes.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;">The dominant color of the picture is
blue, but Charlie manages to mute or pop shades of it to represent everything
from trees to sky to mountains, to foreground scrub. Yet, the color never becomes monotonous or gimmicky. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;">Charlie was also the master of figures
in motion. His horses <i>move</i>. Many of our greatest artists have been able to depict horses of majesty,
of size, of monumentality, but Charlie’s horses are seen in dramatic action,
twisting or jumping with a febrile life of their own. I can think of no finer painter of American
horses than Charlie Russell.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;">Finally, Charlie underscores the tumultuous
action of the picture with a rainstorm in the middle-distant horizon. Like all Western landscape pictures, the
view-horizon is vast, going on for miles. Thus the far-off rain storm underscores the ‘storm’ of action going on
between cowboys, horses and bear. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;">Speaking of movement, take a moment
to look at the bear. It twists and
pivots on unsteady ground … you can almost feel the weight of the animal as it
is pulled and slides down the natural incline. The cowboys, too, move as if in motion, alternately pulling or swinging
their lariats. And notice the cowboy on
the right, looking over his right shoulder, with right leg raised as counter
weight to keep in saddle.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;">This is a really good picture, and
something mysteriously akin to the essence of Charlie – not only is his West a
world of action, freedom and camaraderie, but it can be a fairly bloodless one,
too. Charlie loved the animals he found
out West (when visiting cities, he always went to the local zoo, where he said
he felt most at home), and it’s not surprising that he would depict his heroes
scaring away the threat of a grizzly, rather than killing it. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;">Perhaps we should all take a page
from Russell’s notebook, and produce work that preserves the best parts of
ourselves (or, at least, the myth of the best part of ourselves). The more I look at Charlie’s work, the more
convinced I become that we need more artists like him now.</span></span><p></p>thatbobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13091029446447060732noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-88390253717541055832024-03-07T23:00:00.015-06:002024-03-07T23:00:00.143-06:00On This Day in the Old West: March 8<p><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Today we’re talking about something near and dear to most everyone’s heart: money! Specifically coins and how they are made. On March 8, 1838, the New Orleans Mint began operations. They started with an order for dimes, but later produced all sorts of coins. Let’s take a closer look at a mint and how it works.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl0ho7lOodSm-aerDB99_yza9sLuEGpAlCYkQVMVbGGh-c73GyDwXvf5kAwAzq_C0JL92b4WtjHw5c34mJlVnJ55F0yS5-GLo90uLmhnjYOCPCgWHRQmxOOiqxm5n_5K3I-vdbSqwwPjrxiRPwF445K9c6-2q2p6nXo_GdxbKBCM_8swdPm9ZrIpP2QZ6B/s900/blog%20mint%20building.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="900" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl0ho7lOodSm-aerDB99_yza9sLuEGpAlCYkQVMVbGGh-c73GyDwXvf5kAwAzq_C0JL92b4WtjHw5c34mJlVnJ55F0yS5-GLo90uLmhnjYOCPCgWHRQmxOOiqxm5n_5K3I-vdbSqwwPjrxiRPwF445K9c6-2q2p6nXo_GdxbKBCM_8swdPm9ZrIpP2QZ6B/s320/blog%20mint%20building.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">The New Orleans Mint operated from 1838 to 1861, then from 1879 to 1909 after the Civil War. During that time, it produced over 427 million gold and silver coins of nearly every American denomination, with a total face value of over 307 million US dollars. Some of the coins produced at this mint included silver three-cent pieces (1851 only), half-dimes, dimes, quarters, half dollars, silver dollars, gold dollars, $2.50 quarter-eagles, three-dollar pieces, five-dollar half-eagles, ten dollar eagles, and twenty dollar double eagles.</span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Yo002_t6qlE6_vIZrez9eHo0Ja4v2qQz4aA96Mb-YyyRYjjBQFWLwa22pAjFgR0TCx6L0_7jGG-y37yv3kZKrhcqypty5m4Rwjwbxy0IofhYRHpTF1o1aVbfXK9t_rLHmIhdewXwWzn38fr9td6YSZq1yqMlnCAyB7Une7d6iUbNVyoAZYb5JKeoY95t/s600/blog%20mint%20die.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="319" data-original-width="600" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Yo002_t6qlE6_vIZrez9eHo0Ja4v2qQz4aA96Mb-YyyRYjjBQFWLwa22pAjFgR0TCx6L0_7jGG-y37yv3kZKrhcqypty5m4Rwjwbxy0IofhYRHpTF1o1aVbfXK9t_rLHmIhdewXwWzn38fr9td6YSZq1yqMlnCAyB7Une7d6iUbNVyoAZYb5JKeoY95t/s320/blog%20mint%20die.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 6pt 0in 0in;"><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">The first step in the coin-making process is to design the coin. A sculptor (or sculptress) first creates the design with a sketch, then a three-dimensional model in clay. This model is then transferred onto a metal stamp, called a die. The die is what stamps the design onto the coins. Most coins start out as huge rolls of metal, like giant rolls of wrapping paper. Round discs are punched out of these sheets. These are called blanks and are heated to make them softer and easier to work. The blanks are washed, then run through a machine that squeezes them so that the sides push up, making the characteristic coin rims. The coin press then uses the special die to stamp the coin design onto each blank. Mint employees then inspect each coin for flaws before they are counted, weighed, and bagged to be sent all over the country. Each coin will last around thirty years in circulation before it becomes too worn to use further. The coins are then retired and melted down so the metal can be used for other things.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 6pt 0in 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRSBya9JwgAvQt5LyfEhXUJZuUbyMAfVhu96yAoDeWOyJ2keIXJ5UMeHDb04SqgVquM_GUm2RnNo8mIqrwQXyI4uDJiDzFx3Ncw9QOu_QhtDsOAUeMGI1ClojePLpqcl7D66wQvpY2lODpV4qILKvAb_ROdAnJ5aL_O3k3NDxA5odgspCaJ9_vCz2s5sbN/s480/blog%20mint%20coins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRSBya9JwgAvQt5LyfEhXUJZuUbyMAfVhu96yAoDeWOyJ2keIXJ5UMeHDb04SqgVquM_GUm2RnNo8mIqrwQXyI4uDJiDzFx3Ncw9QOu_QhtDsOAUeMGI1ClojePLpqcl7D66wQvpY2lODpV4qILKvAb_ROdAnJ5aL_O3k3NDxA5odgspCaJ9_vCz2s5sbN/s320/blog%20mint%20coins.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 6pt 0in 0in;"><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Many interesting characters served at the New Orleans Mint during its early years of operation. One such personage was John Leonard Riddell, who served as melter and refiner at the Mint from 1839 to 1848. Outside of this job, he pursued interests in botany, medicine, chemistry, geology, and physics. Riddell invented the binocular microscope and wrote on numismatics, publishing a book in 1845 titled <i>Monograph of the Silver Dollar, Good and Bad, Illustrated with Facsimile Figures.</i> Two years later, an article by Riddell appeared in <i>DeBow’s Review.</i> This was called “The Mint at New Orleans—Processes Pursued of Working the Precious Metals—Statistics of Coinage, etc.” John Riddell, however, was not held in high esteem by everyone he knew. His conflicts with other Mint employees were well-documented, and at one point he was accused of being unable to properly conduct a gold melt.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 6pt 0in 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_qWVmGHRSFE78StMHW85DmthHbRQJLp_cuBGx-cRFZfnkQMGp0y_1y_aZu88JMg-StU4hdQe8WSH4G3S1AHTTxXpiQielJSdJERNtywCZC96DHKG_asdFv5NRudzk8_Uv100ETrvSaZixeC4T0Yz_XoegmPS-eIC8qITcGM-WiGoZpCRu31vT14qDnFw3/s600/blog%20mint%20die2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="600" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_qWVmGHRSFE78StMHW85DmthHbRQJLp_cuBGx-cRFZfnkQMGp0y_1y_aZu88JMg-StU4hdQe8WSH4G3S1AHTTxXpiQielJSdJERNtywCZC96DHKG_asdFv5NRudzk8_Uv100ETrvSaZixeC4T0Yz_XoegmPS-eIC8qITcGM-WiGoZpCRu31vT14qDnFw3/s320/blog%20mint%20die2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 6pt 0in 0in;"><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Your characters, while probably not familiar with the inner workings of a mint, would certainly have been familiar with the products of that factory, and would have probably preferred the solid clink of coin over the sometimes-unreliable paper bills. It might be interesting to look into some of those more interesting coins in depth, to see if your character might have carried around a three-cent or three-dollar piece, or even a half-dime (and no, this was not just a nickname for a nickel). Looks like a ”mint” condition 1853 half-dime might net you as much as $24,000 today! Too bad your character couldn’t stash one or two away for you.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 6pt 0in 0in;"><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 6pt 0in 0in;"><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">J.E.S. Hays<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 6pt 0in 0in;"><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><a href="http://www.jeshays.com/" style="color: #954f72;">www.jeshays.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 6pt 0in 0in;"><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/JESHaysBooks" style="color: #954f72;">www.facebook.com/JESHaysBooks</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>JES Hayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08464125288178319685noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-32909467916182539152024-03-06T02:30:00.002-06:002024-03-07T14:55:24.537-06:00Western Movie Taglines Blog Series - March Movies #movietaglines #westernmovies<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR4QG3BgaghKOGt_w_pLoojPUot6d41VV-DDn-zeuykwUtiQMPE8YyPc9502U4Octjvmet6KUHiv_mR2p0O3uW7qghdvnpQm9_uvlHSi5uN5VLNWvlxlBgoO_xNfM2GmAuzA552EFxEx1VH7YgTgnu_R-LbUaiSjtpSpu4Mjm66A0DuD0-ixHuS24YKG8M/s300/Website.Header.Romance-in-days-gone-by-2-300x75.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="75" data-original-width="300" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR4QG3BgaghKOGt_w_pLoojPUot6d41VV-DDn-zeuykwUtiQMPE8YyPc9502U4Octjvmet6KUHiv_mR2p0O3uW7qghdvnpQm9_uvlHSi5uN5VLNWvlxlBgoO_xNfM2GmAuzA552EFxEx1VH7YgTgnu_R-LbUaiSjtpSpu4Mjm66A0DuD0-ixHuS24YKG8M/s1600/Website.Header.Romance-in-days-gone-by-2-300x75.webp" width="300" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">My 2024 blogging series, Western Movie Taglines, began in
January when I explained what a tagline is and gave examples of good
non-western movie taglines followed by several disappointing
taglines from western movies.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">In February, I shared 15 western movie taglines that were clever or witty, real groaners, or just plain silly. March through September, I will share 10 movie taglines each month. October through December will be the Top 40 Countdown of Best Western Movie Taglines.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I've compiled a list of 250 westerns and their taglines. From
that 250, I've plucked out the best 125 to share between February and December.
These 125 taglines range from good to outstanding as far as doing justice to
their corresponding movies.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Top 40 taglines are the ones that capture and sum up the
heart of the movie in such a fabulous way that we're amazed at how a handful of
words can be that powerful or theme-descriptive. Also in December, I will 1)
share taglines I've written for two western movies and one early-settling of
the American frontier movie that deserved better taglines and, 2) offer a
downloadable document of the 250 movies and taglines that I compiled.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2024/01/western-movies-taglines-2024-blog.html" target="_blank">January Movie Taglines</a><br /><a href="https://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2024/03/western-movie-taglines-blog-series.html" target="_blank">February Movie Taglines</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">March Western Movie Taglines</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>3 Godfathers or Three Godfathers</i> (1948)<br />Three desperadoes keep a date with destiny…in the strangest
drama to roar out of the badlands.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Against a Crooked Sky</i> (1975)<br />A young woman kidnapped in the West. A brother determined to
save her.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>California </i>(1963)<br />Fearless frontiersmen led by a danger-loving soldier of
fortune.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Crossfire Trail</i> (2001)<br />A hero is measured by the enemies he makes.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>El Dorado </i>(1967)<br />At El Dorado there’s no gold in the ground—only lead in the
air.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">...and...</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">They were friends. They were enemies. A passerby could not
tell which was who. This was the seething sultry Old Southwest where loyalties
and labels shifted with the sands, the winking of an eye, the wavering of a
gun!</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQqpNDgZeOv7dnWt-y5C9fDf5Gyt8Edl4c8jdDW8yIZPPItNGjmbP1SgtyAIQ0r0ZXO_hDio7sAF67zS_24SKA4HZ8JPciZdmBYopIxNAEHOpPQKXXBQaGc8FL0kUfq6WWAwtVZg-PX5M8B0J72dZJRe5rsBfPi8xyi9avom9sHhYoh6q4-wBoDhr3TBjb/s2000/Western%20Fictioneers%202024.03-06%2010%20movies%20collage.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQqpNDgZeOv7dnWt-y5C9fDf5Gyt8Edl4c8jdDW8yIZPPItNGjmbP1SgtyAIQ0r0ZXO_hDio7sAF67zS_24SKA4HZ8JPciZdmBYopIxNAEHOpPQKXXBQaGc8FL0kUfq6WWAwtVZg-PX5M8B0J72dZJRe5rsBfPi8xyi9avom9sHhYoh6q4-wBoDhr3TBjb/w400-h400/Western%20Fictioneers%202024.03-06%2010%20movies%20collage.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>North to Alaska </i>(1960)<br />These were the adventurers…fighting, laughing, and brawling
their way from Seattle to Nome!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">...and...</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">These were the giants
who fought and loved their way to the top of the world!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>The Shootist</i> (1976)<br />He’s got to face a gunfight once more to live up to his
legend once more to win just one more time.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Stagecoach</i> (1966)<br />These were the ten who fought Indians, outlaws, and each
other as they rode to greatness on the stagecoach to Cheyenne!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Valdez is Coming</i> (1971)<br />Honor is always worth fighting for.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Winterhawk </i>(1975)<br />Before the West ever saw the American cowboy… Winterhawk had
become a Blackfoot legend</span>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGADVUDqZsLz3xsb4E0bjbhBObWCW5jOYY_OSTRoQXvlpUKmPz1mbhlyi7uJBspOFPGf9-Z0KyMhAeEQXdzpDIGfPuaey3nFULGCmeFhgy6n7aLE_1_QToXfHBtYkegLrWXnhrtH40OSR15d_Z7TERZ5C72yMxaMIG6icLqPfjAeTW74_Ut6jn8USmd9b3/s240/Signature%20KS%20ivory%20background.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="140" data-original-width="240" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGADVUDqZsLz3xsb4E0bjbhBObWCW5jOYY_OSTRoQXvlpUKmPz1mbhlyi7uJBspOFPGf9-Z0KyMhAeEQXdzpDIGfPuaey3nFULGCmeFhgy6n7aLE_1_QToXfHBtYkegLrWXnhrtH40OSR15d_Z7TERZ5C72yMxaMIG6icLqPfjAeTW74_Ut6jn8USmd9b3/s1600/Signature%20KS%20ivory%20background.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>See you next time,<br /></i></b><b><i>Kaye Spencer<br /></i></b><b><i>www.kayespencer.com</i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Kaye Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13530735658588595790noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-11589548471199671792024-02-27T04:30:00.070-06:002024-02-27T04:30:00.127-06:00C. (Chester) H. Dillon, 1st New York Artillery - Civil War<p> </p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Post by Doris McCraw</span></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNnDGtNQ2WHb_elfmTgPZ7VXQYXHZE3Q1n1F17kxxKiS5pR9l0L51-loOVtGa01CITCdzY_HDee26skl4NQG3e7GsTM4eXvCpsvZ2Dza22htKt8zNrpd2IY4U0UBXaFF_yenBRACT8TTcM7HpCyhC5RTu7MrbeDCpzBeTRRyFnbukUMhTxRYjYgZrtMA/s300/Angela%20Araines%20logo%20thumbnail.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNnDGtNQ2WHb_elfmTgPZ7VXQYXHZE3Q1n1F17kxxKiS5pR9l0L51-loOVtGa01CITCdzY_HDee26skl4NQG3e7GsTM4eXvCpsvZ2Dza22htKt8zNrpd2IY4U0UBXaFF_yenBRACT8TTcM7HpCyhC5RTu7MrbeDCpzBeTRRyFnbukUMhTxRYjYgZrtMA/w70-h70/Angela%20Araines%20logo%20thumbnail.jpg" width="70" /></a><span style="font-size: medium;">aka Angela Raines </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZbA6UP0x14dxIhprtUArFSxo9nrZKTA-ZzgkGMO4QQgNeSLKYPPhYm05wbBf_u1nJvqzJn1PnL_yPgU623ToYQ6XvBEJzTXVnqRFKFieCkFpBqt6I8-EST1b24q4VV0Lm1ksUyVyYBrZHewpkeG_tBl-1UPC3JGlqhP2f6OqZURFp7sON7pI6Qhr4vg/s5184/canon%20ps%201-22-2024%20002.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3888" data-original-width="5184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZbA6UP0x14dxIhprtUArFSxo9nrZKTA-ZzgkGMO4QQgNeSLKYPPhYm05wbBf_u1nJvqzJn1PnL_yPgU623ToYQ6XvBEJzTXVnqRFKFieCkFpBqt6I8-EST1b24q4VV0Lm1ksUyVyYBrZHewpkeG_tBl-1UPC3JGlqhP2f6OqZURFp7sON7pI6Qhr4vg/s320/canon%20ps%201-22-2024%20002.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Photo (C) Doris McCraw</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Next up in this series of Civil War veterans buried in local cemeteries is C. H. Dillon who is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Colorado Springs, Colorado.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Mr. Dillon was easy to find. He was born in Pennsylvania on May 7, 1828, and died on September 10, 1893. I then moved to his military service. It is in his service records things get interesting. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">At age thirty-five, Chester registered for the draft in 1863 as a class two. Class two was a list of eligible men who would be called up after all class one on the list had been used. This meant that Chester was between thirty-five and forty-five and married at the time.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ9Puq0pHJMFlWkyF2_4cDFlcGyUwpXWaO8mPP0neD5F1QE6a3o_6oZCXfTsMJsdvNK7iucJSZVCHrjryZNuZ_jJPrpuZuVc8l7Sjp5W0TDbpgMqn6UymEcMNcnYk6xnzqlsK-cD4GCAGnHf9ol9BzJ_tOPq8HmP-Gq5B8pZu7Ku2JzlxYVhWM9VlbpQ/s5184/canon%20ps%202-19-2024%20082.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5184" data-original-width="3888" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ9Puq0pHJMFlWkyF2_4cDFlcGyUwpXWaO8mPP0neD5F1QE6a3o_6oZCXfTsMJsdvNK7iucJSZVCHrjryZNuZ_jJPrpuZuVc8l7Sjp5W0TDbpgMqn6UymEcMNcnYk6xnzqlsK-cD4GCAGnHf9ol9BzJ_tOPq8HmP-Gq5B8pZu7Ku2JzlxYVhWM9VlbpQ/s320/canon%20ps%202-19-2024%20082.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo (C) Doris McCraw</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Chester H Dillon was called up in 1864. On September 20 that year, he was assigned to the 144th New York Infantry. By October 27th he was mustered out of the 144th and transferred to Company G of the New York Engineers. He officially mustered out on June 30, 1865. He was also promoted to artificer, a private 1st class. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Before enlistment, Dillon was a farmer and according to the census he returned to that. When he moved to Colorado he was a carpenter in 1879, the first year of the city directory, then became the janitor at the opera house in Colorado Springs. There was also a brief time in 1883, he was the city marshall. The year of his passing. 1893, he was listed as an expressman. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">It was interesting that while the city marshall, the mayor was a doctor who had been on the other side of the conflict. The city was a mixture of men who had served on both sides and were involved in making the city the best it could be.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The one constant seemed to be his membership in the Masons along with being a husband to Helen and father to his children son John and daughter Elma.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The interesting thing is, that C. H. (Chester) Dillon has two headstones. A regular and a military one.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje6Q-4Q-ORCZCiO3eK5jQ8UwaW8042Icr0O90w6vpyem2hGu53nrLbiu5DsudXhFaergF1xkvRZ5gc7ugZozA_Z3lefb01SlRb_mRX_NerJooHvziBNqyKHZQ-gwqcQVb4t5zpq9jZ0zf3AjnJ788pj6UX-bIbJF0QHDm6_z6KYxp33DzxH3QCJNt4Rw/s5184/canon%20ps%202-19-2024%20072.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3888" data-original-width="5184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje6Q-4Q-ORCZCiO3eK5jQ8UwaW8042Icr0O90w6vpyem2hGu53nrLbiu5DsudXhFaergF1xkvRZ5gc7ugZozA_Z3lefb01SlRb_mRX_NerJooHvziBNqyKHZQ-gwqcQVb4t5zpq9jZ0zf3AjnJ788pj6UX-bIbJF0QHDm6_z6KYxp33DzxH3QCJNt4Rw/s320/canon%20ps%202-19-2024%20072.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo (C) Doris McCraw</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">According to the regiment details, the 1st New York engineers engaged in the following during Dillon's enlistment: Siege operations against Petersburg and Richmond from June 1864 to April 1865. The construction of Fort Hell in Sept. and Oct of 1864 and the building of the Dutch Gap Canal from Oct to Dec. The Hatch Expedition up Broad River South Carolina on Nov. 28-30. The Battle of Honey Hill on November 30 and Deveaux's Neck on December 6,1864. The whole regiment mustered out on June 30, 1865. During the whole of the conflict from its formation in 1861 to June 30, 1865, the unit lost two officers and twenty-five enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, and five officers and one hundred and sixteen to disease. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">For anyone so inclined, you can sign up for my newsletter. It's free (for now): <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/renawomyn/p/restart-and-revamped?r=jcqkn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web" target="_blank">Thoughts and Tips on History</a></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>As Always,</i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Stay Safe, Stay Healthy, </i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Doris</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoy3Y1wCYS6o2nAh29t2xleh89QXwAo8BFSSJ3aZibm8LbBQY_6AGANYWjhO7PWq8qAsgQqdyhQRC35nagyd56X_6TOWK0XAzOyioZLHh18HsyfLohKn2bsQqZIh1VJwzFWGrghxMuOqLfDE4dOldAuEcM4q95YjBWFywsDNJn354wqbBPZHczGhdJTw/s1050/Angela%20Raines%20(1).png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1050" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoy3Y1wCYS6o2nAh29t2xleh89QXwAo8BFSSJ3aZibm8LbBQY_6AGANYWjhO7PWq8qAsgQqdyhQRC35nagyd56X_6TOWK0XAzOyioZLHh18HsyfLohKn2bsQqZIh1VJwzFWGrghxMuOqLfDE4dOldAuEcM4q95YjBWFywsDNJn354wqbBPZHczGhdJTw/s320/Angela%20Raines%20(1).png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>Renaissance Womenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09045401344374224512noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-41337458470109989962024-02-21T00:00:00.001-06:002024-02-21T00:00:00.131-06:00THE TEXAN -- by Cheryl Pierson<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkRlWrwGWNSh5m6tYXAomo-ZKgyRvO5vHvnVZyzgbvOBH1yjTSIwcIacm0GOchZI5wQptig6Zznq-p_2t1TgvjQCxzrQoxH_1G2Vddr8K0mQKsWiIP4KMcCy1Ol-Y9sV5g9ceBRwaVDClpA0xuuLX-twAH4A4Xv-pQwEpy2_QpUXB8OSyW8W6Sm1jsYskT/s640/Cheryl%20%202017.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkRlWrwGWNSh5m6tYXAomo-ZKgyRvO5vHvnVZyzgbvOBH1yjTSIwcIacm0GOchZI5wQptig6Zznq-p_2t1TgvjQCxzrQoxH_1G2Vddr8K0mQKsWiIP4KMcCy1Ol-Y9sV5g9ceBRwaVDClpA0xuuLX-twAH4A4Xv-pQwEpy2_QpUXB8OSyW8W6Sm1jsYskT/s320/Cheryl%20%202017.jpg"/></a></div>/></a></div><br><br>
<b>I have become totally obsessed with an old TV series, THE TEXAN starring Rory Calhoun. I never knew this series existed until we switched cable companies not long ago and were so fortunate to be able to add GRIT TV to our lineup—and it’s about all we watch anymore.<br><br>
The Texan was a black and white series (yes, that’s how old it is, almost older than I am, but not quite!). It aired on CBS from 1958-1960, and as with so many of these older shows, I love to see so many roles by early “unknowns” who later became famous in their own right.<br><br>
But the premise of The Texan is really different, and heartbreaking all at once.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidP2xa2_UU_n9HaQwFCz7yVW34JVhRkevz8zYTynJ3qDAsPJFalgZFIfxMwu6jqfnxIA_HZK6KzWYm4JJzarebLkXO-cGFPdZeQ78F8DAEGca7pTZMC7y44ILxKs8hiGo1Yt_hlW6fXqrCwLx3abde9boiADxqRTVU_emJMGb5yKadNtF8TdPAZ4k1JCQq/s881/Rory_Calhoun_The_Texan_1961%20%281%29.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="881" data-original-width="662" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidP2xa2_UU_n9HaQwFCz7yVW34JVhRkevz8zYTynJ3qDAsPJFalgZFIfxMwu6jqfnxIA_HZK6KzWYm4JJzarebLkXO-cGFPdZeQ78F8DAEGca7pTZMC7y44ILxKs8hiGo1Yt_hlW6fXqrCwLx3abde9boiADxqRTVU_emJMGb5yKadNtF8TdPAZ4k1JCQq/s320/Rory_Calhoun_The_Texan_1961%20%281%29.jpg"/></a></div>
The Texan is Bill Longley, who was a captain in the Confederacy during the Civil War. When he comes back to his privileged life at his family’s southern plantation, he finds his young wife has died of a fever, and the plantation lies in ruins. He puts a grave marker up beside his wife’s that says Bill Longley died on this day, with the date below it—the date he returned home and found that his love was dead.<br><br>
He goes to Texas and becomes a drifter, building a reputation as a fast gun, but he is not for hire. He just takes a hand in the wrongs he sees and tries to right them when he can. I have, by no means, seen the entire series yet—we usually watch a couple of the 30-minute episodes while we eat dinner. Yes, some of them feel rather “rushed” because they are only 30 minutes long and the commercials have been moved around to accommodate today’s programming. But all in all, it’s really a good series, and I LOVE being able to study his character as the shows progress and we get to know more about him.<br><br>
I truly admire the realism in this show. I didn’t realize it until recently, but there were so many westerns of that era that had the lawmen and the “good guys” always shooting to wound someone. The Lone Ranger even says at the beginning of that series that he will never kill, only shoot to wound, and then, only if necessary.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi11ElqhaI8S5Y40Qa_vYzdTISCeeakrYUBxgpAz-Lj-0vCrhlr4iRoxx9ajEK1IMQZluHzywdWm9ohx6vJ1OKwwbqg_16R9o42_zO0uaMI0GA2DqTJS_7wfBwf81uxcjZKmM-wV8YO0zE7vsOF68P5UGZTrPDzjX5ocyXPLW5Tg46uJ0jAoecpW8fWgG4h/s1428/Rory_Calhoun-Kipp_Hamilton_in_The_Texan.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1428" data-original-width="1083" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi11ElqhaI8S5Y40Qa_vYzdTISCeeakrYUBxgpAz-Lj-0vCrhlr4iRoxx9ajEK1IMQZluHzywdWm9ohx6vJ1OKwwbqg_16R9o42_zO0uaMI0GA2DqTJS_7wfBwf81uxcjZKmM-wV8YO0zE7vsOF68P5UGZTrPDzjX5ocyXPLW5Tg46uJ0jAoecpW8fWgG4h/s320/Rory_Calhoun-Kipp_Hamilton_in_The_Texan.jpg"/></a></div>
Well, let me tell y’all, Bill Longley has been through war and he is as tough as they come. Even though his past has been harsh ( at least it was once he joined the Confederacy and went to war), he still retains his sense of fairness. But make no mistake—he will shoot to kill, and he is fast. I don’t know how fast he was in actuality, but I did read something interesting the other day, as an aside—Glenn Ford was said to be the fastest gun in Hollywood, with a draw time of .04 seconds! WOW!<br><br>
This character, The Texan, is in many ways how I envision my heroes in my own books. They don’t have his genteel upbringing—but I think if they all knew each other they’d be friends, because they’d see things the same way. Though they are fast with a gun, they don’t use it indiscriminately, and they are not ever ones to believe that “might makes right”.<br><br>
You know, I have seen only one of Rory Calhoun’s movies, but in it, he plays the same kind of character as he played in The Texan. A loner. A fast gun. Someone who makes tough decisions and takes up the slack when others don’t or won’t.<br><br>
Now that I’ve started following him, I remember my mom saying something once about a movie she was wanting to see. I must have been about 8 or 9—all I remember was her saying, “It has Rory Calhoun in it!” and giving a little smile. I should have paid attention about 55 years sooner…<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQheLXaFT5dskhj_RcZbaKjM9pfN528psB7oK_SVZK1d9RdTuvN3SLS2IAEkSrLiVBS7s-NhJ3b3zs9WqHZvQ0r1o_UyIKvcwzSmTBVnWGX9xKU-FgHW-bT2KV9WWvLTVvNcyO-a229WGw62tPHUgRztROo_oOXsCvCw2oJmb4D109fZdbCwpKGaetuPX_/s1500/THE%20TEXAN%20DVD.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1075" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQheLXaFT5dskhj_RcZbaKjM9pfN528psB7oK_SVZK1d9RdTuvN3SLS2IAEkSrLiVBS7s-NhJ3b3zs9WqHZvQ0r1o_UyIKvcwzSmTBVnWGX9xKU-FgHW-bT2KV9WWvLTVvNcyO-a229WGw62tPHUgRztROo_oOXsCvCw2oJmb4D109fZdbCwpKGaetuPX_/s320/THE%20TEXAN%20DVD.jpg"/></a></div>
If you get a chance to watch The Texan, you will not be sorry. Bill Longley is like so many of the western heroes we writers try to create, and the ones that readers love to read.<br><br>
I’ve created many “loner” type heroes in my stories. Many of them resemble the characteristics of Bill Longley in THE TEXAN. Just thinking back on them, I’d say the two that stick in my mind as being most like The Texan are Johnny Houston from LOVE UNDER FIRE and Jaxson McCall from A MARSHAL FOR CALLIE–but it was a hard decision to narrow it down!<br><br>
Who is your favorite television or big screen movie western star and why? And I’d love to know your favorite western tv series or movie that character played in.<br><br>
</b>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9S4z3SOMRBsYtGiFbao_oXT6dCL3y0qXQ1ZlViVJ8kkyw1RnCut3-mT8XWP2Kthdkm_2FObabz_UjpI_GvgioZ4eamMt-_B4Nv-mPLoog7mNPvaJSkgQbcgM1SPf2Apors7_zd3Z6lQbsJ2KAL4MEKql-lLLdFf-bDjQ7JOLGzHPL1U5nC0sivqRqAfA/s2700/A%20Marshall%20for%20Callie%20ebook%20%281%29.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="2700" data-original-width="1800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9S4z3SOMRBsYtGiFbao_oXT6dCL3y0qXQ1ZlViVJ8kkyw1RnCut3-mT8XWP2Kthdkm_2FObabz_UjpI_GvgioZ4eamMt-_B4Nv-mPLoog7mNPvaJSkgQbcgM1SPf2Apors7_zd3Z6lQbsJ2KAL4MEKql-lLLdFf-bDjQ7JOLGzHPL1U5nC0sivqRqAfA/s320/A%20Marshall%20for%20Callie%20ebook%20%281%29.jpg"/></a></div>
<b>Here’s a short excerpt from A MARSHAL FOR CALLIE.<br><br> A ruthless gang of cutthroats from Jaxson McCall’s past have re-surfaced and are holding Callie and Jaxson’s brother, Jeremy, and a young boy, Carlos, hostage. Jaxson is recovering from a poison-tipped arrow, but he and his other brother, Brendan, are there to save the hostages. Here’s the confrontation:<br><br>
“Turn her loose,” Jax ordered in a low tone.<br><br>
“Or what, Marshal? You’ll kill me?” Blocker taunted.<br><br>
But Callie could hear the muted strain in his voice. I must have hit him, she thought, surprised.<br><br>
“Take me, Blocker,” Jax murmured. Deliberately, he tossed the Winchester to the ground and held his hands out. “You don’t want her—not really. What you want is to finish what you started thirteen years ago. I wonder…” He took a step forward, his silhouette illuminated by the fire behind him in the growing darkness.<br><br>
Blocker licked his lips nervously. “Wonder what, McCall?”<br><br>
“Are you man enough to take me? We never finished what we started back in Fort Smith. But you can have it either way, Blocker. A fight, or…not. I’ll—go with you. Just let her go.”<br><br>
“I don’t think so,” Blocker replied smugly.<br><br>
“Why not?”<br><br>
“Because you want it too much, McCall.” Blocker put the tip of the knife under Callie’s chin. “You agree to give yourself up to me, knowing what I’ll do to you?” He shook his head in disbelief. “Girl must mean an awful lot to you. I wonder why.”<br><br>
“She’s worth money to me,” Jax said quietly. His heart lurched at the hollow, dead look in Blocker’s eyes.<br><br>
“You’re both worth money to me,” Blocker responded.<br><br>
Callie could feel the big man’s grip on her easing somewhat. He didn’t realize it, she knew.<br><br>
“C’mon, Blocker,” Jax murmured. “Let’s fight it out. Just you and me.”<br><br>
Blocker’s grip slipped a little more, and Callie felt an oozing warmth at her back.<br><br>
His blood.<br><br>
Blocker shook his head. “Shorty shoveled out three graves over there. I ain’t gonna fill one of ’em.”<br><br>
Suddenly, Callie dug her elbows backward with all her might. She heard Blocker’s grunt of pain as he dropped the knife, and she squirmed away from him. He lunged at Jax with a snarl, and both men grappled together, then went to the ground, pummeling one another.<br><br>
Callie watched in horror, thinking of how Jax had looked just this morning when she’d left him asleep in their bed. The fever, the wound, his fitful rest and lack of food would all surely take their toll. He was in no shape to fight.<br><br>
“Callie!”<br><br>
She turned, just as a strong arm encircled her waist, pulling her to the safety of the trees and underbrush along the creek bank.<br><br>
The man urged her to the ground beside Carlos, then he was gone as quickly as he had appeared.<br><br>
As Callie lifted her head to peer through the undergrowth, she saw him step out into the ring of firelight. He dropped to one knee, his gun ready, but Jax and Blocker fought too closely together to take a chance on a shot.<br><br>
<i></i></b>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheeDpaUnsnB3HlAgC3DYNyC_rDClpOiXBALjOovGQ_1VFBeYGBNUU1ijdrKrj4HYQsQgI7kAwtLqYsrHS-aNUfbNl9JwveXKSlAuYn8BcNn0yVsW7OW9qErBX8kD3lbKMy06lsQ5vpIIS3U68VKzF7RKA9twnt1HJyiL4SegBmQnKQWay518yrYCg34dRL/s1080/Callie%20-%20square%20-%20blurred%20autumnal%20forest%20leaves%20on%20bricks%20print%20cover.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheeDpaUnsnB3HlAgC3DYNyC_rDClpOiXBALjOovGQ_1VFBeYGBNUU1ijdrKrj4HYQsQgI7kAwtLqYsrHS-aNUfbNl9JwveXKSlAuYn8BcNn0yVsW7OW9qErBX8kD3lbKMy06lsQ5vpIIS3U68VKzF7RKA9twnt1HJyiL4SegBmQnKQWay518yrYCg34dRL/s320/Callie%20-%20square%20-%20blurred%20autumnal%20forest%20leaves%20on%20bricks%20print%20cover.jpg"/></a></div>
<b>CHERYL’S AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/2k7xeddt">https://tinyurl.com/2k7xeddt</a></b><br><br><br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhNXbzfYVOHx_xrfvPJTapARtClLmmfSXn2mOq-MuAFf5f5Jp5z5xyUeaGKhq1gPNNCqf8ZVDrCEm6PMCmfhqr1G_BO3KKk4dNnDKN-gNYhU7Rb1JiRALTP95m4BDW0jJ9a4bavSoEvSih5DndUHqN2Lo0qLHPjnhKnXW3cgPQehzkKPz9XojuhzxOcaM_/s320/Cherly%20Pierson%20-%20A%20Marshal%20for%20Callie.mp4" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhNXbzfYVOHx_xrfvPJTapARtClLmmfSXn2mOq-MuAFf5f5Jp5z5xyUeaGKhq1gPNNCqf8ZVDrCEm6PMCmfhqr1G_BO3KKk4dNnDKN-gNYhU7Rb1JiRALTP95m4BDW0jJ9a4bavSoEvSih5DndUHqN2Lo0qLHPjnhKnXW3cgPQehzkKPz9XojuhzxOcaM_/s320/Cherly%20Pierson%20-%20A%20Marshal%20for%20Callie.mp4"/></a></div>
<b>A MARSHAL FOR CALLIE–KINDLE LINK: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/yn85vnkk%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E">https://tinyurl.com/yn85vnkk<br><br>
</a>
A MARSHAL FOR CALLIE–PAPERBACK LINK: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/mryt2fwf">https://tinyurl.com/mryt2fwf</a><br><br>
Thanks for stopping by today! </b><br><br>Cheryl Piersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18116526340220274282noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-45182372267710981462024-02-14T13:50:00.003-06:002024-02-14T13:50:23.266-06:00EDUCATION OF A WANDERING MAN BY LOUIS L'AMOUR<p><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyLBFTHFXssZ4xhJCtdI7OImPSPrsr_W5OlS1vPQHoAErdOqywZBS-XkEsIBjIKnQ8wenxI1lnj_MNbw2rdyVl1rHHIUmVc8tRt4Cj_SpAS6nRPNjPVV6Nsn29RGvjtW_-m6pvZOoBU_VHVnvw-RvxMivN7iMz0koEl0RAVxV6NcXls1s7vntzkuHWLPTT/s999/LAmour_Louis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="999" data-original-width="750" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyLBFTHFXssZ4xhJCtdI7OImPSPrsr_W5OlS1vPQHoAErdOqywZBS-XkEsIBjIKnQ8wenxI1lnj_MNbw2rdyVl1rHHIUmVc8tRt4Cj_SpAS6nRPNjPVV6Nsn29RGvjtW_-m6pvZOoBU_VHVnvw-RvxMivN7iMz0koEl0RAVxV6NcXls1s7vntzkuHWLPTT/s320/LAmour_Louis.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />I recently read <b>Education of a Wandering Man</b>, by <b>Louis
L’Amour</b> (1908-1988), published in 1989. It is a remarkable book.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">It puts me in mind of the old Chinese legend about tests:
the student sits down and simply writes down <i>everything</i> he knows.
L’Amour doesn’t quite do that, but he does create a fascinating account of his
own intellectual development, and his deep and passionate engagement with
reading. If you are at all interested in the effect that reading has, and
what a tool it can be to enlightenment, then certainly read this fascinating
book.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">L’Amour’s engagement with reading in his early life is not
surprising when one looks at his major characters. The typical L'Amour
hero was a strapping young man in his late teens or early 20's, a romantic,
nomadic figure dedicated to self-improvement. His character Tell Sackett
carried law books in his saddlebags; Bendigo Shafter read Montaigne, Plutarch
and Thoreau; and Drake Morrel, a one-time riverboat gambler, read Juvenal in
the original Latin. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Much like L’Amour, himself.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">L’Amour looked like one of his own literary creations –
big, ruggedly handsome and self-contained. He was born Louis Dearborn
L'Amour on March 22, 1908, in Jamestown, ND. He was a son of a veterinarian who
doubled as a farm-machinery salesman, grandson of a Civil War veteran and
great-grandson of a settler who had been scalped by Sioux warriors.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">He quit school at 15, roaming the West working as a miner,
rancher and lumberjack before taking off for the Far East as a seaman. By the
time he was 20, he had skinned cattle in Texas, lived with bandits in Tibet and
worked on an East African schooner. He managed to survive a walk through
Death Valley on his own with little water, and rode the rails as a hobo.
He worked as a longshoreman, a lumberjack, an elephant handler, a fruit picker
and an officer on a tank destroyer in World War II. He had also circled the
world on a freighter, sailed a dhow on the Red Sea, been shipwrecked in the
West Indies and been stranded in the Mojave Desert, and won 51 of 59 fights as
a professional boxer. And all the time he was on the road, he was
reading: Shakespeare, Byron, Wilde, Ibsen, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Sheridan,
Bacon, Tolstoy … and many, many others too numerous to mention. L’Amour
provides his reading list during the period at the end of the book and,
frankly, it made me deeply ashamed of my own profound failings as a reader.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">I read Balzac, Victor Hugo and Dumas before I ever read
Zane Grey,</span></b><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> he said in an interview. His
first book was not a Western, but a collection of poems, published in
1939. But despite his immense erudition, L’Amour could not reconcile the
disdain the literary elite had (and has) for novels about the Western
experience. <b>If you write a book about a bygone period that lies east
of the Mississippi River, then it's a historical novel. If it's west of
the Mississippi, it's a western, a different category. There's no sense to it.</b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Here is L’Amour writing about talking to people of the Old
West during his wanderings in the 1930s: <b>Yet there was no better time
to learn about what the West had actually been. Many of those who lived
it were still alive, and as the years of their future grew fewer, they were
more willing to talk of what had been. Old feuds were largely forgotten,
and time had given the past an aura.</b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The old cowboy might appear to be as dry as dust, he might
scoff at some of the stories, but he was a figure of romance in his own mind
(although he would never have admitted it) or he would not have become a cowboy
in the first place. As the years slipped away, he began to want to tell
his stories, and I was often there, a willing listener, knowing enough to sift
the truth from the romance. </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">In every town there was at least one former outlaw or
gunfighter, an old Indian scout or a wagon master, and each with many stories
ready to tell.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">One story engendered another, and sitting on a bench in
front of a store I’d tell of something I knew or had heard and would often get
a story in return, sometimes a correction. The men and woman who lived
the pioneer life did not suddenly disappear; they drifted down the years, a
rugged, proud people who had met adversity and survived. Once, many years
later, I was asked in a television interview what was the one quality that
distinguished them, and I did not come up with the answer I wanted.
Later, when I in the hotel alone, it came to me.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Dignity.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">This is great stuff, and I sympathize with L’Amour’s acute
bibliomania: <b>A wanderer I had been through most of my early years, and
now that I had my own home, my wandering continued, but among books. No
longer could I find most of the books I wanted in libraries. I had to
seek them out in foreign or secondhand bookstores, which was a pleasure in
itself. When seeking books, one always comes upon unexpected treasures or
books on subjects that one has never heard of, or heard mentioned only in
passing.</b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Now I know what I wished to learn and could direct my
education with more intelligence.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Slowly I began to place on my shelves the books I
wanted. When the shelves were first installed, one workman doubted they
would ever be filled, yet a few years later they were crammed with books,
filling every available niche.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">What I find most refreshing here is L’Amour’s own
determination to educate himself, his active engagement with his own
intellectual development, and for the breadth of his knowledge. Here is a
wonderfully prescient passage: <b>If we had only Greenwich Village as an
example, it would tell us nothing of the rest of America, yet often one
discovers a writer, or several of them, giving just such a narrow
picture. One should tread warily when using the life-style of any group
as an example of the thinking or practice of a people.</b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">This is a warm, wise and essential book. Highly
recommended.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>Cheryl Piersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18116526340220274282noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-65890967740380255692024-02-08T23:00:00.012-06:002024-02-08T23:00:00.149-06:00On This Day in the Old West: February 9<p> <span style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;">Today we’re talking about an important organization in American history: the National Weather Service. Weather, of course, has always been important to mankind, whether they be farmers or not. Many of our Founding Fathers were avid weather enthusiasts. While he was helping draft the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson bought a thermometer from a local Pennsylvania, and a few days later, bought a barometer from the same merchant—one of the only ones in America at the time. He noted that the high temperature in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776 was 76 degrees Fahrenheit. Jefferson made regular observations at his plantation, Monticello, from 1772 to 1778.</span><span style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;">George Washington also took regular weather observations; the last such entry in his diary was made the day before he died.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL6NfHkTJkolVSS7C2chHmVt2nxI6vyZIrz5G96-3J1juu8q5Cn4ZVZcByvanSBKijUdBMGI_HfHYVWqLcsgqc5g_rCJmgFULE8MoZPXetwEmbx_DT6H8f6nQjTEVi66c7As0lNSai95tZLWZqiat1lMZTzzTCkSR_FK0ApA9W1twyIiKxIUdQ9OrKBYkh/s750/blog_nws_lightning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="750" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL6NfHkTJkolVSS7C2chHmVt2nxI6vyZIrz5G96-3J1juu8q5Cn4ZVZcByvanSBKijUdBMGI_HfHYVWqLcsgqc5g_rCJmgFULE8MoZPXetwEmbx_DT6H8f6nQjTEVi66c7As0lNSai95tZLWZqiat1lMZTzzTCkSR_FK0ApA9W1twyIiKxIUdQ9OrKBYkh/s320/blog_nws_lightning.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">During the early and mid-1800s, weather observation networks began to grow and expand across the country. The telegraph was largely responsible for the advancement of meteorology during the 19<sup>th</sup> Century. With the help of this innovation, weather observations form distant points could be collected, plotted, and analyzed at one location. The Smithsonian Institution supplied weather instruments to telegraph companies and established an extensive observation network. By the end of 1849, 150 volunteers throughout America were regularly reporting their weather observations to the Smithsonian. By 1860, 500 stations were providing daily telegraphic weather reports to the Washington Evening Star, and as the network grew, other existing systems were gradually absorbed, including several state weather services.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYlXN0JkC8yNygGIaxonUb8RNgtxyESwEqmHmk41oxNqmdXFZ6gAdPvbM_r1hgydsX052NnPTdKxUsHCr5_BPnwS4xbramx6tUB3HdZrml1nOZi5X-rBTGvBby-ANDIOpx03RJapAnAnCglfIwVjuaAbC01X0Lnv124ZOweMNI-sxof-gGHAi5U2UqFpDK/s781/blog_nws_station.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="781" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYlXN0JkC8yNygGIaxonUb8RNgtxyESwEqmHmk41oxNqmdXFZ6gAdPvbM_r1hgydsX052NnPTdKxUsHCr5_BPnwS4xbramx6tUB3HdZrml1nOZi5X-rBTGvBby-ANDIOpx03RJapAnAnCglfIwVjuaAbC01X0Lnv124ZOweMNI-sxof-gGHAi5U2UqFpDK/s320/blog_nws_station.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">The advancement of this meteorological network was interrupted by the Civil war, but in 1869, the telegraph service again began collecting weather data and producing weather charts. The ability to both observe and display weather information, thanks to the telegraph, quickly led to initial efforts toward the next logical advancement: the forecasting of the weather. However, the ability to observe and forecast weather over much of this huge country required a level of organization which could only be accomplished by a government agency.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">Assuming your story takes place after 1870, your characters would have been familiar with the National Weather Service, or at least its forecasts and warnings. If they worked the land, they would have relied on those forecasts on a regular basis, likewise if they worked anywhere that the weather could impact their livelihood.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtXrPhmd1sguUdgUOFDDGaqhKN2i_adXVIrGo2Y4PSo1LzBw9frS-wbKQYztLns1uER6oCbdT63Tfl7uZgiaO4GVTNbimeBCV1-hqMWyZiG0XHm0GjHz70p8mnXxo_vtTiHc_YKVCve_vgllrHG0Acce8Nf5jXHDSRW5uS5KxjQfXjqttv_frFMROZw1UF/s835/blog_nws_map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="489" data-original-width="835" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtXrPhmd1sguUdgUOFDDGaqhKN2i_adXVIrGo2Y4PSo1LzBw9frS-wbKQYztLns1uER6oCbdT63Tfl7uZgiaO4GVTNbimeBCV1-hqMWyZiG0XHm0GjHz70p8mnXxo_vtTiHc_YKVCve_vgllrHG0Acce8Nf5jXHDSRW5uS5KxjQfXjqttv_frFMROZw1UF/s320/blog_nws_map.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">J.E.S. Hays<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><a href="http://www.jeshays.com/" style="color: #96607d;">www.jeshays.com</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/JESHaysBooks" style="color: #96607d;">www.facebook.com/JESHaysBooks</a><o:p></o:p></p>JES Hayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08464125288178319685noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-57544264570695526912024-02-07T04:30:00.001-06:002024-02-07T04:30:00.137-06:00Western Movie Taglines Blog Series - February Taglines - Some silly, Some funny, Some real groaners #movietaglines #westernmovies<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnx_jk2cbMn5SMkt2M6151pgjoKM4uPqS2hJoa675MQEib3kQT59KsjOXZmKs2WcXy88EYAqDFy6NixzLdGsKNrflnGUBW2-oBetbubTbzm5yWz4G0lWCRMq0bf3n1OBjFxs163eiEVhiksSzXo1RIfq01MxTVQuqUVz2NSXBwEbNEQD_D4QeakrLcops/s300/Website.Header.Romance-in-days-gone-by-2-300x75.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="75" data-original-width="300" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnx_jk2cbMn5SMkt2M6151pgjoKM4uPqS2hJoa675MQEib3kQT59KsjOXZmKs2WcXy88EYAqDFy6NixzLdGsKNrflnGUBW2-oBetbubTbzm5yWz4G0lWCRMq0bf3n1OBjFxs163eiEVhiksSzXo1RIfq01MxTVQuqUVz2NSXBwEbNEQD_D4QeakrLcops/s1600/Website.Header.Romance-in-days-gone-by-2-300x75.webp" width="300" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">My 2024 blogging series, Western Movie Taglines, began in January when I explained what a tagline is and gave examples of good non-western movie taglines as examples. Then I shared several disappointing taglines from western movies. </span><p></p><p><a href="https://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2024/01/western-movies-taglines-2024-blog.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">January Movie Taglines</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here's how the rest of the year will go.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I compiled a list of 250 westerns and their taglines. From that 250, I plucked out the best 125 to share between February and December. These 125 taglines range from good to outstanding as far as doing justice to their corresponding movies.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">For this month, and in no particular order, I'm sharing 15 western movie taglines that are:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">clever or witty</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">a groaner</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">just plain silly</span></li></ul><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">March through September, I will share 10 movie taglines each month.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">October through December will be the Top 40 Countdown of Best Western Movie Taglines.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">These 40 are the taglines that capture and sum up the heart of the movie in such a fabulous way that we're amazed at how a handful of words can be that powerful or theme-descriptive.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Also in December, I will</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">1) share taglines I've written for two western movies and one early-settling of the American frontier movie that deserved better taglines and,<br />2) offer a downloadable document of the 250 movies and taglines that I compiled.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">February's Western Movie Taglines</span></b></p><p><i style="font-family: inherit;">Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> (1969)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not that it matters, but most of it is true.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Red Headed Stranger </i>(1987)<br />He's a preacher... his blessing is a bullet!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean</i> (1972)<br />If this story ain't true... it shoulda been.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>North to Alaska</i> (1960)<br />These were the adventurers...fighting, laughing, and brawling their way from Seattle to Nome!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rio Bravo</i> (1959)<br />JOHN WAYNE The big guy with the battered hat… and DEAN MARTIN the ragged woman-wrecked castoff called Dude… and RICKY NELSON the rockin' babyfaced gunfisted kid… AND TIME WAS RUNNING OUT THROUGH BULLET HOLES AT "RIO BRAVO"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Cat Ballou</i> (1965)<br />It's that way-out whopper of a funny western... A she-bang to end all she-bangs!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Wild, Wild West</i> (1999)<br />It's a whole new West.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhCFp8FXg9ZcLQ7AiWgmrFhlSoLOKzataqTiaayTaRmWYczC4QK54aKqO_5vqO7SLwR5hX1PBhUgSTKtFGY1nfJ7F8_rbinsnmJT9Tkr596LV7yLVzuJyMKvtSMsA-VDego13rwDWWwQruN09IFSkO46-S-n80SBDjZdjP7SG4Izo9senOU9GTVu0ZbL1D/s2000/Western%20Fictioneers%202024.02-07%2015%20movies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhCFp8FXg9ZcLQ7AiWgmrFhlSoLOKzataqTiaayTaRmWYczC4QK54aKqO_5vqO7SLwR5hX1PBhUgSTKtFGY1nfJ7F8_rbinsnmJT9Tkr596LV7yLVzuJyMKvtSMsA-VDego13rwDWWwQruN09IFSkO46-S-n80SBDjZdjP7SG4Izo9senOU9GTVu0ZbL1D/w400-h400/Western%20Fictioneers%202024.02-07%2015%20movies.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><i style="font-family: inherit;"><p><i style="font-family: inherit;">Blazing Saddles</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> (1974)<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Never give a saga an even break. Mel Brooks and the West! Together for the last time!</span></p></i><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Dirty Dingus Magee</i> (1970)<br />It's kind of a western. He's sort of a cowboy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>The Rounders</i> (1965)<br />The Wild West's biggest fall guys go head over heels... for a mean-eyed bronc... and some bare-backed fillies.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>McLintock!</i> (1963)<br />Wallops the daylights out of every western you've ever seen.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>City Slickers</i> (1991)<br />Yesterday they were businessmen. Today they're cowboys. Tomorrow they'll be walking funny.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Little Big Man </i>(1970)<br />He was either the most neglected hero in history or a liar of insane proportion!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>The Cheyenne Social Club</i> (1970)<br />That's what they called it in 1867.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Paint Your Wagon</i> (1969)<br />Stake your claim to the musical goldmine of '69!</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNkKgnleMQc7oBii77iYX6o1jKW61KUggVVmdnm6vWs6RVjVYJWBMmRD0PtlmitzhgE93TZaeifC5sPi6wsRI17mg-xaDLBe-9AeX0nANCXExRidQ9UeaXbRbbERIlDZ4KE6tA85iuC2r38M_GGlEk2NK1BqT49jOS8vClFcGcje_qCk1Bro78TRos7tBg/s240/Signature%20KS%20ivory%20background.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="140" data-original-width="240" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNkKgnleMQc7oBii77iYX6o1jKW61KUggVVmdnm6vWs6RVjVYJWBMmRD0PtlmitzhgE93TZaeifC5sPi6wsRI17mg-xaDLBe-9AeX0nANCXExRidQ9UeaXbRbbERIlDZ4KE6tA85iuC2r38M_GGlEk2NK1BqT49jOS8vClFcGcje_qCk1Bro78TRos7tBg/w200-h117/Signature%20KS%20ivory%20background.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><p></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">See you next time,<br /></span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kaye Spencer<br /></span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">www.kayespencer.com</span></i></b></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Kaye Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13530735658588595790noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-57437503267136186852024-01-23T04:30:00.032-06:002024-01-23T04:30:00.137-06:00Henry C. Davis - Civil War Veteran<p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Post by Doris McCraw</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">aka Angela Raines</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuJYwFl8_iifsOUf_z3QMO4jAqxqcsjgI71v08pOVauP86OdwNl2qG97zKUDg2podeUayW_9G6L62kOKyP53NkGu3EGjzGocdXMibVij4KOhvhhjrtRet7kTKpbJZzrzvjaJ7FQyI63RTZObEC9rHMGMKvOXaEPtbd5trkLtb_wsTRqdbvgWXYUloP2Q/s5184/canon%20ps%201-22-2024%20002.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3888" data-original-width="5184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuJYwFl8_iifsOUf_z3QMO4jAqxqcsjgI71v08pOVauP86OdwNl2qG97zKUDg2podeUayW_9G6L62kOKyP53NkGu3EGjzGocdXMibVij4KOhvhhjrtRet7kTKpbJZzrzvjaJ7FQyI63RTZObEC9rHMGMKvOXaEPtbd5trkLtb_wsTRqdbvgWXYUloP2Q/s320/canon%20ps%201-22-2024%20002.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Photo (C) Doris McCraw</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This year I am beginning a series of posts about the Civil War veterans buried in Evergreen or Fairview Cemetery in Colorado Springs. This month's post is about Henry C. Davis who served with Company I, Pennsylvania 51st Infantry.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">There are many with the name Henry Davis in the records of this conflict. By starting with his short obituary in the paper where they stated he was seventy years old. From his death date of March 1914 and going backward his birth date is probably 1844. . </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">He is found in the rolls of the 51st. This is a list of some of the battles in which the 51st took part:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">1862 - 2-6- Battle of Roanoke Island, 3-14- Battle of New Berne, 6-17 to 7-4-Siege of Vicksburg</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">1863 - 12-5 to 12-29- Pursuit of Longstreet</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">1864 - Battles of the Wilderness 5-5 to 5-7, Spottsylvania 5-8 to 5-12, Ny River 5-9, Spottsylvania Court House 5-12 to 5-21, Assault on the Salient 5-12</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">1865 - Seige of Petersburg 6-16-1864 to 4-2-1865, Pursuit of Lee to Farmville</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">According to one source, the regiment lost 12 Officers and 165 Enlisted men killed/mortally wounded and another 137 Enlisted to disease for a total of 314.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk3KnkODvkrBYjLE2-94FICQSo-CbaEAwg8omvpKq9TCNL7E9yNcufJZsAMwBQ5vX3GDcr8nG3bAakiTbq5sWy63TYbel3_0qJQvopG2bx7y_CzUiufr5cFEC2InOXECIjhj6rktMZuyDdDhzYwFkAFv4t0Zs7QVLz7B6HSpbaOZybzB4ejGZUaG-bsA/s5184/canon%20ps%201-22-2024%20023.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3888" data-original-width="5184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk3KnkODvkrBYjLE2-94FICQSo-CbaEAwg8omvpKq9TCNL7E9yNcufJZsAMwBQ5vX3GDcr8nG3bAakiTbq5sWy63TYbel3_0qJQvopG2bx7y_CzUiufr5cFEC2InOXECIjhj6rktMZuyDdDhzYwFkAFv4t0Zs7QVLz7B6HSpbaOZybzB4ejGZUaG-bsA/s320/canon%20ps%201-22-2024%20023.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Photo (C) Doris McCraw</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Having joined as a private, probably in 1861 when the 51st began by the time the regiment was dissolved in 1865, Henry left as a Corporal. Henry filed for his pension on January 25, 1893. The name of N. Bickdord is the attorney listed on the application. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">At the time of his death on March 28, 1914, he was living up Ute Pass from Colorado Springs in the small town of Green Mountain Falls where he owned the home he was living in. Census records show he was single while living in the Pikes Peak Region. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Why the Pikes Peak Region as a place he would move to and work as a laborer (street worker)? His death certificate indicates he died of chronic asthma. When you add that to the area where those with 'wasting' diseases would come to be cured, it would make sense he would try this area. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">There were probably many stories he could have or did tell, but I've yet to find any of those. As I take this journey into the history of those who reside at the cemeteries I will find more to add to a larger picture. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">For those who would like to read more about this regiment here is a link to Google Books and the "History of the 51st Regiment of P.V. and V.V". <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=HZodAQAAMAAJ" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=HZodAQAAMAAJ</a></span></p><p style="background-color: #fff3db; color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As always:</span></p><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-837110013059391041" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: #fff3db; color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif;"><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-1163573402751905800" itemprop="description articleBody"><div style="line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "book antigua";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Until Next Time Stay Safe & Stay Well</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "book antigua";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "book antigua";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Doris</span></span></div><div style="font-family: "book antigua"; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: "book antigua"; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: "book antigua"; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1050" data-pin-me-only="true" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV0uZlIa5u61w0I3DMLFwHnPIGBztrRN-vGWcSyzMx45q_EQCxdIV1OYjrkI9wOY-XavRacj1O43_Yi-BK_vj2JChABQ4bDx46LanAxgZpd6bRkkDUpB-2ZKb29GRQXMdQLVLh3tB8bxokdPHwchLbtIPAa2Ruy0isgAEo3Br5iNkWCMK6ilbIQGVCGw/s320/Angela%20Raines%20(1).png" style="border: 0px; color: #956839; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; text-align: center;" width="320" /></span></div></div></div></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Renaissance Womenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09045401344374224512noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-29233911846238254422024-01-11T23:00:00.003-06:002024-01-11T23:00:00.147-06:00On This Day in the Old West: January 12<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Today we’ll take a look at medical technology. Specifically, the X-ray, now a ubiquitous aid to medical science. In the Old West, however, it was simply a parlor trick to most people—and nobody realized the dangers of radiation yet.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJzCAbM1xzgMxH3qgPqQwLWTPgm3Vf1H69hnO5VZzHjWpIHLS4cChs-cYqIKq9WwR2MJPeUZXbomDXCX1hlu8PzmcjyVQ2pTfI1Xygmrm-7dX8dvaJjHTcBalbgCDxjmoqB7SREGxR2WZ1bFDSbNdXyLUDcof0zLpOn3cdmuFSCVf11RgoNhB0TGeHyYOa/s654/blog_xray_box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="654" data-original-width="514" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJzCAbM1xzgMxH3qgPqQwLWTPgm3Vf1H69hnO5VZzHjWpIHLS4cChs-cYqIKq9WwR2MJPeUZXbomDXCX1hlu8PzmcjyVQ2pTfI1Xygmrm-7dX8dvaJjHTcBalbgCDxjmoqB7SREGxR2WZ1bFDSbNdXyLUDcof0zLpOn3cdmuFSCVf11RgoNhB0TGeHyYOa/s320/blog_xray_box.jpg" width="251" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">On January 12, 1896, three junior students at Davidson College in North Carolina bribed a janitor to let them into the physics lab after hours so they could play around with X-rays. Their professor, Dr. Henry Louis Smith, future president of the college, was the first in North Carolina to work with X-Rays, but the first Americans to actually take an X-ray were his mischievous students.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Six days before the students’ escapades, the Associated Press had announced that German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen discovered a new form of radiation. He had been experimenting with cathode rays and found a mysterious “X” ray that passed through various substances. He put his hand in front of the rays and saw the silhouette of his own bones. Juniors Oben Hardin, Pender Porter, and Osmond L. Barringer decided they needed to see this with their own eyes.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVZs1n2oRqMkICcOIF-aFayG4QeY9yPFKCmzhNsDVxwLVjDiJu4SXiStUPcSboPe2GrjJwYzyiAbdO-FoR2sW-JbQ_gnmS3OWSMFhKJyVVlT5QOIRJytjsKcddIZfSa2kXNUjxmTEogRqYyzY8aPZC-B9Cwc8JD2vc5aOq0_cepBshMLsuaJ56v31Bpyi/s297/blog_xray_students.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="297" data-original-width="215" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVZs1n2oRqMkICcOIF-aFayG4QeY9yPFKCmzhNsDVxwLVjDiJu4SXiStUPcSboPe2GrjJwYzyiAbdO-FoR2sW-JbQ_gnmS3OWSMFhKJyVVlT5QOIRJytjsKcddIZfSa2kXNUjxmTEogRqYyzY8aPZC-B9Cwc8JD2vc5aOq0_cepBshMLsuaJ56v31Bpyi/s1600/blog_xray_students.jpg" width="215" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Many physics labs around the world had the equipment on hand with which to duplicate Roentgen’s experiments. Dr. Smith’s three students placed various objects on photographic paper, taking a series of what were then called Roentgenograms of an eggshell with a button inside it, a rubber-covered magnifying glass, a cadaver’s finger with a ring on it, a pin, two cartridges, and two more rings. It was years before their little experiments were made public, but now the original X-rays are on file at the college’s archives.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Dr. Smith took up his own X-ray work and the following month published an X-ray photograph of a cadaver’s hand with a bullet inside it in the local newspaper. Later in the year, he used his X-ray machine to locate a needle inside a man’s knee, allowing doctors to accurately remove it surgically. This was the first use of X-ray technology in a medical procedure in the United States. Smith also saved a child’s life by showing that, despite her doctor’s belief that the girl was suffering from tonsillitis, a thimble she swallowed had lodged inside her throat, blocking access to her stomach, and causing her to slowly starve. Smith’s X-rays allowed for another successful surgery.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCWw4Cvgmf-00YEQCT0NUs11bjSUtFWQE6_c3Cl-ZqPDVp5rwcfkMF_FGTumpKJg5TRZPgqysHIuYGl09ri2ZRsgeipWDnpaPqwwJg6dOmVoz7BXHShPEXXXypGQ4GbP4RkKE_HVSvGPH-enzP6PoxHf99jNNu-PvmVNk3W8WU_VymGkhi2LQPd7B0M2A5/s514/blog_xray_team.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="514" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCWw4Cvgmf-00YEQCT0NUs11bjSUtFWQE6_c3Cl-ZqPDVp5rwcfkMF_FGTumpKJg5TRZPgqysHIuYGl09ri2ZRsgeipWDnpaPqwwJg6dOmVoz7BXHShPEXXXypGQ4GbP4RkKE_HVSvGPH-enzP6PoxHf99jNNu-PvmVNk3W8WU_VymGkhi2LQPd7B0M2A5/s320/blog_xray_team.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Dr. Gilman D. Frost, Professor of Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School, also had the chance to utilize the X-ray in a medical procedure. On January 19 of the same year, young Eddie McCarthy fell while skating on the Connecticut River and fractured his left wrist. A week later, a New York newspaper, The Sun, carried a more detailed article about Roentgen and his X-rays. Dr. Frost and his brother Edwin, a professor of Physics and Astronomy at Dartmouth, immediately began testing the numerous vacuum tubes in the laboratory to see which, if any, could produce the mysterious rays.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">After obtaining the proper tube and figuring out how to energize it, Dr. Frost arranged to take an X-ray of young Eddie’s wrist to see where the break was. This endeavor was photographed for posterity by Henry H. Barrett on February 3, 1896, making this the first pathological use of an X-ray in America (Dr. Smith’s needle search was later in the same year).<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Xg8J88sWKop3NlhfQMn6WPlifepLmW4KcjKqns9EaLzl_RBMM6EXklLjbeQ6UYM_N9XIx5B2420rgA892UMQehaiE_n9OVO4Vpj8TKXLugo4OIkloDOZLLJ7lCvGrjwX6GBgeHtr1KwbXsPRRllXGLKLQ3aBYGV3hMSjMUVZ8HFM8MJM99W2BW9CenYv/s554/blog_xray_xray.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="380" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Xg8J88sWKop3NlhfQMn6WPlifepLmW4KcjKqns9EaLzl_RBMM6EXklLjbeQ6UYM_N9XIx5B2420rgA892UMQehaiE_n9OVO4Vpj8TKXLugo4OIkloDOZLLJ7lCvGrjwX6GBgeHtr1KwbXsPRRllXGLKLQ3aBYGV3hMSjMUVZ8HFM8MJM99W2BW9CenYv/s320/blog_xray_xray.jpg" width="219" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Your characters may not have experienced an X-ray for themselves, but if they lived anywhere near a college or hospital, they may have been to a demonstration. Remember that no one realized how dangerous exposure to X-rays was, so they were treated as party entertainment. For a time, you could even get an X-ray of your foot inside your new shoe to show if it fit properly or not.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">J.E.S. Hays</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">www.jeshays.com</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">www.facebook.com/JESHaysBooks</p>JES Hayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08464125288178319685noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-1168793938981895732024-01-03T16:11:00.000-06:002024-01-03T16:11:35.417-06:00 Western Movies Taglines – 2024 Blog Series #westernfictioneers #westernmovies<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_EuC2k8VaL5Vrh2pUG2sX-WkzFfAGVMDWGD2UQFUfoDkBvkTinXAKWMSO847cZmexlLCrLotCJlzwlXFQQ8PPeR23BpoWv7Ggt9sjEnJzh9t_wRAKy0_VEVLnc8ELVoD2Vscb5vdDCfvr5QKHLFfdTALttKcr9u4e-1KCc7DuHFyF-BIAsi117cNIv1b2/s400/WF%202024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="400" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_EuC2k8VaL5Vrh2pUG2sX-WkzFfAGVMDWGD2UQFUfoDkBvkTinXAKWMSO847cZmexlLCrLotCJlzwlXFQQ8PPeR23BpoWv7Ggt9sjEnJzh9t_wRAKy0_VEVLnc8ELVoD2Vscb5vdDCfvr5QKHLFfdTALttKcr9u4e-1KCc7DuHFyF-BIAsi117cNIv1b2/w200-h100/WF%202024.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times;">Welcome to my 2024 blog series — Western Movies Taglines —
which I will post on the first Wednesday of the month.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;">As I
compiled this list of movies, I discovered many western movies didn’t have taglines or
the taglines were terrible. I’ll get these out of the way first.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u><span style="font-family: times;">WHAT is a tagline?</span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;">A tagline is a short, clever line or couple of lines found
on a movie’s poster or on a book cover,.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;">I’ll share 20-ish movies each month February through November. January and December will look like this:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;">JANUARY: 1) Great taglines from
well-known non-western movies to
show how a tagline can enhance our interest in the movie. 2) Many western movies that have awful taglines or no taglines at all.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;">DECEMBER: 1) I’ll list the movie taglines I think are outstanding, as in I'm saving the best for last. 2) I’ll offer my tagline suggestions for western
movies I think deserved better taglines. 3) I will also have a spreadsheet with
all the movies and taglines from this series available for downloading.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Good taglines of non-western
movies to get us in the mindset:</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Mr. Majestyk</i><br />He didn't want to be a hero...until the day they pushed him
too far.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Close Encounters of the Third Kind</i><br />We are not alone.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>The Sound of Music</i><br />The Happiest Sound in All the World.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Taxi Driver</i><br />On every street in every city in this country, there is a
nobody who dreams of being a somebody.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Treasure of the Sierra Madre</i><br />The nearer they get to the treasure the farther they get
from the law.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Ghostbusters</i><br />Who ya gonna call?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Dirty Harry</i><br />You don't assign him to murder cases. You just turn him
loose.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>The 'Burbs</i><br />He's a man of peace in a savage land...Suburbia</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Deliverance</i><br />This is the weekend they didn't play golf</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Saturday Night Fever</i><br />Catch it</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Monsters, Inc.</i><br />We scare, because we care</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Forrest Gump</i><br />Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're
gonna get.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Hellboy</i><br />…from the other side to our side</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Shindler's List</i><br />The list is life.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Highlander</i><br />There can be only one</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>O’ Brother Where Art Thou?</i><br />They have a plan, but not a clue…</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Christmas Vacation</i><br />Yule crack up</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>12 Angry Men</i><br />Life is in their hands – Death is on their minds.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Platoon</i><br />The first casualty of war is innocence</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade</i><br />Have the adventure of your life keeping up with the Joness</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Chicken Run</i><br />Escape or die frying</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Star Wars</i><br />A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Jaws</i><br />You’ll never go in the water again</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: times;">JANUARY WESTERN MOVIE
TAGLINES that are missing or are terrible:</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVK_349aVz7-kHdlNF2peZLOIgbF9BnrPY7c2qjd2Ksys_runcZ0MusnC0YXw9gA4KfMIUIojOMhfqHsuCcMVsciAEHz_WMeBTR50MEl5gZitB2VEfgVLVXgLhU2Xk1joH07NUS7lJ5JB5v5_V8ZBJ5ThGJQyYAFM2li9ZMy9pxHjEwe_Y4hp8LkreI122/s1352/How%20the%20West%20was%20won.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1352" data-original-width="1030" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVK_349aVz7-kHdlNF2peZLOIgbF9BnrPY7c2qjd2Ksys_runcZ0MusnC0YXw9gA4KfMIUIojOMhfqHsuCcMVsciAEHz_WMeBTR50MEl5gZitB2VEfgVLVXgLhU2Xk1joH07NUS7lJ5JB5v5_V8ZBJ5ThGJQyYAFM2li9ZMy9pxHjEwe_Y4hp8LkreI122/s320/How%20the%20West%20was%20won.jpg" width="244" /></a></i></span></div><span style="font-family: times;"><i>How the West was Won</i> (1962)<br />24 Great Stars In The Mightiest Adventure Ever Filmed!</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Rio Lobo </i>(1970)<br />Give ‘em Hell, John (1970)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Westward the Women </i>(1951) No tagline</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Arrowhead </i>(1953) No tagline</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Bandolero!</i> (1968)<br />There are “Westerns” and “Westerns”. Every now and then
comes a NEW kind of Western. This is “BANDOLERO!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>The Big Sky </i>(1952)<br />Theirs the great adventure… (sic)<br />Giants who carved America from wilderness! SURGING from the
pages of the best-seller that thrilled millions…the towering story of the men
who conquered the untamed Norwest!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Bite the Bullet</i> (1975)<br />In the tradition of Shane and High Noon. A new Western
Classis is born!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Viva Zapata! </i>(1952) No tagline</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Broken Lance </i>(1954 No tagline</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Burning Hills </i>(1956)<br />The shy guy from “Battle Cry’<br />The girl from ‘Rebel without a Cause’</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Wild Times </i>(1980) No tagline</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBDpZlBCynHTqh6503eFJWEc9V0GIZxA3bgqnhKDeJgiBwnvrRnrCVopRXckX96K95yJyPKkPVccF_SMNTL0MTqR6h6QeUT3p-qgRVlLt5NkAmvcBJdIJe2cmFdiu82httca6ccCzVuJAmLtfu0TsExCjRvwk52n7juytkzp4FPa4wEa-mJVRHxjm_6Ezh/s300/Man%20who%20shot%20LV.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBDpZlBCynHTqh6503eFJWEc9V0GIZxA3bgqnhKDeJgiBwnvrRnrCVopRXckX96K95yJyPKkPVccF_SMNTL0MTqR6h6QeUT3p-qgRVlLt5NkAmvcBJdIJe2cmFdiu82httca6ccCzVuJAmLtfu0TsExCjRvwk52n7juytkzp4FPa4wEa-mJVRHxjm_6Ezh/s1600/Man%20who%20shot%20LV.webp" width="200" /></a></i></span></div><span style="font-family: times;"><i>The Man who Shot Liberty Valance</i> (1962)<br />Together for the first time—James Stewart – John Wayne—in
the masterpiece of four-time Academy Award winner John Ford.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Fort Apache</i> (1948) No tagline</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Shalako </i>(1968)<br />Sean Connery is SHALAKO!<br />SHALAKO MEANS Action! Action Means Bardot!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>I Will Fight No More Forever </i>(1975) No tagline</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Lonesome Dove</i> (1989)<br />The epic film as big as the West.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>My Darling Clementine</i> (1946) No tagline</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Rio Grande </i>(1950) John Ford’s greatest romantic triumph!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Quick and the Dead </i>(1987) No tagline</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>River of No Return </i>(1954)<br />Engulfs you in a flood of excitement! And she can sing, too!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>She Wore a Yellow Ribbon </i>(1949)<br />John Ford’s New and Finest Picture of the Fighting Cavalry!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>The Sacketts </i>(1979) No tagline</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Unforgiven </i>(1960)<br />Stands Tall and Proud Among the Screen Giants!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Gone to Texas</i> (1986) No tagline</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>The Lonely Man </i>(1957) No tagline</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>The Virginian</i> (1946) No tagline</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;">The two on this list I’m most disappointed in are <i>How the West was Won </i>and <i>The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance</i>. I will
remedy this most egregious Hollywood oversight in December.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: times;">See you in February with more western movies taglines,</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: times;">Kaye Spencer<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="http://www.kayespencer.com/">www.kayespencer.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2IOMOG9KBJzHJALoo582mX1OEwuGKhyyqjDtt8kDFoRCyxPnrgufcsnjXpLZcreMgjFitQUnFWVXTbn7mTiEvSH3SVbjSXORNIjmLxR66lv5LQcW-V8phz7ay-3Tzv1MzBt6dnr6Y1RNbnN7NrXwbjszMQ9DTAHXcU5m44zYFddM8MS92NweIHmfywBZa/s240/Signature-KS-ivory-background.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="140" data-original-width="240" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2IOMOG9KBJzHJALoo582mX1OEwuGKhyyqjDtt8kDFoRCyxPnrgufcsnjXpLZcreMgjFitQUnFWVXTbn7mTiEvSH3SVbjSXORNIjmLxR66lv5LQcW-V8phz7ay-3Tzv1MzBt6dnr6Y1RNbnN7NrXwbjszMQ9DTAHXcU5m44zYFddM8MS92NweIHmfywBZa/s1600/Signature-KS-ivory-background.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><br />Kaye Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13530735658588595790noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-35137146666802902512023-12-26T04:30:00.001-06:002023-12-26T04:30:00.131-06:00Wrap up - Year End<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Post by Doris McCraw</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">aka Angela Raines</span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB6RALaSGa0VNuTgMJGwC6RMJLFxdfITRajNjB-a5Lf4qtDvYLAnb86A-gserGnNXhIeU6s1mhV0ucrmhHSm2LMVAASYioi7nQqXEOXQLEHOgBxbg5c41Peu7bC2bkHGW4Iz8CEvB0i1cZWS-3zhj0weA46PqRPzSxdyEJ5RHoPwQrLOYdOxg_21l4wg/s5184/canon%20PS%2012-9-2023%20079.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3888" data-original-width="5184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB6RALaSGa0VNuTgMJGwC6RMJLFxdfITRajNjB-a5Lf4qtDvYLAnb86A-gserGnNXhIeU6s1mhV0ucrmhHSm2LMVAASYioi7nQqXEOXQLEHOgBxbg5c41Peu7bC2bkHGW4Iz8CEvB0i1cZWS-3zhj0weA46PqRPzSxdyEJ5RHoPwQrLOYdOxg_21l4wg/s320/canon%20PS%2012-9-2023%20079.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo (C) Doris McCraw</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Five days, just five more days left to 2023, and then on to 2024. It has been a year. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Let's begin by finishing the story of the De La Vergne family, specifically Edward, the son of George W. from the Fish Farm story.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Edward was one of the first to invest in the Cripple Creek Mining District. Some stories claim he was the one who located the first paying gold. After Robert (Bob) Womack located the mineral in Starvation Gulch he decided to invest despite what others were saying about the danger of another hoax.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTTeaiQDuYBn5TweAKKsZylBUv3eZZoNQERrCzU8m_Bz7O-5J1V0000P0VO-_lwAIzrJRCRWCn3xyWr3l5Zsyo45w-TFgYJCxniyLirDEY5yL6REOlcGGY9QyQy6dQ2BsSdc6g7Q_3dKOn19_JNRJKk3BRu0rtiOjSWrJMnodIs78pnGRiwrimVI90Jw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="250" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTTeaiQDuYBn5TweAKKsZylBUv3eZZoNQERrCzU8m_Bz7O-5J1V0000P0VO-_lwAIzrJRCRWCn3xyWr3l5Zsyo45w-TFgYJCxniyLirDEY5yL6REOlcGGY9QyQy6dQ2BsSdc6g7Q_3dKOn19_JNRJKk3BRu0rtiOjSWrJMnodIs78pnGRiwrimVI90Jw" width="179" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Image from Find a Grave</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />He was born in 1846 in Marietta, Ohio, the youngest of ten children. He moved to Colorado Springs, in 1878 with the rest of the family. During his time in Cripple Creek, he was vice president and general manager of the Elkton Mining and Milling Company along with owning additional mining properties. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Like many others, De La Vergne was involved in community affairs and politics. By 1904 he was elected to the State Senate and served until 1908 when his term ended.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">He married Alice Hook in 1896 who was born in England in 1864.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Edward died in September 1917.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">With that end tied up the rest of the year will be devoted to where I want to take my writing in 2024.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I would like to resume the author biographies, especially the new members. Also, if I'd asked you to participate earlier and didn't get it posted, let me know. I'm in the process of migrating files over to a new system and don't want to overlook anyone.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">As 2023 ends, what are your plans for the coming year?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">As always:</span></p><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-837110013059391041" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: #fff3db; color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif;"><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-1163573402751905800" itemprop="description articleBody"><div style="line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "book antigua";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Until Next Time Stay Safe & Stay Well</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "book antigua";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "book antigua";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Doris</span></span></div><div style="font-family: "book antigua"; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: "book antigua"; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: "book antigua"; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1050" data-pin-me-only="true" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV0uZlIa5u61w0I3DMLFwHnPIGBztrRN-vGWcSyzMx45q_EQCxdIV1OYjrkI9wOY-XavRacj1O43_Yi-BK_vj2JChABQ4bDx46LanAxgZpd6bRkkDUpB-2ZKb29GRQXMdQLVLh3tB8bxokdPHwchLbtIPAa2Ruy0isgAEo3Br5iNkWCMK6ilbIQGVCGw/s320/Angela%20Raines%20(1).png" style="border: 0px; color: #956839; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; text-align: center;" width="320" /></span></div></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div></div><div class="post-footer" style="background-color: #fff3db; border-top: 1px solid rgb(191, 177, 134); color: #29303b; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; padding-top: 6px;"></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Renaissance Womenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09045401344374224512noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-11070263967441671932023-12-07T23:00:00.002-06:002023-12-07T23:00:00.144-06:00On This Day in the Old West: December 8<p> <span face="Calibri, sans-serif">Let’s talk outlaws this December. On December 8, 1874, the infamous Jesse James and the Younger gang robbed the Kansas Pacific Railroad in Muncie, Kansas. They made off with $55,000, which would be over $1,200,000 in today’s dollars! This robbery makes the claim of the Tishomingo Savings Bank of Corinth, Mississippi that they were robbed by the James-Younger gang on December 7 seem highly unlikely. That establishment only lost $10,000.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1lzVu0PyCync2qJ_ySa4B_hp5oS2nYyX9sKGUhCU4hgjg5AcPXTPYEWhQyHN6YMld_CCQ8ZTWYkkz1IXOMrffGmdkxlElatHrD4Qs21zW6eg9SvR01jl5L0RLNlZLvpk_gLuD78mBMhTGtUCQ2VJl6tHRdTgrVmkSJe3cX1xJyPAqZoBo4KQ7sG8ZUDhL/s507/blog_Jesse_James_portrait.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1lzVu0PyCync2qJ_ySa4B_hp5oS2nYyX9sKGUhCU4hgjg5AcPXTPYEWhQyHN6YMld_CCQ8ZTWYkkz1IXOMrffGmdkxlElatHrD4Qs21zW6eg9SvR01jl5L0RLNlZLvpk_gLuD78mBMhTGtUCQ2VJl6tHRdTgrVmkSJe3cX1xJyPAqZoBo4KQ7sG8ZUDhL/s320/blog_Jesse_James_portrait.jpg" width="252" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Jesse Woodson James was born in Missouri in 1847. His father was a Baptist minister, Robert James, and his mother, a Kentucky native named Zerelda Cole James. In 1850, Jesse’s father traveled to California to preach in the gold mining camps. Unfortunately, soon after the family’s arrival, Robert fell ill and died. Zerelda was left with three small children—Jesse, his future partner-in-crime Frank, and their sister Susan—and was plunged into “perilous financial straits.” Zerelda tried marrying a wealthy, older man, but the marriage didn’t last and she moved her family back to her first husband’s farm and married again in 1855. She was to have four more children with her third husband, and after Jesse and Frank grew up to become outlaws, Zerelda remained their staunch supporter.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Jesse’s older brother Frank fought in the Civil War with the pro-secession Missouri State Guard, then joined a band of Confederate guerrillas known as “bushwhackers,” who carried out attacks against Union sympathizers on the Missouri frontier. In 1863, while at his family’s farm, a teenage Jesse was ambushed and horsewhipped, and his stepfather hanged from a tree by Union militiamen seeking the whereabouts of Frank and his fellow insurgents. Miraculously, the stepfather, Dr. Archie Samuel, survived his torture.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNgoN3uBeRfwFltyOzMQGtpYlyxmQo9ycdKk61AhItg7FcQT1aEG9PlvoYAXBvHd8ysI2brnJTr3LJXBsCOvfNqh54fJxV-rB1xq0u_zzfq8GNAnQ5c59yKhWs5vQY704UOIbXtcoPgPuyLOv5K9s94vRJJKoFk9MRTtWjuxnA6vQUoEexdX4_sKusfAa5/s780/blog_frank_and_jesse_james.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="780" data-original-width="578" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNgoN3uBeRfwFltyOzMQGtpYlyxmQo9ycdKk61AhItg7FcQT1aEG9PlvoYAXBvHd8ysI2brnJTr3LJXBsCOvfNqh54fJxV-rB1xq0u_zzfq8GNAnQ5c59yKhWs5vQY704UOIbXtcoPgPuyLOv5K9s94vRJJKoFk9MRTtWjuxnA6vQUoEexdX4_sKusfAa5/s320/blog_frank_and_jesse_james.webp" width="237" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">By age 16, Jesse followed Frank as a marauding bushwhacker, with both joining a ruthlessly violent gang led by William “Bloody Bill” Anderson. Jesse was shot in the chest in 1865 during a skirmish with Union troops near Lexington, Missouri, a month after General Robert E. Lee had surrendered. After being nursed back to health by his cousin Zerelda “Zee” Mimms, with whom he would later marry and father two children, Jesse banded with Frank and other former guerillas to rob banks, stagecoaches, and trains.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">During an 1869 bank robbery in Gallatin—the incident that first brought Jesse public notice as an outlaw—Jesse shot and killed the cashier, thinking the man was Samuel Cox, commander of the pro-Union militia troops who had “Bloody Bill” Anderson in 1964. After this heist, an influential pro-Confederate newspaper editor, John Newman Edwards, befriended Jesse and went on to promote the former bushwhacker as a hero and “defiant Southern patriot of the Reconstruction era.” Jesse himself wrote letters to newspapers defending his actions. Through his articles and editorials, Edwards helped create the myth of Jesse James as a Robin Hood figure, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor (a myth historians have debunked).<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">After Jesse and Frank robbed a train in January 1874, the Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency was called in to hunt them down. In March, a detective searching for Jesse and Frank was found dead, while another agent who pursued the brothers’ fellow gang members Cole and Robert Younger was also killed. Catching the James brothers became a personal mission for Allan Pinkerton, an abolitionist who “had aided slaves on the Underground Railroad, uncovered a plot to assassinate President-elect Abraham Lincoln, and gathered military intelligence for the federal government during the Civil War. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6eJ1Ho2UQE69ltYjVCrJ-bAbKg-dAY347iD14gE4fs-jqGalxI2LxGiOkJQ5YEixzYP7m647bHSv2qFJ-359YG8O5qiR5SvTIvaAIn7-_oxVi3NjYZ83AdQBoXiBdDb68U9qTNeiMEqw0srcarjnCZ48kSUkXPkMC-4SXQwlglZMeAWK9JUUQvLO_8OC/s2156/blog_jesse_james_portrait2.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2156" data-original-width="1760" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6eJ1Ho2UQE69ltYjVCrJ-bAbKg-dAY347iD14gE4fs-jqGalxI2LxGiOkJQ5YEixzYP7m647bHSv2qFJ-359YG8O5qiR5SvTIvaAIn7-_oxVi3NjYZ83AdQBoXiBdDb68U9qTNeiMEqw0srcarjnCZ48kSUkXPkMC-4SXQwlglZMeAWK9JUUQvLO_8OC/s320/blog_jesse_james_portrait2.webp" width="261" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Shortly after midnight on January 25, 1875, a group of Pinkertons, acting on an outdated tip that Jesse and Frank were at their mother’s farm, raided the place. They threw a smoke bomb into the farmhouse, setting off an explosion that killed Jesse and Frank’s eight-year-old half-brother and caused their mother to lose part of one arm. Following this raid, public support for Jesse and Frank increased. The Missouri state legislature even came close to passing a bill offering amnesty to the two. The brothers also launched an intimidation campaign against their perceived enemies near Zerelda’s farm and in April, one of her neighbors, a former Union militiaman who had assisted the Pinkertons prepare for their raid, was shot to death. Allan Pinkerton never resumed his hunt for the James brothers.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">The James-Younger gang came to its violent end attempting to rob the First National Bank of Northfield, Minnesota. They targeted the bank after learning that Adelbert Ames, a former Union general and Republican governor of Reconstruction-era Mississippi, had recently moved to the town. Ames was rumored to have recently deposited $75,000 into the bank. During the attempted robbery, three members of the gang entered the bank and demanded the safe be opened, but the cashier refused. Meanwhile, townspeople outside got wind that a holdup was taking place and engaged in a shootout with the rest of the gang stationed on the street.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">In the end, the gang killed the cashier and a passerby, while two bandits were shot to death by townsfolk before the rest of the outlaws fled. Two weeks later, the Younger brothers were captured, and another gang member killed in a gunfight near Madelia, Minnesota. The James brothers, who had split with the Youngers (and were the only gang members not caught or killed following the failed robbery), laid low for the next few years, living in Tennessee under assumed names. However, in 1879, Jesse recruited a new gang and began a fresh crime spree.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Jesse met his end when two of his new gang members conspired to betray him in his rented home in St. Joseph, Missouri. His wife and two children were in a nearby room when he was shot. Bob Ford, whose brother Charley was already a member of the gang, had arranged with Missouri’s governor to take down Jesse in exchange for a reward. The public was transfixed by Jesse’s murder and Bob and Charley soon began reenacting the event in a traveling show.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Following Jesse James’ death, speculation lingered that it was a faked event and someone else was buried in his grave. In 1995, scientists exhumed his supposed remains from Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Kearney, Missouri (where his remains had been transferred from the original site on the family farm). After DNA testing, the researchers concluded that the exhumed remains were “almost certainly those of the infamous outlaw.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Your characters would almost certainly have heard of Jesse James, maybe even read a newspaper report of his escapades or of his passing.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">J.E.S. Hays</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">www.jeshays.com</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">www.facebook.com/JESHaysBooks</p>JES Hayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08464125288178319685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-1682680791401802162023-12-06T02:00:00.009-06:002023-12-06T02:00:00.159-06:00Classic Country Ballads of Lost Love Series Finale – Two Songs to end the year on a happy note #westernfictioneers #countryballads #classiccountrymusic <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4cADmimNT2aPkJTRA2IoQ-EZDwBj2WzdzIH0zyN5Aaxxr40y9T391H1vAMlAwjtq8H6voWpso_3IN7PJHfkWSVGaroFW2x3PWaa6TqOBK1AdJ1c6Z1awCR5LahaJSIXVRLvHwDIxHgVcjSApGsDz0HM-JxulJOCAXmditD9wxsDDvRHuXXtvrLkCYbXRv/s400/WF%20expanded%20logo%20(4).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="400" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4cADmimNT2aPkJTRA2IoQ-EZDwBj2WzdzIH0zyN5Aaxxr40y9T391H1vAMlAwjtq8H6voWpso_3IN7PJHfkWSVGaroFW2x3PWaa6TqOBK1AdJ1c6Z1awCR5LahaJSIXVRLvHwDIxHgVcjSApGsDz0HM-JxulJOCAXmditD9wxsDDvRHuXXtvrLkCYbXRv/s320/WF%20expanded%20logo%20(4).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I wrote an article every month this past year in which I shared my
thoughts on classic country ballads that told the stories of tragically lost
love. To jog our musical memories, here is the list with the links to those
blog articles.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">January – Marty Robbins –</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <i>El Paso</i> and </span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Feleena</span></i></a><i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">February – Faron Young
– <i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">TheYellow Bandana</span></a><br />
</i>March – Willie Nelson and Ray Charles – </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Seven Spanish Angels</span></i></a><i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">April – Marty Robbins –<i> </i></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">San Angelo</span></i></a><i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">May – Billy Walker – </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cross the Brazos at Waco</span></i></a><span style="color: blue;"><i><u><br /></u></i></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">June – Billy Walker – </span><a href="https://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2023/06/classic-country-ballads-of-lost-love.html"><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Matamoros</span></i></a><i><br /></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">July – Marty Robbins – </span><a href="https://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2023/07/classic-country-ballads-of-lost-love.html"><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Running Gun</span></i></a><i><br /></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">August – Willie Nelson – </span><a href="https://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2023/08/classic-country-ballads-of-lost-love.html"><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Red Headed Stranger</span></i></a><br /><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">September – Marty Robbins – </span><i><a href="https://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2023/08/classic-country-ballads-of-lost-love.html"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">They’re Hanging Me Tonight</span></a><br /></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">October – Lefty Frizzell – </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="https://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2023/10/classic-country-ballads-of-lost-love.html">Long
Black Veil</a><br /></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">November – Johnny Cash – </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="https://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2023/11/classic-country-ballads-of-lost-love.html">Give
My Love to Rose</a></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Here we are in December, and we’ve reached the
series finale of country ballads of lost love.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">My end-of-year blogging gift to myself and to
you, my faithful readers, is to end the year on a positive musical note. I’m
leaving us with a happy ever after feeling with these two songs that tell the
stories of how two couples found a way around seemingly insurmountable
obstacles to make it to their Happy Ever After.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The two songs are </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Saginaw,
Michigan</i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> and </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Meet Me Tonight in
Laredo</i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Saginaw, Michigan</span></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> was Lefty Frizell’s sixth and final number one
U. S. country chart hit in 1964. The song was released in November 1963. Bill
Anderson and Don Wayne wrote the song.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Saginaw, Michigan</span></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> tells the story of the son of a poor fisherman in Saginaw, Michigan
who falls in love with a rich man’s daughter. Her father forbids her to have
anything to do with our young fisherman. But our young man is resourceful, and
he takes off for Alaska to find a fortune in the gold mines. When his hopes of
finding gold are crushed, he concocts a scheme to return home under the guise
of having struck it rich. The wealthy man is <i>a greedy fool</i> and
he asks <i>Will you sell your father-in-law your Klondike claim?</i> The
deal is made and the wealthy man goes to Alaska to dig for the nonexistent gold.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">It serves him right and no
one here is missing him<br /></span></i><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Least of all the newlyweds
of Saginaw, Michigan.</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">To reference a quote from Hannibal Smith, I love it when a happy
ever after plan comes together. ;-)</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9GcNf8VWhe4" width="320" youtube-src-id="9GcNf8VWhe4"></iframe></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">This next song is my favorite classic country song as well as my
favorite Marty Robbins song.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Meet Me Tonight in Laredo</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Mabel Cordle and Ronny Robbins wrote </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Meet Me Tonight in Laredo</i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">. Marty released it on The Drifter album
in July 1966.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">This song tells the story of a woman who meets a wild Comanchero
by chance one night in Laredo. We get the idea right away that she’s in love
with this man, because people tell her he had lived the outlaw life and if she
hooks up with him her life will consist of nothing but toil and hardships and
heartaches and tears.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">But love finds a way and one day he sends her the message she’s been
waiting for.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Meet me tonight in Laredo.<br /></span></i><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Wait ‘til the moon’s
hanging low<br /></span></i><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Meet me tonight in Laredo<br /></span></i><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">We’ll soon be in Old Mexico</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">They slip away through the darkness and ride deep into Mexico to
begin their lives together.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The hands that once held a
six gun are holding their baby tonight.</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nhQnmhuGM6U" width="320" youtube-src-id="nhQnmhuGM6U"></iframe></i></div><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">My gosh, but I love this song. I love it so much, in fact, that I
wrote a novel based on the lyrics. The novel is </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Comancheros-Bride-Kaye-Spencer-ebook/dp/B01CTQTSAA/" target="_blank">The Comanchero’s Bride</a></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">.</span></p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFZ_LwciDQEFxYDYkhx8NPcrxG68852qpBPaqGq1HlpN52vHsaAg1aze69tPcEaZsomasQZtKWXSstrAYdP7yoIizyclJGF9i9vmJOld3RFBBdqRI9b29Vddbs54ChJwudkLVI5jh_qm3Yjj02eWL_FdRmiTwhWhrMyTOc2wV9KxQzFj1jh61BIbsyhvz6/s600/The%20Comanchero's%20Bride%20-%20banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="130" data-original-width="600" height="69" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFZ_LwciDQEFxYDYkhx8NPcrxG68852qpBPaqGq1HlpN52vHsaAg1aze69tPcEaZsomasQZtKWXSstrAYdP7yoIizyclJGF9i9vmJOld3RFBBdqRI9b29Vddbs54ChJwudkLVI5jh_qm3Yjj02eWL_FdRmiTwhWhrMyTOc2wV9KxQzFj1jh61BIbsyhvz6/s320/The%20Comanchero's%20Bride%20-%20banner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><u>EXCERPT</u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">This is the scene in which the woman meets
the Comanchero one night in Laredo…</span></p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The pause between songs interrupted her private ponderings, and
Elizabeth realized Domingo Valderas was walking straight toward her across the
dancing area. So intense was his gaze, it was clear she was his intended
destination. Pleasant anticipation knotted inside her. His self-assured,
swaggering gait suggested an earthy vitality she’d never encountered in any
other man.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">His ornately adorned black </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">charro</i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">
jacket hugged his broad shoulders and the ends of his midnight-black hair
brushed the collar of the red shirt that opened low on his chest revealing a
patch of dark curly hair. His flashy </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">calzoneras</i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">
hung long over his boots, and a black </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">poblano</i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">
dangled down his back by a cord around his neck. The silver </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">conchos</i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> dotting the wide, black leather
gun belt strapped around his narrow hips caught and reflected the wavering
torchlight with glimmering sparkles. With each arrogant step, the rhythmical
jingle-jangling twirl of his large-rowelled Mexican spurs against the stone
plaza held her, enthralled, as a moth drawn to the flame.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Upon reaching her, he took her right hand and with a pretentious
bow, brought it to his lips for a light kiss. His grip was strong, yet gentle,
his gaze penetrating to the very core of what made her a woman. The brash,
simmering desire in his sultry eyes sent a tingling response shimmering through
her body. His mustache quivered with a smile that provoked and beckoned her at
the same time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">“</span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Buenas noches</i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">. I am
Domingo Raoul Valderas </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">y </i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">César,
recently of Monterrey, Monclova, and Saltillo by way of Santa Fé and all
locations in between. My friends call me Mingo. Your name, </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">señorita</i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">?”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">His English was strong and clear, although heavily accented with a
deep, languid tone that washed over her, caressing her with intimate
familiarity. This man was desire personified, and her body responded where
words failed her.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">His expression took on feigned alarm at her continued silence, and
he swept his free hand histrionically to his chest. “No! Do I hold false hope…</span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Señora</i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">? Tell me my heart will not be
broken to learn that you belong to another.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdrYxHFuEi6V2ILQoO57_PZGk3M0ItuezD9J45-tJInqrgCBtkXsxpKgEh_p0Nd4_Da_c_d1TAHOsHBKrU4mlcuQz8woANYqE01wnyaCZSlhDrpEdfLcymH4gbEagI_18GV802o8wgC2lSMVzP56MsOgW5lZBQ4VjnU6Hptvn4x2dzlztR82L_W5ewX6f7/s300/The%20Comanchero's%20Bride.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdrYxHFuEi6V2ILQoO57_PZGk3M0ItuezD9J45-tJInqrgCBtkXsxpKgEh_p0Nd4_Da_c_d1TAHOsHBKrU4mlcuQz8woANYqE01wnyaCZSlhDrpEdfLcymH4gbEagI_18GV802o8wgC2lSMVzP56MsOgW5lZBQ4VjnU6Hptvn4x2dzlztR82L_W5ewX6f7/s1600/The%20Comanchero's%20Bride.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Thanks for sticking with me all year on this series endeavor. See
you all in January 2024.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Until next year,<br /></span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Kaye Spencer<br /></span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Lasterday Stories<br /></span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">writing through history one romance upon a time<br /></span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">www.kayespencer.com</span></i></b></p>Kaye Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13530735658588595790noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-8371100130593910412023-11-21T04:30:00.004-06:002023-11-21T04:30:00.152-06:00A Brief Story of Cripple Creek<p>Post (C) Doris McCraw</p><p>aka Angela Raines</p><p> <span style="background-color: #fff3db; color: #1b0431; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; font-size: 18.2px;">THE TALE OF CRIPPLE CREEK </span></p><div class="post-header" style="background-color: #fff3db; color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div class="post-header-line-1"></div></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-1163573402751905800" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: #fff3db;"><span style="color: #29303b; font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Oqz7KC4Wn15VqzWScds-8NeFNP9_J-wplSB1nyKdKqw4v9LHvv0urx-F8dNXgAZibLQYxumoFF6hyphenhyphenU9aTUbkX3wJtnrRPLByi75Fkf9OYxErUDGMNEHfUu4Slq9NcY0QNzAuz6_OrIg/s1600/6-4-2012+cc+088.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #473624; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Oqz7KC4Wn15VqzWScds-8NeFNP9_J-wplSB1nyKdKqw4v9LHvv0urx-F8dNXgAZibLQYxumoFF6hyphenhyphenU9aTUbkX3wJtnrRPLByi75Fkf9OYxErUDGMNEHfUu4Slq9NcY0QNzAuz6_OrIg/s320/6-4-2012+cc+088.jpg" style="border: 0px;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10.4px;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Deserted Building between Cripple Creek & Victor, CO 2018<br />(Photo property of Doris McCraw)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #29303b; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">I am resharing some history of Cripple Creek, a mining town in the Colorado Rockies, prior to the rest of the DeLaVergne story. Of course, you can't share Cripple Creek's history without including the whole mining district, which sits in an extinct volcano caldera. So here we go.</span><br /><span style="color: #29303b; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #29303b; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">It was during a time of volcanic eruptions some thirty-five million years ago, that lava flowed through what became the Cripple Creek Mining District. However, for some unknown reason, the flow did not bring gold to the surface. Richard M. Pearl, PhD, a geology professor at Colorado College, believed that when convulsions in the earth’s crust caused cracks in the underground granite to appear the gold salts were deposited into the cracks and seams of that granite. Those ores that were created by the various eruptions of volcanic activity in the region were almost exclusively gold ores. There was some small amount of silver associated with the gold, but usually in negligible quantities.</span><br /><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Between 1842 and 1844 Capt. John C. Fremont explored the region and his travels around Pikes Peak took him into the Cripple Creek area. During the Hayden survey of the 1870s, there were some gold specimens found by H.T. Wood, a member of that survey. In 1874, Wood returned to the Cripple Creek district with other prospectors set about trying to find the source of the gold he'd initially found. Wood organized the district under the name of Mt. Pisgah. The hope was they could find the source of the gold 'float'. Despite their efforts, no one was successful in finding the source.</span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">In 1871 the Welty family moved into the region. Welty and his sons built a cabin and corral near the stream that flows through the Cripple Creek area. They were followed by the Womack family who purchased the Welty squatter rights for $500 and claimed a second homestead two miles south of the Cripple Creek stream with Robert (Bob) building a cabin at the bottom of a ravine the Hayden Survey had named Poverty Gulch.</span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzI4eSKnjSi7bWCKk9OruQr6A_mhhcELs2bPSXN4uUppen8GJ9z4sFH8W7x6nRS0vy-dT90vQBa1hiWfVGxBFbpQ_nVnIXR8AacuLTYgaRfZO6iB3jhv8nYnoPkYktqGMIEBjaYgsHqpg/s1600/October+Mtn+research+trip+092.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #473624; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzI4eSKnjSi7bWCKk9OruQr6A_mhhcELs2bPSXN4uUppen8GJ9z4sFH8W7x6nRS0vy-dT90vQBa1hiWfVGxBFbpQ_nVnIXR8AacuLTYgaRfZO6iB3jhv8nYnoPkYktqGMIEBjaYgsHqpg/s320/October+Mtn+research+trip+092.jpg" style="border: 0px;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">High Mountain Ranching<br /> (photo property of Doris McCraw)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Other families moved into the region but by the mid 1880's most of the settlers had left and/or returned to places they had on the plains east of Colorado Springs, which had become active in the cattle and sheep industry. The homesteads were purchased by the Pikes Peak Land and Cattle Company, a partnership composed of three local residents and Phillip Elsworth, an eastern glove manufacturer. When Elsworth visited the area in 1885 he felt his partners had misrepresented the company's holdings. He forced them to quit claim their shares and he put the land up for sale. It was purchased by the Denver real estate firm of Horace W. Bennett & Julius A. Myers for $5,000 down and $20,000 if and when it could be paid.</span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">That same year, 1885, Myers & Bennett created the Houseman Cattle and Land Company and renamed the area the Broken Box Ranch. George Carr was hired as foreman and within two years a profitable ranching operation was in place. Bob Womack, however, remained on the piece of the Womack homestead in Poverty Gulch.</span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Of all the towns affected by the Cripple Creek volcano perhaps the most impacted were Cripple Creek and Victor. However at the height of the mining boom, around 1900, there were approximately 10 additional towns. Cripple Creek became the financial center and Victor the mining area.</span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">The land that Bennett and Myers platted out, from their Broken Box Ranch site, after gold was found again, was originally planned to sell for $25 and $50 for corner lots. By 1891 when the boom hit, those $25 lots were selling for $250. Buildings were put up very quickly, using wood, with wood pulp or newsprint for insulation. Some of the poorer buildings had rugs or tent canvas for insulation. This set the stage for the devastation that was to come. As Dr. Lester Williams said in his book <u>Cripple Creek Conflagrations</u> “Neither time nor money had been wasted on a mere town, or living accommodations, there wasn't much emphasis on safety from fire, and the end result was that Cripple Creek was ripe to burn...”</span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">And burn it did. By April of 1896 when the first fire hit, the area was so crowded that to get a room meant you had to hustle to find a place to stay. The streets were crowded with all manner of people from all walks of life. The hotels were unable to accommodate the influx, so travelers were having to resort to lodging houses, which were being built at an average of a dozen or so a week. The first fire started on April 25, 1896, and by nightfall, approximately fifteen acres had burned. On April 29, 1896, the second fire broke out and burned all but a small portion of the western part of the town. The damage from both fires was approximately $2,000,000 in 1896 dollars.</span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Despite the setback of the fires caused, Cripple Creek was rebuilt, this time with brick. The 'new and improved' Cripple Creek remained the commercial center of the district. Of the rebuilding, the city now had buildings that were valued at “three-quarters of a million,” and were considered to be a “glorious monument to the energy and enterprise” of the residents. The city was proud of the fact that it was a 'law-abiding' camp. The camp had schools, churches plus the 'tenderloin' district. If one saw 'six-shooters' it was more as a precaution as opposed to necessity.</span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div align="left" style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">After 1900 Cripple Creek began a slow decline and by 1960 the population had dropped considerably. </span></div><div align="left" style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div align="left" style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Today Cripple Creek has seen a small boon with the coming of limited-stakes gambling. Traveling into the area, one will see the casinos but there is also the history of the region and the remembrance of “The World's Greatest Gold Camp”.</span></div><div align="left" style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div align="left" style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">A brief note on Victor, Colorado the second important town in the district.</span></div><div align="left" style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC2n5aFFbnZUAD9jy9A85v0UDMhnKq_z0hM7yV2rU-L_zVjmUm6TPZKmafdgsT-URYl4pirwjPC-396AFOsz7GK0rw1Y708RzP2Qwp0ic7RcNngTA33mgDE-oMfURQStYM4bCBNbfjqsA/s1600/9-9-2013+Victor+Trip+049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #473624; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC2n5aFFbnZUAD9jy9A85v0UDMhnKq_z0hM7yV2rU-L_zVjmUm6TPZKmafdgsT-URYl4pirwjPC-396AFOsz7GK0rw1Y708RzP2Qwp0ic7RcNngTA33mgDE-oMfURQStYM4bCBNbfjqsA/s320/9-9-2013+Victor+Trip+049.jpg" style="border: 0px;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">View from Victor, CO.<br />(photo property of Doris McCraw)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div align="left" style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">According to one publication </span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">“The town </span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">[of Victor]</span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"> is beautifully located, and in the summer of 1893, when the natural scenery was yet undisturbed and the sweet perfumery of wildflowers was the only outgoing freight, one would have seemed much at fault in judgment had he predicted that $5,000,000 in gold would have been transported thence in 1895.”</span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Victor from the beginning has been known as the ‘city of mines’. In fact, it had a gold mine right in the middle of town. The Woods brothers, who founded the town, were in the process of building a “first-class hotel” when gold was found as they were digging the foundation. Instead of a hotel, the Gold Coin mine came into existence. As a mine in the middle of town, the building was built of brick and even had a stained glass window at the entrance. As much as possible the mine looked as if it belonged in the city.</span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_vXgluNnDCFbTCOq1WdCRLefgUCwaW_mGypmZbSouma1z4j0YFyl0oRPB8SNR3dfljDV0jHum-JNJIEHU5_vXhFLLHjnEiZFTRz9FgCW-rpZ8L8BNGDyw4MkIFdV6Ioh3w2tf0c5-Uik/s1600/10-19-2013+Victor+Murder+Mystery+121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #473624; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_vXgluNnDCFbTCOq1WdCRLefgUCwaW_mGypmZbSouma1z4j0YFyl0oRPB8SNR3dfljDV0jHum-JNJIEHU5_vXhFLLHjnEiZFTRz9FgCW-rpZ8L8BNGDyw4MkIFdV6Ioh3w2tf0c5-Uik/s320/10-19-2013+Victor+Murder+Mystery+121.jpg" style="border: 0px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Remnants of the Gold Coin Mine entrance<br />(Photo property of Doris McCraw)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Most of the major producing mines were located near Victor and during the town’s heyday of activity Victor Avenue was one of the best-known streets in the world. By 1896 just three years after being founded the city was the second largest in the region and had light, water, telegraph, and telephone service the same as Cripple Creek.</span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Due to the vicinity of the mines, a large portion of the population of Victor and nearby towns was composed of miners. The nearby town of Goldfield was considered the 'family' town, but Victor was a mining and milling center. In the early days men were known to pay one dollar to sleep on a pool table and stand in line to eat. The growth was explosive. By 1896, three years after its founding, Victor’s population had grown to approximately 8,000 people. Like Cripple Creek, the growth had been so fast the structures were mostly of wood. In 1899 Victor was hit with its own destructive fire. The devastation covered twelve blocks of the business district, composed of some 200 buildings including the original Gold Coin Mine building. It was estimated that 3,000 were left homeless. The fire burned for approximately three and a half hours. The total estimated cost of the fire in 1899 funds was $2,000,000. After the fire, in fact, beginning the very next day, Victor set about to rebuild. The debris was cleared and tents and makeshift temporary buildings were erected. Saloons and restaurants were almost immediately back in business. By noon the post office was up and running</span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Victor had become so well known that after the fire the “Colorado Road” arranged an excursion train to view the 'effect of the great fire' for $4.50. The trip would begin in Denver and travel to Cripple Creek and Victor on August 26 and return on August 27.</span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">So there you have it, a very brief history of Cripple Creek and Victor. Also of note, there is still an active gold mine in the region, although it is an open pit mine.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijCsVHIdMWoazS-1eEliB4KBr1GOdu10ucfN0aR-jiBze9IpMXJ_p70u7aZHoaGQU_GBFbkuPteO5S32ZwEy0Q1JTw9qMfDaiP8g71NMHMHjFTIXQoZhVwnENle2uIMLqom6f0POveZN0/s1600/battle+mountain+mines.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #473624; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="700" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijCsVHIdMWoazS-1eEliB4KBr1GOdu10ucfN0aR-jiBze9IpMXJ_p70u7aZHoaGQU_GBFbkuPteO5S32ZwEy0Q1JTw9qMfDaiP8g71NMHMHjFTIXQoZhVwnENle2uIMLqom6f0POveZN0/s320/battle+mountain+mines.jpg" style="border: 0px;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Battle Mountain Mines, Victor, CO (USGS photo)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">I shall leave you with the following quotes about mining and prospectors:</span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">“Geologically Cripple Creek is a freak. It is erratic, eccentric, and full of whims and caprices. That is, it is so to the man of science and the miner of experience.”</span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">“...geology, so far as the location of ore deposits was concerned, was an unknown quantity. The prospector was the sole mine seeker...He was the lone wolf of mining for he usually went on his own. He wanted no prying eyes to behold the long elusive pot of gold at the end of his rainbow...”</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Bibliography: </span><br /><span style="font-family: "book antigua";"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "book antigua";">Geochronology of the central Colorado Volcanic field, Wm. C. McIntosh, Charles E Chapin, New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources, Bulletin 160, 2004</span><br /><span style="font-family: "book antigua";">Gazette Telegraph May 20, 1973</span><br /><span style="font-family: "book antigua";">C</span><span style="font-family: "book antigua";">ripple Creek and Colorado Springs...Illustrated, Henry L Warren & Robert Stride, authors and publishers, 1896 </span><br /><span style="font-family: "book antigua";">Cripple Creek Mining District, Robert Guilford Taylor, Filter Press, Palmer Lake, CO 1973 </span><br /><span style="font-family: "book antigua";">Cripple Creek, A Quick History, Leland Feitz, Little London Press, Colo.Spgs. CO 1967 </span><span style="font-family: "book antigua";">Cripple Creek Conflagrations, Lester L. Williams MD, Filter Press, Palmer Lake, Co 1994 </span><br /><span style="font-family: "book antigua";">Cripple Creek Guide, April 25, 1896 </span><br /><span style="font-family: "book antigua";">History of Cripple Creek, America's Most Famous Gold Camp, The Quarterly Sentinel Vol I, Denver, Co, Feb 1896, WC Calhoun, Publisher </span><br /><span style="font-family: "book antigua";">A Quick History of Victor, Leland Feitz, 1969 Little London Press, Colo.Spgs, CO</span><br /><span style="font-family: "book antigua";">The Denver Evening Post, August 25, 1899 </span><br /><span style="font-family: "book antigua";">The Daily Mining Record, February 23, 1894</span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "book antigua";"><br /></span></div><div style="line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #29303b; font-family: book antigua;">Until Next Time Stay Safe & Stay Well</span></div><div style="line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #29303b; font-family: book antigua;"><br /></span></div><div style="line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #29303b; font-family: book antigua;">Doris</span></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: "book antigua"; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: "book antigua"; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="color: #29303b; font-family: "book antigua"; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1050" data-pin-me-only="true" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV0uZlIa5u61w0I3DMLFwHnPIGBztrRN-vGWcSyzMx45q_EQCxdIV1OYjrkI9wOY-XavRacj1O43_Yi-BK_vj2JChABQ4bDx46LanAxgZpd6bRkkDUpB-2ZKb29GRQXMdQLVLh3tB8bxokdPHwchLbtIPAa2Ruy0isgAEo3Br5iNkWCMK6ilbIQGVCGw/s320/Angela%20Raines%20(1).png" style="border: 0px; color: #956839; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;" width="320" /></div></div></div>Renaissance Womenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09045401344374224512noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-41917462650641539652023-11-15T00:00:00.001-06:002023-11-15T00:00:00.132-06:00
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYymLMeedrW0jBbRgzLxbYijrFijzsAMfK4EEYigS6Y4rwY7Rw7jVZS92dEKlSukjdJD1heKL_MblIfj8DXh4Ht6Lrhyx50k9VXHFjcvhSLKb8mjrzyt0yYDZ0ykce6BqEMw1WzNOtWw87_aM4U1n1mszvqmk3IZxD2uWVT3ee6DiI8LP691llPg4D3F-L/s6000/Cheryl7930web.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="6000" data-original-width="4000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYymLMeedrW0jBbRgzLxbYijrFijzsAMfK4EEYigS6Y4rwY7Rw7jVZS92dEKlSukjdJD1heKL_MblIfj8DXh4Ht6Lrhyx50k9VXHFjcvhSLKb8mjrzyt0yYDZ0ykce6BqEMw1WzNOtWw87_aM4U1n1mszvqmk3IZxD2uWVT3ee6DiI8LP691llPg4D3F-L/s320/Cheryl7930web.jpeg"/></a></div>
Fall Dump Cake<br><br>
Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
Yield: 12 servings<br><br>
Ah, fall is in the air... can't you smell it? Yes, we do mean smell and you'll understand why here in a
minute! Load up your slow cooker with this Fall Dump Cake for the easiest, sweetest, autumn-flared
scents to circulate your surroundings for hours. Not only does it smell like all your fall fantasies, but
the way the syrupy apple filling blends so nicely with the crumbly, cinnamon-coated cake will have you
dancing around like a leaf on a windy day. Your senses will totally fall for Fall Dump Cake! 'Tis the
season!<br><br>
Ingredients<br><br>
2 (20-ounce) cans apple pie filling
1 (15.25-ounce) package yellow cake mix
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
whipped topping, to taste, for topping<br><br>
Directions<br><br>
Step 1
In a slow cooker, add the apple pie filling.<br><br>
Step 2
Evenly sprinkle the cake mix over the filling, then dot it all over with the butter cubes.<br><br>
Step 3
Sprinkle the cinnamon over the apple mixture.<br><br>
Step 4
Cover the slow cooker and cook on high heat until the filling is bubbly and the top is golden-brown,
about 2 hours.<br><br>
Step 5
Serve the dump cake with the whipped topping.Cheryl Piersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18116526340220274282noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-34095655677687391282023-11-09T23:00:00.001-06:002023-11-09T23:00:00.135-06:00Thanksgiving in the Old West<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Everyone has heard of the First Thanksgiving, the three-day feast at Plymouth in 1621. But how did the American harvest festival end up the national holiday we all know and love? Of course, harvest celebrations are nothing new, but in the New World, pioneers were eager to create a holiday of their own. George Washington attempted to set up a Thanksgiving holiday, but the day didn’t gain much momentum until 1846, when Sarah Hale, editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, began a letter-writing campaign to establish the last Thursday in November as National Thanksgiving Day. It took 17 years, but eventually her pleas fell on the ears of President Abraham Lincoln, who issued a proclamation on October 3, 1863, designating Thanksgiving Day.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Rb6AQVdgxaZQ3-OlCBKrP7CmnYt903BkVopWY3idneai1hgnIeLT6gCKvpMj0rXDBJuPnq06bjwTAlDUq8MgNsTZKDkSMvY2bz5FFps1z6HwfPB_h2pMQ2DFwIui_B8tWQyQuwSdCiQ7RgurZ0v_Mtqti-J9dJlmQie0Rb6xzag-ULleRlWGZpvwVfz6/s500/Blog%20The-first-Thanksgiving-in-1621-Jean-Leon-Gerome-Ferris-500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="321" data-original-width="500" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Rb6AQVdgxaZQ3-OlCBKrP7CmnYt903BkVopWY3idneai1hgnIeLT6gCKvpMj0rXDBJuPnq06bjwTAlDUq8MgNsTZKDkSMvY2bz5FFps1z6HwfPB_h2pMQ2DFwIui_B8tWQyQuwSdCiQ7RgurZ0v_Mtqti-J9dJlmQie0Rb6xzag-ULleRlWGZpvwVfz6/s320/Blog%20The-first-Thanksgiving-in-1621-Jean-Leon-Gerome-Ferris-500.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">So, how would your characters have celebrated the holiday? Why, with a feast, of course. Menu items from restaurants to home tables would have included many of the traditional favorites we still enjoy today, such as turkey, cranberry sauce, and mince, apple, or pumpkin pies. Hotels in Kansas City, Missouri outdid themselves in 1888. Their menu included Blue Point oysters, little neck clams, calf’s brains, buffalo tongue, red snapper, black bass, salmon, capon, turkey duck, ribs of beef, veal, quail stuffed with truffles, elk, squirrel, opossum, shrimp, pompano, asparagus, artichokes, puddings, pies, ice cream, macaroons, and Roquefort and Edam cheeses.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">The New England Economical Housekeeper, and Family Receipt Book of 1845, by Mrs. E.A. Howland, urged readers to serve the following Thanksgiving Dinner: Roast Turkey, stuffed; A Pair of Chickens, stuffed, and boiled, with cabbage and a piece of lean pork; A Chicken Pie; Potatoes; turnip sauce, squash; onions; gravy and gravy sauce; apple and cranberry sauce; oyster sauce brown and white bread; Plum and Plain Pudding, with Sweet sauce; Mince, Pumpkin and Apple Pies; Cheese.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7gK6JD0ccat1OU1NN6U-btibVzu2u2ZFZ_6aygASY5VceHEZnbE8IhrwlNOSU1TPXBJoUPlB4QjVvCUIpA2TCWH-cmBhYHSZY5OboYi1KiQW3NHgiLz3RNnxIdmNKGMxG-lIIhtWHGyyw12_B3d91efW5p-hQEsdYxxjA3tbCmET12JJFZs5bV8Xc7OgF/s1600/Blog%2019th-century-thanksgiving-menus-1889.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1223" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7gK6JD0ccat1OU1NN6U-btibVzu2u2ZFZ_6aygASY5VceHEZnbE8IhrwlNOSU1TPXBJoUPlB4QjVvCUIpA2TCWH-cmBhYHSZY5OboYi1KiQW3NHgiLz3RNnxIdmNKGMxG-lIIhtWHGyyw12_B3d91efW5p-hQEsdYxxjA3tbCmET12JJFZs5bV8Xc7OgF/s320/Blog%2019th-century-thanksgiving-menus-1889.jpg" width="245" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">The Golden Lamb in Ohio, served a Thanksgiving menu that included several oyster dishes (including plain oysters), such as consommé oysters as well as turkey stuffed with oysters. Other dishes were whitefish, roast beef, chicken croquettes, wild duck, broiled quail, celery and lettuce (plain or with mayonnaise), plum pudding, mince pie, pineapple with “De Brie cheese” and Charlotte Russe (a dessert of sweet cream and sponge cake popular during the Victorian and Edwardian periods).<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">And in Buckeye Cookery, Estelle Woods Wilcox suggested that the perfect Thanksgiving dinner included oyster soup; boiled fresh cod with egg sauce; roast turkey, cranberry sauce; roast goose, bread sauce or currant jelly; stuffed ham, apple sauce or jelly; pork and beans; mashed potatoes and boiled onions, salsify, macaroni and cheese; brown bread and superior biscuit; lobste4r salad; pressed beef, cold corned beef, tongue; celery, cream slaw; watermelon, peach, pear, or apple sweet-pickles; mangoes, cucumbers, chow-chow, and tomato catsup; stewed peaches or prunes; doughnuts and ginger cakes; mince, pumpkin, and peach pies; plum and boiled Indian puddings; apple, cocoa-nut or almond tarts; vanilla ice-cream;; old-fashioned loaf cake, pound cake, black cake, white perfection cake, ribbon cake, almond layer cake; citron, peach, plum, or cherry preserves; apples, oranges, figs, grapes, raisins, and nuts; tea and coffee.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt_6vtjSSkZcEQsiH-ogsKb-Q7lHLdbNx99o6vWXdGuttqhIbnJ9b9AggVZ-6r2c9aBPzwoqNUoF6pRNCVR9x4zhi0NUNDcnAu4sFFl3HjICJxAmgS69ZGJ6gZ0E4xdzo_1T519jomHXb_TqUg7BIPv4zG4LGRKz-S7LVU4YtAYbiwyv8tJbC1Bc4aS_Fq/s2880/Blog-Home_To_Thanksgiving,_Currier_and_Ives.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1930" data-original-width="2880" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt_6vtjSSkZcEQsiH-ogsKb-Q7lHLdbNx99o6vWXdGuttqhIbnJ9b9AggVZ-6r2c9aBPzwoqNUoF6pRNCVR9x4zhi0NUNDcnAu4sFFl3HjICJxAmgS69ZGJ6gZ0E4xdzo_1T519jomHXb_TqUg7BIPv4zG4LGRKz-S7LVU4YtAYbiwyv8tJbC1Bc4aS_Fq/s320/Blog-Home_To_Thanksgiving,_Currier_and_Ives.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">So your characters would have eaten well on the holiday, even if their meal wasn't exactly what we'd serve today. Much of their Thanksgiving feast would have included whatever they could catch or raise, which may or may not include turkey. But you can certainly have your characters celebrating with a feast.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">J.E.S. Hays</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">www.jeshays.com</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">www.facebook.com/JESHaysBooks</p>JES Hayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08464125288178319685noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-15589568047570751602023-11-01T16:24:00.001-05:002023-11-01T16:24:38.183-05:00Classic Country Ballads of Lost Love – Give My Love to Rose #westernfictioneers #countryballads #classiccountrymusic <p><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNtD2j-pV83KF2W31Ck-erkWjxWnwNG_gDEZpwWHdgcB2ldi_JhjP9auZgqDp5EG3CkdP4s32J7J9OUIK6trQWs1ZHpdzrm5r3HkRW-2RVo4l57gqBuRcdPZ9quQsC8SO4ju09frFxP2PiPgIEg_TAvw8zyUJkKzJImJo8z9fMVFzMyAansqwFkyQCosFN/s640/KS%20banner%20640x160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="640" height="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNtD2j-pV83KF2W31Ck-erkWjxWnwNG_gDEZpwWHdgcB2ldi_JhjP9auZgqDp5EG3CkdP4s32J7J9OUIK6trQWs1ZHpdzrm5r3HkRW-2RVo4l57gqBuRcdPZ9quQsC8SO4ju09frFxP2PiPgIEg_TAvw8zyUJkKzJImJo8z9fMVFzMyAansqwFkyQCosFN/s320/KS%20banner%20640x160.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />I grew up in the late 50s and 60s listening to the country music
of that era. I stuck with country music through the 70s. I made it into the 80s
but, by the late 80s, country music as I knew and loved was headed in a
direction that, with a few exceptions, I wasn’t interested going. So I didn’t.
(Get off my lawn.)<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The old west gunfighter and trail ballads, drinking songs, and
revenge songs had an influence on me that was, and still is, every bit as
strong as the impact Louis L’Amour’s books left with me. My lifelong interest,
perhaps fascination bordering on obsession, with everything old west—truth,
legends, and myths alike—have roots in those old cowboy and country songs.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I’m inviting you to read along with me this year as I post one or
two nostalgic-for-me country ballads on the first Wednesday of each month. I
will share a snippet of trivia about each song along with a YouTube video.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Each month, I will include a link back to the previous month’s
article as reference to those songs. The common thread that runs among the
songs I’ve chosen for this musical memory lane excursion is </span><b style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><i>tragic
lost love.</i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">January – Marty Robbins –</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <i>El Paso</i> and </span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Feleena</span></i></a><i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">February – Faron Young
– <i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">TheYellow Bandana</span></a><br />
</i>March – Willie Nelson and Ray Charles – </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Seven Spanish Angels</span></i></a><i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">April – Marty Robbins –<i> </i></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">San Angelo</span></i></a><i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">May – Billy Walker – </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cross the Brazos at Waco</span></i></a><span style="color: blue;"><i><u><br /></u></i></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">June – Billy Walker – </span><a href="https://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2023/06/classic-country-ballads-of-lost-love.html"><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Matamoros</span></i></a><i><br /></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">July – Marty Robbins – </span><a href="https://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2023/07/classic-country-ballads-of-lost-love.html"><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Running Gun</span></i></a><i><br /></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">August – Willie Nelson – </span><a href="https://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2023/08/classic-country-ballads-of-lost-love.html"><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Red Headed Stranger</span></i></a><i><br /></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">September – Marty Robbins – </span><a href="https://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2023/08/classic-country-ballads-of-lost-love.html"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">They’re Hanging Me Tonight</span></a><br /><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">October – Lefty Frizzell – <i><a href="https://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2023/10/classic-country-ballads-of-lost-love.html" target="_blank">Long Black Veil</a></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Give My Love to Rose</span></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> is the song for November. It was written by
Johnny Cash. He recorded and released it in 1957. It was the “B” side of his
single <i>Home of the Blues</i>. In 2002, Cash re-recorded <i>Give My Love to Rose</i>, which
garnered him his fourth Grammy Award.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">According to Cash, he came up with the basic idea for the song
after having had a conversation with an inmate at San Quentin State Prison. The
prisoner had asked Cash to give a message to his wife. From there, Cash wrote the
story of a released convict traveling home to reunite with his wife and son.
The former prisoner is either terminally ill or somehow injured, and he
collapses along the railroad tracks. The song’s narrator finds him, listens to
the dying man’s last requests, and presumably conveys that message to his
family.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jTjSqrJNWbo" width="320" youtube-src-id="jTjSqrJNWbo"></iframe></div><b><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Until we meet again,</span></i></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">
Kaye Spencer<br />
Lasterday Stories<br />
writing through history one romance upon a time<br />
www.kayespencer.com</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></p>Kaye Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13530735658588595790noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-40408348529707880822023-10-25T00:05:00.001-05:002023-10-25T14:29:42.493-05:00FISH FARM?<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Post by Doris McCraw</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">aka Angela Raines</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi3M_4T-cjgAXK97yxUHlRBS1ukxJ0SIRZNj31xwHfpBYkLlmBN1V5QSjmHbBYo6Jm6srJevL5bKAn12yzzvEBf1dQ0zqJpuxsO9X_XoXq4jmIZpqBcncZToFpe0vaBFsbxb7vn3NI-bbQ6MZBK5gnazh4qlhZq4_y59bsqjn2CiibUdesLg-RrqXdfTw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi3M_4T-cjgAXK97yxUHlRBS1ukxJ0SIRZNj31xwHfpBYkLlmBN1V5QSjmHbBYo6Jm6srJevL5bKAn12yzzvEBf1dQ0zqJpuxsO9X_XoXq4jmIZpqBcncZToFpe0vaBFsbxb7vn3NI-bbQ6MZBK5gnazh4qlhZq4_y59bsqjn2CiibUdesLg-RrqXdfTw" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Photo from Find a Grave</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Of the many things that Colorado Springs is known for, one of the most unique, given the fact that Colorado Springs sits in a High Plains desert, is that one Col. George De La Vergne had a series of fish ponds.</span><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">An article in the local paper, Colorado Springs Gazette, from March 27, 1879, discussed visiting his business. The following is a description of the reporter's visit to these ponds.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">"We first saw a pond in which there were about 70 mountain trout, caught by the Col. himself in the mountains, and brought to this place. Other ponds contained about 200 more of these trout. Most of these are two years old, and of good size for eating, but they will be kept for reproducing purposes. They reproduce very rapidly, one female trout laying at least 500 eggs. Near the mountain trout is a hospital where the sick trout are successfully treated on allopathic principles.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">A little distance off are three other ponds containing about 1300 brook trout which were bought a few months ago in Denver from a party who had brought them from the East. The brook trout are decidedly the "gamest" of the trout species. We were much interested in seeing them partake of a little lunch of beef liver. Some of them would jump clear out of the water to grab a piece held over the water, while over the long pieces there would be a terrific struggle for full possession between two or three trout who might have hold of it.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Next we went into the nursery, a covered stone building, which was filled with youngsters. There were about 55,000 baby brook trout and 3,500 Lake Trout. It will be about two years before these fish will be large enough to send to market."</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> Col. De La Vergne was born in New York on October 18, 1800. He died in Colorado Springs, CO. on January 15, 1893, of pneumonia. In his lifetime De La Vergne was more than just a fish farmer, but for Colorado Springs, this was an interesting way to make money.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">His son, Edward Morton De La Vergne, is known as one of the first men to invest in what became the Cripple Creek Mining District. His story will follow later.</span></p><p style="background-color: #fff3db; color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Until Next Time Stay Safe & Stay Well</span></p><p style="background-color: #fff3db; color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Doris</span></p><p style="background-color: #fff3db; color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: #fff3db; clear: both; color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV0uZlIa5u61w0I3DMLFwHnPIGBztrRN-vGWcSyzMx45q_EQCxdIV1OYjrkI9wOY-XavRacj1O43_Yi-BK_vj2JChABQ4bDx46LanAxgZpd6bRkkDUpB-2ZKb29GRQXMdQLVLh3tB8bxokdPHwchLbtIPAa2Ruy0isgAEo3Br5iNkWCMK6ilbIQGVCGw/s1050/Angela%20Raines%20(1).png" style="clear: left; color: #956839; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1050" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV0uZlIa5u61w0I3DMLFwHnPIGBztrRN-vGWcSyzMx45q_EQCxdIV1OYjrkI9wOY-XavRacj1O43_Yi-BK_vj2JChABQ4bDx46LanAxgZpd6bRkkDUpB-2ZKb29GRQXMdQLVLh3tB8bxokdPHwchLbtIPAa2Ruy0isgAEo3Br5iNkWCMK6ilbIQGVCGw/s320/Angela%20Raines%20(1).png" style="border: 0px;" width="320" /></a></div>Renaissance Womenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09045401344374224512noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-87880205234152352912023-10-18T00:00:00.023-05:002023-10-18T00:00:00.136-05:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTaVUSAIblwIIbiZvdwlZNnZOpV6A9GqA7V_p6ZnVE6hEUJH9XLPJtypCSLi1d9iifG9hgEAvfQcx_0deuinGoSoH1HwQ-JRhHXtY4azEu0tvKQyOapVZ44BePQORP-gibvGg-RP86FiOWcmlrvqAF0rfqnr-7fwcX1rNBzjEZvNCktHTUSaYxTpHC3T69/s2700/A%20Marshall%20for%20Callie%20ebook%20%281%29.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="2700" data-original-width="1800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTaVUSAIblwIIbiZvdwlZNnZOpV6A9GqA7V_p6ZnVE6hEUJH9XLPJtypCSLi1d9iifG9hgEAvfQcx_0deuinGoSoH1HwQ-JRhHXtY4azEu0tvKQyOapVZ44BePQORP-gibvGg-RP86FiOWcmlrvqAF0rfqnr-7fwcX1rNBzjEZvNCktHTUSaYxTpHC3T69/s320/A%20Marshall%20for%20Callie%20ebook%20%281%29.jpg"/></a></div><b>Several years ago, about ten or so, I wrote a book called “The Half-Breed’s Woman” about our hero, U.S. Deputy Marshal Jaxson McCall, who was the son of a white man and an Indian woman. Brought up in Indian Territory, he’s lived a very hard-knock life with his younger brother, Brendan, who is also a deputy marshal.<br><br></b>
<b>The heroine is a young debutante from Washington, D.C., Callie Buchanan, whose stepfather, Dunstan Treadwell, has nefarious plans for her now that she is eighteen. She is on the run (who wouldn’t be?) and Treadwell hires Jaxson to track Callie down and return her to him.<br><br>
Jaxson takes the job, but things get complicated, and soon they are both in danger.<br><br>
As the years passed, I thought of so many things I wanted to change in this book. Writers do that, many times—and a “do-over” is not always possible. BUT, in my case, I was able to do just that, and what fun I had with this!<br><br>
I’m re-releasing this fabulous story under a new title and cover, A MARSHAL FOR CALLIE. It’s full of surprises and action, and one of the most poignant love stories ever.<br><br>
It’s one of my favorite stories, and I have plans, still, to write sequels as to what happens to these characters—they are some of my very favorite creations. I hope you will feel the same.<br><br>
</b>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlH9XLdwuHNZqiECPP73qwfEBeRjsZMdELFQZfQWPex-QLqjAJ03I2WkBD45G0ukrDmnH8vO_OwXboiRurIt_0fIuxWD5-Q6tx10TXMZTiftl_gynFCOzm_-99f_3dfs21TFvPcbE2bNc5JN95DphpcyAualnqvRkILVcwCUTXZa9VCzelTNeytqX0-f9v/s1080/Callie%20-%20square%20-%20blurred%20autumnal%20forest%20leaves%20on%20bricks%20print%20cover.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlH9XLdwuHNZqiECPP73qwfEBeRjsZMdELFQZfQWPex-QLqjAJ03I2WkBD45G0ukrDmnH8vO_OwXboiRurIt_0fIuxWD5-Q6tx10TXMZTiftl_gynFCOzm_-99f_3dfs21TFvPcbE2bNc5JN95DphpcyAualnqvRkILVcwCUTXZa9VCzelTNeytqX0-f9v/s320/Callie%20-%20square%20-%20blurred%20autumnal%20forest%20leaves%20on%20bricks%20print%20cover.jpg"/></a></div>
<b>Here’s the blurb—it tells the gist of the story much better than I can in the space I have:<br><br>
A MARSHAL FOR CALLIE--A sensual western historical romance that draws you in and won't let go.<br><br>
U.S. Deputy Marshal Jaxson McCall is hired by Dunstan Treadwell, a powerful government official, to track down his runaway stepdaughter, debutante Callie Buchanan. When Jax realizes he’s been double-crossed by Callie’s stepfather, he doubles down to protect Callie from an evil nemesis from his own past who has been hired to kill them both.<br><br>
The stakes have changed: Treadwell doesn’t want Callie back—he wants her dead. And the man coming after them is a master at murder.<br><br>
Jax catches up to Callie in Fort Smith, and none too soon, for Wolf Blocker, the man Treadwell has hired to murder his stepdaughter and Jax, is one step ahead of them—and he’s got assassination on his mind. Jax and Callie set out on the stagecoach for Texas, neither of them able to be honest about their circumstances. With Blocker on their trail and Apaches ahead of them, the future is uncertain.<br><br>
One thing Jaxson knows: he cannot take Callie back to Washington to face an attempted murder charge. Matters are further complicated when Jax and Callie are forced into marriage by worried Cavalry Captain Alan Tolbert to avoid the trouble he believes Treadwell could cause.<br><br>
Through all the pretense, the hardships, and the deadly danger, one thing becomes obvious. Callie and Jaxson were meant to be together for this new beginning, for this new forever love that neither of them had ever hoped to find. Will they live long enough to see it through?<br><br>
Have you ever read a story or seen a movie that had characters so REAL that they stayed with you long after the book was finished, or the movie had ended? What characters have stayed in your heart and mind long after the story was over?<br><br></b>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_3zyjC-5U39KxXCrg2S2jZHFKL6OD2i6Y477OBWK0gxv0PDSRDl01LikF5kaftKnuwsdjhmSpN45pNUOLlwylW4fZQHCWuBel-YNTP-Gwsa7u_Zt_8pIM-u7PA-m5WXzd9UgTDjhkrzm5-pcpLEQJDxB_byXkagw5msaATvCkIG5HIgZ_aEldPQfza8Yy/s586/A%20Marshal%20for%20Callie%20-%20girl%20-%20badge%20-%20banner%20%202.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="169" data-original-width="586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_3zyjC-5U39KxXCrg2S2jZHFKL6OD2i6Y477OBWK0gxv0PDSRDl01LikF5kaftKnuwsdjhmSpN45pNUOLlwylW4fZQHCWuBel-YNTP-Gwsa7u_Zt_8pIM-u7PA-m5WXzd9UgTDjhkrzm5-pcpLEQJDxB_byXkagw5msaATvCkIG5HIgZ_aEldPQfza8Yy/s320/A%20Marshal%20for%20Callie%20-%20girl%20-%20badge%20-%20banner%20%202.jpg"/></a></div>
<b>A MARSHAL FOR CALLIE--KINDLE LINK: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/yn85vnkk">https://tinyurl.com/yn85vnkk</a><br><br>
A MARSHAL FOR CALLIE--PAPERBACK LINK: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/mryt2fwf">https://tinyurl.com/mryt2fwf</a><br><br>
CHERYL'S AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/2k7xeddt">https://tinyurl.com/2k7xeddt</a><br><br></b>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNNFJRXuUQxmFG9h4HjCw6s6CTz1Poab0KR7DTp2i0BxSTh2r4hsqT64c3pqkQ4BmxaCulbTyakcd6ChsnSsHSjMSCCAsEuyE1x9ER1yJD3Bi8FM0c14vwGU7vgxo1vTF4tJr_WyDGF8I4KM7s0DDySqr1lbipJOuyHWfrzH6VDTnf6eSTY17S2OdbGl8T/s800/Cheryl%20Pierson%20Books%20-%20800x640%20%281%29.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNNFJRXuUQxmFG9h4HjCw6s6CTz1Poab0KR7DTp2i0BxSTh2r4hsqT64c3pqkQ4BmxaCulbTyakcd6ChsnSsHSjMSCCAsEuyE1x9ER1yJD3Bi8FM0c14vwGU7vgxo1vTF4tJr_WyDGF8I4KM7s0DDySqr1lbipJOuyHWfrzH6VDTnf6eSTY17S2OdbGl8T/s320/Cheryl%20Pierson%20Books%20-%20800x640%20%281%29.jpg"/></a></div>Cheryl Piersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18116526340220274282noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-65259041657301680772023-10-12T23:00:00.001-05:002023-10-12T23:00:00.145-05:00On This Day in the Old West: October 13<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">October 13, 1792 marks the beginning of an American institution:</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The Old Farmer’s Almanac</i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">. The periodical’s first editor, Robert B. Thomas, published the very first edition on this date in 1792, during George Washington’s first term as US President. Although many other almanacs were being published at that time, Thomas’</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The Old Farmer’s Almanac</i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">became an instant success. It cost only 6 pence (about 9 cents), and by the second year, circulation had tripled (from 3,000 to 9.000). Published every year since, it is now the oldest continually published periodical in the United States.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_qR_y9XW-OLqkFMTVZn0_5ocM4yr8urTpscTnX_8SWlsfGlnX4uYA4gSEC0sz1IPVcZfcdmvb61B-_Te5zaekiBmo_qeTIt2oXLG3D2OVghuS8ikt5hGk6abgTTT1NAV1LYGoIBXPUpYEciDDPXaE740kxdoPPcBWgW-1HGZ408wMDLEvIdj3DCuoBIm5/s800/blog_farmer_first_edition.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="468" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_qR_y9XW-OLqkFMTVZn0_5ocM4yr8urTpscTnX_8SWlsfGlnX4uYA4gSEC0sz1IPVcZfcdmvb61B-_Te5zaekiBmo_qeTIt2oXLG3D2OVghuS8ikt5hGk6abgTTT1NAV1LYGoIBXPUpYEciDDPXaE740kxdoPPcBWgW-1HGZ408wMDLEvIdj3DCuoBIm5/s320/blog_farmer_first_edition.jpg" width="187" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">An almanac, by definition, records and predicts astronomical events (like sunrise/sunset), tides, weather, and other phenomena with respect to time. So what made <i>The Old Farmer’s Almanac</i> so different? Since Thomas’ format wasn’t all that original, we can only surmise that his astronomical and weather predictions were more accurate, the advice more useful, and the features more entertaining. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Thomas used a complex series of natural cycles to devise a secret weather forecasting formula, still in use today, which brought amazingly accurate results, said to be as much as 80 percent accurate. His last edition, in 1846, was not that much different from his first, over 50 years earlier. However, in those 50 years, Thomas established <i>The Old Farmer’s Almanac</i> as America’s leading periodical by outselling and outlasting the competition. Thomas died at the age of 80, supposedly reading page proofs for the 1847 edition of the almanac.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Every September, <i>The Old Farmer’s Almanac </i>publishes weather forecasts, planting charts, astronomical data, recipes, and articles. Topics include gardening, sports, astronomy, folklore, and predictions on trends in fashion, food, home, technology, and living for the coming year. Few people, other than the <i>Almanac’s</i>prognosticators, have ever seen Thomas’ secret formula for predicting the weather. It is kept in a black tin box at the <i>Almanac</i> offices in Dublin, New Hampshire.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqMNYuVrub5dCDXZfALSFWG5Xlf1wonTgsZxJ3y1zy6vNwSFXsf6tSjcyyvW251ScQS5Pt5BVIuxehptmIRJ6R0AOhL2LHI_9m0BGY_L7mJEBl8YnZ0TmH_VQdr8CrRQu54nzwjQyiebrIpilal9dCgcVXzHF31DjHeMMnbljWXHtauH0eInIkHQbMTF6q/s711/blog_farmers_1851_edition.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="711" data-original-width="440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqMNYuVrub5dCDXZfALSFWG5Xlf1wonTgsZxJ3y1zy6vNwSFXsf6tSjcyyvW251ScQS5Pt5BVIuxehptmIRJ6R0AOhL2LHI_9m0BGY_L7mJEBl8YnZ0TmH_VQdr8CrRQu54nzwjQyiebrIpilal9dCgcVXzHF31DjHeMMnbljWXHtauH0eInIkHQbMTF6q/s320/blog_farmers_1851_edition.jpg" width="198" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">The publication was not always “Old,” however. At first, it was simply known as <i>The Farmer’s Almanac</i>. However, in 1832, with his publication having survived longer than similarly-named competitors, Thomas inserted the word “Old” in the title, later dropping it from the title of the 1836 edition. After his death in 1846, John Henry Jenks was appointed editor, and, in 1848, changed the title of the book permanently and officially to <i>The Old Farmer’s Almanac</i>. In 1851, Jenks made another change to the Almanac when he featured a “four seasons” drawing on the cover by Boston artist Hammatt Billings, engraved by Henry Nichols. Jenks dropped the new cover for three years, but then reinstated it permanently in 1855. This trademarked desing is still in use today.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">An interesting anecdote has lawyer Abraham Lincoln using The Old Farmer’s Almanac to free his client from murder charges in 1858. William “Duff” Armstrong was on trial for murder in Beardstown, Illinois. Lincoln used an almanac, supposedly The Old Farmer’s Almanac, to refute the testimony of Charles Allen, an eyewitness who claimed he had seen the crime by the light of the moon. The book stated that not only was the Moon in the first quarter, but it was riding “low” on the horizon, about to set. There was no way Allen could have seen Lincoln’s client.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">With The Old Farmer’s Almanac in continuous publication since 1792, any of your characters could have read this periodical, depended on its forecasts, or just noted its articles. You could even use the information contained in this post to date the exact cover and title your character would have seen. Robert B. Thomas’ creation has withstood the test of time.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">J.E.S. Hays<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><a href="http://www.jeshays.com/" style="color: #954f72;">www.jeshays.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/JESHaysBooks" style="color: #954f72;">www.facebook.com/JESHaysBooks</a></span><o:p></o:p></p>JES Hayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08464125288178319685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-2928293753168849882023-10-04T02:30:00.001-05:002023-10-04T02:30:00.144-05:00Classic Country Ballads of Lost Love – Long Black Veil #westernfictioneers #countryballads #classiccountrymusic<p><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJF3L9MIAwmCPRpUfYPFKCbdtYkO8U6YdBiYRoo_90HD5Fizjd33LlMure_QxFn9TznDQ4x50fy4jlpz4__53_OiJW2S3TdYXMYnKW5zNW63dPZphOMvRPg28Ml4VmIVWBcL74jkaMnbXWKzuY3sr2qh2LquXpPbvt0Krc9w8bjhJcnYq7CCF52pM7uYRv/s400/WF%20expanded%20logo%20(4).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="400" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJF3L9MIAwmCPRpUfYPFKCbdtYkO8U6YdBiYRoo_90HD5Fizjd33LlMure_QxFn9TznDQ4x50fy4jlpz4__53_OiJW2S3TdYXMYnKW5zNW63dPZphOMvRPg28Ml4VmIVWBcL74jkaMnbXWKzuY3sr2qh2LquXpPbvt0Krc9w8bjhJcnYq7CCF52pM7uYRv/s320/WF%20expanded%20logo%20(4).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />I grew up in the late 50s and 60s listening to the country music
of that era. I stuck with country music through the 70s. I made it into the 80s
but, by the late 80s, country music as I knew and loved was headed in a
direction that, with a few exceptions, I wasn’t interested going. So I didn’t.
(Get off my lawn.)<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The old west gunfighter and trail ballads, drinking songs, and
revenge songs had an influence on me that was, and still is, every bit as
strong as the impact Louis L’Amour’s books left with me. My lifelong interest,
perhaps fascination bordering on obsession, with everything old west—truth,
legends, and myths alike—have roots in those old cowboy and country songs.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I’m inviting you to read along with me this year as I post one or
two nostalgic-for-me country ballads on the first Wednesday of each month. I
will share a snippet of trivia about each song along with a YouTube video.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Each month, I will include a link back to the previous month’s
article as reference to those songs. The common thread that runs among the
songs I’ve chosen for this musical memory lane excursion is </span><b style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><i>tragic
lost love.</i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">January – Marty Robbins –</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <i>El Paso</i> and </span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Feleena</span></i></a><i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">February – Faron Young
– <i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">TheYellow Bandana</span></a><br />
</i>March – Willie Nelson and Ray Charles – </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Seven Spanish Angels</span></i></a><i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">April – Marty Robbins –<i> </i></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">San Angelo</span></i></a><i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">May – Billy Walker – </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cross the Brazos at Waco</span></i></a><span style="color: blue;"><i><u><br /></u></i></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">June – Billy Walker – </span><a href="https://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2023/06/classic-country-ballads-of-lost-love.html"><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Matamoros</span></i></a><i><br /></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">July – Marty Robbins – </span><a href="https://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2023/07/classic-country-ballads-of-lost-love.html"><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Running Gun</span></i></a><i><br /></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">August – Willie Nelson – </span><a href="https://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2023/08/classic-country-ballads-of-lost-love.html"><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Red Headed Stranger</span></i></a><i><br /></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">September – Marty Robbins – </span><a href="https://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2023/09/classic-country-ballads-of-lost-love.html" target="_blank">They’re Hanging Me Tonight</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I planned this </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">month’s </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">song specifically for October, since the song has a
paranormal slant. The song is [The] </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Long
Black Veil</i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> by Lefty Frizzell.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1c0XUzCdA0pkHt_UCfislxKxnDSUInlaI3uONk5RvsBChfKoj_BHgXLhXAks2GeYALS8LmUoFsSvWytjopz23824NkLfIxn6zfmlCY9Vn51adP4o365pxSgN4nJffgys84QDbX0eaDynp1S96GTLGIIBdDMtc-m-e6ZawqSgzjynyHJFHjVyS37W8DcjW/s636/Lefty_Frizzell_portrait_cropped%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="561" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1c0XUzCdA0pkHt_UCfislxKxnDSUInlaI3uONk5RvsBChfKoj_BHgXLhXAks2GeYALS8LmUoFsSvWytjopz23824NkLfIxn6zfmlCY9Vn51adP4o365pxSgN4nJffgys84QDbX0eaDynp1S96GTLGIIBdDMtc-m-e6ZawqSgzjynyHJFHjVyS37W8DcjW/s320/Lefty_Frizzell_portrait_cropped%20(1).jpg" width="282" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lefty Frizzell promo 1957</td></tr></tbody></table></p><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Long Black Veil</span></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> is a 1959 country ballad written by Danny Dill
and Marijohn Wilkin. Lefty Frizzell was the original artist who recorded and
released the song.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The story is sung from the perspective of a man who has been
falsely accused of murder and has been executed. He declined to provide the
alibi that would have exonerated him, because he was having an extramarital
affair with his best friend’s wife at the time of the <i>murder ‘neath the town hall
light</i>. He chose death over dishonor and took their secret to the grave with
him.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The woman mourns his death by walking the cemetery and visiting
his grave while wearing a long black veil and enduring the unforgiving, wailing
night wind.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">This song is equal parts tragic, achingly sad, and otherworldly.
Otherworldly, because the singer is dead, and he’s telling their story, which
is creepy-fabulous.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>Now, hear me out.</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I have a theory about the woman and why she visits his grave </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">when the night winds wail. Nobody knows. Nobody
sees. Nobody knows but me</i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">If nobody knows and nobody sees and nobody knows but the dead
man, then I say the woman is also dead, and her soul can’t rest because she
stood in the crowd at his hanging and ‘shed not a tear’. Her guilt for allowing
an innocent man to die, a man she evidently cared about, drove her to suicide.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">So why does she wear a long black veil? Maybe she wore a black
dress with a long black mourning veil after the man died, and that’s what she
was wearing when she died.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I didn’t make up the afterlife wardrobe rules.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">But, I do know that ghosts are stereotypically depicted as an
entity of flowing, draped, white cloth because, for hundreds and hundreds of
years, people were buried in white linen shrouds as the proper care for the
deceased and also as an affordable alternative for a ‘coffin’. White shrouds
eventually became associated with spirits that can’t rest...aka... Ghosts.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s not unreasonable that her eternity outfit included a long
black veil.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Back to the song…</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Evidently, the man and woman are unable to communicate directly
with each other in the afterlife. But, he can watch her visit his grave and
walk the hills, and she can visit his grave and walk the hills for all eternity. Almost together, yet always apart.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YDLBSx8FbWA" width="320" youtube-src-id="YDLBSx8FbWA"></iframe></div><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></b></p>Country Music Trivia:</span></b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Marijohn Wilkin was known as “The Den Mother of Music Row”. She
toured with Red Foley, co-wrote ‘Waterloo’ (Stonewall Jackson’s No. 1 country
hit), and co-wrote ‘Cut Across Shorty’ and ‘I Just Don’t Understand’ (big hit
for Ann Margaret). Most famously, she wrote ‘One Day at a Time’ (big gospel hit
of the 1970s).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">She was the first to publish Kris Kristofferson’s songs (specifically,
‘For the Good Times’ which was a huge hit for Ray Price). Her son, John “Bucky”
Wilkin was front man for the surf rock group Ronny & the Daytonas who had a
1964 hit single with ‘G.T.O.’</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Wilkin and Dill said the inspiration behind Long Black Veil came
from a Red Foley gospel song called ‘God Walks these Hills with Me’; a newspaper
story of an unsolved murder of a priest; and the legend of the mysterious woman
who visited Rudolph Valentino’s grave.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Lefty Frizzell’s version of </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Long
Black Veil</i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> was selected by the Library of Congress in 2019 for preservation
for being ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant’.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Image: Lefty Frizzell promotional image attribution by Columbia Records, derived from <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=134068305" target="_blank">Public Domain</a>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Until next time,<br /></span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Kaye Spencer<br /></span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Lasterday Stories<br /></span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">writing through history one romance upon a time<br /></span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">www.kayespencer.com</span></i></b></p>Kaye Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13530735658588595790noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-42485401020896568542023-09-26T04:30:00.001-05:002023-09-26T04:30:00.161-05:00Still On the Trail <p><span style="font-size: medium;">Post by Doris McCraw</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">aka Angela Raines</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZMNRC_-pB8SMdHFOV3yU2ZquPPmY6Oy9f_f3U5GPmJ4Xepl9UyyjjdDf0y5H6feqBlweoOJ9AI3wCuWHp6CSHPF2CTAvMKczRLOjNcjJ5BTnzhirLoR7pvcexbu_s7-VovJBonXv1ChuLDKa4avkbaJ-_eh0kDd6ZVuGP6azx20cpqrQxYbwrdKSeww/s5184/Canon%20ps%208-25-2023%20Kiowa%20013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3888" data-original-width="5184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZMNRC_-pB8SMdHFOV3yU2ZquPPmY6Oy9f_f3U5GPmJ4Xepl9UyyjjdDf0y5H6feqBlweoOJ9AI3wCuWHp6CSHPF2CTAvMKczRLOjNcjJ5BTnzhirLoR7pvcexbu_s7-VovJBonXv1ChuLDKa4avkbaJ-_eh0kDd6ZVuGP6azx20cpqrQxYbwrdKSeww/s320/Canon%20ps%208-25-2023%20Kiowa%20013.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Tandem Ox Yoke<br /> Photo (C) Doris McCraw</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Smokey Hill River Trail, one of the more treacherous routes to the Colorado Gold Fields, gave way to the Butterfield Overland Dispatch in 1865. This stage line only ran for about a year before its purchase by Ben Holliday, known as the "Stagecoach King". Holliday in turn sold to Wells Fargo who sold to the United States Express Company.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">According to records, the cost for an individual ticket was $175.00 one way. There were a total of thirty-nine stage stops along the trail. It was here passengers could purchase a meal for an additional fifty cents to one dollar.</span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKy_GchJH9EUPMkIJDekBa7MOvVBPFNIPJMUPsu75QzL6B_iocrvYvI1rLWjpMs__3gwbOP84feJZOhar66Vro4Mp_i_eQJu1wIt5ofukiav_4bf6f1NRokImhjHa7B6aGCrG_Qg6bzWtKHcVSiJa5uCHAtiB0olTYuPN0XOXow54qC7ebV7ypF7t24Q" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="1675" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKy_GchJH9EUPMkIJDekBa7MOvVBPFNIPJMUPsu75QzL6B_iocrvYvI1rLWjpMs__3gwbOP84feJZOhar66Vro4Mp_i_eQJu1wIt5ofukiav_4bf6f1NRokImhjHa7B6aGCrG_Qg6bzWtKHcVSiJa5uCHAtiB0olTYuPN0XOXow54qC7ebV7ypF7t24Q=w640-h214" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Map of the Smokey Hill Trail <br />from Legends of America</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Additionally, the Army built several forts along this route to protect travelers from attacks. The Smokey River was a favored hunting ground for the Plains Indians. Some of the Forts along the trail were: Fort Downer, Fort Hays, Fort Harker, Fort Monument, and Fort Wallace.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Despite the presence of the Army, the attacks cost the stage line but ultimately it was the railroad that resulted in the end of the travel on the trail but what stories you find when you start researching.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnd92cnFShMzTbkI6f0ozR7YqbduV0qt9IzxNM-7b1OuC_2cvwHJnf6okH9GnoOXjz2_DlpenR-E3SIR1MnELA7jpvAgzlejZf1pPhWzDjYaC8Km1yL_qk4-qOeZL6TveauJwHD0t7jaObOphTjdLsdJB1Et6yN4eRWva8lexGRzuhfijAMZW8TDE2sw/s5184/Canon%20ps%208-25-2023%20Kiowa%20091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3888" data-original-width="5184" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnd92cnFShMzTbkI6f0ozR7YqbduV0qt9IzxNM-7b1OuC_2cvwHJnf6okH9GnoOXjz2_DlpenR-E3SIR1MnELA7jpvAgzlejZf1pPhWzDjYaC8Km1yL_qk4-qOeZL6TveauJwHD0t7jaObOphTjdLsdJB1Et6yN4eRWva8lexGRzuhfijAMZW8TDE2sw/w400-h300/Canon%20ps%208-25-2023%20Kiowa%20091.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">From the Smokey Hill River Trail exhibit at the Elbert County<br />Historical Society & Museum<br />Photo (C) Doris McCraw</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-size: medium;">As for the forts, some of the names probably sound familiar and many are now museums.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">For those who might be interested here is a link to a PBS show talking about Four-Mile-House, the last stage stop before arriving in Denver. <a href="https://youtu.be/p6m46nKAilM?si=hKHkKhzBNf-h2zjE" target="_blank">Four-Mile House</a></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Until Next Time Stay Safe & Stay Well</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Doris</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV0uZlIa5u61w0I3DMLFwHnPIGBztrRN-vGWcSyzMx45q_EQCxdIV1OYjrkI9wOY-XavRacj1O43_Yi-BK_vj2JChABQ4bDx46LanAxgZpd6bRkkDUpB-2ZKb29GRQXMdQLVLh3tB8bxokdPHwchLbtIPAa2Ruy0isgAEo3Br5iNkWCMK6ilbIQGVCGw/s1050/Angela%20Raines%20(1).png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1050" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV0uZlIa5u61w0I3DMLFwHnPIGBztrRN-vGWcSyzMx45q_EQCxdIV1OYjrkI9wOY-XavRacj1O43_Yi-BK_vj2JChABQ4bDx46LanAxgZpd6bRkkDUpB-2ZKb29GRQXMdQLVLh3tB8bxokdPHwchLbtIPAa2Ruy0isgAEo3Br5iNkWCMK6ilbIQGVCGw/s320/Angela%20Raines%20(1).png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p>Renaissance Womenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09045401344374224512noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-57799066382196459562023-09-07T23:00:00.001-05:002023-09-07T23:00:00.149-05:00On This Day in the Old West: September 8<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">School in the 1800s was a far different thing than it is today. For one thing, did you know that most schools didn’t even have an American flag flying over the schoolhouse? This began to change starting in 1888, when Daniel Sharp Ford, the owner of the patriotic circular</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The Youth’s Companion</i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">, began a campaign to sell United States flags to public schools. The magazine sent out 100 free cards to each student who wished to obtain a school flag, printed with these words: This Certificate entitles the holder to One Share in the patriotic influence of the School Flag. The students then sold the certificates for 10 cents each, and when they had sold all 100 of them, they would send the money to The Youth’s Companion and receive “a good-sized, substantial flag” to display at their school.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEYpTtFtDsJ-J7Af1F76kXteP1vlIN79oYEkchvR_pnfCy0wY2BXhp2kRyD0nG6REV-vwNc83SjilSRgQnJgEZs3UklHoEilsi6r2saRtBp4ETT2RIp3uD7GhpcBPh_hvdHfqglHTfstcoxiRi_ZNZC-jJnzaLSRpwR2ryXUGeNwU8dalpy6jTH1IGbBXl/s880/blog_flag_companion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="880" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEYpTtFtDsJ-J7Af1F76kXteP1vlIN79oYEkchvR_pnfCy0wY2BXhp2kRyD0nG6REV-vwNc83SjilSRgQnJgEZs3UklHoEilsi6r2saRtBp4ETT2RIp3uD7GhpcBPh_hvdHfqglHTfstcoxiRi_ZNZC-jJnzaLSRpwR2ryXUGeNwU8dalpy6jTH1IGbBXl/s320/blog_flag_companion.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Four years later, the magazine had sold US flags to approximately 26,000 schools across the country. The market at this time was slowing, but Ford felt it was not yet saturated. Ford had already hired Christian Socialist Baptist minister and author Francis Julius Bellamy to work with Ford’s nephew, James B. Upham, in the premium department of the magazine. Upham had begun his campaign with an essay contest for students: “The Patriotic Influence of the American Flag,” with one winner chosen from each state and that winner’s school receiving a large US flag. Upham now had the idea of using the 400<sup>th</sup> anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ landing in the Americas in 1492 to further bolster the schoolhouse flag movement. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i>The Youth’s Companion</i> called for a national Columbian Public School Celebration to coincide with the World’s Columbian Exposition, scheduled for 1893 in Chicago, Illinois. Forty-six countries from all over the world were sending exhibitions to this World’s Fair. A flag salute was to be part of the official program for the Columbus Day celebration on October 12<sup>th</sup>, to be held in schools all over the United States. Francis Bellamy created a special pledge, published in the September 8, 1892 issue of the magazine.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpoLhIsPCatQXfjU3kfDPbLbc4duldxYvjT3nr3wnxGjho0DN7NfrbxhB0r6aUtzWkPbogNyjlU3KhJN7WPp2Ulo4IAIz5sGjogM9LHcSsJtT_IBqxeCiend90ROkbg2yLKzF24FWt7XZJYEoVnm2LAPVseTn96rrMQWxkBebK1FqP4boK5UVtX-3bnGal/s521/blog_pledge_Bellamy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpoLhIsPCatQXfjU3kfDPbLbc4duldxYvjT3nr3wnxGjho0DN7NfrbxhB0r6aUtzWkPbogNyjlU3KhJN7WPp2Ulo4IAIz5sGjogM9LHcSsJtT_IBqxeCiend90ROkbg2yLKzF24FWt7XZJYEoVnm2LAPVseTn96rrMQWxkBebK1FqP4boK5UVtX-3bnGal/s320/blog_pledge_Bellamy.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><o:p><br /></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Bellamy’s original pledge read as follows:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i>I pledge Allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">This pledge was immediately put to use in the magazine’s campaign. Bellamy went to speak to a national meeting of school superintendents to promote the Columbian celebration. The superintendents liked the idea and selected a committee of leading educators to implement the program, including the immediate past president of the National Education Association. Bellamy was selected as the committee chair.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">With the official blessing of the American educators, Bellamy’s committee now had the task of spreading the word around the nation and of designing an official program for schools to follow on the day of national celebration. Bellamy structured the program around a flag-raising ceremony and his pledge, which was accompanied with a salute known as the Bellamy Salute. Unfortunately, this salute resembled the later Nazi salute, so during World War II, it was replaced with the now-familiar hand-over-heart gesture.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Bellamy described his thoughts as he crafted the language of the pledge:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i>“It began as an intensive communing with salient points of our national history, from the Declaration of Independence onwards; with the makings of the Constitution…with the meaning of the Civil War, with the aspiration of the people…<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i>The true reason for allegiance to the Flag is the ‘republic for which it stands.’ …And what does that last thing, the Republic mean? It is the concise political word for the Nation—the One Nation which the Civil War was fought to prove. To make that One Nation idea clear, we must specify that it is indivisible, as Webster and Lincoln used to repeat in their great speeches. And its future?<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i>Just here arose the temptation of the historic slogan of the French Revolution which meant so much to Jefferson and his friends, ‘Liberty, equality, fraternity.’ No, that would be too fanciful, too many thousands of years off in realization. But we as a nation do stand square on the doctrine of liberty and justice for all…”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i><br /></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTXjfvdtmBdxpXHcDBG0dICcKlJstioGvgxATDhNPvdPUmwcnBkPcL56Ar7DS6Ov5D2Hh4USiCniLwu01WZKy9qg3qiy1NueaRk9-SOWtWkzQT7K9MVR6_GiXtD61GM1Jw_rJtj22cPYT4Nym2wZ5lzafGTZ3sVhVNbFcHAsQzNy02Q2x50Uz4PLm4-55b/s413/blog_flag_schoolhouse.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="270" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTXjfvdtmBdxpXHcDBG0dICcKlJstioGvgxATDhNPvdPUmwcnBkPcL56Ar7DS6Ov5D2Hh4USiCniLwu01WZKy9qg3qiy1NueaRk9-SOWtWkzQT7K9MVR6_GiXtD61GM1Jw_rJtj22cPYT4Nym2wZ5lzafGTZ3sVhVNbFcHAsQzNy02Q2x50Uz4PLm4-55b/s320/blog_flag_schoolhouse.png" width="209" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Bellamy thought of his Pledge as an “inoculation” that would protect immigrants and native-born but insufficiently patriotic Americans from the “virus” of radicalism and subversion. Whether or not this has worked, your characters could have either read The Youth’s Companion as a child, or may have perhaps participated in the Flag Day celebrations that the magazine encouraged after September 8, 1892.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">J.E.S. Hays<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><a href="http://www.jeshays.com/" style="color: #954f72;">www.jeshays.com</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/JESHaysBooks" style="color: #954f72;">www.facebook.com/JESHaysBooks</a><o:p></o:p></p>JES Hayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08464125288178319685noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1409887812566625284.post-19004384718239581762023-09-06T12:18:00.000-05:002023-09-06T12:18:06.771-05:00Classic Country Ballads of Lost Love – They’re Hanging Me Tonight #westernfictioneers #countryballads #classiccountrymusic<p> <span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I grew up in the late 50s and 60s listening to the country music
of that era. I stuck with country music through the 70s. I made it into the 80s
but, by the late 80s, country music as I knew and loved was headed in a
direction that, with a few exceptions, I wasn’t interested going. So I didn’t.
(Get off my lawn.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The old west gunfighter and trail ballads, drinking songs, and
revenge songs had an influence on me that was, and still is, every bit as
strong as the impact Louis L’Amour’s books left with me. My lifelong interest,
perhaps fascination bordering on obsession, with everything old west—truth,
legends, and myths alike—have roots in those old cowboy and country songs.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I’m inviting you to read along with me this year as I post one or
two nostalgic-for-me country ballads on the first Wednesday of each month. I
will share a snippet of trivia about each song along with a YouTube video.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Each month, I will include a link back to the previous month’s
article as reference to those songs. The common thread that runs among the
songs I’ve chosen for this musical memory lane excursion is </span><b style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><i>tragic
lost love.</i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">January – Marty Robbins –</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <i>El Paso</i> and </span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Feleena</span></i></a><i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">February – Faron Young
– <i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">TheYellow Bandana</span></a><br />
</i>March – Willie Nelson and Ray Charles – </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Seven Spanish Angels</span></i></a><i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">April – Marty Robbins –<i> </i></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">San Angelo</span></i></a><i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">May – Billy Walker – </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1409887812566625284/4784586405861885686" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cross the Brazos at Waco</span></i></a><span style="color: blue;"><i><u><br /></u></i></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">June – Billy Walker – <i><a href="https://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2023/06/classic-country-ballads-of-lost-love.html" target="_blank">Matamoros</a></i><br /></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">July – Marty Robbins – <i><a href="https://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2023/07/classic-country-ballads-of-lost-love.html" target="_blank">Running Gun</a></i><br /></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">August – Willie Nelson – <i><a href="https://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2023/08/classic-country-ballads-of-lost-love.html" target="_blank">Red Headed Stranger</a></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">This month’s song is ballad <i>They’re Hanging Me Tonight</i> by Marty Robbins.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The story expresses the lamentations of a man facing his hanging
for murdering Flo (ex-girlfriend?) and ‘her new love’. It’s also interesting to
note that the man apparently didn’t evade arrest after he killed Flo and her
new man, since </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">they’ll bury Flo tomorrow,
but they’re hanging me tonight.</i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> Not much time has elapsed between murder
and punishment.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Conversely, if he did flee the scene at the </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">dimly lit café</i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">, he wasn’t on the lam for long. Reading between the
lines suggests Old West ‘justice’ happened to bring about his hanging so
quickly after Flo is buried. No lengthy trial for this man. Was this a case of
vigilante justice for the double murders—these crimes of passion—since he freely
admits what he did wasn’t right? Either way, his </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">heart is filled with fear</i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> as he faces his imminent execution.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">James Lowe and Art Wolpert wrote <i>They’re Hanging Me Tonight</i>. Marty
Robbins released it in September 1959 on his album <i>Gunfighter Ballads and Trail
Songs</i>. The album’s peak position on the country music chart for 1960 was No. 6
in the U.S. and No. 20 in the U.K.</span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YLgqgh7qAbU" width="320" youtube-src-id="YLgqgh7qAbU"></iframe></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Until next time,<br /></span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Kaye Spencer<br /></span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Lasterday Stories<br /></span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">writing through history one romance upon a time<br /></span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">www.kayespencer.com</span></i></b></p>Kaye Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13530735658588595790noreply@blogger.com6