Sharing photos, videos, vintage images I've discovered, and -- occasionally -- commentary and thoughts from retired life and travels.

american history

Devils Tower

September 3, 2011

America’s First National Monument

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close_encounters

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This was our second visit to Devils Tower.  Our first was an abbreviated, quick visit-and-get back-on-the-road side trip on our way home from a western vacation.

On this 2007 visit, we stayed 3 nights at the Devils Tower KOA campground, just outside the entrance station to the monument.

One of the trails that we took was a trail that goes all the way around the base of Devils Tower. Devils Tower is a sacred site to many American Indian tribes. All along the trail could be seen Indian prayer offerings (bundles and cloths).

The other trail we took was a full moon hike with a park ranger.  I did have a couple of good images that turned out from that night, but they were from after we got back to the camper.  One of them is the last image of the video slide show at the beginning of this post.

Photos (from top to bottom):

  1. Prayer bundle in the forest at the base of Devils Tower
  2. A scene from Close Encounters of the Third Kind in one of the prefab buildings on the military base set up at the entrance station.
  3. Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss), Jillian Guiler (Melinda Dillon), and Larry Butler (Josef Sommer) run towards Devils Tower, Close Encounters of the Third Kind scene right at the entrance station to the monument.
  4. Devils Tower National Monument entrance station.

It’s interesting, now, how familiar much of the scenery in the movie is now, including some of the scenery outside the park.  The area where the military encampment is shown to be in the movie is now the site of several better than average touristy type shops.

From Wikipedia:

Devils Tower (Lakota: Mato Tipila, which means “Bear Lodge”) is a monolithic igneous intrusion or volcanic neck located in the Black Hills near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. It rises dramatically 1,267 feet (386 m) above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,112 feet (1,558 m) above sea level.

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Devil’s Tower references:

 

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (full movie)

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Deadwood and Spearfish

August 31, 2011

The day we decided to visit Deadwood, South Dakota, turned out to be during the “Kool Deadwood Nights” festival.

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We had no idea that there was anything special going on until we got there.  When we had trouble finding a place to park, we almost decided to head on down the road to see other places and sights.

Deadwood’s Main Street was filled with the chairs of people who were planning to attend the night’s entertainment.  We have no idea who was performing that night and we were not prepared to stay that late.

Kool Deadwood Nights: Car lovers come together for four days full of classic cars, classic music and classic fun. It’s a 50’s and 60’s sock hop—Deadwood style. Enjoy parades, show and shines and FREE concerts on Main Street featuring the biggest names in rock ‘n roll history.1

Deadwood, named for dead trees found there when it was established, was illegally settled in the 1870s in territory granted to native tribes in the 1868 Treaty of Laramie.  An expedition led by George Armstrong Custer in 1874 announce the discovery of gold in the Black Hills.  The news, of course, triggered a gold rush, and gave rise to the lawless town of Deadwood.

imageThe town’s early history forms the basis for the storyline of the HBO TV series named Deadwood.

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Deadwood references:

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1 Deadwood Chamber of Commerce.

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Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota

August 25, 2011

Images from our 2007 trip

(Audio: Pious Reflection by Paul Mottram)

One of our first stops on our 2007 trip, after visiting family in Nebraska, was the Black Hills of South Dakota.  While there, we visited Mount Rushmore national Monument.

We had stopped at Mount Rushmore once in the late 80s.  We were on our way home from vacationing in Wyoming and Idaho and our visit to Rushmore was a hurried afterthought.

This trip, we took our time and got the full benefit of the visit.  Mount Rushmore is worth seeing.

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Mount Rushmore information:

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USS Razorback

A submarine in the Arkansas River

August 16, 2011

USS Razorback, SS 394, North Little Rock, Arkansas

USS Razorback, SS 394, North Little Rock, Arkansas

A Balao-class submarine of the Sandlance variant, USS Razorback was built at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.

Her keel was laid on 09 September 1943. Razorback was constructed in Drydock #1 at the shipyard, and she was launched, along with two sister ships USS Redfish (SS-395) and USS Ronquil (SS-396), on 27 January 1944. USS Scabbardfish (SS-397) was also launched at the shipyard that day. This was the largest single-day launch of submarines in US history.

After five WWII combat patrols and extensive service during the Cold War, on 30 November 1970, USS Razorback was decommissioned and transferred to the Turkish Navy, where she served until decommissioned on 08 August 2001.    She reached her new berth in North Little Rock, 29 August 2004 at the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum.

USS Razorback (SS-394)

Little Rock Area

Other posts related to the Little Rock area

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Have you ever seen a wild ass?

August 13, 2011

Begging Burros is a name used to refer to feral burros (asses) in Custer State Park, South Dakota. The burros are descendants of a herd that were used to carry visitors to the top of Harney Peak.  When the rides were discontinued years ago, the burros were released into the park. Elk, mule deer, white tailed deer, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, and mountain lions  also inhabit the park.

ass: (noun) 1. A hoofed mammal of the horse family with a braying call, typically smaller than a horse and with longer ears

burro: (noun) 1. The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E. africanus. In the western United States, a small donkey is sometimes called a ”burro” (from the Spanish word for the animal).

Custer State Park

Black Hills

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Presidential Table

August 10, 2011

Clinton White House dinner setting

William J. Clinton Presidential Center, May 12, 2007

The Clinton service is remarkable not only for its revolutionary design but also for its significance to the history of the American presidency.

The Clinton administration coincided with the bicentennial of the White House as home to America’s first families, a role it had played since John Adams, the second president, took up residence there on November 1, 1800. To commemorate this event, and also replenish the stock of official state china for the first time in nearly two decades, President William Clinton and his wife, Hillary, commissioned Lenox to create 300 12-piece place settings in 2000.

In a dramatic departure from previous White House services, the Clinton china features a border of pale creamy yellow, instead of a bright primary color, and images of the White House facades, in place of the customary presidential seal. Each piece in the placesetting is decorated with a different pattern, the motifs derived from outstanding architectural elements found in the State Dining Room, East Room, and Diplomatic Reception Room.

Fittingly, the china was used for the first time at a dinner attended by former Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George Bush, their wives, and Lady Bird Johnson, former first lady.

Lenox White House China

Clinton Presidential Library and Center

Little Rock Area

Other Exit78 posts related to the Clinton Presidency:

Other posts related to the Little Rock area

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Nebraska – A Ranch in the Sandhills

August 7, 2011

Just over a quarter of Nebraska is mixed grass prairie on grass-stabilized sand dunes, referred to locally as the sandhills. It is the largest area of sand dunes in the western hemisphere.

In 2007, we visited a relative’s ranch in the sandhills, a place of fond memories for me.  The accompanying video was produced from pictures from that visit.

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Torn Asunder

August 3, 2011

I’ve created a short video using photographs from the civil war and and mixed it with a couple of medleys of civil war music recorded almost 100 years ago.  I titled it “Torn Asunder–Images from America’s Civil War.”   It can be viewed in high definition by going to YouTube.com and then selecting the full screen icon in lower right corner of video (move mouse cursor over lower part of video to see icon).

Before and after:

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Unidentified young soldier in New York Zouave uniform

This little project took a lot longer than the one’s I’ve created from my own photos and videos.  I assembled it photo by photo as I found them in the U.S. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog.  Each image was “adjusted” to correct fading, remove spots and scratches, or other enhancements.  The audio was enhanced to filter out most of the static, hisses, and pops.

The video shows very little of battle.  First off, there are very few actual photos of battle.  Second, for most people, including the soldiers, the actual fighting was only a fraction of their war-time experiences.

I am using the frames from some of the photographs in the new header on my Daily Observations from the Civil War blog, which, of course, also has a post on this video, with a different slant to the blog post content.

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Description of photographs:

  • Keedysville, Md., vicinity. Confederate wounded at Smith’s Barn, with Dr. Anson Hurd, 14th Indiana Volunteers, in attendance, September 1862.
  • Unidentified soldier in Confederate uniform and forage cap.
  • Chickahominy River, Va. Grapevine bridge built May 27-28, 1862, by the 5th New Hampshire Infantry under Col. Edward E. Cross.
  • Unidentified young soldier in Union uniform with musket, bayonet, and knapsack.
  • Aquia Creek Landing, Va. Embarkation of 9th Army Corps for Fort Monroe, February 1863.
  • Unidentified soldier in Confederate uniform and slouch hat, missing jacket buttons.
  • Cedar Mountain, Va. A Confederate field hospital, 1862.
  • Unidentified young soldier in New York Zouave uniform.
  • Cumberland Landing, Va. Federal encampment April – May 1862.
  • Unidentified young soldier in Confederate shell jacket, Hardee hat with Mounted Rifles insignia and plume with canteen and cup.
  • Military Bridge across the Chicahominy, June 1862.
  • Unidentified African American soldier in Union uniform in front of painted backdrop showing military camp.
  • Rebel gun in front of Fort Hell, April 1865, a Confederate cannon inside of Fort Sedgwick in Petersburg, Virginia.
  • Unidentified soldier in Confederate uniform.
  • Yorktown, Va. Embarkation for White House Landing, Va.
  • Unidentified young sailor in Union uniform.
  • Antietam Bridge, September, 1862.
  • Unidentified soldier in Confederate shell jacket and slouch hat with object hanging from neck in front of painted backdrop showing waterfall.
  • Confederate prisoners at Fairfax Courthouse, June 1863.
  • Unidentified girl in mourning dress holding framed photograph of her father as a cavalryman with sword and Hardee hat.
  • Hand colored; Tending wounded Union soldiers at Savage’s Station, Virginia, during the Peninsular Campaign, 1862.
  • Two unidentified women reading letters.
  • James River, Va. Sailors on deck of U.S.S. Monitor; cookstove at left, July 9, 1862.
  • Unidentified soldier in Confederate uniform and civilian, likely his father or older brother.
  • Harper’s Ferry, meeting of the Potomac and the Shenandoah, July 1865.
  • Unidentified soldier in Confederate uniform.
  • Libby Prison, Richmond, Va., August 23, 1863.
  • Unidentified African American Union soldier with a rifle and revolver in front of painted backdrop showing weapons and American flag at Benton Barracks, Saint Louis, Missouri.
  • Manassas, Virginia. Camp of General Irvin McDowell’s body guard, hand colored photographic print.
  • Unidentified soldier in uniform with young woman, probably his wife.
  • Secret Service agents, Whitehouse, Va.
  • Unidentified soldier in Confederate uniform of the 11th Virginia regiment with knapsack and bedroll.
  • Dinner time in camp.
  • Unidentified woman wearing mourning brooch and displaying framed image of unidentified soldier.
  • Confederate artillery near Charleston, S.C.
  • Unidentified soldier in Union uniform with Company E, 12th Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers hat.
  • Confederate prisoners at Belle Plain Landing, Va., captured with Johnson’s Division, May 12, 1864.
  • 1863, Interior view of Fort Sumter showing ruins and explosion.

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Native

July 27, 2011

Rest stop at Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge, Kansas, and Kansas highway 52

Native grasses at a travel rest stop at Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge, Kansas, intersection of U.S. Highway 69 and Kansas 52 – with our motorhome and car in the background.

From the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:

The Refuge is named after the Marais des Cygnes River which runs through the middle of the refuge and is the dominant natural feature of the region.  The name, Marais des Cygnes, comes from the French language and means Marsh of the Swans.  It is presumed that trumpeter swans, which were historically common in the Midwest, used the wetlands adjacent to the Marais des Cygnes River during spring and fall migration.

The Refuge was established in 1992 for the protection and restoration of bottomland hardwood forests.  Approximately 5,000 acres of the 7,500 acre refuge are available for wildlife oriented recreation including hunting, fishing, and birding.   A wildlife sanctuary encompasses the remaining 2,500 acres of the refuge and is not available for public use.

The Marais des Cygnes Massacre:

The Marais des Cygnes Massacre is considered the last significant act of violence in Bleeding Kansas prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War. On May 19, 1858, approximately 30 men led by Charles Hamilton, a Georgia native and proslavery leader, crossed into the Kansas Territory from Missouri. They arrived at Trading Post, Kansas in the morning and then headed back to Missouri. Along the way they captured 11 free-state men, none of whom were armed and, it is said, none of whom had participated in the ongoing violence. Most of the men knew Hamilton and apparently did not realize he meant them harm. These prisoners were led into a defile, where Hamilton ordered the men shot and fired the first bullet himself. Five men were killed.

Hamilton and his gang returned to Missouri. Only one man was ever brought to justice. William Griffith of Bates County, Missouri, was arrested in the spring of 1863 and hanged on October 30 of that year. Charles Hamilton returned to Georgia, where he died in 1880.

The incident horrified the nation and inspired John Greenleaf Whittier to write a poem on the murders, “Le Marais du Cygne,” which appeared in the September 1858 Atlantic Monthly.

Related sites:

Related posts:

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Observations on or from the Battle of Bull Run

July 21, 2011

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Josiah Marshall
Favill
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Image of unknown
man used for John
Beauchamp Jones.
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Image of unknown
woman used for
“refugee” Judith
White McQuire.
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Joseph Howland
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Horatio Nelson Taft
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William Howard Russell

Seven of the writers that I am including at Daily Observations from The Civil War wrote diary entries or letters on July 21, 1861 that related to the battle near Manassas Junction and/or the aftermath.  The following are excerpts from their writings of the day:

Josiah Marshall Favill – “In the order prescribed by the regulations, for a force feeling the enemy preparatory to an attack, we marched forward, passing over the open field and into a piece of full grown timber, apparently the slope of a considerable hill. As we slowly ascended the rising ground, suddenly a loud screeching noise overhead sent more than half the regiment pell mell the other side of a fence that ran along the road side. Here we crouched down flat on our bellies, our hearts in our mouths..,” – Diary of a Young Officer.

John Beauchamp Jones – “The President left the city this morning for Manassas, and we look for a battle immediately. I have always thought he would avail himself of his prerogative as commander-in-chief, and direct in person the most important operations in the field; and, indeed, I have always supposed he was selected to be the Chief of the Confederacy, mainly with a view to this object, as it was generally believed…” – A Rebel War Clerk’s Diary at the Confederate States Capital.

Judith White McQuire – “We were at church this morning and heard Bishop Meade, on the subject of “Praise.” He and his whole congregation greatly excited. Perhaps there was no one present who had not some near relative at Manassas…” Diary of a Southern Refugee During the War.

Joseph Howland – “On The Battle-Field Near Bull Run… Our brigade is making a demonstration in the face of the enemy and a fight is going on on the right of the line five or six miles off.” – Letters of a Family During the War for the Union.

Horatio Nelson Taft – “This has been the most exciting day yet. We have heard the guns all day from the battle which has been raging at or near Mannasses Junction. There is no news that can be relied on public tonight, only that a terrible fight has been going on all day.” – Diary of a Clerk in the U.S. Patent Office.

William Howard Russell – “The calmness and silence of the streets of Washington this lovely morning suggested thoughts of the very different scenes which, in all probability, were taking place at a few miles’ distance. One could fancy the hum and stir round the Federal bivouacs, as the troops woke up and were formed into column of march towards the enemy.” – My Diary North and South.

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