Market House Museum, Paducah, Kentucky, April 24, 2010
I don’t know what the colored bottles were for. I was too intent on taking pictures. This photo intentionally has a shallow depth of field, leaving some parts of the picture out of focus.
Paducah, Kentucky:
Related posts:
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(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, 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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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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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:
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:
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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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This may become a regular feature – or maybe not.
operates over a near-future Earth, where chaos reigns.11. The Mountain from TSO Photography on Vimeo.
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At Daily Observations from The Civil War, I publish daily writings from letters and diaries of 150 years ago, scheduling posts well in advance to keep from getting overwhelmed or behind.
While working with War Letters of William Thompson Lusk, I came across some familiar names. On August 11, 1861, Lt. Lusk writes to his mother, “I have been fortunate in meeting several friends most unexpectedly during the last few days. Miss Woolsey was at our encampment on some errand of mercy yesterday evening. I saw her for a few moments, and promised to call upon her and Mrs. Howland soon, which I shall do if allowed to leave the camp. The laws are very strict though now, and I doubt whether I shall be able to leave the camp for some time to come.”
Miss Woolsey was Georgeanna Muirson Woolsey and Mrs. Howland was her sister, Eliza Woolsey Howland. Many of their civil war letters – and those of other family members – are preserved in Letters of a Family During the War for the Union, another book I have been working with. There, Eliza Howland writes to her husband on October 1, 1861, “Very little to tell you about except a few calls, including one from Mrs. General Franklin to ask us to take tea with her to-night. Lieutenant Lusk of the 79th, whom we used to know as “Willy” Lusk, also came. He seems to have grown up into a very fine young fellow, handsome and gentlemanly, and with the same sweet expression he had as a child. He was studying medicine in Europe when the war broke out, but came home at once and enlisted as Lieutenant in the 79th, where he is now Acting Captain—so many of the regiment were either killed or taken prisoners at Bull Run.”
Georgeanna and Eliza lived together in Washington, D.C., while Eliza’s husband, Joseph served in the Union Army of the Potomac. When the Army of the Potomac left the Washington area, they tried to get permission to travel with it. However, they were unsuccessful until the Sanitary Commission gave them positions on the hospital ship Daniel Webster.
All three survived the war.
Eliza and her husband returned to their home in New York after he was wounded in 1862 at the Battle of Gaines’ Mill, effectively ending his military career.
Georgeanna became very prominent in nursing during the war and after, including being one of the principle founders of the Connecticut Training School for Nurses.
William took part in engagements at Blackburn’s Ford, First Bull Run, Port Royal, James Island, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and many other minor battles. He was also a staff officer of Isaac I. Stevens until Stevens’ death, and he commanded two companies during the Draft Riots of 1863. When his command was sent to Delaware and designated as inactive, he resigned and returned to medical school.
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Wyoming’s Vore Buffalo Jump archeological site August 27, 2007.
The ancestors of at least 5 Plains Indian tribes killed and butchered as many a 20,000 bison at the Vore Buffalo Jump during a 300 year period between 1500 and 1800 A.D.
Herds of bison were driven from the surrounding valley and stampeded over the edge of a large round sinkhole, providing tons of meat for winter storage. When horses became abundant, tribes adopted other hunting techniques and used “jumps” less frequently.
Thick layers of butchered bone extend almost 20 feet below the bottom of the sink.
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