June 9, 1919. Cumberland Maryland.

Cumberland Maryland, June 9, 1919.

Sunday Morning Scene: Churches of the West: Christ's Episcopal Church, Cody Wyoming (the original one)..

Churches of the West: Christ's Episcopal Church, Cody Wyoming (the origi...:

Christ's Episcopal Church, Cody Wyoming (the original one).

This 1902 structure is the first Christ's Episcopal Church in Cody, Wyoming.  Money to build the church is supposed to have been donated from high winnings of a parishioner at a poker game.

The Best Post of the Week of June 2, 2019.

The best post of the week of June 2, 2019.

Swing of the Pendulum? Lex Anteinternet: The Collapse of the Standard of Dress. Maybe not so fast?

Some random high school graduation comments

Blog Mirror: Today In Wyoming's History: June 6, 1944. Operation Overlord

I have to admit that I find this oddity really fascinating.

Scenes from the past. . .Ford Tri Motor Flying over town.

Civil Air Patrol Cessna 182T, Natrona County International Airport

Lex Anteinternet: A Potential Wildlife Management Disaster or A Redefinition of Unoccupied. The Montana Game and Fish and the Gallatins.

Lex Anteinternet: A Potential Wildlife Management Disaster or A Redefinition of Unoccupied. The Montana Game and Fish and the Gallatins.

Hunters in the Gallatin National Forest, early 20th Century.

I've written twice on this topic already, those entries being here, where I discussed the overall situation;

A Potential Wildlife Management Disaster or A Redefinition of Unoccupied.

and here, where I discussed a potential approach for Wyoming:

Lex Anteinternet: A Potential Wildlife Management Disaster or A Redefinition of "Unoccupied". Where forward from here.

One of the things I mentioned in the first one, more than once, is that the decision had ramifications for states other than Wyoming.

Montana clearly agrees with that.

Sheep in the Gallatin Valley, 1930s.  Contrary to the way those not familiar with it imagine it, National Forest land is in fact used by agriculture.  Indeed, that fact sometimes angers some people who don't appreciate that recreation is in fact not part of the original reason for designating lands as national forest, and isn't even close to the reason.

The details of what will occur will take some time to sort out, but the head of the Montana Game & Fish (which sends out some of the niftiest emails, such as the one I got this Fall warning pheasant hunters to watch for grizzly bears), has directed his wardens not to cite Crow Indians hunting in the Gallatin National Forest in Montana.

For those who are now aware of the Gallatin National Forest is an over 1,800,000 acre stretch of National Forest of which has been joined for administrative purposes to the Custer National Forest which is considerably to its east.

The Gallatin National Forest borders Wyoming, with most of that border laying to the immediate north of Yellowstone National Park.  About 1,000,000 acres of the combined Custer Gallitin has been designated as wilderness.

In my earlier post on this topic I predicted that the predicament faced by the Wyoming Game and Fish would soon confront the entire region's wildlife management agencies.  My only surprise here is how quickly that it impacted Montana, but otherwise I was right on the mark here. This suggests to me that Montana may already have been having a bit of a problem in this area as in fact Wyoming was in the Pryor Mountain area. Be that as it may, Montana is taking a much different approach than Wyoming is, so far. 

Gallatin Valley, 1921.

Montana and Wyoming actually face different geographical challenges here.  One of the original issues in the Herrera matter was whether or not Herrera was in Wyoming or knew that he was.  That did not become a feature of the Supreme Court case however and would have been totally irrelevant to it.

Indeed, the differences don't stop there.  The Big Horn National Forest, which was the area involved in the Wyoming matter, is 1,100,000 acres in extent. That's big, but it's small compared to the Gallatin.  Indeed, the wilderness areas inside the Custer Gallatin exceed the size of the Big Horn.  That actually makes the logic of the "unoccupied" argument much stronger for the Gallatin.

Indeed, with some of the dust having been settled, a quick look at the map of the areas administered just by the Forest Service in Wyoming shows that a lot of it clearly is occupied.  A lot of it isn't even forest.  The Gallatin situation, however, is considerably different.

Also different is how the border areas work out.  The Big Horn is bordered on its north, as noted, by the Crow Reservation.  The Gallatin doesn't border any reservations, although the Custer National Forest does, as it borders the Crow Reservation to the north.  But the Gallatin shares a long southern border with Yellowstone National Park.

Train going over Bozeman Pass in the 1930s.

That may seem alarmist, but I don't intend it to be.  I think it's simply pointing out the facts as they are.  The Montana Game and Fish obviously believe that Herrera will result in unlicensed native hunters in the Gallatin and they've instructed their wardens not to interfere with them, meaning that they've conceded to unlicensed and unregulated hunting in the Gallatin this year. This year, and likely next if this continues on, will therefore be a test as to how this will impact things.

But beyond that, thinking that this doesn't spread over at least a little bit into Yellowstone is naive.  Even in this era of GPS people can get off course, and under the Herrera decision there's no rationale legal basis to argue that Yellowstone National Park, which is a national park because it is unoccupied, isn't open under the decision.

As I noted in my earlier commentaries, while I think this could rapidly turn into a wildlife management disaster, I feel somewhat differently about Yellowstone which, in actuality, suffers from having too much game that isn't hunted.  This could alleviate that problem, although a lack of regulation to continue on for years will create a new problem.

Which gets me back to my earlier point.  I don't think that Herrera goes as far as people suppose, but I do think that this is the time that the regional game departments might want to think about incorporating its decision into their license draw systems.  Wyoming hasn't shown an inclination to try that and Montana is demonstrating a seeming intent to just stand back, although I think that's likely a temporary action designed to avoid conflict.  In both cases, the states might want to consider some revisions along the lines I noted earlier, as the other states in the region might want to as well.

June 8, 1919. Sunday at the movies

As was the custom, a lot of movies were released on this Sunday, June 8, 1919.

These included The Other Man's Wife, a turgid, home front, wartime drama.

Also at the theaters was Pistols for Breakfast, a Harold Lloyd comedy.

And also a comedy was the Franklyn Farnum movie, The Puncher and the Pup.

The Aerodrome: Civil Air Patrol Cessna 182T, Natrona County International Airport

The Aerodrome: Civil Air Patrol Cessna 182T, Natrona County Inter...:

Civil Air Patrol Cessna 182T, Natrona County International Airport

This is a Cessna 182T that belongs to the Civil Air Patrol at the Natrona County International Airport.

To date, there's one other post on this blog about the Civil Air Patrol, featuring its aircraft from the 1940s, and noting:

The Civil Air Patrol is the official auxiliary of the United States Air Force.  Created during World War Two, it's original purpose was to harness the nations large fleet of small private aircraft for use in near shore anti submarine patrols.  The light aircraft, repainted in bright colors to allow for them to be easily spotted by other American aircraft, basically flew the Atlantic in patterns to look for surfaced submarines.  As submarines of that era operated on the surface routinely, this proved to be fairly effective and was greatly disruptive to the German naval effort off of the American coast. 

The CAP also flew some patrols along the Mexican border during the same period, although I've forgotten what the exact purpose of them was. Early in the war, there was quite a bit of concern about Mexico, given its problematic history during World War One, and given that the Mexican government was both radical and occasionally hostile to the United States. These fears abated fairly rapidly. 

The CAP still exists, with its post war mission having changed to search and rescue.  It also has a cadet branch that somewhat mirrors JrROTC.  Like JrROTC it has become considerably less martial over time, reflecting the views of boomer parents, who have generally wished, over time, to convert youthful organizations that were organized on military or quasi military lines into ones focusing on "citizenship" and "leadership"..

I didn't note in that earlier entry that eons ago, at the dawn of flight, I was a Civil Air Patrol cadet.  I did post a bit more about that here, on our companion blog:

I was in the Civil Air Patrol in the 1970s and at that time it was in fact very much like Air Force JrROTC.  Drill and Ceremony was a big deal with it, for example.  We wore Air Force uniforms and normally the fatigue version of that.  We focused on aircraft, of course, and on the CAP's mission of search and rescue.  Looking back it seems like I was in it for a long time, but in reality that simply reflects the concept of time possessed by youth.  I was in it while I was in junior high, three years. 

Looking back, and I can recall it only dimly, I probably thought when I joined it in 7th Grade, after learning about it at the junior high, of staying in it until I was in high school and could join JrROTC.  However, I enjoyed it in its own right.  For reasons I can't really recall, once I was of high school age I dropped my membership entirely.  Once I walked in the door of NCHS, I didn't walk back in the door of the CAP Wing's building here.  I couldn't tell you why, I just didn't. 

CAP still has a youth wing but I don't know anything about it.  It appears to be focused on aircraft still, of course, but also on "leadership", something a lot of youth organizations focus on.  If it resembles the old organization much, I wouldn't know.  It's still around, but how popular it is I don't know.  I don't know of any kids that I know being in it, but here the opposite is true as compared to the Scouts.  I'm often quite surprised by how many people I'll run into that were in the CAP as teens.  I know that two of my best friends were in it when was first in it, although they dropped out (just getting there was an ordeal for one who lived out in the country) and I know adults here and there that were.  Just the other day the Byzantine Catholic priest from the Catholic Stuff You Should Know podcast mentioned having been a CAP cadet.

One thing I'd note is, at least appearance wise, the CAP Cessna here is a much nicer looking aircraft that anything the CAP had locally when I was in it as a kid.  Indeed, for the most part the CAP simply relied upon the private aircraft the adult members had. 

Scenes from the past. . .Ford Tri Motor Flying over town.

Blog Mirror: Lonesome Land

Too many boys reside in Lonesome Land,
  And seem to dwell estranged from persons grown,
Because of those who do not understand
  The point of view which boyhood holds its own.

From The Oklahoma City Times, June 7, 1919.

June 7, 1919. Shades of 1916.

The news was beginning to read like it had in 1916 once again.  Border tensions were rising, and Texas was hoping that the President would federalize the wartime State Guard to provide border security in light of increased concerns about border incursions.

Oddly, the Laramie Boomerang was running a story expressing concern over developments on the border but praising Felipe Ángeles, whom was conceived of as the putative head of state in the areas that Villa controlled.

Elsewhere, in Germany more precisely, Russian POWS were being repatriated.  Of course, they'd be repatriated right into a country in the midst of a civil war.

In other news of the day, Governor Carey wasn't in a big hurry to deal with the 19th Amendment and wasn't going to convene a special session to deal with it. The Amendment, which had just passed the Senate, provided for female suffrage, but that had always been a feature of Wyoming's law and Carey commented to the effect that the amendment didn't impact Wyoming in any fashion, and therefore the cost of a special session wasn't worthwhile.

I have to admit that I find this oddity really fascinating.

If you could buy canned whale now, I'd try it.

I didn't realize you could every buy canned whale.  This ad is from 1919, so you could apparently get it then, at least in Canada.  I wonder if you could buy canned whale anywhere else, and for how long canned whale was a dining option?

Makes you wonder what other odd canned foods there were that are now gone.

June 6, 1919. Portents

When we think of this day in terms of history, we naturally think of June 6, 1944.  But just a short twenty five years prior there was a lot going on, including a lot associated with the war that had just ended . . . and some that would figure in the war to come.

Some American troops who were not American citizens were becoming the same.

"Large group of overseas soldiers who applied for Naturalization, June 6, 1919. Man in center is Raymond Crist, Director of Citizenship, Bureau of Naturalization, Department of Labor".  June 6, 1919.

Those men had survived the Great War.  I wonder where they were when the Second World War came about and was raging?

Russian POWs who had survived at least the latter part of the war remained in German captivity while their country was itself aflame.

"Interior of the Clothing Supply Room, at American Red Cross Headquarters, Berlin. Sgt. Carl Olson, U.S.A. Supplying two Russian officers, Prisoners, with complete new outfits, Berlin."  The officer on the right retains the Imperial Roundel on his cap and the one on the left is a Cossack.  I wonder if they returned home?

 Russian POWs in a POW camp, June 6, 1919.

I really wonder about the fate of the men depicted above.  All we can really tell is that if they returned home, and most likely did, that fate was grim.  The country they had fought for was in a horrific civil war and they were of military age.  They were likely going into it, and no doubt many didn't survive it. Those who did, had World War Two in front of them, and no doubt many of the men shown here, if still living during the Second World War, served in their second war with the Germans.

And the nature of their country they had served here would never be the same again.

Residents of Cheyenne received the word that the last of Wyoming's Guardsmen still in service were now on their way home.

They were returning, of course, by sea.

Hampton Roads, Virginia.  June 6, 1919.  Hampton Roads was a major Navy installation.  It would have been busy in 1919, just as it would have been in 1944.

One country turned towards regulating the air, and became the first to do so.

Air Board ensign from 1922 and 1923.

Canada established its Air Board, making it the first country to have a regulatory body over air travel.  It's duties would be assumed by a successor entity in 1923.

An older means of transportation was also in the news.

Man o' War won the Belmont stakes, the first race on his way to fame.

Chicago Police Department inspection at Grant Park, June 6, 1919

Chicago's finest, who were about to endure one of the worst decades in their history, due to Prohibition, stood for inspection.

Mussolini's fascists, meanwhile, published their Manifesto in an Italian newspaper.  They were on their rise and just becoming a force that some would come to think, for a time, was the wave of the future, including some in the free world who thought that such movements had perhaps eclipsed democracy.

Here's what it stated:

Italians! Here is the program of a genuinely Italian movement. It is revolutionary because it is anti-dogmatic, strongly innovative and against prejudice.
For the political problem: We demand:
a) Universal suffrage polled on a regional basis, with proportional representation and voting and electoral office eligibility for women.
b) A minimum age for the voting electorate of 18 years; that for the office holders at 25 years.
c) The abolition of the Senate.
d) The convocation of a National Assembly for a three-years duration, for which its primary responsibility will be to form a constitution of the State.
e) The formation of a National Council of experts for labor, for industry, for transportation, for the public health, for communications, etc. Selections to be made from the collective professionals or of tradesmen with legislative powers, and elected directly to a General Commission with ministerial powers.
For the social problems: We demand:
a) The quick enactment of a law of the State that sanctions an eight-hour workday for all workers.
b) A minimum wage.
c) The participation of workers' representatives in the functions of industry commissions.
d) To show the same confidence in the labor unions (that prove to be technically and morally worthy) as is given to industry executives or public servants.
e) The rapid and complete systemization of the railways and of all the transport industries.
f) A necessary modification of the insurance laws to invalidate the minimum retirement age; we propose to lower it from 65 to 55 years of age.
For the military problem: We demand:
a) The institution of a national militia with a short period of service for training and exclusively defensive responsibilities.
b) The nationalization of all the arms and explosives factories.
c) A national policy intended to peacefully further the Italian national culture in the world.
For the financial problem: We demand:
a) A strong progressive tax on capital that will truly expropriate a portion of all wealth.
b) The seizure of all the possessions of the religious congregations and the abolition of all the bishoprics, which constitute an enormous liability on the Nation and on the privileges of the poor.
c) The revision of all military contracts and the seizure of 85 percent of the profits therein.

Or, in the published Italian:

Italiani!
Ecco il programma di un movimento sanamente italiano. Rivoluzionario perché antidogmatico e antidemagogico; fortemente innovatore perché antipregiudizievole. Noi poniamo la valorizzazione della guerra rivoluzionaria al di sopra di tutto e di tutti. Gli altri problemi: burocrazia, amministrativi, giuridici, scolastici, coloniali, ecc. li tracceremo quando avremo creata la classe dirigente.

Per questo NOI VOGLIAMO:
Per il problema politico

a. Suffragio universale a scrutinio di lista regionale, con rappresentanza proporzionale, voto ed eleggibilità per le donne.

b. Il minimo di età per gli elettori abbassato ai 18 anni; quello per i deputati abbassato ai 25 anni.

c. L'abolizione del Senato.

d. La convocazione di una Assemblea Nazionale per la durata di tre anni, il cui primo compito sia quello di stabilire la forma di costituzione dello Stato.

e. La formazione di Consigli Nazionali tecnici del lavoro, dell'industria, dei trasporti, dell'igiene sociale, delle comunicazioni, ecc. eletti dalle collettività professionali o di mestiere, con poteri legislativi, e diritto di eleggere un Commissario Generale con poteri di Ministro.

Per il problema sociale:
NOI VOGLIAMO:

a. La sollecita promulgazione di una legge dello Stato che sancisca per tutti i lavori la giornata legale di otto ore di lavoro.

b. I minimi di paga.

c. La partecipazione dei rappresentanti dei lavoratori al funzionamento tecnico dell'industria.

d. L'affidamento alle stesse organizzazioni proletarie (che ne siano degne moralmente e tecnicamente) della gestione di industrie o servizi pubblici.

e. La rapida e completa sistemazione dei ferrovieri e di tutte le industrie dei trasporti.

f. Una necessaria modificazione del progetto di legge di assicurazione sulla invalidità e sulla vecchiaia abbassando il limite di :età, proposto attualmente a 65 anni, a 55 anni.

Per il problema militare:
NOI VOGLIAMO:

a. L'istituzione di una milizia nazionale con brevi servizi di istruzione e compito esclusivamente difensivo.

b. La nazionalizzazione di tutte le fabbriche di armi e di esplosivi.

c. Una politica estera nazionale intesa a valorizzare, nelle competizioni pacifiche della civiltà, la Nazione italiana nel mondo.

Per il problema finanziario:
NOI VOGLIAMO:

a. Una forte imposta straordinaria sul capitale a carattere progressivo, che abbia la forma di vera ESPROPRIAZIONE PARZIALE di tutte le ricchezze.

b. II sequestro di tutti i beni delle congregazioni religiose e l'abolizione di tutte le mense Vescovili che costituiscono una enorme passività per la Nazione e un privilegio di pochi.

c. La revisione di tutti i contratti di forniture di guerra ed il sequestro dell'85% dei profitti di guerra.

That manifesto did include some radical elements, particularly in regards to the Church, but like a lot of radical movements its radicalism was largely hidden or obscured except where it appealed to simplistic populist elements. There was a lot of that going on in this time frame and it would help bring the world into war in 1939. For that matter, it helped cause a lot of big wars for the remainder of the 20th Century.

Worth noting, and contrary to the way that some latter day pundits tend to view it, the manifesto demonstrated Fascism's hostility to religion.  And while it had very strong nationalistic and militaristic elements, it combined those with socialistic elements, which was true of it wherever it was and in all its normal forms.   For these reasons, the conventional defining it on a left and right basis isn't really accurate, which has caused some people to debate its classification on the political right from time to time.

Well, at least there was something you could really sink your teeth into. Canned whale.

Blog Mirror: Today In Wyoming's History: June 6, 1944. Operation Overlord

Today In Wyoming's History: June 6:

While the rest of the history minded world has been focusing on 1944 this week, we as usual have been focusing on 1919.

But the focus on 1944 is well placed. Today is the 75th Anniversary of Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy.  Or "D-Day" as its sometimes commonly referred to.

We noted it on our companion blog Today In Wyoming's History quite awhile back, even though its not really a Wyoming historical item.  We've posted that item below.

Operation Overlord is truly remarkable.  It was the largest seaborne landing ever attempted and is likely to remain so for all time.  The number of ships involved was so large its not really known and never will be.  It also featured a massive airborne phase. 

Contrary to the way its sometimes slightly portrayed, it wasn't a "return" of the Western Allies to Europe.  The Western Allies had done that when they'd landed in Sicily on July 10, 1943.The fact that the Germans had been unable to push the Allies off Sicily made it clear how the rest of the war would go to some degree, even if a lot of hard fighting lay ahead. That was further emphasized that following September when the Allies landed on the Italian mainland.

But those operations didn't compare in scope or size to the landings in France on this day seventy five years ago.   Landing in France, in a war that was as mobile as World War Two was, was a game changer.  A straight path lay ahead towards Germany and the end of the war with the only question being how long it would take.  Germany could not push the Allies out of Italy, but invading the German homeland from Italy was basically impossible.  Things were completely different in regard to France.  Following this day a relentless Allied advance from two sides, with occasional set backs, defined the character of the war against Germany.

This blog has of course tended to focus on an earlier era, although it strays occasionally. Given that, it's hard not for us to comment that with lots of posts on the course of World War One and the progress in Paris towards a treaty, June 6, 1944 seems remarkably close in time to June 6, 1919.  And it is. Only twenty five years separate the two.  World War Two was truly close the World War One.

Technology had certainly advanced between the two and even though there many World War One weapons in use in World War Two, the mobile character of the war, brought about by mechanization, was remarkably different. World War Two remains a war of our own era in a way that World War One doesn't quite.  It's still with us.

Less with us are the veterans who fought the war. With it being seventy five years in the past, no wonder.  Here too we pause.  When we first posted this item on Today In Wyoming's History there were quite a few World War Two veterans left alive.  There still are by that's changing daily.  When we started posting on this blog, there were living World War One veterans.  Now there are none.

June 6

1944 Allied forces land in Normandy, in an event remembered as "D-Day", although that term actually refers to the day on which any major operation commences.  This is not, of course, a Wyoming event, but at least in my youth I knew more than one Wyoming native who had participated in it.  Later, I had a junior high teacher whose first husband had died in it.  A law school colleague of mine had a father who was a paratrooper in it.  And at least one well known Wyoming political figure, Teno Roncolio, participated in it.  From the prospective of the Western Allies, it might be the single most significant single day of the campaign in Europe.

All the photos above are courtesy of the United States Army.

Mid Week At Work: Job Rated. From when all trucks were work trucks.

Pickup trucks are still used for work, of course, but they've actually become the most popular single line of vehicle in the U.S.. . . at least for the time being.

As that has occurred, they've become lighter duty.  Not that there still aren't fine trucks being made, there are. But rather, there's some really light trucks out there as well.

In 1948, when Dodge declared that its trucks were "job rated", they were all stout.  Even their "Station Wagon", intended for urban use, was pretty stout compared to any other similar two wheel drive vehicle offered today.

June 5, 1944. The Canadians pass through Rome.

Hearkening back to yesterday's entry, on this day Canadian troops fighting in Italy passed through Rome. By late that night the world's attention would be directed elsewhere as the first airborne operations of Operation Overlord commenced.

Americans are fond of the formulation of one war or another being "the forgotten war", some of which are, and some of which are not.  Canadians, however, have by and large forgotten that they even have a distinct martial history.

Canada's role in World War One and World War Two was enormous.  It's participation as part of the British Commonwealth forces was outsized and Canadians fought in every theater of the war, something that's been forgotten to a large degree. Even in the Pacific, which is not commonly associated with Canada in World War Two, there was a Canadian contribution, first in the form of Canadian troops attached to the British in the early stages of the war, and then as part of the largely American effort in the Aleutians, where one in six of the soldiers committed to that effort was Canadian.

Canadians are best remembered in World War Two for their role in the Dieppe Raid and their following large role in Operation Overlord and the campaign in France. But they were part of the Commonwealth effort in Italy prior to that.