The National Mid Terms, 2018

I've put up posts on the Presidential election before, but I've never put one up on the national mid terms.  I just tend to focus on the local races on the off terms.

This year I'm not at the point where I can't ignore the mid terms however, as they have the real chance of being a politically seismic event. The announcement of Paul Ryan that he's calling it quits is just too big to ignore.

There is, quite frankly, a tidal wave of GOP Congressional retirements going on right now that threatens to become a resignation tsunami.  It's amazing.  Something is very clearly going on, and that something is Donald Trump.

Depending upon where a person is in the GOP, a member of the GOP could be crying or rejoicing, but for one thing.  Democrats clearly are moving into position and whether or not a person is a Tea Party rebel or an "Establishment" Republican, the Democrats who appear to be positioning are mostly, but not exclusively, at least moderate "Progressives".

But for the Democrats, those on the hardhat end of the GOP would feel that at last they had an America First President that was going to remold the country in a political fashion that recalls the GOP rhetoric of a much earlier era, and in fact it might actually occur.  In contrast to that, an Establishment GOP, which was only moderately conservative in reality in spit of its rhetoric, would feel itself grasping to hold on.  But, faced with a big Democratic reaction, and frankly a traditional moderate GOP reaction, to a President who comes across as vulgar and perhaps even aimless and slightly unhinged, what both branches risk is a massive revival of Democratic fortunes this Fall.  Establishment Republicans are jumping ship in anticipation or discouragement.

We should make no mistake in our analysis.  If the Democrats take the House, they'll impeach Donald Trump.  Probably not successfully, but it'll be Constitutional Crisis.  Republicans who will lament it should, at the same time, lament having made this same foolish choice with Bill Clinton, and thereby having set the stage for the use of the Impeachment clause for attempted coups.

It's unlikely that attempt will be successful, but it will mean that the government will effectively quit doing anything until at least 2020.

Having said that, some careful analysis says that even with all the Republican resignations over the past few weeks the Democrats actually taking the House is unlikely.  It's possible, but not likely.  Yet.

What would operate in part to hold that off would be the Presidency appearing to be competent.  Perhaps all the recent firings are an attempt to do that, as people speculate that Trump is now surrounding himself with individuals whom he actually can trust, but the method by which he's accomplishing it is crude at best.  It does appear that he is going back to his base, which at this point may be as good of strategy as any.

At any rate, after a really wild 2016 Presidential Election we now appear set for a really wild 2018 mid term.

May 2, 2018

One of the weekend news shows had a panel interviewed by a pollster this past weekend which served to demonstrate how extremely polarized the nation has become.  That it is unusually polarized right now isn't really news, and it isn't getting any better.

One of the things everyone agreed with was a comment that the nation "needed to consider replacing the two party system".

We don't have a "two party system" in that fashion.  It's amazing that people think we do.

The system isn't systemic, it's habitual, although in fairness, it's gone on so long that there are elements of it that have in fact become institutionalized.

All that really needs to occur to shake this system up is for people to join parties that actually reflect their beliefs, to the extent they can find them.  If that was the case, chances are very high that the Democratic Party and the Republican Party would split into about four or five parties very shortly, and be joined by at least three more that already actually exist.

And that would be a good thing.

There's no earthly way that the two parties we have represent the views of most people in the United States, or even who are members of the parties themselves.  No wonder there are so many independents.  And yet people won't go for third parties.

Well, consider this. In many instances there's nothing that prevents a person from registering as a Republican or Democrat and still actually being a member of another party.

And if people are serious about that complaint. . . well they ought to do something about it.

And so should those parties.

Reductio ad absurdum

A Utah girl is receiving criticism for wearing a traditional Chinese style dress to prom.  Self appointed guardians of Chinese culture have found that in appropriate.

Which is absurd.

I'd go further, but I'll simply note instead that a society that debates a topic such as this seriously has either solved all of its real problems, or is so far beyond even attempting to solve them that it chooses instead to deal with the trivial.

Concerned about the future of Wyoming's economy? Take the ENDOW Survey

I did.

ENDOW Survey.

Casper Daily Press for May 1, 1918.

We return today to the Casper newspaper.

The headline was correct, actually.  The Germans were stalling out massively in the second stage of the 1918 spring offensive.  And they were making a massive effort, commencing on May 1, to move large numbers of troops to the West.

Not that this didn't pose its challenges.  Only yesterday the Germans had help Ukraine take Sevastopol from the putative Crimean soviet republic.  This was accompanied by the Ukrainian navy moving its ships out of harms way for the time being, although the Germans occupied those that were left.  Lenin ordered their commander to scuttle them, and he refused, showing a Ukrainian navy that proved more loyal to Ukraine in 1918 than it did a couple of years back when it basically defected to Russia.  And the Germans were fighting in Finland against the Red Finns for the White Finns.

Nonetheless, they were moving troops west now, which they should have done months ago.  Having taken massive casualties in the spring offensive, they had little choice.

Eddie Rickenbacker, who really was a race car driver, made his appearance in the paper as a fighter pilot on this day, at least in the local paper, for the first time, thereby achieving the role for which he is remembered.

And Mother's Day was coming up.

Oil up, gas down, and coal depressed.

We've long stated here that coal's problem in the 2010s isn't regulation. . . . it's natural gas.

Flaring gas, Powder River Basin.

And in today's Tribune we learn that the increased price of petroleum has a byproduct due to increased production.

And that byproduct is natural gas.

Depressing its price which is causing a problem for. . . coal.

As we've stated before here, if there's a war on coal, natural gas is engaging in it.

Monday At The Bar: Forgetting the past so we can repeat it. City Court

When I was first practicing law, a million years ago, the City of Casper determined to replace its part time contract judges with a full time judge.

It didn't work out.

Soon, the city came back and reversed itself, if we accept soon as being several years.

Natrona County Hall of Justice, where the City Court is located. 

And now enough time has passed so that this lesson has been lost, and the city is replacing its three part time contract judges with a full time judge.  The advertisement for the position is running currently.

The logic behind this is that a full time municipal judge, not having a private practice, has no conflicts.  That logic is highly flawed and completely in error, actually the opposite is true.

Municipal judges are not part of an independent judiciary the way that circuit court, or district court, judges are.  Indeed, under the law they need not even be be lawyers, although the city's advertisement requires one.  Others judges aren't hired by the the jurisdictions they serve, they're nominated by a special state committee that exists for that purpose and then chosen by the Governor.  They aren't hired by a city council, in other words. And other judges stand for election every few years, with the question being whether or not they are retained.  City judges don't do that either.

So in the case of municipal judges their client is the city.

A contract lawyer, having an existing clientele, isn't beholden to a city council for his rice bowl.  He or she is actually more independent than a full time municipal judge.  And if a conflict arises, we had three judges. Any conflicts could easily have been handled.

And then there's the matter of pay.  

Judicial salaries always tend to be in sort of a catch up cycle with private practice.  They never match the higher ends of private practice but they are high enough, in the case of non municipal positions, that a lawyer can made a good middle class living on them.  That's important because most of the applicants for judicial positions are taking a pay cut and desire to do the work for other reasons, but at the same time they always are fairly experienced and several years along in their careers at a bare minimum.  That in turn means that most of them are married, have families, etc.  That makes a difference to most people.  That will in turn narrow the list of applicants to a municipal position that pays well below what the other judicial positions pay and frankly below what the pay for most established lawyers is. This means that the applicants will fit into a narrow group of people for whom the pay is less of an issue, for whatever reason, but that in turn means that the wider range of people we'd like to apply won't.

Indeed, I've been surprised to learn over the years how many people have occupied the part time judge position, with many being very experienced and respected lawyers. The key is that they held it part time.

Oh yeah. . . what happened to our full time municipal judges?

Well, in at least one case one angered the police department by not giving out sufficiently large fines.  They went to the city councilmen and he was fired.

Not the way that a court is supposed to work.

And speaking of contractors, it's now the case that one of the city councilmen wants to quit hiring outside engineers for engineering work and do it all in house.

Frankly, my view is that more should be contracted out.

It's almost always the case that any entity hiring professionals is better off contracting out the work.  Very few entities of any kind really need to employ the type of staff that is really required to do things like engineering, legal work, accounting, and the like on a really active basis.  Usually the in house professional simply monitors the work done by the outside professional. There are exceptions to be sure.  And plenty of them.  But I don't see that as being one.

Indeed, I'm not sure of the logic behind it, unless it was felt that it was a cost savings approach as the city already employed engineers.  But my guess is that it doesn't employ enough or specialized ones to make that work really well.

And I'm not optimistic about the changes at the city court.

Just in case you thougth that surely, with the German offensive still in full swing, all military effort was focused in France. . .

on this day in 1918, British Empire forces commenced the Second Transjordan attack on Shunet Nimrin and Es Salt in an effort to take control of the Jordan Valley.

Ottoman prisoners of war caught as part of this operation.

While the operation, which lasted several days, met with some initial success, Ottoman and German counterattacks would render it a tactical defeat with the captured ground being yielded.

Australian Light Horse following the retreat.

At least casualties were light, unless of course you were one of them.

And in the former domain of Imperial Russia, the Taurida Soviet Socialist Republic in Crimea came to an abrupt end when Ukraine invaded it with German backing.  A person would think the Germans too distracted to undertake something like that, but then as it was a Ukrainian enterprise and they were there already, perhaps not.

The territory today is officially part of the Ukraine but is occupied by Russia.

Today In Wyoming's History: Ira Kannard turns 100, recalls life-changing momen...

Today In Wyoming's History: Ira Kannard turns 100, recalls life-changing momen...: Ira Kannard turns 100, recalls life-changing moments; Born in Wyoming a century ago today. A look at a pretty hard life.

Today In Wyoming's History: April 29: 1868. The commencement of the signing of the Ft. Laramie Treaty.

 Sioux Trial leaders at Ft. Laramie during the negotiation of the Treaty of 1868.

An event that's getting a fair amount of press, although some inaccurate press at that, is the 150th anniversary of the commencement of the signing of The Treaty of 1868, sometimes called the Ft. Laramie Treaty.  This event, which is indeed very important, is of course noted on our companion blog, Today In Wyoming's History, here:

Today In Wyoming's History: April 29: 1868   The Treaty of 1868 was signed creating the Great Sioux Reservation.  The U.S. Army agreed to abandon forts on the Bozeman Trail.

Our entry, along with the current press, is a bit deceptive and misleading in that it isn't the case that everyone signed on April 29, 1868. Not by a long shot.  But enough had occurred that this is the commonly accepted anniversary of the treaty. In reality the Brule Sioux and the U.S. Commissioners signed on this day, and following signatures would throughout the summer and fall such that by November 6, 1868, there were 156 Sioux, and 25 Arapaho, signatures.  The executed document reads as follows:

ARTICLES OF A TREATY MADE AND CONCLUDED BY AND BETWEEN
Lieutenant General William T. Sherman, General William S. Harney, General Alfred H. Terry, General O. O. Augur, J. B. Henderson, Nathaniel G. Taylor, John G. Sanborn, and Samuel F. Tappan, duly appointed commissioners on the part of the United States, and the different bands of the Sioux Nation of Indians, by their chiefs and headmen, whose names are hereto subscribed, they being duly authorized to act in the premises.
ARTICLE I.
From this day forward all war between the parties to this agreement shall for ever cease. The government of the United States desires peace, and its honor is hereby pledged to keep it. The Indians desire peace, and they now pledge their honor to maintain it.
If bad men among the whites, or among other people subject to the authority of the United States, shall commit any wrong upon the person or property of the Indians, the United States will, upon proof made to the agent, and forwarded to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs at Washington city, proceed at once to cause the offender to be arrested and punished according to the laws of the United States, and also reimburse the injured person for the loss sustained.
If bad men among the Indians shall commit a wrong or depredation upon the person or property of nay one, white, black, or Indian, subject to the authority of the United States, and at peace therewith, the Indians herein named solemnly agree that they will, upon proof made to their agent, and notice by him, deliver up the wrongdoer to the United States, to be tried and punished according to its laws, and, in case they willfully refuse so to do, the person injured shall be reimbursed for his loss from the annuities, or other moneys due or to become due to them under this or other treaties made with the United States; and the President, on advising with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, shall prescribe such rules and regulations for ascertaining damages under the provisions of this article as in his judgment may be proper, but no one sustaining loss while violating the provisions of this treaty, or the laws of the United States, shall be reimbursed therefor.
ARTICLE II.
The United States agrees that the following district of country, to wit, viz: commencing on the east bank of the Missouri river where the 46th parallel of north latitude crosses the same, thence along low-water mark down said east bank to a point opposite where the northern line of the State of Nebraska strikes the river, thence west across said river, and along the northern line of Nebraska to the 104th degree of longitude west from Greenwich, thence north on said meridian to a point where the 46th parallel of north latitude intercepts the same, thence due east along said parallel to the place of beginning; and in addition thereto, all existing reservations of the east back of said river, shall be and the same is, set apart for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation of the Indians herein named, and for such other friendly tribes or individual Indians as from time to time they may be willing, with the consent of the United States, to admit amongst them; and the United States now solemnly agrees that no persons, except those herein designated and authorized so to do, and except such officers, agents, and employees of the government as may be authorized to enter upon Indian reservations in discharge of duties enjoined by law, shall ever be permitted to pass over, settle upon, or reside in the territory described in this article, or in such territory as may be added to this reservation for the use of said Indians, and henceforth they will and do hereby relinquish all claims or right in and to any portion of the United States or Territories, except such as is embraced within the limits aforesaid, and except as hereinafter provided.
ARTICLE III.
If it should appear from actual survey or other satisfactory examination of said tract of land that it contains less than 160 acres of tillable land for each person who, at the time, may be authorized to reside on it under the provisions of this treaty, and a very considerable number of such persons hsall be disposed to comence cultivating the soil as farmers, the United States agrees to set apart, for the use of said Indians, as herein provided, such additional quantity of arable land, adjoining to said reservation, or as near to the same as it can be obtained, as may be required to provide the necessary amount.
ARTICLE IV.
The United States agrees, at its own proper expense, to construct, at some place on the Missouri river, near the centre of said reservation where timber and water may be convenient, the following buildings, to wit, a warehouse, a store-room for the use of the agent in storing goods belonging to the Indians, to cost not less than $2,500; an agency building, for the residence of the agent, to cost not exceeding $3,000; a residence for the physician, to cost not more than $3,000; and five other buildings, for a carpenter, farmer, blacksmith, miller, and engineer-each to cost not exceeding $2,000; also, a school-house, or mission building, so soon as a sufficient number of children can be induced by the agent to attend school, which shall not cost exceeding $5,000.
The United States agrees further to cause to be erected on said reservation, near the other buildings herein authorized, a good steam circular saw-mill, with a grist-mill and shingle machine attached to the same, to cost not exceeding $8,000.
ARTICLE V.
The United States agrees that the agent for said Indians shall in the future make his home at the agency building; that he shall reside among them, and keep an office open at all times for the purpose of prompt and diligent inquiry into such matters of complaint by and against the Indians as may be presented for investigation under the provisions of their treaty stipulations, as also for the faithful discharge of other duties enjoined on him by law. In all cases of depredation on person or property he shall cause the evidence to be taken in writing and forwarded, together with his findings, to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, whose decision, subject to the revision of the Secretary of the Interior, shall be binding on the parties to this treaty.
ARTICLE VI.
If any individual belonging to said tribes of Indians, or legally incorporated with them, being the head of a family, shall desire to commence farming, he shall have the privilege to select, in the presence and with the assistance of the agent then in charge, a tract of land within said reservation, not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres in extent, which tract, when so selected, certified, and recorded in the "Land Book" as herein directed, shall cease to be held in common, but the same may be occupied and held in the exclusive possession of the person selecting it, and of his family, so long as he or they may continue to cultivate it.
Any person over eighteen years of age, not being the head of a family, may in like manner select and cause to be certified to him or her, for purposes of cultivation, a quantity of land, not exceeding eighty acres in extent, and thereupon be entitled to the exclusive possession of the same as above directed.
For each tract of land so selected a certificate, containing a description thereof and the name of the person selecting it, with a certificate endorsed thereon that the same has been recorded, shall be delivered to the party entitled to it, by the agent, after the same shall have been recorded by him in a book to be kept in his office, subject to inspection, which said book shall be known as the "Sioux Land Book."
The President may, at any time, order a survey of the reservation, and, when so surveyed, Congress shall provide for protecting the rights of said settlers in their improvements, and may fix the character of the title held by each. The United States may pass such laws on the subject of alienation and descent of property between the Indians and their descendants as may be thought proper. And it is further stipulated that any male Indians over eighteen years of age, of any band or tribe that is or shall hereafter become a party to this treaty, who now is or who shall hereafter become a resident or occupant of any reservation or territory not included in the tract of country designated and described in this treaty for the permanent home of the Indians, which is not mineral land, nor reserved by the United States for special purposes other than Indian occupation, and who shall have made improvements thereon of the value of two hundred dollars or more, and continuously occupied the same as a homestead for the term of three years, shall be entitled to receive from the United States a patent for one hundred and sixty acres of land including his said improvements, the same to be in the form of the legal subdivisions of the surveys of the public lands. Upon application in writing, sustained by the proof of two disinterested witnesses, made to the register of the local land office when the land sought to be entered is within a land district, and when the tract sought to be entered is not in any land district, then upon said application and proof being made to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and the right of such Indian or Indians to enter such tract or tracts of land shall accrue and be perfect from the date of his first improvements thereon, and shall continue as long as be continues his residence and improvements and no longer. And any Indian or Indians receiving a patent for land under the foregoing provisions shall thereby and from thenceforth become and be a citizen of the United States and be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of such citizens, and shall, at the same time, retain all his rights to benefits accruing to Indians under this treaty.
ARTICLE VII.
In order to insure the civilization of the Indians entering into this treaty, the necessity of education is admitted, especially of such of them as are or may be settled on said agricultural reservations, and they, therefore, pledge themselves to compel their children, male and female, between the ages of six and sixteen years, to attend school, and it is hereby made the duty of the agent for said Indians to see that this stipulation is strictly complied with; and the United States agrees that for every thirty children between said ages, who can be induced or compelled to attend school, a house shall be provided, and a teacher competent to teach the elementary branches of an English education shall be furnished, who will reside among said Indians and faithfully discharge his or her duties as a teacher. The provisions of this article to continue for not less than twenty years.
ARTICLE VIII.
When the head of a family or lodge shall have selected lands and received his certificate as above directed, and the agent shall be satisfied that he intends in good faith to commence cultivating the soil for a living, he shall be entitled to receive seeds and agricultural implements for the first year, not exceeding in value one hundred dollars, and for each succeeding year he shall continue to farm, for a period of three years more, he shall be entitled to receive seeds and implements as aforesaid, not exceeding in value twenty-five dollars. And it is further stipulated that such persons as commence farming shall receive instruction from the farmer herein provided for, and whenever more than one hundred persons shall enter upon the cultivation of the soil, a second blacksmith shall be provided, with such iron, steel, and other material as may be needed.
ARTICLE IX.
At any time after ten years fro the making of this treaty, the United States shall have the privilege of withdrawing the physician, farmer, blacksmith, carpenter, engineer, and miller herein provided for, but in case of such withdrawal, an additional sum thereafter of ten thousand dollars per annum shall be devoted to the education of said Indians, and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall, upon careful inquiry into their condition, make such rules and regulations for the expenditure of said sums as will best promote the education and moral improvement of said tribes.
ARTICLE X.
In lieu of all sums of money or other annuities provided to be paid to the Indians herein named under any treaty or treaties heretofore made, the United States agrees to deliver at the agency house on the reservation herein named, on or before the first day of August of each year, for thirty years, the following articles, to wit:
For each male person over 14 years of age, a suit of good substantial woollen clothing, consisting of coat, pantaloons, flannel shirt, hat, and a pair of home-made socks.
For each female over 12 years of age, a flannel shirt, or the goods necessary to make it, a pair of woollen hose, 12 yards of calico, and 12 yards of cotton domestics.
For the boys and girls under the ages named, such flannel and cotton goods as may be needed to make each a suit as aforesaid, together with a pair of woollen hose for each.
And in order that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs may be able to estimate properly for the articles herein named, it shall be the duty of the agent each year to forward to him a full and exact census of the Indians, on which the estimate from year to year can be based.
And in addition to the clothing herein named, the sum of $10 for each person entitled to the beneficial effects of this treaty shall be annually appropriated for a period of 30 years, while such persons roam and hunt, and $20 for each person who engages in farming, to be used by the Secretary of the Interior in the purchase of such articles as from time to time the condition and necessities of the Indians may indicate to be proper. And if within the 30 years, at any time, it shall appear that the amount of money needed for clothing, under this article, can be appropriated to better uses for the Indians named herein, Congress may, by law, change the appropriation to other purposes, but in no event shall the amount of the appropriation be withdrawn or discontinued for the period named. And the President shall annually detail an officer of the army to be present and attest the delivery of all the goods herein named, to the Indians, and he shall inspect and report on the quantity and quality of the goods and the manner of their delivery. And it is hereby expressly stipulated that each Indian over the age of four years, who shall have removed to and settled permanently upon said reservation, one pound of meat and one pound of flour per day, provided the Indians cannot furnish their own subsistence at an earlier date. And it is further stipulated that the United States will furnish and deliver to each lodge of Indians or family of persons legally incorporated with the, who shall remove to the reservation herein described and commence farming, one good American cow, and one good well-broken pair of American oxen within 60 days after such lodge or family shall have so settled upon said reservation.
ARTICLE XI.
In consideration of the advantages and benefits conferred by this treaty and the many pledges of friendship by the United States, the tribes who are parties to this agreement hereby stipulate that they will relinquish all right to occupy permanently the territory outside
their reservations as herein defined, but yet reserve the right to hunt on any lands north of North Platte, and on the Republican Fork of the Smoky Hill river, so long as the buffalo may range thereon in such numbers as to justify the chase. And they, the said Indians, further expressly agree:
1st. That they will withdraw all opposition to the construction of the railroads now being built on the plains.
2d. That they will permit the peaceful construction of any railroad not passing over their reservation as herein defined.
3d. That they will not attack any persons at home, or travelling, nor molest or disturb any wagon trains, coaches, mules, or cattle belonging to the people of the United S
tates, or to persons friendly therewith.
4th. They will never capture, or carry off from the settlements, white women or children.
5th. They will never kill or scalp white men, nor attempt to do them harm.
6th. They withdraw all pretence of opposition to the construction of the railroad now being built along the Platte river and westward to the Pacific ocean, and they will not in future object to the construction of railroads, wagon roads, mail stations, or other works of utility or necessity, which may be ordered or permitted by the laws of the United States. But should such roads or other works be constructed on the lands of their reservation, the government will pay the tribe whatever amount of damage may be assessed by three disinterested commissioners to be appointed by the President for that purpose, one of the said commissioners to be a chief or headman of the tribe.
7th. They agree to withdraw all opposition to the military posts or roads now established south of the North Platte river, or that may be established, not in violation of treaties heretofore made or hereafter to be made with any of the Indian tribes.
ARTICLE XII.
No treaty for the cession of any portion or part of the reservation herein described which may be held in common, shall be of any validity or force as against the said Indians unless executed and signed by at least three-fourths of all the adult male Indians occupying or interested in the same, and no cession by the tribe shall be understood or construed in such manner as to deprive, without his consent, any individual member of the tribe of his rights to any tract of land selected by him as provided in Article VI of this treaty.
ARTICLE XIII.
The United States hereby agrees to furnish annually to the Indians the physician, teachers, carpenter, miller, engineer, farmer, and blacksmiths, as herein contemplated, and that such appropriations shall be made from time to time, on the estimate of the Secretary of the Interior, as will be sufficient to employ such persons.
ARTICLE XIV.
It is agreed that the sum of five hundred dollars annually for three years from date shall be expended in presents to the ten persons of said tribe who in the judgment of the agent may grow the most valuable crops for the respective year.
ARTICLE XV.
The Indians herein named agree that when the agency house and other buildings shall be constructed on the reservation named, they will regard said reservation their permanent home, and they will make no permanent settlement elsewhere; but they shall have the right, subject to the conditions and modifications of this treaty, to hunt, as stipulated in Article XI hereof.
ARTICLE XVI.
The United States hereby agrees and stipulates that the country north of the North Platte river and east of the summits of the Big Horn mountains shall be held and considered to be unceded. Indian territory, and also stipulates and agrees that no white person or persons shall be permitted to settle upon or occupy any portion of the same; or without the consent of the Indians, first had and obtained, to pass through the same; and it is further agreed by the United States, that within ninety days after the conclusion of peace with all the bands of the Sioux nation, the military posts now established in the territory in this article named shall be abandoned, and that the road leading to them and by them to the settlements in the Territory of Montana shall be closed.
ARTICLE XVII.
It is hereby expressly understood and agreed by and between the respective parties to this treaty that the execution of this treaty and its ratification by the United States Senate shall have the effect, and shall be construed as abrogating and annulling all treaties and agreements heretofore entered into between the respective parties hereto, so far as such treaties and agreements obligate the United States to furnish and provide money, clothing, or other articles of property to such Indians and bands of Indians as become parties to this treaty, but no further.
In testimony of all which, we, the said commissioners, and we, the chiefs and headmen of the Brule band of the Sioux nation, have hereunto set our hands and seals at Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory, this twenty-ninth day of April, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.

N. G. TAYLOR,
W. T. SHERMAN,
Lieutenant General
WM. S. HARNEY,
Brevet Major General U.S.A.
JOHN B. SANBORN,
S. F. TAPPAN,
C. C. AUGUR,
Brevet Major General
ALFRED H. TERRY,
Brevet Major General U.S.A.
Attest:
A. S. H. WHITE, Secretary.
Executed on the part of the Brule band of Sioux by the chiefs and headman whose names are hereto annexed, they being thereunto duly authorized, at Fort Laramie, D. T., the twenty-ninth day of April, in the year A. D. 1868.
MA-ZA-PON-KASKA, his X mark, Iron Shell.
WAH-PAT-SHAH, his X mark, Red Leaf.
HAH-SAH-PAH, his X mark, Black Horn.
ZIN-TAH-GAH-LAT-WAH, his X mark, Spotted Tail.
ZIN-TAH-GKAH, his X mark, White Tail.
ME-WAH-TAH-NE-HO-SKAH, his X mark, Tall Man.
SHE-CHA-CHAT-KAH, his X mark, Bad Left Hand.
NO-MAH-NO-PAH, his X mark, Two and Two.
TAH-TONKA-SKAH, his X mark, White Bull.
CON-RA-WASHTA, his X mark, Pretty Coon.
HA-CAH-CAH-SHE-CHAH, his X mark, Bad Elk.
WA-HA-KA-ZAH-ISH-TAH, his X mark, Eye Lance.
MA-TO-HA-KE-TAH, his X mark, Bear that looks behind.
BELLA-TONKA-TONKA, his X mark, Big Partisan.
MAH-TO-HO-HONKA, his X mark, Swift Bear.
TO-WIS-NE, his X mark, Cold Place.
ISH-TAH-SKAH, his X mark, White Eye.
MA-TA-LOO-ZAH, his X mark, Fast Bear.
AS-HAH-HAH-NAH-SHE, his X mark, Standing Elk.
CAN-TE-TE-KI-YA, his X mark, The Brave Heart.
SHUNKA-SHATON, his X mark, Day Hawk.
TATANKA-WAKON, his X mark, Sacred Bull.
MAPIA SHATON, his X mark, Hawk Cloud.
MA-SHA-A-OW, his X mark, Stands and Comes.
SHON-KA-TON-KA, his X mark, Big Dog.
Attest:
ASHTON S. H. WHITE, Secretary of Commission.
GEORGE B. WITHS, Phonographer to Commission.
GEO. H. HOLTZMAN.
JOHN D. HOWLAND.
JAMES C. O'CONNOR.
CHAR. E. GUERN, Interpreter.
LEON T. PALLARDY, Interpreter.
NICHOLAS JANIS, Interpreter.
Executed on the part of the Ogallalla band of Sioux by the chiefs and headmen whose names are hereto subscribed, they being thereunto duly authorized, at Fort Laramie, the 25th day of May, in the year A. D. 1868.
TAH-SHUN-KA-CO-QUI-PAH, his mark, Man-afraid-of-his-horses.
SHA-TON-SKAH, his X mark, White Hawk.
SHA-TON-SAPAH, his X mark, Black Hawk.
EGA-MON-TON-KA-SAPAH, his X mark, Black Tiger
OH-WAH-SHE-CHA, his X mark, Bad Wound.
PAH-GEE, his X mark, Grass.
WAH-NON SAH-CHE-GEH, his X mark, Ghost Heart.
COMECH, his X mark, Crow.
OH-HE-TE-KAH, his X mark, The Brave.
TAH-TON-KAH-HE-YO-TA-KAH, his X mark, Sitting Bull.
SHON-KA-OH-WAH-MEN-YE, his X mark, Whirlwind Dog.
HA-KAH-KAH-TAH-MIECH, his X mark, Poor Elk.
WAM-BU-LEE-WAH-KON, his X mark, Medicine Eagle.
CHON-GAH-MA-HE-TO-HANS-KA, his X mark, High Wolf.
WAH-SECHUN-TA-SHUN-KAH, his X mark, American Horse.
MAH-KAH-MAH-HA-MAK-NEAR, his X mark, Man that walks under the ground.
MAH-TO-TOW-PAH, his X mark, Four Bears.
MA-TO-WEE-SHA-KTA, his X mark, One that kills the bear.
OH-TAH-KEE-TOKA-WEE-CHAKTA, his X mark, One that kills in a hard place.
TAH-TON-KAH-TA-MIECH, his X mark, The Poor Bull.
OH-HUNS-EE-GA-NON-SKEN, his X mark, Mad Shade.
SHAH-TON-OH-NAH-OM-MINNE-NE-OH-MINNE, his X mark, Whirling hawk.
MAH-TO-CHUN-KA-OH, his X mark, Bear's Back.
CHE-TON-WEE-KOH, his X mark, Fool Hawk.
WAH-HOH-KE-ZA-AH-HAH, his X mark,
EH-TON-KAH, his X mark, Big Mouth.
MA-PAH-CHE-TAH, his X mark, Bad Hand.
WAH-KE-YUN-SHAH, his X mark, Red Thunder.
WAK-SAH, his X mark, One that Cuts Off.
CHAH-NOM-QUI-YAH, his X mark, One that Presents the Pipe.
WAH-KE-KE-YAN-PUH-TAH, his X mark, Fire Thunder.
MAH-TO-NONK-PAH-ZE, his X mark, Bear with Yellow Ears.
CON-REE-TEH-KA, his X mark, The Little Crow.
HE-HUP-PAH-TOH, his X mark, The Blue War Club.
SHON-KEE-TOH, his X mark, The Blue Horse.
WAM-BALLA-OH-CONQUO, his X mark, Quick Eagle.
TA-TONKA-SUPPA, his X mark, Black Bull.
MOH-TOH-HA-SHE-NA, his X mark, The Bear Hide.
Attest:
S. E. WARD.
JAS. C. O'CONNOR.
J. M. SHERWOOD.
W. C. SLICER.
SAM DEON.
H. M. MATHEWS.
JOSEPH BISS
NICHOLAS JANIS, Interpreter.
LEFROY JOTT, Interpreter.
ANTOINE JANIS, Interpreter.
Executed on the part of the Minneconjou band of Sioux by the chiefs and headmen whose names are hereunto subscribed, they being thereunto duly authorized.
HEH-WON-GE-CHAT, his X mark, One Horn.
OH-PON-AH-TAH-E-MANNE, his X mark, The Elk that Bellows Walking.
HEH-HO-LAH-ZEH-CHA-SKAH, his X mark, Young White Bull.
WAH-CHAH-CHUM-KAH-COH-KEEPAH, his X mark, One that is Afraid of Shield.
HE-HON-NE-SHAKTA, his X mark, The Old Owl.
MOC-PE-A-TOH, his X mark, Blue Cloud.
OH-PONG-GE-LE-SKAH, his X mark, Spotted Elk.
TAH-TONK-KA-HON-KE-SCHUE, his X mark, Slow bull.
SHONK-A-NEE-SHAH-SHAH-ATAH-PE, his X mark, The Dog Chief.
MA-TO-TAH-TA-TONK-KA, his X mark, Bull Bear.
WOM-BEH-LE-TON-KAH, his X mark, The Big Eagle.
MATOH, EH-SCHNE-LAH, his X mark, The Lone Bear.
MA-TOH-OH-HE-TO-KEH, his X mark, The Brave Bear.
EH-CHE-MA-KEH, his X mark, The Runner.
TI-KI-YA, his X mark, The Hard.
HE-MA-ZA, his X mark, Iron Horn.
Attest:
JAS. C O'CONNOR,
WM. D. BROWN,
NICHOLAS JANIS,
ANTOINE JANIS,
Interpreters.
Executed on the part of the Yanctonais band of Sioux by the chiefs and headmen whose names are hereto subscribed, they being thereunto duly authorized:
MAH-TO-NON-PAH, his X mark, Two Bears.
MA-TO-HNA-SKIN-YA, his X mark, Mad Bear.
HE-O-PU-ZA, his X mark, Louzy.
AH-KE-CHE-TAH-CHE-KA-DAN, his X mark, Little Soldier.
MAH-TO-E-TAN-CHAN, his X mark, Chief Bear.
CU-WI-TO-WIA, his X mark, Rotten Stomach.
SKUN-KA-WE-TKO, his X mark, Fool Dog.
ISH-TA-SAP-PAH, his X mark, Black Eye.
IH-TAN-CHAN, his X mark, The Chief.
I-A-WI-CA-KA, his X mark, The One who Tells the Truth.
AH-KE-CHE-TAH, his X mark, The Soldier.
TA-SHI-NA-GI, his X mark, Yellow Robe.
NAH-PE-TON-KA, his X mark, Big Hand.
CHAN-TEE-WE-KTO, his X mark, Fool Heart.
HOH-GAN-SAH-PA, his X mark, Black Catfish.
MAH-TO-WAH-KAN, his X mark, Medicine Bear.
SHUN-KA-KAN-SHA, his X mark, Red Horse.
WAN-RODE, his X mark, The Eagle.
CAN-HPI-SA-PA, his X mark, Black Tomahawk.
WAR-HE-LE-RE, his X mark, Yellow Eagle.
CHA-TON-CHE-CA, his X mark, Small Hawk, or Long Fare.
SHU-GER-MON-E-TOO-HA-SKA, his X mark, Fall Wolf.
MA-TO-U-TAH-KAH, his X mark, Sitting Bear.
HI-HA-CAH-GE-NA-SKENE, his X mark, Mad Elk.
Arapahoes.
LITTLE CHIEF, his X mark.
TALL BEAR, his X mark.
TOP MAN, his X mark.
NEVA, his X mark.
THE WOUNDED BEAR, his X mark.
WHIRLWIND, his X mark.
THE FOX, his X mark.
THE DOG BIG MOUTH, his X mark.
SPOTTED WOLF, his X mark.
SORREL HORSE, his X mark.
BLACK COAL, his X mark.
BIG WOLF, his X mark.
KNOCK-KNEE, his X mark.
BLACK CROW, his X mark.
THE LONE OLD MAN, his X mark.
PAUL, his X mark.
BLACK BULL, his X mark.
BIG TRACK, his X mark.
THE FOOT, his X mark.
BLACK WHITE, his X mark.
YELLOW HAIR, his X mark.
LITTLE SHIELD, his X mark.
BLACK BEAR, his X mark.
WOLF MOCASSIN, his X mark.
BIG ROBE, his X mark.
WOLF CHIEF, his X mark.
Witnesses:
ROBERT P. MCKIBBIN,
Captain 4th Infantry, and Bvt. Lieut. Col. U. S. A.,
Commanding Fort Laramie.
WM. H. POWELL,
Brevet Major, Captain 4th Infantry.
HENRY W. PATTERSON,
Captain 4th Infantry.
THEO E. TRUE,
Second Lieutenant 4th Infantry.
W. G. BULLOCK.
FORT LARAMIE, WYOMING TERRITORY
November 6, 1868.
MAH-PI-AH-LU-TAH, his X mark, Red Cloud.
WA-KI-AH-WE-CHA-SHAH, his X mark, Thunder Man.
MA-ZAH-ZAH-GEH, his X mark, Iron Cane.
WA-UMBLE-WHY-WA-KA-TUYAH, his X mark, High Eagle.
KO-KE-PAH, his X mark, Man Afraid.
WA-KI-AH-WA-KOU-AH, his X mark, Thunder Flying Running.
Witnessess:
W. MCE. DYE,
Brevet Colonel U. S. Army,
Commanding.
A. B. CAIN,
Captain 4th Infantry, Brevet Major U. S. Army.
ROBT. P. MCKIBBIN,
Captain 4th Infantry, Bvt. Lieut. Col. U. S. Army.
JNO. MILLER,
Captain 4th Infantry.
G. L. LUHN,
First Lieutenant 4th Infantry, Bvt. Capt. U. S. Army.
H. C. SLOAN,
Second Lieutenant 4th Infantry.

Suffice it to say, subsequent views of the Treaty and its breach by the United States have left lasting impacts and bitter feelings among those Indian Nations that executed it.  The Treaty marked a conclusion, in some ways, of the result of Red Cloud's War, the only successful Indian War against the United States and the US would commence abandoning posts that it promised to.  But the lasting land commitments were rapidly forgotten by the United States which in very short order began to seek to find ways to renegotiate them.  In less than ten years, the United States, the Sioux and the Arapaho would be back at war.

The treaty, and its breach, is being recalled this weekend at Ft. Laramie with there being a large gathering of Sioux to recall the same.

Camp Hancock, Georgia. April 29, 1918.

28th Division exibition bayonet drill in honor Sect. Lansing, Camp Hancock, Ga., Capt. Ryan, Division Supt., Capt. Stackpole, Division Instructor. April 29, 1918.

82nd Division review in honor Mrs. J.B. Gordon, Brigadier General Burnham commanding, Camp Gordon, Ga, April 29, 1918.

Sunday Morning Scene: Churches of the West: Unknown Church, Centerra Colorado

Churches of the West: Unknown Church, Centerra Colorado:

These are terrible photographs, but they sort of demonstrate a current trend in American life. This is a very large church, just off of Interstate 25, near Centerra Colorado.

Centerra is an area north of Denver that's being developed heavily, and which features shopping just off the Interstate. This church must serve the local community, and I don't know anything else about it.

Best Posts of the Week of April 22, 2018

The Best Posts of the week of the April 22, 2018

Holscher's Hub: The Century Old Shed

Lex Anteinternet: The 2018 Wyoming Election. Volume Two

Has Kim Jong-un been reading my blog?

The Dense Fog

Ink

 

 

How you can tell your fondness for fountain pens over ballpoints has gone a bit far. . . traveling with the fountain pen.  Parker pen, Noodler's Ink and Filson briefcase.

Tools of the trade.

The Dense Fog

An actual recent conversation, when I was in Denver.

By way of background, I'd caught the early United Flight to Denver. . .

Casper to Denver

and then the A Train from DIA downtown. . .

Denver RTD University of Colorado A Line

which puts a person right about where they need in downtown Denver about 9:00.

Yep.

So, the comments.

Big Firm Denver Lawyer:  So did you drive down last night?

Me:  No, I flew in this morning.

Big Firm Denver Lawyer:  Oh?  They have planes in Wyoming?

And no, she wasn't kidding.

And this firm used to have an outlet in my own town, when the carpetbagging was good during the last boom.

Sigh.

Has Kim Jong-un been reading my blog?

Or perhaps the Chinese?

Something's up, that's for sure.

And whatever it is, may be good.

Yesterday Kim Jong-un met with South Korean president Moon Jae-in and declared that North Korea would cease developing nuclear weapons,* would work towards demilitarization and, essentially, that the armed conflict between North and South Korea was over.  He stepped in to South Korea as a guest.  Moon stepped into North Korea the same way.

All of which is a big deal, and that last item, the apparent end of a state of conflict (it's technically not a war as that would require recognition of North Korea's government as legitimate) is particularly a big deal.  That would amount to a declaration that a nearly seventy year long effort to conquer South Korea by armed force and unite it under the red banner was over.  That doesn't mean that either state has declared that its giving up on the concept of a united Korean peninsula, but it sort of points in that direction in a way, maybe.

So what's up?

That's nearly impossible to say, but here on this blog we've long speculated that the communist leadership in the north would collapse in some fashion, with that fashion probably being a Chinese backed coup.  We've also speculated that the Chinese might warn Kim Jong-un to cool it prior to that time, or even order him to work towards a peaceful reunification of the peninsula based upon the Finlandization of the country, in a reunited form, under a democratic leadership with American withdrawal from the country. . . something we'd likely agree to in that context.  And there's any number of close variants to this scenario that could occur.

And Kim was recently in China.

Hmmm. . . .

I wonder what was said at those meetings?

Stay tuned for further developments. . . . 

____________________________________________________________________________________

*On their program, there's been recent rumors that a catastrophic tunnel collapse may have set it back quite a ways. Those were rumors, but the other day the Stars and Stripes was running it as an established fact.

If that occurred, there'd be a real question of how it occurred.  Simple accident?  Very well could be.  U.S. clandestine action?  Also possible.  Chinese clandestine action?  Perhaps even more probable.  Maybe Kim is wondering what the cause of this was himself.  Maybe the Chinese suggested a cause. . irrespective of whether they were the source of the it or knew themselves.

Ground Breaking, April 27, 1918, U.S.A. General Hospital no. 21…"

This became Fitzsimons Army Medical Center and existed under that name for years.  Back when I was a Guardsman I went on it a time or two, mostly just to go to the PX.  The Army facility closed in 1999.

Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in 1973, at which time it specialized in burns.

It's now the University of Colorado's Anschutz Medical Center, which features, amongst other things, its excellent childrens' hospital.

Some features of the old post, of course, remain. . . but not many:

Main Gate, Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center, Aurora Colorado.

The calm before the storm?

In today's Tribune it's reported that the anticipated oil development in Converse County will require approximately 8,000 laborers.  According to a rule of thumb, which is just that (i.e., maybe not real, but probably something to it) this means that about 16,000 people will be coming in to serve them.  So, the speculation is, the area is going to see an increase in people to the tune of 24,000.

For a region like Denver, that doesn't mean much, but for Wyoming in certainly does and long time Wyomingites, particularly those who have lived here most of their lives, let alone those who have been here from childhood, and more particularly those who were born here, that is at least to some degree worrisome.  While a lot of the political pundits in Wyoming, particularly those on the political right, always view such things as good in a chamber of commerce sort of way, average Wyomingites view such things as mixed blessings as they are.

Of course, a lot depends on what really occurs, and right now, we don't really know what will occur. A big oil development seems set to launch, but then we've seen some interesting ups and downs in the market over the past couple of decades.  Indeed, at a recent conference I attended in that giant oil town, Houston, it was noted that the 21st Century has experienced two oil crashes, the first one being part of the big crash that came at turn of the Bush-Obama Administrations, and being caused by it, and the second coming due to the price sets of the Saudi's a few years ago.  Such a thing could occur at any time, really, or for that matter the opposite could.  The constant stress in the Middle East, as we all know, could have some big impact at any time.  Or not.

Indeed, something interesting about the last crash is that it didn't really cause a drop in oil production.  It did see a drop in oil development.  The two are not the same.  That suggests that something has changed about the oil economy, but what it is, is not fully clear.  What seems to be the case is that consumption has entered a new domain as the world's dependence upon petroleum is declining. 

Not declining so much, of course, that the development will not occur now that petroleum is at about $70/bbl.

One thing that this will mean, should it get rolling, is that Gillette, Douglas, Lusk, and Casper are going to see some sort of stress and boom.  Each town likely sees itself in the crosshairs that way, but my guess is that Douglas will feel the impact more than the others, but they'll all see it.  Casper, being the big regional city that it is (although more on that in a post coming soon) will be uniquely affected, but then Douglas certainly will be as well.

Probably.

We'll all soon know, one way or another.

Mid Week At Work: Portable laundry used by American Red Cross. Both wagons are individually hauled by a two-horse team.

The home of the All American Division, Camp Gordon, Atlanta, Georgia. April 25, 1918.

First Training Regiment, Pelham Bay Naval Training Camp, Pelham Bay, N.Y., B.C. McCulloch, commanding. April 24, 1918.

Today In Wyoming's History: April 22

Today In Wyoming's History: April 22:

 Today is Earth Day

Holscher's Hub: The Century Old Shed

Holscher's Hub: The Century Old Shed

Today In Wyoming's History: April 22, 1917 Tarred and Feathered

Today In Wyoming's History: April 22: 

1918  Two men were tarred and feathered for refusing to buy Liberty Bonds in Frontier.  World War One, far more than any other 20th Century American war, saw widespread shunning and hostility towards those who opposed the war.  Actions of this type were not uncommon, but probably more effective yet was the giving of feathers to young men opposed to the war by young women, indicating to them that the women regarded them as cowards.  Statements regarded as sedition were also prosecuted in some states, under state law.  As an added factor to this, two groups of Americans, those of recent German extraction and those of recent Irish extraction entered into this era with a degree of cultural hostility towards the English, which they had to rapidly overcome given the spirit of the times.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

Sunday Morning Scene: Churches of the West: St. Paul's United Church of Christ, Laramie Wyoming.

Churches of the West: St. Paul's United Church of Christ, Laramie Wyoming:

This is St. Paul's United Church of Christ in Laramie, Wyoming, which was originally founded in 1886 as Deutsche Evangelische Lutherische St. Paulus Gemeinde.  It was originally a German  speaking Lutheran Church, as t he name indicates. It went through a series of denominational changes since its founding, and the last German language service was offered in 1932.

The Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic declared independence

Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia declare their independence and formed the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic.

The entity immediately confirmed itself to be at war with the Ottoman Empire.

Best Post of the Week of April 15, 2018

Wounded French Soldier at Grand Palais, April 16, 1918.

Am I overweight? Well, that might depend on the century.

Lex Anteinternet: The 2018 Wyoming Election. Volume Two

The Death of Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen

Poster Saturday: Albatros. Union for Aircraft

For probably only the second or third time here, I'm putting up a poster from the Great War's Central Powers, this one for the Albatros aircraft.

My German is rusty, but I think this says some something like "Union for Aircraft", with the locations for the same.  It's likely a labor union poster.

This poster may say more than we might know. For one thing, Germany was heavily industrialized by World War One, even though big sectors of its economy remained nearly Medieval in other ways.  Anyhow, labor was a major, and fairly radical, sector of the German demographic at the time and the government worried about it continually.  Fears were constant that Socialist workers would reject the war or even overthrow the government.  And, in fact, there was something behind those fears.

Socialist Germans, like every sector of the German population, rallied to the crown in 1914 when the war came and by and large the Social Democratic Party remained loyal to the German government and war effort.  The SDP, while Germany's largest political party at the time, saw itself begin to fracture during the war, however, and by 1917 really radical elements had started to split into Communist parties as the SDP pulled back from a pre war heavy leaning towards Communism.  The SDP would in fact end up being the party that tried to bring Germany into being a true parliamentary democracy without a crown in 1918, something that would taint it with some voters thereafter, although those voters were likely not in the SDP crowd to start with.  Nonetheless, there would be no post war reunion with Communist who went on to try to foment rebellion prior to the end of the war and who went into a civil war with the SDP government immediately after the war, a rebellion that was only put down through the aid of the very conservative German Army which never supported the republic itself. 

Those tensions would all lead to the German republic being very short lived.  It functioned from 1918 to 1932, a mere fourteen years, before a final election brought the Nazis to power.  Communist elements in Germany were completely anti democratic.  German conservatives tended to lean towards monarchy and there were a lot of them.  Only the SDP and the collection of Christian parties, with the Catholic Center Party being the biggest, supported the parliament.  By the 1932 election the stress of the Depression and the near state of civil war between Communist and Nazi elements had undermined the SDP sufficiently that it wasn't able to hold on any longer as Germans turned to the Nazis and the Communist and brought down their republic and sent into and Europe into a thirteen year long nightmare.

The Death of Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen

Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen, veteran German fighter pilot with at least 80 victories to his credit, was shot down and killed on this day in 1918, thereby becoming one of the hundreds of thousands of German servicemen to die in the 1918 German Spring Offensive.

Von Richthofen is arguably the most famous German military figure of the Great War for a variety of reasons all of which are tied to the romantic myths attached to the war in the air, which in reality was an exceedingly grim affair.  Suffering in later years from the effects of a head injury sustained in an earlier crash, Von Richthofen was arguably no longer really himself.  In recent years the impact of head injuries on mental outlook has become a well developed field of medicine but it was not at the time.

To some extent it's surprising that Von Richthofen's memory has sustained itself in such a romantic fashion as he was truly a representative of a dying age, most particularly in his own country. A representative of the aristocratic class, Germany was already beginning to be torn apart by the forces of modernity that burst forth post war and ultimately deliver the country to the Nazis and the world to a second world war.  But then many of the German officer class were likewise representatives of that world, even into World War Two.

There's always been some dispute on who shot down the Red Baron.  It came in aerial combat, but that's about the only thing that can be definitely said.

Von Richthofen was pursuing the plane of Canadian fledgling pilot Wilfred "Wop" May, who himself had just fired upon the plane of Wolfram von Richthofen, a cousin of of Manfred's.   Brown dropped in on Von Richthofen to aid May. But Von Richthofen also took ground fire at the time and later forensic work, and some speculation, has lead many to believe that it was likely ground fire that killed Von Richthofen, who suffered a single fatal wound.  In that case, the shot could have come from either Australian or British troops.

British funeral for Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen.  Scenes like this were not uncommon during the Great War for airmen, oddly.  Both the British and the Germans did this.  In this ceremony we see officers of the RAF salute their former enemy and bear his coffin while an honor guard of Australian infantrymen stand in armed salute.  A person has to wonder what the Australian soldiers, notoriously salty in their views, thought of this.  The clergyman is undoubtedly an Anglican Priest of the Church of England, which itself is a bit of an oddity as Von Richthofen was undoubtedly a Lutheran.

His death at a young age has preserved the romantic image he bore during the war in a James Dean like way.  Wolfram, whom he acted to save, went on serve in the Luftwaffe again and rose to the rank of Field Marshall in Hitler's air force, dying of a brain tumor shortly after World War Two.  He was 49 years of old, but appeared much older at the time.  Roy Brown returned to Canada and tried, but failed, to enter politics.  He became a farmer but died in 1944 at age 50.  Wop May died at age 56 while on vacation in the United States.  He had a varied post war career, but much of it was as a flight instructor.  Cedric Popkin, an Australian machinegunner whom some believe fired the fatal bullet went on home to a career as a carpenter, living the longest to age 77.

The Irish Anti Conscription Pledge

On this day in 1918 the Irish Anti Conscription Committee urged the following to be posted for enrollment on every Catholic Church door in Ireland:

Denying the right of the British government to enforce compulsory service in this country, we pledge ourselves solemnly to one another to resist conscription by the most effective means at our disposal.

18th Century Soldier's Rations - Cooking Series at Jas Townsend and Son ...

For of all gainful professions. . . .

For of all gainful professions, nothing is better, nothing more pleasing, nothing more delightful, nothing better becomes a well-bred man than agriculture.
 
Marcus Tullius Cicero

Sad News. The Passing of Patrick F. McManus

BOISE, Idaho – Patrick F. McManus, a prolific writer best known for his humor columns in fishing and hunting magazines who also wrote mystery novels and one-man comedy plays, has died. He was 84.

One of my absolute favorite writers. . . 

When Wyomng Registered, and then Confiscated, Firearms

Gun registration and then confiscation, in Wyoming?

Yes, as part of the vast nationwide overreaction to all things German during World War One.

It's largely been forgotten, but prior to the Great War Germans in the United States were quite proud of their heritage and stood out, almost, but not quite, uniquely as an immigrant group that strove to retain their traditions and identity.  In many places shooting matches, a strong German sport in rural Germany, remained one in the rural German areas of the United States.  Many communities that had been originally settled by German immigrants retained German as the primary language, including for example Dyersville Iowa where my grandfather had been born.  

But the Great War changed much of that.

A real wave of anti German prejudice swept the nation and German communities reacted by shutting down much of the outward cultural attributes they had exhibited. Still people remained strongly suspicious of Germans and, oddly Eastern Europeans.  Those sorts of feelings lead to the item we saw recently accusing breweries of being money pipes to Germany.  And, in Wyoming, they lead to the 1917 act of the legislature requiring aliens to register their firearms.

Many apparently didn't, as this article notes, because they were simply unaware of the law.  And on this day the news hit that the state, using the Game and Fish Department as state police, raided a mining camp and confiscated the arms found there.  Clemency was granted to those aliens who simply surrendered them and plead ignorance, prosecution awaited for those who objected.  This amounted to a haul of seventeen firearms, not exactly a large number.

There are lessons here of all sorts, and people will draw their own, I suppose.  I suspect, although I don't know, that all the miners who found their arms taken were German, Austrian or Eastern European.  This occurred in the Sheridan area which had a large ex-patriot British community but somehow I doubt they found their arms taken.  I'll bet not.

Miners, it might be noted, were rural people and this wasn't necessarily a minor matter for them.  T he article notes that the 17 arms included a Sharps rifle, a large 19th Century rifle best recalled for use by frontier buffalo hunters. That was likely that miners hunting rifle and he likely was then going without a means of augmenting the dinner table.  Other arms may have been for self protection. Mining communities were not dens of passivity.

For what its worth, there was some armed opposition to the American role in World War One within the United States, or perhaps more accurately to conscription. We've already covered one such incident. Those incidents were, however, ones in which rural Americans took up arms against the government.  Not armed fifth column actions by immigrant aliens.

Count cadence, delayed cadence, count cadence count.

It's odd what gets stuck into your subconscious when you are young, and just stays there.

Even now, if I'm really stressed for some reason, the Army cadences I learned in basic training come back to me, more or less at random.

Duckworth Chant 1944 on V-Disc

BATTLEGROUND - 1949 clip 2

Woman's College of Alabama, Montgomery Ala., April 17th, 1918

Am I overweight? Well, that might depend on the century.

Another interesting one from A Hundred Years Ago.

I'm 5'6".  I maybe topped out at 5'7" when I was younger.

I weigh about 160 lbs.  Usually slightly under that. Every now and then, a little over that.  If I ever get to 165 I worry.  On rare occasion my weight will drop to 155. This has been the case for a long time, but if I go back to about the time I got married, I weighed about 145 then.

Apparently in 1919 the normal weight for somebody my height was from 119 to 165 lbs.  165 to 174 was overweight. 

Now, the normal weight for somebody that height is 118 to 155.  Overweight is 155 to 186.

Shoot.

I'd be okay if I was still 5'7".

Well, in all honesty I do feel that I need to loose a little weight.  

But then, I'm a middle aged lawyer (and stockman, however).  And I'm not keen on the modern gym attendance model of exercise.  I sort of agree with Henry Fairlie on that.

But I'm definitely not fat.  And at least up until recently, I was holding my own really well for my age.  I say, up until recently, however, as recently some of those miles, and a whole pile of injuries have been frankly catching up with me.  

At least in that latter category, I'm perhaps a bit more like men of a century ago than most men now.  Or so I'd guess based on some data from the prior, 19th, Century.  While I'm in good shape, I've endured a lot of physical insult.  I've broken both lower bones in my right leg, fingers, toes, two vertebrae, my nose, ribs and my skull.  I've punctured a lung and I've had pneumonia.  And that doesn't count asthma as a kid and teenager and I've had the flu numerous times as well as the dread chickenpox.  Many of those would have been routine for my generation, but not all of them.  

So the fact that I'm only 160, normally, when I don't get that much exercise, and for that matter that I have all my hair, and its only now just starting to turn gray, seems more or less a pretty lucky break, really.

Still, it's interesting in context.  Why am I overweight a bit now (and I agree I am), while I would not have been a century ago.

Perceptions might explain all of that. 

But muscle density might as well.  

Indeed, according to the folks who track such things men my age are generally more densely muscled than men who are in our twenties.  No doubt this is true.  When young, we worked outdoors and in physical labor a lot more than many men do now do.

And if this was true of us now, how much more true may that have been a century ago?  Quite a bit, I'll bet.

Having said that, the concept of how much bulk around the margins a person should carry has in fact varied over the years.  In the 1940s the recommendation was to carry a bit of a spare tire, in case a person became ill, probably more of a concern then than now.  At the same time, however, it was probably more of a struggle to get up to 160 for a man my height than it is now.

Oh well, I probably could stand to drop five pounds.

Today In Wyoming's History: Instagram's Wyoming Then and Now

Today In Wyoming's History: Instagram's Wyoming Then and Now: Wyoming Then and Now. Fantastic!

Today In Wyoming's History: A Tale Of Two Dams

Today In Wyoming's History: A Tale Of Two Dams: A Tale of Two Dams

Spring Hill College, Spring Hill Alabama, April 16, 1918