Saturday, May 10, 2014

Sunday, May 10, 1914. Mother's Day.

It was the first official Mother's Day, the proclamation having been issued yesterday.

The U.S. Navy brought back the bodies of service men who had died over a snit over how the Mexican government was to apologize for a mistake.




The French Radical Party won a plurality of votes for the French Assembly.  In spite of their name, they are a center left French republican party.

Shipwrecked Karluck captain Robert Bartlett left Intuit guide Kataktovik in Emma Town, Siberia and traveled with a Russian escort to Emma Harbor in his ongoing effort to seek a rescue for the Canadian Arctic Expedition survivors on Wrangel Island.

Last prior edition:

Saturday, May 9, 1914. A Mothers Day Proclamation.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog: Posthumous license of law sought to address instance of past racism

Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog

Why did the bond issue fail?

I can't ever recall a school bond issue failing here before, like the one that did yesterday, and it was only last year that the voters approved a Casper College bond.  So what happened?  A lot of bond supporters are asking that now.

 
Natrona County High School.

It's always hard to answer a question like that, of course, but what I'm hearing right now from various people is the following:

1.  The School Board chairman noted that County Assessor's tax notice came out just a couple of days prior to the election, and it noted what the additional tax would be for each recipient.  It amounted to $22.00 per $100,000.  He feels the bond was winning up until that point.

$22.00/100,000 doesn't seem like a lot for what we were receiving, but to some people it is viewed as such.  I heard one well off person complaining that we were still paying on the college bond, even though that person is a millionaire.  So people can react to a think like that.

2.  Based on comments that appear where the public can comment, there's a fair degree of Tea Party thought in the county right now, and as part of that there seems to be a general opposition to taxes and even pretty much to any governmental entity, school boards included.  That surprises me for this county, and perhaps its not as many as it appears, but there are clearly some folks who viewed this in that fashion.  One of the main opponents of the bond posted information to a page that represents itself as a Tea Party organ, so there was at least a little of that.

Tied into that, Tea Party folks are still very fired up by the events surrounding Cindy Hill, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction.  Hill has been a lightening rod of one kind or another. She generally came out of the Tea Party element of the GOP and has very distinct views.  Her administration of the department was highly controversial which lead to a legislative effort that limited her powers, although most in favor of the act that did that noting that the department was long overdue for reform.  She subsequently sued and the Wyoming Supreme Court overturned the law that limited her authority. All of this has lead her supporters to actually support censure of certain legislators and the Governor, although the action against the Governor recently failed.  Hill is running for Governor.

That wouldn't seem to have any relationship to the bond, and in real terms it does not, but some of her supporters do not quite see it that way for some reason. They also generally oppose Common Core, although quite a few people outside their ranks also do, which also doesn't have any direct connection but which some of them see as linked.

Added in even further, a legislative committee, late term, went in and actually modified the state science standards to eliminate curriculum dealing with global warming, on the basis that they apparently thought it to be propaganda against the state's largest industry. School boards and the department of education have been going back and looking at what they can do in regards to teaching the science. This also has nothing to do with the bond, but it puts education topics in the news at a bad time.

3.  Some folks oppose taxes in general.  One fellow I know just will not vote for a tax, that's his policy.  Additionally, the City of Casper has been in the news recently due to accusations that its .01 optional tax hasn't been used wisely, which makes people mad about taxes in general.

A troubling aspect of this is that if we tend to always oppose taxes, eventually it seems to be the case that the local option to tax or not slowly evaporates.  This happened in regard to the courthouse here, which failed in bond elections twice. Eventually the state undertook the cost. That made other counties upset, but the bigger story there is that mineral revenues are declining at the same time that the state is funding more and local entities less, which means that sooner or later the taxes will be there, but the local say may well be done.

 2012-11-28 17.08.21 by WoodenShoeMaker
4. Some folks strongly opposed a single item in the bond.

Everyone seemed to support safety upgrades, although obviously not enough to vote for the bond in slightly over half of the instances noted.  But in post voting comments, it's interesting to note that some people were strongly opposed to the CAPS facility while supporting the pools, and vice versa.

I think there was a fair degree of misunderstanding in both instances.  CAPS is being built. That's just the way it is, so voting against the bond is a protest vote at best.  Folks who voted against CAPS while favoring the pools torpedoed the pools, but are getting CAPS anyhow.

Having said that, the one thing in this that I somewhat understand is people who were opposed to the CAPS facility and resented it.  This came about because of a worthwhile concern of a different sitting school board which rightly noted that technical training needed to be upgraded at the schools, and that there was inadequate school space.  The thought at that time was that a new high school should be added.

That thought was right.  The county has four high schools, with one being a small alternative education school with very little in the way of extra facilities.  One is in Midwest, a town on the edge of the county, that serves every grade in that town.  The two big schools are NCHS and KWHS.  They're definitely overburdened in handling as many students as they do.  A third school would have made real sense.

Instead, the then sitting board determined not to do that, and for a really aggravating reason.  Adding a new school would have dropped the county's high school athletics down a class.  That is, Natrona County's kids would have been competing in some lower class, 3A I think.

Well, who cares?

It would have only lasted for a couple of years, but apparently that's a big deal to people for some reason.  Indeed, it's such a big deal that Campbell County has for years operated under the fiction that it has one high school with two "campuses", which is of course absurd.  But that way it has unified teams that can compete in 4A.  I don't really care about that, but it is aggravating to realize that KWHS and NCHS were deprived of technical facilities so that we could stay 4A.

So, following Campbell County's lead in a fashion, we decided to have one high grade technical facility, CAPS, and to build a new building for Roosevelt, the alternative school.  We are doing that, but that did built a lot of resentment with people including, as I've learned as we proceeded along on this, a lot of teachers.  I'm sure a majority of teachers voted for the bond, but not all of them did, and CAPS is largely the reason why.

The irony, as noted, is that we're getting CAPS no matter what.  It's not the way I'd have gone about it, but it's what's occurring, so fully equipping it is a must.

And it'll apparently happen as the one thing that the district has already indicated is that it will start saving money over time to equip it.  So, the folks who voted against CAPS didn't really achieve their goal, but they did accidentally help keep NC from having a pool. That appears to be a permanent done deal.

Opposition to the pool I don't understand.  It seems its regarded as "nice" but an extravagance, by quite a few people.  By the same token, there's never been any opposition to keeping the NC football field and stadium, which were once slated to be taken out.  That sparked a real protest movement.  A big football field is nice, but it serves the same purpose as a pool.  And in this county, swimming instruction is required.  Now that is going to be difficult to achieve.

 
NCHS football player at KW stadium, Oil Bowl 1980.  Soon thereafter it was proposed that the NC Stadium be torn down.

For years and years I always said "I don't have anything against football" when topics like this came up, but I'm afraid that's slowly changing for me, and that's all the more reason I find this aggravating.  Now, I do agree a field is necessary, but not just for football. But I do continue to be amazed by the way that football so dominates the outside discussion of high school athletics.  I don't oppose the game, but I've gotten to where I do now worry about the head injury impacts that are becoming increasingly associated with the game.  I work on too many matters where people have sustained a traumatic brain injury not to take that very seriously.  It worries me that we seemingly sort of ignore that at this level, with potential long term devastating effect. At some point, and probably some point soon, it'll be addressed, I'm sure.  I note that there's no longer high school boxing like their was when I was in high school, which was also thought perfectly harmless at the time.  Football won't disappear, I'm sure, but it's probable that the game and equipment will be modified.

 
I do wish, however, that people who find a pool extravagant would appreciate that it teaches something that's life saving at best and a lifetime activity always.  Now that's impaired and the need for the pool was every bit as great as the need for a field.

Saturday, May 9, 1914. A Mothers Day Proclamation.

It was a Saturday, so the Saturday magazines were out, including this one honoring the very first Mother's Day.

President Wilson issued a proclamation decreeing Mother's Day.  It created the holiday.


The purpose of the day was to honor mothers who had lost sons in wars, although those who had backed the day had a broader purpose, that being to honor mother's in general.

A lot more mothers were about to lose their sons in war.

The war the US was anticipating was one with Mexico, and a full scale staging of troops on the border was underway, as evidenced by this collection of photographs which were copyrighted on this day.

Mobilization Camp, 2nd Div. (less 5th Brigade & 22 Inf.), Texas City, Texas, 1914

19th & 28th Infantry Camp, Fort Crockett, Texas, 1914.

6th Cavalry Camp, mobilized at Texas City, Texas.

Mobilization Camp, 2nd Div. (less 5th Brigade, 11th & 22nd Inf's.), Texas City, Texas, 1914.

4th & 7th Infantry Camp, Fort Crockett, Texas.

Mobilization Camp, 2nd Div. (less 5th Brigade), Texas City, Texas, 1914

I wonder if some reconsideration should be given to Mother's Day in 2024, 110 years after its creation.  It's harder in some ways now to be a mother than ever, what with the full industrialization of the population, meaning that motherhood comes second to being a worker drone, something the right and the left agree upon.  At the second time, the Sexual Revolution has meant that a lot of men have become permanently infantile and the societal union between men and women, reflected in marriage, has been enormously weakened. 


I'm not sure what a "floating laborer" described, but it probably fits the temp work a lot of single mothers have today.

This has lead to a lot of "single mothers", there really being no such thing actually, and last year an op-ed piece ran in one online journal suggesting there should be a "Single Mother's Day". 

Not hardly.  If ever there's a place where the old standards should be restored, it's here.



Regarding industrialization, C W Post of cereal fame, severely suffering from appendicitis killed himself on this day.


Papers were pretty free with their headlines in those days.

Suffragettes marched.


Last prior edition:

For Many, Farming Is A Labor Of Love, Not A Living : The Salt : NPR

For Many, Farming Is A Labor Of Love, Not A Living : The Salt : NPR

Friday Farming: Holscher's Hub: Sweet Allis

Holscher's Hub: Sweet Allis: Allis-Chambers vintage tractor.

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Friday, May 8, 1914. Ag Extension comes into being. Dan Sickles passes on.

The Smith Lever Act went into providing for a national Cooperative Extension Service to be established.

This would allow university agriculture departments to offer rural education programs, which his a good thing.

UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING EXTENSION

This is also an example of the American System of economics, which the current GOP detests.  It'd be interesting to see what they'd feel about the introduction of such a program today.

An article about the act from another site in another state:

Maryland 4-H and the Centennial of Smith-Lever

On the same day, the 63d Congress also passed a joint resolution "designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day, and for other purposes"

A small magnitude earthquake, 4.9, hit Giarre, Sicily, and resulted in the destruction of 223 homes and 120 deaths, saying something about the condition in which people lived.

Coincidentally, or perhaps not, Mount Etna erupted.

This demonstrates, of course, how tectonically active Italy is, but also how poor it was.  Since some point in the 1950s, it's been popular to depict Italy as glamorous, but in fact the country was desperately poor to a large extent prior to that time, and was "backward" by the standards of North Americans and northern Europeans.  Living conditions recalled Medieval conditions in much of the country up until a post-war economic revolution in Europe changed things, something that also helps to explain the rise of fascism in the 1920s, the strong Italian communist party in the 20th Century, criminal organizations, and large-scale emigration.


The funeral of Daniel Sickles was held in New York.


Sickles was a controversial Civil War and early Reconstruction era U.S. Army general.  A political figure, he was the only corps commander in the U.S. Army who had not been to West Point, something that didn't make him popular with Regular Army officers at the time, but then he was otherwise an aggressive figure who would have been unpopular no matter what.


Sickles controversially repositioned his command without authorization from Gen. Meade at Gettysburg, a move that proved to be a mistake. When Meade learned about this, he confronted Sickles but did not order him to withdraw, as it was too late to do so. Soon thereafter, Sickles was struck by a cannonball in the leg, which he survived of course, but which caused him to lose the leg and which ended his field career. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions at Gettysburg, in spite of his actions in repositioning his command.



A New York state political figure before the war, he'd go on to serve in the House of Representatives, after serving a stint as Minister to Spain, for a single term in 1893-1895.


Sickles was a lawyer by trade, and the son of a patent lawyer.  His pre-war life was far from pacific.  He was admitted to the bar in 1843 and elected to the New York State Assembly in 1847.  In 1852, he married Teresa Bagioli against the wishes of both families, at which time he was 32, and she was about 15 or 16 years old.  While very young, she was reportedly sophisticated for her age, and spoke five languages.


In 1853, he was appointed Secretary of the US Legation in London.  He reportedly took Fanny White, a known prostitute, to London with him, and had already been censured by the New York State Assembly for escorting her into their chambers.  He even presented her to Queen Victoria.  Notably, his wife was home in the U.S. pregnant at the time.

Perhaps not too surprisingly, his wife in turn had an affair with the US Attorney for Washington, DC.  Sickles shot him dead on the street, but was acquitted for the killing in the first use of the temporary insanity defense in the U.S. 

His first wife died in 1867, having never really reconciled after the killing. They had one child.  He remarried to Maria "Cooke", a Spanish woman, in 1871. She also predeceased him. They had three children. As his marriage to an Italian American and a Spanish woman would suggest, he was Catholic, although obviously not the most observant one at points during his lifetime.  His funeral was held at New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral.  He was 94 at the time of his death.

As a minor observation, because it extended year around at the time, Catholic observers of Sickles death who may have gone to post funeral receptions would have been restricted to meatless options, assuming there was no local dispensation.

While the controversial veteran of an old war was being buried, the Cheyenne paper was worrying about the possibility of a new one.


There was, of course, reason to worry, but that was no reason not to go watch a presentation about the Frontier wars that had followed the Civil War.


Sunkist oranges were already a thing, which surprises me.


As was Pabst Blue Ribbon, which does not surprise me.


Budweiser was continuing with its European wars theme.


And there was a reason for Postum.



Paramount Pictures was formed through a partnership between Famous Players Film Company and the Lasky Feature Play Company. 

The first French shipboard aircraft launch was made by René Caudron from a ramp constructed over the fore-deck of the seaplane tender Foudre.

The Caudron brothers, Gason and René,  would go on to form an early aircraft manufacturing company, Société des Avions Caudron.  Gaston Caudron died in an aircraft accident in 1915, but René carried on in aircraft manufacturing until the fall of France in World War Two.  He died in 1959.

Last prior edition:

Thursday, May 7, 1914. A Colorado murder is reported in Wyoming.

Big Boy 4014 steam engine rolls into downtown Laramie

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

The Big Speech: Treaty between the United States and the Crow Indians.

1868  Treaty signed with the Crows at Ft. Laramie.  It stated:

Articles of a treaty made and concluded at Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory, on the seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, by and between the undersigned commissioners on the part of the United States, and the undersigned chiefs and head-men of and representing the Crow Indians, they being duly authorized to act in the premises.
ARTICLE 1.
From this day forward peace between the parties to this treaty shall forever continue. The Government of the United States desires peace, and its honor is hereby pledged to keep it. The Indians desire peace, and they hereby 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 re-imburse 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 any 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, on proof made to their agent and notice by him, deliver up the wrong-doer to the United States, to be tried and punished according to its laws; and in case they refuse willfully so to do the person injured shall be re-imbursed 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 such damages shall be adjusted and paid until thoroughly examined and passed upon by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and no one sustaining loss while violating, or because of his violating, the provisions of this treaty or the laws of the United States shall be re-imbursed therefor.
ARTICLE 2.
The United States agrees that the following district of country, to wit: commencing where the 107th degree of longitude west of Greenwich crosses the south boundary of Montana Territory; thence north along said 107th meridian to the mid-channel of the Yellowstone River; thence up said mid-channel of the Yellowstone to the point where it crosses the said southern boundary of Montana, being the 45th degree of north latitude; and thence east along said parallel of latitude to the place of beginning, 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 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 employés 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 for the use of said Indians, and henceforth they will, and do hereby, relinquish all title, claims, or rights in and to any portion of the territory of the United States, except such as is embraced within the limits aforesaid.
ARTICLE 3.
The United States agrees, at its own proper expense, to construct on the south side of the Yellowstone, near Otter Creek,
a warehouse or store-room for the use of the agent in storing goods belonging to the Indians, to cost not exceeding twenty-five hundred dollars; an agency-building for the residence of the agent, to cost not exceeding three thousand dollars; a residence for the physician, to cost not more than three thousand dollars; and five other buildings, for a carpenter, farmer, blacksmith, miller, and engineer, each to cost not exceeding two thousand dollars; 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 twenty-five hundred dollars.
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, the same to cost not exceeding eight thousand dollars.
ARTICLE 4.
The Indians herein named agree, when the agency-house and other buildings shall be constructed on the reservation named, they will make said reservation their permanent home, and they will make no permanent settlement elsewhere, but they shall have the right to hunt on the unoccupied lands of the United States so long as game may be found thereon, and as long as peace subsists among the whites and Indians on the borders of the hunting districts.
ARTICLE 5.
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 finding, to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, whose decision shall be binding on the parties to this treaty.
ARTICLE 6.
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 “Crow 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 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 as between Indians, and on all subjects connected with the government of the Indians on said reservations and the internal police thereof, as may be thought proper.
ARTICLE 7.
In order to insure the civilization of the tribe entering into this treaty, the necessity of education is admitted, especially by such of them as are, or may be, settled on said agricultural reservation; 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 twenty years.
ARTICLE 8.
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 seed and agricultural implements for the first year 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 seed and implements as aforesaid in value twenty-five dollars per annum.
And it is further stipulated that such persons as commence farming shall receive instructions 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 required.
ARTICLE 9.
In lieu of all sums of money or other annuities provided to be paid to the Indians herein named, under any and all treaties heretofore made with them, the United States agrees to deliver at the agency house, on the reservation herein provided for, on the first day of September of each year for thirty years, the following articles, to wit:
For each male person, over fourteen years of age, a suit of good substantial woolen clothing, consisting of coat, hat, pantaloons, flannel shirt, and a pair of woolen socks.
For each female, over twelve years of age, a flannel skirt, or the goods necessary to make it, a pair of woolen hose, twelve yards of calico, and twelve 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 ten dollars shall be annually appropriated for each Indian roaming, and twenty dollars for each Indian engaged in agriculture, for a period of ten years, 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, at any time within the ten years, it shall appear that the amount of money needed for clothing, under this article, can be appropriated to better uses for the tribe herein named, Congress may, by law, change the appropriation to other purposes; but in no event shall the amount of this 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 expressly stipulated that
each Indian over the age of four years, who shall have removed to and settled permanently upon said reservation, and complied with the stipulations of this treaty, shall be entitled to receive from the United States, for the period of four years after he shall have settled 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 them, 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 sixty days after such lodge or family shall have so settled upon said reservation.
ARTICLE 10.
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 estimates of the Secretary of the Interior, as will be sufficient to employ such persons.
ARTICLE 11.
No treaty for the cession of any portion of the reservation herein described, which may be held in common, shall be of any force or validity as against the said Indians unless executed and signed by, at least, a majority 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 a manner as to deprive, without his consent, any individual member of the tribe of his right to any tract of land selected by him as provided in Article 6 of this treaty.
ARTICLE 12.
It is agreed that the sum of five hundred dollars annually, for three years from the date when they commence to cultivate a farm, 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.
W. T. Sherman,
   Lieutenant-General.
Wm. S. Harney,
   Brevet Major-General and Peace Commissioner.
Alfred H. Terry,
   Brevet Major-General.
C. C. Augur,
   Brevet Major-General.
John B. Sanborn.
S. F. Tappan.
Ashton S. H. White, Secretary.
Che-ra-pee-ish-ka-te, Pretty Bull, his x mark. [SEAL.]
Chat-sta-he, Wolf Bow, his x mark. [SEAL.]
Ah-be-che-se, Mountain Tail, his x mark. [SEAL.]
Kam-ne-but-sa, Black Foot, his x mark. [SEAL.]
De-sal-ze-cho-se, White Horse, his x mark. [SEAL.]
Chin-ka-she-arache, Poor Elk, his x mark. [SEAL.]
E-sa-woor, Shot in the Jaw, his x mark. [SEAL.]
E-sha-chose, White Forehead, his x mark. [SEAL.]
—Roo-ka, Pounded Meat, his x mark. [SEAL.]
De-ka-ke-up-se, Bird in the Neck, his x mark. [SEAL.]
Me-na-che, The Swan, his x mark. [SEAL.]
Attest:
George B. Wills, phonographer.
John D. Howland.
Alex. Gardner.
David Knox.
Chas. Freeman.
Jas. C. O'Connor.

Today In Wyoming's History: Natrona County School District No. 1 Bond Issue Fa...

Today In Wyoming's History: Natrona County School District No. 1 Bond Issue Fa...: The bond issue floated by NCSD No. 1, which would have sought a $33M bond for use in upgrading the safety features of existing schools, pro...

Mid Week At Work: Saddle Maker, 1940s


Thursday, May 7, 1914. A Colorado murder is reported in Wyoming.

 Congress established Mother's Day.

Almost all the newspaper's in southern Wyoming were carrying stories about hotelier L.F. Nicodemus, who had run hotels in Laramie and Cheyenne, being shot and killed in Denver by James C. Bulger, who was universally declared to be a "soldier of fortune".  He was also one of the founders of Larimer County and the brief town there, called "Bulger", which no longer exists.


Bulger was convicted of murder for the event.  Apparently insanity was attempted as a defense, as the record of his appeal states:

There was evidence tending to show that defendant is of an adventurous spirit and roving disposition; that he had been a soldier in the United States army serving in the Philippine Islands, a ranchman, a land speculator in Colorado, a soldier in Central America, and an officer in Madero's army in Mexico; that his grandfathers had been addicted to the use of intoxicants; that his uncle was a heavy drinker, and that his father frequently had delirium tremens; that his mother, who at the time of the trial was approximately 60 years of age, was of a moody and melancholy disposition; that the age of defendant is 33 years, and for several years prior to 1912 he was of a cheerful temperament, neat in his appearance and friendly in his disposition, and was somewhat addicted to the excessive use of intoxicating liquors; that he left Denver in the summer of 1912, and shortly thereafter was shot in the head, where the bullet remained imbedded; that he returned to Denver in April 1914; that upon his return he appeared to be slovenly and careless of his personal appearance and dress, drank to excess, and was more nervous, excitable, and easily aggravated than before; that at times he was subject to certain delusions, and, in the opinion of some witnesses, including experts, was insane at the time of the homicide. There was evidence upon the part of the prosecution, including testimony of experts, tending to establish the sanity of the defendant. We will advert to other evidence in the discussion of some of the assignments of error.

An instruction upon delusional insanity, given to the jury over the objection of defendant, constitutes one of the principal grounds relied upon for reversal. 

To flesh the story out, he'd been drinking at the hotel bar and got into an argument with Cheyenne rodeo cowboy Hugh Clark over a regiment Bulger was raising to fight in Mexico.  Clark insulted him in the conversation and went and armed himself, but Clark disarmed him and hit him. Bulger then left the bar, hailed a taxi, and bought two new revolvers and ammunition and returned to the bar, but Clark had left. He confronted Nicodemus and demanded to know where Clark was, but Nicodemus said he didn't know, and turned from him, whereupon Bulger shot him.

Bulger would ultimately receive stays of execution six times before his sentence was commuted to life.  He was released in 1961 at age 80, and then went to work at the prison as a gardener.  He died in 1966 and is buried at the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Denver.

US servicemen were flirting in Vera Cruz. That didn't take long.

Last prior edition:

Wednesday, May 6, 1914. No votes for British women.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

"Farewell to Ireland" by Gael Warning (Normally I listen to Blues, but this is really cool).

Wednesday, May 6, 1914. No votes for British women.

The House of Lords rejected the Women's Suffrage Bill. The vote was 104 to 60.  A person has to wonder if the recent terror strikes by suffragist had a negative impact.

Cheyenne revealed that Gen. Funson was authorized to "extend his lines in Mexico", by which readers learned the paper was referring to Vera Cruz, not anywhere on the border.


While I was aware that the then legendary Gen. Frederick Funston was in command on the border, I wasn't aware that this extended all the way to Vera Cruz.

Cheyenne was wanting a railroad bridge at Guernsey repaired.

Schlitz took out a full page add in the same paper.


Last prior edition:

Monday, May 5, 2014

The NCSD Bond Issue

The bond issue goes to the voters tomorrow, May 6.  Please vote yes, if you are a Natrona County, Wyoming voter.

Prior threads on the topic on this blog can be found here.

A yes vote will allow the district to replace the NCHS pool which is coming down in weeks, replace the old Aluminum pool in Midwest, repair the pool at KWHS, install safety features in existing schools, and buy scientific and technical equipment for the new CAPs facility that is presently under construction.

The investement of the public in eras past

Continuing on just a bit, on bond related topics, I can't help but note that the high school I went to, which is now seeing large scale renovation, was built in 1923. The pool was built in 1926, I think.  The football stadium, which was subject to a proposal to be abandoned at one time, but which a public movement saved, dates back to 23.

When I look around Casper at public buildings, I can find a few old ones that are really something.  NCHS, the Federal Courthouse, the old County Courthouse, and so on. Some were built with local money, some with Federal money, but at any rate, when they are examined, it is clear that they were built for the ages.

Some public facilities here are like  that too.  City swimming pools, tennis courts, parks, etc., were all built with local money.

I note this, as I really wonder about the current bond opposition.  I understand that people do not want additional property taxes, but these projects are not unwise.  Prior generates here were very obviously willing to invest in something that was calculated to last well after they were gone.  Indeed, looking at some of these buildings, such as NCHS, it's very obvious that they were consciously built with the knowledge that most of the beneficiaries of the bond issues that built them would be born after the generation that paid for them was dead.  Now people don't seem to think quite that way.  Perhaps we should.

I am also surprised by the ongoing "times are tough" talk here.  No, they are not.  If people are having tough times here now, they better be thinking hard about that, as for this state, these are really good economic times.  Indeed, historically, with the type of economy we have here, these are really good times.  If individuals who have long residence here are having tough times, what that means is that this economic model, which seems to be the one we prefer, isn't working. That should lead us to support a broader educational model, not a more narrow one.

Finally, it's distressing the way that education has become a political football for other philosophical and political theories.  There is a lot of rhetoric floating around about "local control", "Common Core" and the like.  At the heart of it, people who are dedicated in their opposition to government beyond a minimalist government are of the view that everything should be local in control.  I'm not intending to debate that in any fashion, and a person can spend a lot of time exploring that, but what I'd note here is that none of this has anything to do with the bond.  Ironically, the bond actually restores local control.   Prior to 1970, all school funding in Wyoming was through bonds.  100%.  Now, what we have left is those items which the state does not fund, but which may still be necessary as a practical matter.  Ironically, therefore, those who oppose the bond on the basis that they support local control actually propose to surrender as much control as possible to the state, as they'd essentially have all funding be from the state.