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.

1910s, 1914, Cheyenne Wyoming, Colorado (Denver), Crime, Denver Colorado, Laramie Wyoming, Mexican Revolution, Occupation of Veracruz, Personalities, Wyoming (Cheyenne), Wyoming (Laramie)

Big Boy 4014 steam engine rolls into downtown Laramie

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.

1910s, 1914, Alcohol, Frederick Funston, Mexico, Mexico (Veracruz), Occupation of Veracruz, Railroads, United Kingdom, Vera Cruz Mexico, Women, Wyoming

"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 4, 1914. Gov. Ammon on the ropes.

1910s, 1914, Álvaro Obregón, Art, Colorado, Colorado Coalfield War, Mexican Revolution, Mexico, Occupation of Veracruz, Politics, Terrorism, United Kingdom, Women

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.

Education and the real, technological, world.

Fairly recently I wrote an item here about romanticizing the past.  Fairly recently, I received some well deserved critical analysis on one of the comments I made there, from a reader, but the comments themselves basically supported the overall thesis of the thread, which was that romanticizing the past  has its dangers.

 

Oil Bowl Rally, 1980, at Natrona County High School.

It may be somewhat okay to romanticize the past, as long as we are cognizant of the realities of what we're doing. And to admire an era in the past, or something about it, is not wrong.  We shouldn't live in the past of course.  But even worse than living in the past, is to believe that the past really is the present.

I bring this up in the context, perhaps surprisingly, of the bond issue here in Natrona County.  The other day I read a well meaning letter to the editor  I set that letter out, in part, here:
.

The school bond issue is ridiculous! They designed more than they had funds available assuming approval of more tax money to complete things. Swimming pools are nice but not needed. Times are tough: We don’t need these now. Maybe later.

Recent letters state the Wyoming State Board of Education’s job is to “approve academic standards.” In my opinion they have failed so far. Graduation rates, low test scores for reading and math and high school graduates barely able to read are proof. Despite creating the Department of Education, more money, new standards, etc., we are failing to educate. Forget about Common Core Curriculum or Next Generation Science Standards from a centralized government.

Here’s a thought: Let’s go back to mastering mathematics, (good enough to put man on the moon), reading, science (earth, human, biology facts), government (local, state and U.S.), finance like counting back change and balancing a checkbook) and writing and penmanship. Today’s kids would be in great shape if they were educated the way we were back before any Department of Education or National Education Association. We spent a lot less money. We don’t need the government or “education experts” telling us how to teach our kids. It is our responsibility to get them educated, not the school districts, state board or federal government.

The first comment I'd make here is the "times are tough" comment.  I hear this a lot, but here, they are not.  The entire region is booming due to oil plays. That should be self evident just looking around. To the extent that times are tough here, it's for those moving in who can't afford a place to live. That is pretty common, but the reason that's occurred is that property values have leaped, due to the boom.  Those folks, and they do have a tough situation, aren't the ones whose tax dollars would go to pay for the bond.

In actuality, the state is enjoying good times.  It's times like this in which we should build, and we always claim that we've learned from the last boom/bust cycle and that when times are good, we're going to expand our infrastructure, broaden our base, etc.  The school bond actually seeks to do just that.

But it's actually the following comments that cause me to make this post, as they're so common, and sadly, so off the mark.  We don't live in this world.

Here’s a thought: Let’s go back to mastering mathematics, (good enough to put man on the moon), reading, science (earth, human, biology facts), government (local, state and U.S.), finance like counting back change and balancing a checkbook) and writing and penmanship. Today’s kids would be in great shape if they were educated the way we were back before any Department of Education or National Education Association. We spent a lot less money. We don’t need the government or “education experts” telling us how to teach our kids. It is our responsibility to get them educated, not the school districts, state board or federal government.

"Back to Basics" has been an educational movement for at least 30 years.  Perhaps, although probably not, 30 years ago it made some sense. But that world of 30 years ago has died.  This no longer reflects reality at all.  It's not that these topics are bad, they're not, its just that not only do the schools teach them (except for penmanship, which has passed by the wayside) but they're doing well with them, and have a lot of additional material to teach.  In short, not only do the schools do much better with the basic topics than they were here 30 years ago, they are tasked with a monumental task of educating children for the world we live in today.

I graduated from NCHS in 1981. The first thing that I'll note about that is that, in spite of what people may sometimes romantically recall, the education being offered in the school now is far and away superior to what it was then.

This isn't to say our education was bad. Far from it.  It was pretty good.  Some of the critics of our local district later found that when we graduated we fared pretty well compared to the graduates of public schools elsewhere.  But, having said that, what students are taught presently, and how they are presently taught, has enormously improved.  The number of credits required to graduate has gone up and up and year after year, and the quality of that learning has as well.

And the world that we graduated into in 1981 just isn't the same as the one that exists now.

In 1981, when I graduated, with an oil boom going on, locals could enter a work world in which everything was mechanical.  Most boys messed with cars at the time in a "shade tree mechanic" sense.  When I graduated in1981 I owned a 1974 Ford F100, a vehicle which was only seven years old at the time, and which was purely mechanical.  It didn't last long after that, as it had over 140,000 miles on it, a tremendous number of miles for the time.  I could, however, actually work on it.  We presently have a 1997 Dodge D1500, a roughly equivalent truck, for use by the teenagers and around town here.  It's computerized and there are aspects of it that only a trained technician can work on.

This is equally true of everything else in that 1981 world.  All shop equipment was mechanical.  A drilling rig I worked on while in college was purely mechanical. The logging equipment used on that rig was electric and radioactive, with the data recorded in analog fashion.  When I went to basic training the howitzers we trained on were adjusted manually and hydraulically.  If we direct fired, which we only occasionally did, we used the guns telescopic sight.  When I switched to fire support I used a Brunton compass, binoculars, and a map to spot artillery.  I used the Brunton compass again while a geology student at the University of Wyoming, where I also learned how to make maps using a theodolite and plain table, instruments so old that George Washington would have recognized them from his surveying days.

All of this is now a think of the past. While I do feel that the past is much more with us than we imagine, it is folly to pretend that a graduating student today can get by with basic skills in a world in which absolutely nothing remains basic.  Reading, writing, and arithmetic, in their basic forms, are not going to suffice in this world.  A person needs to know how to apply them, or how they can be applied.  Ideally they'll have some experience in applying them.  And, beyond that, hopefully they will have received a solid foundation in history, science and a foreign language.

I should note that I also wrote a letter to the editor, although because of my late submission and my crowding the word length restriction, I'm not sure if it will be published.  It reads as follows.

As a lifelong Natrona County resident familiar with industry and the economics of our communities I’ve often heard that industry and commerce is the lifeblood of our community and that we should do what we can in order to provide an entry way for graduating students into local careers. I’ve also heard from those in business that they wished there was a greater pool of well-trained residents who were ready to enter the work place.  Natrona County School District No. 1’s Center for Advanced and Professional Studies (CAP) is designed to address those needs.

The CAP will provide high school students with a facility that will offer them training in a variety of fields relevant to our community.  Courses in business, agriculture & natural Resources, architecture, construction, and manufacturing & engineering, will be offered, giving those who take them a jump on a later college career or the ability to go directly into work.  For those planning to go directly to work, having these courses increases their chances of finding a good paying job in their immediate future.  For those going to college, exposure to these fields when they are still forming their plans offers them a big advantage later.  For those of us in the community, having this facility available to students increases the chances that our local community will benefit from a well-trained group of motivated young people, something we always claim we desire, and which employers clearly want.

The pending bond will pay for equipment at the CAP facility it will otherwise not be able to obtain.  Having modern equipment available to students is critical in this era in which nearly every industrial, technical and scientific job is now high tech compared to even a decade ago.

This provides another reason to support the bond, and to demonstrate that what we’ve claimed to be our views for many years really are.  In addition to building and repairing the critical swimming pools and upgrading safety facilities in existing schools this provides an ample reason to support the bond.  Please vote yes on May 6.

This touches upon the same topics, but here I'll add one more.  Here in this county, for as long as I have remembered, residents have looked toward the oil and gas industry for employment, while at the same time arguing that we need to broaden our economic base.  But in reality, we're not doing a good job of training people who want to enter these industries to do so at the entry level.  Here too we seem to look towards a romantic past that just no longer exists.  If we're really serious about this we need to adjust accordingly.  Of course, perhaps we really aren't that serious, or perhaps we just don't care to pay for our aspirations, no matter how minor the costs, either.

Young people have been the greatest export of rural areas for some time.  Generally, rural areas do a pretty good job of educating people really, and I think our district is no exception.  But then we find that we ship them off elsewhere to finish their education.  I can't say that these measures will stop this, but I am sure that for those who look back to some time when they imagine a more rigorous basic education, they look back to a world that never existed and which will not be coming back.

Postscript

A thought occurred to me related to my point yesterday on this particular topic.

Regarding the thought that a basic education ought to suffice for the modern high school graduate, the computer system present in a current model automobile is more advanced, and more complicated, than the one that was in the B-52 Stratofortress at the time it was introduced in 1955.

The B-52 is still around, but at no point in its history did they allow people simply to go to work on one without training.  Those who think a basic education suffices in today's world just aren't being realistic, when everything out there is now more complicated than this.

On a related topic, the writer above noted, one of the items was " finance like counting back change and balancing a checkbook".  Again, who actually does that?  It's rapidly becoming the case where everything is done electronically.  Yes, checkbooks still exist, but a lot of people don't use them.

And, based upon the math they're now teaching, the schools have this covered.  Actually, the amount of math expected out of a graduate now, is far more than it was in 1981, when I graduated.

The Big Picture: Cavalry Camp, 1917

Lazy Sundays. . .

You  know, get up late, lounge around all day, eat brunch, maybe an early dinner. . . great, eh?

No, I hate 'em.

Sounds weird, I suppose, to those who do, but I can't stand a slow Sunday.  Generally, I like to hit the ground running on Sunday.  Heck, I like to do that everyday.  On Sunday, I get up, read the paper, and plan on getting down to Mass by 8:00.  Yes I do. 

And when I get home, I don't want to hang around the house.  I work indoors, usually, give days out of seven and usually six days out of seven. On the seventh, I hope to be out in nature.

Recently things just haven't worked that way at all.  There's just been something to conspire against this every week.  And so it is today.  We'll head to the 11:00 Mass this weekend, for a good reason.  And this afternoon we have an event scheduled that'll take me out of pocket all afternoon.

But its frustrating.

Last weekend, when we similarly had a events conspire, on that then snowy Sunday afternoon my wife remarked.  "Don't you just love these lazy Sundays?"

No, not one darned bit.

Churches of the West: Church Ruin, West Laramie, Wyoming

Churches of the West: Church Ruin, West Laramie, Wyoming:

This striking church ruin is located in West Laramie, Wyoming

The structure is clearly that of a classic Gothic style church, which was constructed out of stone and cement.  The structure of the church itself would tend to indicate that it was likely built in a classic Catholic church manner, which would indicate here that the church was likely built with a Catholic or Episcopalian congregation in mind, although its location might possibly indicate that it was built as a chapel for the Territorial Prison in Laramie.  The structure is very old, and its been in ruins for as long as I personally can recall.  It's now located on the grounds of a farm, but at the time it was built it would have been actually several miles outside of Laramie, and indeed it would have been at least three miles from the territorial prison.

This church is a mystery to me, and if anyone knows what it was, I'd appreciate knowing.

The Distrubing Thesis of Capital in the Twenty First Century.

I haven't read it yet, but I've been reading a lot about Thomas Piketty's new book, Capital In The Twenty First Century.

The book sounds pretty complicated in some ways, and of course we'd expect any book on economics to be just that. But the basic thesis isn't that complicated, and may be even a bit self evident.  Pikety, an economist, argues that over time the entire Western World is returning to an oligarchic economic structure. That is, wealth is going to be very much concentrated at the top, and inherited.

That ought to be extremely distressing to capitalist, which it seems most Americans claim to be.  If Piketty is correct, and even the observed evidence strongly suggest he is, we're entering an era when real economic power and wealth will be strongly concentrated in the top 10% of the population, who will maintain that status simply by inheritance, rather than by their industry.

What I don't know is whether Piketty conducts any analysis in regard to the land aspect of this, but if he does, I think his thesis will seem all the stronger.  In Europe the rise of industrialism heavily disrupted the traditional land owning structure, as did the rise of political parties that were dominated by the working class.  That broke the land inheritance system that had existed for centuries, allowing industry to acquire land, and also allowing small farmers to own the land they farmed.  In the US, the lack of land availability was a driver of immigration, and up until mid 20th Century acquiring land in the US was fairly easy.

Now all of this is no longer true. According to Piketty, and at least partially evident, we're entering an era in which resource ownership is increasingly concentrated and inherited.

This doesn't mean that the Middle Class will cease to exist, but it does mean that the Middle Class will become increasingly marginalized, if this trend continues, and that the Middle Class will own a diminishing share of the economy. All in all, this is a disturbing trend.

As this blog seeks to track long term trends, its interesting to look at this over a long period of time, in regards to the US.  It's now 2014, let's go back two centuries to 1814.  In 1814, we'd fine wealth very evenly distributed in the US, as a rule, with some really significant wealth here and there and some desperate poverty here and there.  Some significant wealth would be found in the South, in which case we have the corruption of slavery creating a bizarre oligarchic structure there, with a high concentration of wealth in planters and accordingly real severe poverty on the part of blacks.  For whites everywhere, obtaining ownership in the economy was not too difficult to obtain, however.

A century later, in 1914, obtaining ownership in the economy was still not too difficult for most Americans.  Trades generally paid well, and land was still readily available.  There were pockets of real poverty, however, based upon region or immigration.  And there were industrial pockets of very great wealth.

Now, in 2014, obtaining ownership in the economy is much more difficult, and obtaining agricultural and essentially impossible.  Piketty's trend seems well established, and by extension, that's a serious long term concern. There are still industries and occupations which generate wealth, to be sure, of course.

The NCHS Pool

The NCHS swimming pool in an undated photo, with girls swimming team:

NCHS Pool.

This old pool is about to come down.  Hopefully the voters approve the construction of a new one on May 6.

Forces with History -- Official Blog of Robert W Mackay: Tools of The Trade (2)

Forces with History -- Official Blog of Robert W Mackay: Tools of The Trade (2):  This Tool of The Trade is of course a pair of dividers, always to be found on or near the chart table in a submarine's control room. ...