Ostensibly exploring the practice of law before the internet. Heck, before good highways for that matter.
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
The Laramie Boomerang for February 14, 1917: Germans to blame for trouble in Cuba and Mexico
The Laramie Boomerang ran an article blaming the trouble in Cuba and Mexico on Germany. The same story had the English about to land at Tampico, Mexico, to guard Mexican oilfields, upon which the British were in fact dependent.
And the city manager form of government, which would later become common in Wyoming, didn't pass the bar in 1917.
The Cheyenne State Leader for February 14, 1917. Trouble on the border.
Here we learn more about what happened on the border. Mexican forces of some sort had crossed into the US and murdered three on American soil. Ironically, the murdered men were Hispanics, but then that likely didn't mean much to the raiders. An abduction also occurred.
It was rumored that the leader of the expedition that had just returned from Mexico, John J. Pershing, was about to marry. That would prove not to be the case. While he'd come close on occasion, Gen. Pershing never married again and remained a widow for the balance of his life.
The Wyoming Tribune for February 14, 1917. US Cavalry back across the border.
Some regard this day as the last day of the Punitive Expedition.
Perhaps that's because US cavalry again crossed the border on this day, seeking to find three American cowboys who were taken by force into Mexico. So, American forces were back in Mexico on this day, or maybe it was just being reported on, on this day.
In other news, American ships were going down, the German Ambassador was leaving, somebody had insulted the Legislature and authorities had had enough of bears dancing in saloons in Lincoln County . . . or maybe that was another kind of dancing they'd had enough of. . .
And, having just gotten out of Mexico we were now thinking of getting into Cuba.
Major Leroy Eltinge delivered a speech on the use of cavalry.
Major Leroy Eltinge delivered a speech on the use of cavalry on this day, in 1917.
Major Eltinge had commanded an element of the 8th Cavalry in Mexico, so this speech was delivered hard on the heels of his recent experiences. He was a career Army officer, in the service since 1896 who would go on to rise to the brevet rank of Brigadier General as Deputy Chief of Staff of the AEF during World War One before reverting to his permanent rank of Major following the war. He'd re-obtain the rank of Brigadier General in 1924 and died while still a serving officer during World War Two.
A ship that served in World War Two was named in his honor.
Monday, February 13, 2017
We made that. And surprises.
Wyoming Lard Can, Fort Casper Museum. I was surprised to see it. I wish we had a can of it still. I used to have some stationary, but now I don't even have that.
We, that is my family, made that.
From about 1940, when my grandfather acquired the local packing plant, until his death, which was in the late 40s. The packing plant was sold at that time. My father had graduated high school, but was still a teenager at the time. So, suffice it to say, his future (he was in Casper College at the time, studying engineering) underwent a big change.
My father, because he was in Casper College at the time, must have had at least some plan to pursue engineering. He never spoke about that much and indeed I don't recall him speaking about it ever, actually. I knew that from my mother. When my grandfather died he went to work for the Post Office and the packing plant was sold. He liked the Post Office and planned on staying there but my grandmother would have none of that and insisted that he go on in his education. That was, I think, a very common view at that time, the late 1940s.
And so he did. He changed from engineering to dentistry at some point, and again, I don't know when. He was shortly in the University of Nebraska where he graduated in the early 1950s. He entered the Air Force after that and then came back to Casper.
He would speak about the packing house and working there, which he'd done as a teenager. My grandfather, who had quit school at age 13, wanted everyone to know what "real work" was like. Frankly, dentistry in the era when he did it was "real work" as well, and indeed it remains so. There's a common concept in the world that being a dentists means you don't work and you are rich, much like people think about being a lawyer. The opposite is very true, and in the era in which he practiced it was particularly true. Most of the dentists around here seemed displaced from agriculture in one way or another and they all had strong rural roots. When they gathered, they hardly ever spoke about dentistry. Indeed, I can recall a few conversations in which they did, even so many decades later, as they were that unusual.
Anyhow, it's interesting to see how things can take a sudden change. As my uncle has told me, at the time of his death, the packing house "was dong really well". It was making money, the family had sold the creamery which really didn't, and things were going fine. Then death intervened.
I doubt, had my grandfather lived, that my father would have become a dentist. I don't know what would have occurred. My grandfather was only his his 40s when he died. Would my father have gone to work there later? Maybe. He always fondly recalled the packing house and the work there. He was also frank, however, that the margins in the packing industry were, at that time, slim. That he knew that shows that he knew some of the business aspects of it even though he was a teenager at the time of his father's death. Over time, most of these smaller packing houses have gone away, including this one, which kept on into the 1970s when it finally closed. It was used as a welding shop after that, and then a big fire took it down in the 1980s or 1990s.
And so things go. Death intervenes and sends everyone into a new direction.
Today In Wyoming's History: February 13, 2016. Justice Scalia passed.
Something that was posted on on our companion Today In Wyoming's History blog a year ago today:
So, an entire year has gone by, with lots of drama associated with it. And the drama just keeps on keeping on, it seems.
Both of the nominees to fill this position have been good justices. The GOP held up President Obama's nominee, however, as they correctly surmised (probably) that approving that nominee would tilt the court to the left for decades. It was quite a gamble on their part, but they read things correctly and were not only not punished at the polls for their actions, but probably gained a significant number of votes by doing it. Democrats have cried foul but in reality not approving Supreme Court nominees is not novel, and indeed treating them very badly isn't novel either.
Now the Democrats are threatening to hold up President Trump's nominees. But they seemingly fail to grasp that they don't have the votes to do that, they can only delay it. And there's no good reason to believe that achieves anything politically. They ought not to try that, but they likely will.
And so the drama goes on.
Today In Wyoming's History: February 13:The full entry appears there. Or here, if you follow the link below the link, as it was originally posted here and then linked on to our other site.
2016 Antonin Scalia passes on.
So, an entire year has gone by, with lots of drama associated with it. And the drama just keeps on keeping on, it seems.
Both of the nominees to fill this position have been good justices. The GOP held up President Obama's nominee, however, as they correctly surmised (probably) that approving that nominee would tilt the court to the left for decades. It was quite a gamble on their part, but they read things correctly and were not only not punished at the polls for their actions, but probably gained a significant number of votes by doing it. Democrats have cried foul but in reality not approving Supreme Court nominees is not novel, and indeed treating them very badly isn't novel either.
Now the Democrats are threatening to hold up President Trump's nominees. But they seemingly fail to grasp that they don't have the votes to do that, they can only delay it. And there's no good reason to believe that achieves anything politically. They ought not to try that, but they likely will.
And so the drama goes on.
Cheyenne State Leader for February 13, 1913: Carranza the peacemaker?
Carranza, who was settling in as the recognized head of the Mexican government, but still fighting a civil war himself, entered the picture of the Great War by proposing an arms embargo. Some cynics suggested German influence in his proposal.
Today In Wyoming's History: February 13, 1917 Legislature acts to move the Jim Baker cabin.
Today In Wyoming's History: February 13:
1917 The Wyoming Legislature appropriated $750 to move Jim Baker's cabin from Carbon County to Cheyenne. Baker was a frontiersman who came West working for the American Fur Company. He was later Chief Scout for Gen. Harney out of Ft. Laramie. In 1859 he homesteaded at a location that is now within Denver Colorado. He held a commission in the Colorado State Militia during the Civil War. He relocated to a site near Savery Wyoming in 1873 and homesteaded there. He continued to ranch in that location until his death in 1898, although he did serve the Army as a scout occasionally in the 1870s.Today the cabin is located once again in Savery. It is an unusual structure, as it was built partially as a block house in case of attack. It's interesting to note that a concern for preserving the early history
Sunday, February 12, 2017
When men wore fur coats
People tend to think of fur in terms of fashion. And fur is thought of in terms of fashion because its expensive. It was worn, however, as it was practical.
It's easy to think otherwise, in our day of synthetics. But, in thinking on it, fur is a renewable natural resource where as synthetics can be the opposite.
Sunday Morning Scene: Churches of the West: St. Benedict Catholic Church, Roundup Montana
Churches of the West: St. Benedict Catholic Church, Roundup Montana:
This is St. Benedict Catholic Church in Roundup Montana. The church is built in a fairly modern style, although I do not know the year of construction. It's located directly across the street from the Musselshell County Courthouse.
This is St. Benedict Catholic Church in Roundup Montana. The church is built in a fairly modern style, although I do not know the year of construction. It's located directly across the street from the Musselshell County Courthouse.
Saturday, February 11, 2017
The Best Posts of the Week of February 5, 2017
The best posts of the past week:
The Casper Star Tribune has started a series looking at the Wyoming Economy.
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Two days ago we reported on the last US soldier leaving Mexico:
The Punitivie Expedition: U.S. complete its withdrawal from Mexico. February 5, 1917.
Some Gave All: Home Front In World War One. Poster display at Fort Caspar, Wyoming. Home Front In World War One. Poster display at Fort Caspar, Casper, Wyoming
Looking at the nature of Wyoming's economy again
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And so it ended. The Punitive Expedition.
The Punitivie Expedition: U.S. complete its withdrawal from Mexico. February 5, 1917.
The smile on the soldier to the left's face was likely quite genuine.
The 6th and the 16th Infantry crossing back into the United States.
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Women and Trousers. No big historical deal, or the triumph of the harpies in trousers?
This overalls wearing lass, whom is portrayed an industrial giant (take
that, Rosie the Riveter) is wearing overalls, albeit one of the
baggiest pairs of overalls ever. She's also wearing a canvass cap to
cover her hair, with hair styles being voluminous at the time. She
doesn't look very happy, we might note.
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The Punitivie Expedition: U.S. complete its withdrawal from Mexico. February 5, 1917.
The smile on the soldier to the left's face was likely quite genuine.
The 6th and the 16th Infantry crossing back into the United States.
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