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Sunday, March 17, 2013

March 17: St. Patrick's Day

Today in St. Patrick's Day.  The feat day falls on the anniversary of his death in Saul, Ireland, in the year 461 or 493. 

St. Patrick is the Patron Saint of Ireland Wyoming has a relatively large Irish community with the Irish being significant in the ranching industry in particular well in to the mid 20th Century.  Almost every region of the state had Irish ranchers with many Irish ranches being established in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century.  Irishmen were prominent in both the cattle and sheep industries.

In some communities the day was recognized by celebratory parties in the Irish community and in organizations associated with them.  In Casper, for example, the Knights of Columbus hosted a St. Patrick's Day party for many years.  This is less the case today, but the Irish in Wyoming still are part of the state's cultural heritage.

Irish American Wyomingites have figured prominently in other fields as well, and have notably contributed to politics and law in the state.  Wyoming has contributed one Irish American, Mike Sullivan, to the Ambassadorship to Ireland.  The former Governor Sullivan was Ambassador to Ireland during the Clinton Administration. 

1863   Thomas Francis Meagher, eclectic Irish revolutionary and general of New York volunteers during the Civil War, who would later go on to become Territorial Governor of Montana (and ultimately who would be lost in the Missouri River when he fell over, while ill, on a mission to receive firearms for the Montana Militia), hosted a St. Patrick's Day celebration for his command.







1869  Carbon post office established.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1876     Gen. Crook raids Cheyenne and Oglala Sioux camps in the  Battle of Powder River, in Montana.  The conditions of this campaign were grueling and the weather dropped to -40F during the campaign.  Crook had taken to the field from Ft. Fetterman on March 1 and marched north.  Blizzard conditions slowed their march.  On March 16 Crook divided his command sending part of it away under the command of Col. John J. Reynolds, following an Indian trail, and with one days rations.  Shortly before dawn on March 17 his scouts located a large Indian village on the west bank of Powder River. The Cheyenne camp of 600 was 600 to 1,000 feet below the soldiers, who were on a high plateau. Reynolds led his men and horses down the bluffs to form an attack, but only with great difficulty due to the terrain.. He ordered Company K to make a charge with drawn pistols through the village but he failed to support this attack with the rest of his command, and the warriors quickly escaped to the bluffs to the north, where they raked the unit with fire, allowing the women in children in camp to make their escape, and soon join a Sioux village that was nearby.  They left, however, lots of firearms, ammunition, and food.

By 9:00 a.m., Reynolds had full possession of the abandoned village and he ordered it destroyed.  He then withdrew 20 miles southward to the mouth of Lodge Pole Creek, where he was to rejoin General Crook. The village and supplies proved difficult to burn and the resulting exploding ammunition proved to be a hazard to the troops.  By 2:30 p.m. the command began to withdraw to Lodge Pole Creek, arriving at 9:00 p.m., in a greatly exhausted condition.  The withdrawal was conducted in a somewhat hasty fashion and Reynolds left three dead troopers who were subsequently mutilated by the returning Indians. Crook was not at the established rendezvous point as he had camped ten miles to the northeast and had failed to inform Reynolds of his new location.

Reynolds had captured a large number of Cheyenne ponies but they soon recaptured them during a snowstorm early on the morning of March 18, as the exhausted guards were too fatigued to be attentive.  Later that day Reynolds command rejoined Crook's.  The column returned to Fort Fetterman on March 26.

Colonel Reynolds was accused of dereliction of duty for failing to properly support the first charge with his whole command; for burning the captured supplies, food, blankets, buffalo robes, and ammunition instead of keeping them; and for losing the 800 captured ponies. He was court-martialled at Ft. D. A. Russell that following January and found guilty, receiving the sentence of suspension from rank and command for one year.  President Grant, remitted the sentence, but Reynolds never served again. He retired on disability leave on June 25, 1877, exactly one year after the Battle of Little Bighorn.  He is, however, remembered in the form of a street name in Laramie.  I once rented a house on that street.

1887    The Colorado, Wyoming & Eastern Railroad incorporates.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1890   The Sundance Hose Company #1, a fire company (fire department) held "grand dance".  Whether coincidence or not, late 19th and early 20th Century fire departments and police departments were heavily Irish in many US localities, although I would not have expected that to be the case in Sundance. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1915  Gale McGee born in Lincoln, Nebraska.  He was Wyoming's Senator from 1959 to 1977.  He was later Ambassador to the Organization of American States.  McGee was a popular U.S. Senator and it is often noted that he was a surprisingly liberal politician from a state that had become quite conservative.  It was noted by some that his votes grew more conservative towards election time.

He was defeated in his final run by Malcolm Wallop, which has often been a subject of debate in Wyoming.  At the time, the national press oddly associated it with his support for the Vietnam War, which was almost undoubtedly unrelated to his defeat.  Wallop, for his part, ran a brilliant campaign featuring a television add with a cowboy burdened with a porta potty on his horse, symbolizing being weighted down by Federal regulations, indicating a theme that would be prevalent in Wyoming campaigns ever since that date.  Most savvy local commentators, however, have noted that McGee simply did not campaign, and the suspicion is that he did not really wish to retain the office any longer.

McGee was a history professor in terms of his occupation.

1916:  The Punitive Expedition: Congruess authorizes the expedition. March 17, 1916


While it was, in fact, already on, on this day Congress authorized military action in Mexico "for the sole purpose of apprehending and punishing the lawless bands of armed me" who had raided into the United States. 
 

 The Punitive Expedtion: Forces reach Colonia Dublán
 




The U.S. Army's 2nd Provisional Cavalry Brigade reaches Colonia Dublán where the U.S. Army establishes its main base of operations for the Punitive Expedition.  The town was 52 miles south of the border and was a Mormon colony in Mexico.


1917  The Cheyenne State Leader for March 17, 1917. Shades of the Spanish American War
During the Spanish American War Wyoming was strongly associated with volunteer cavalry.  The 2nd U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, Torrey's Rough Riders, to be specific.


The story of the 2nd is disappointing.  A really early effort along the same lines as the famous 1st US Volunteer Cavalry, the much more famous Rough Riders associated with Theodore Roosevelt, Torrey's unit never saw combat. Which isn't to say that it didn't see casualties.  The unit was involved in a terrible railroad accident on the way to to Florida resulting in loss of life to men of the unit.  Partially because of that, it never deployed.

Indeed no Wyoming volunteers or militiamen saw action in Cuba, but Wyoming's National Guard units, recruited during the war in part, much like the National Guard units raised during the Punitive Expedition, saw action in the Philippines.  Those units, like the ones raised and deployed in the Punitive Expedition, were infantry, however.  They did serve very well.

Well, cavalry is more glamorous, without a doubt, and even though the Wyoming National Guard had just come home, the looming entry of the United States into World War One, which was appearing to be increasingly certain, was causing thoughts to return of the glamorous idea of raising a volunteer cavalry unit.  Major Andersen, the Adjutant General of the Wyoming National Guard, was backing just such and idea and touring the state to try to get it rolling.

Cavalry saw a lot more action in World War One than people imagine.  And Wyoming was a natural for cavalry really.  Given the small population of the state Andersen surely knew that any infantry units provided to a mobilized Army for deployment to France would simply be swallowed up into other units.  Cavalry had a better chance of remaining distinct and intact, so the idea had some merit, in spite of the excessively romantic way that it must appear, reading it now.

Which isn't to say, frankly, that all the boys "from the border" who had just returned would have been horsemen. Far from it. The idea that every Wyomingite knew how to ride at the time is just flat out false.  Young men with little horse experience must have been cringing a bit at the thought of being converted to cavalry. 


1918 St. Patrick's Day, 1918. 
 

A poem about March, as a seventeen year old Irish lass, greeted Cheyenne's newspaper readers on this day in 1918.

Along with news the Soviets had taken Russia out of the war. . . unless the Russian Socialist had their way.

Casualties were starting to mount.  An oil prediction that came true in the 2010s appeared in this day's newspaper.

And Villa was back on the front page, having been reported to have taken Durango. 
 
1924  Work began on a dial telephone system at Guernsey. 

1963  Dedication of St. Patrick's Parish in Casper






St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Casper Wyoming was completed in 1962. The church came about due to the expansion of Casper in the 1950s, and this church is the newest of the three Roman Catholic churches in Casper. Unlike Our Lady of Fatiima, which represented an expansion to the west side of Casper, this church is located in east Casper.

Plans for the church commenced in 1955. Like Our Lady of Fatima, a school was constructed on the site but was never used as a regular grade school. The church is also the largest of the three Catholic churches in Casper, having a very large interior.

1989  Dick Cheney confirmed as Secretary of the Defense. Attribution:  On This Day.

1992  Combined Special Session of the Legislature concludes.

1997  Ranch A added to the National Registry of Historic Places.   

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Sa lá atá inniu i Lá Fhéile Pádraig. Tagann an lá feat ar chothrom a bháis i Sabhall, Éire, sa bhliain 461 493.

Naomh Pádraig Is é an pátrún ar Éirinn Wyoming pobal réasúnta mór na Gaeilge leis an nGaeilge a bheith suntasach sa tionscal ranching go háirithe go maith i do na haois lár an 20ú. Tá beagnach gach réigiún de na stáit a bhí RANCHERS na hÉireann le ranches Gaeilge go leor a bheith bunaithe i haois déanach 19ú agus 20ú haois go luath. Éireannaigh bhí chun tosaigh sa dá an eallach agus tionscail caorach.

I roinnt pobail aithníodh an lá ag páirtithe ceiliúrtha sa phobal na hÉireann agus in eagraíochtaí a bhaineann leo. I Casper, mar shampla, d'óstáil an Ridirí Columbus páirtí Lá Fhéile Pádraig ar feadh blianta fada. Tá sé seo níos lú an cás lá atá inniu ann, ach na hÉireannaigh i Wyoming atá fós mar chuid de na stáit oidhreacht chultúrtha.

Wyomingites Meiriceánach Gaeilge figured go suntasach i réimsí eile chomh maith, agus chuir go háirithe le polaitíocht agus dlí sa stát. Wyoming tar éis cur ar cheann Gael-Mheiriceánach, Mike Sullivan, an Ambassadorship go hÉirinn. Ba é an iar-Ghobharnóir Sullivan Ambasadóir na hÉireann le linn na Riarachán Clinton.

1863 Thomas Francis Meagher, eclectic Gaeilge réabhlóideach agus ginearálta na Nua-Eabhrac oibrithe deonacha i rith an Chogaidh Chathartha, a bheadh ​​ag dul níos déanaí ar a bheith Gobharnóir Críche de Montana (agus ar deireadh thiar a bheadh ​​caillte i an Abhainn Missouri nuair a thit sé os a chionn, cé go tinn, ar a bhfuil misean de do airm tine a fháil don mhílíste Montana), d'óstáil ceiliúradh le Pádraig as a chuid ordú.


 
 
 


1869 oifig an phoist Carbóin bunaithe. Attribution: Wyoming Stát Cumann Staire.

1876 ​​Gen Crook ruathair Cheyenne agus Oglala campaí Sioux i g-Cath Púdar Abhainn, i Montana. Na coinníollacha an fheachtais a bhí grueling agus an aimsir thit-40f le linn an fheachtais. Bhí tógtha Crook leis an réimse ó Ft. Fetterman ar 1 Márta agus mháirseáil ó thuaidh. Coinníollacha Blizzard mhoilligh a máirseáil. Ar Márta 16 roinnte Crook a ordú a sheoladh mar chuid de sé ar shiúl faoi cheannas Col John J. Reynolds, tar éis rian Indiach, agus le ceann amháin ciondálacha lá. Go gairid roimh breacadh an lae ar 17 Márta a gasóga suite i sráidbhaile mór Indiach ar bhruach thiar den Abhainn Púdar. Ba é an campa Cheyenne 600 600 go 1,000 troigh faoi bhun na saighdiúirí, a bhí ar ardchlár ard. Reynolds faoi stiúir a chuid fear agus capaill síos Bluffs chun ionsaí, ach amháin le deacracht mhór mar gheall ar an tír-raon .. D'ordaigh sé K Cuideachta a dhéanamh ar chúiseamh le piostail tharraingt tríd an sráidbhaile, ach theip air chun tacú leis an ionsaí leis an chuid eile dá ordú, agus na laochra éalaigh go tapa ar an Bluffs ar an taobh thuaidh, áit a raked siad an t-aonad leis an tine, ag ceadú an mná i leanaí i gcampa a dhéanamh a n-éalú, agus go luath sráidbhaile Sioux a bhí in aice láimhe páirteach. D'fhág siad, áfach, go leor de arm tine, armlón, agus bia.Faoi 09:00, bhí Reynolds seilbh iomlán ar an sráidbhaile tréigthe agus d'ordaigh sé scriosadh é. Tharraing sé ansin 20 míle ó dheas ar bhéal na Lodge Pole Creek, áit a raibh sé aontú athuair Crook Ginearálta. An sráidbhaile agus soláthairtí deacair chun é a dhó agus an lón lámhaigh mar thoradh air exploding bhí le bheith ina guais do na trúpaí. Faoi 14:30 thosaigh an t-ordú a tharraingt siar go Lodge Pol Creek, teacht ar 09:00, i riocht mór ídithe. Rinneadh an tarraingt siar ar bhealach beagán hasty agus Reynolds fhág triúr troopers marbh a bhí mutilated ina dhiaidh sin ag an Indians comhairimh. Ní raibh Crook ag an bpointe rendezvous a bunaíodh mar a bhí sé camped deich míle soir ó thuaidh agus gur chlis ar an eolas Reynolds a suíomh nua.Bhí a gabhadh Reynolds le líon mór de capaillíní Cheyenne ach athghabháil siad go luath orthu le linn snowstorm go luath ar maidin an 18 Márta, de réir mar na gardaí ídithe bhí fatigued ró a bheith aireach. Níos déanaí an lá i ndiaidh teacht Reynolds ordú Crook ar. An colún ar ais chuig Fort Fetterman ar 26 Márta.Cuireadh ina leith Colonel Reynolds de dhearóiliú na dleachta toisc gur theip chun tacú i gceart leis an táille den chéad uair lena ordú iomlán; chun dhó na soláthairtí a gabhadh, bia, blankets, róbaí buabhall, agus armlón ionad iad a choinneáil, agus a chailleadh an 800 capaillíní a gabhadh. Bhí sé chúirt-martialled ag Ft. DA Russell, tar éis mí Eanáir agus fuarthas ciontach, a fhaigheann an phianbhreith ar fionraí ó rang agus orduithe ar feadh bliana. Uachtarán Grant, loghadh na pianbhreithe, ach Reynolds riamh sheirbheáil arís. D'éirigh sé ar saoire míchumais ar 25 Meith, 1877, go díreach bliain amháin tar éis Cath Little Bighorn. Tá sé, áfach, cuimhne i bhfoirm d'ainm sráide i Laramie. Cíos mé uair amháin sa teach ar an tsráid.Ionchorpraíonn 1887 An Railroad Colorado, Wyoming agus an Oirthir. Attribution: On This Day.


1890 an Chuideachta Hose Sundance # 1, cuideachta dóiteáin (tine roinn) i seilbh "grand rince". Cibé chomhtharlú nó nach bhfuil, a bhí ranna 19ú agus go luath ranna dóiteáin an 20ú hAois agus póilíní go mór Gaeilge i gceantair US go leor, cé go ní ba mhaith liom a bheith ag súil go a bheidh an cás i Sundance. Attribution: Wyoming Stát Cumann Staire.


1915 Gale McGee a rugadh i Lincoln, Nebraska. Bhí sé Seanadóir Wyoming ar 1959-1977. Bhí sé ina dhiaidh sin Ambasadóir leis an Eagraíocht na Stát Mheiriceá. Ba McGee ar tóir Seanadóir na Stát Aontaithe agus tá sé faoi deara go minic go raibh sé ina polaiteoir ionadh liobrálach ó stát a tháinig chun bheith go leor coimeádach. Tugadh faoi deara ag roinnt gur fhás sé níos mó vótaí coimeádach i dtreo an toghcháin.Briseadh sé ina rith deiridh ag Malcolm Wallop, a bhí go minic ábhar díospóireachta i Wyoming. Ag an am, an phreas náisiúnta a bhaineann oddly sé a thacaíocht don Dara Cogadh Vítneam, a bhí beagnach gan amhras nach mbaineann le ar a defeat. Wallop, le haghaidh a chuid, feachtas iontach featuring teilifíse a chur le cowboy burdened le potty Porta ar a chapall, symbolizing á ualú síos le rialacháin Chónaidhme, rud a léiríonn an téama a bheadh ​​forleithne i bhfeachtais Wyoming riamh ón dáta sin. Tráchtairí an chuid is mó savvy áitiúla, áfach, faoi deara go McGee ní raibh ach feachtas, agus is é an t-amhras nach raibh sé ag iarraidh i ndáiríre chun an oifig ar bith níos faide.


Ba McGee ina ollamh staire ó thaobh a shlí bheatha.


1924 Cuireadh tús le hobair ar chóras teileafóin a dhiailiú ag Guernsey.


1963 Tiomnú Pharóiste Naomh Pádraig i Casper.


1989 Dick Cheney deimhnithe mar Rúnaí an Defense. Attribution: On This Day.

Críochnaíonn 


1992 Seisiún Speisialta Comhcheangailte an reachtas.

1997 feirm A leis an gClárlann Náisiúnta na Áiteanna Stairiúla.




2 comments:

  1. Could you explain what's going on in the sketches? Training horses to jump?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sketch 1: A race with pack mules (not trained under saddle).

    Sketch 2 and 4, a Steeple chase. Steeple chasing is a type of horse race that was particularly associated with the Irish.

    Sketch 3: Horse race.

    ReplyDelete