Aðfangadagskvöld, the day when the 13th and the last Yule Lad arrives to towns, in Iceland.
Feast of the Seven Fishes in Italy.
Jul in Denmark and Norway.
Nochebuena in Spanish-speaking countries.
1809. Christopher "Kit" Caron born in Kentucky. Raised in Missouri, he would have an amazing career as a frontiersmen in the West, including Wyoming. He is one of those fellows who seems to have been everywhere, and at the right time.
1814 The War of 1812 officially ended as the United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent. Fighting continued, as news in the 19th Century traveled slowly.
1826 The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy begins that night, wrapping up the following morning.
1851 Fire devastated the Library of Congress destroying about 35,000 volumes.
1859 First known lighting of a Christmas Tree in Wyoming occurs, near Glenrock. Attribution: Wyoming State Historical Society.
1868 A. J. Faulk, Territorial Governor of Dakota Territory, approved of act incorporating Cheyenne.
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Benteen.Come On. Big Village. Be quick. Bring Packs.P.S. Bring packs. W.W. Cooke
The message delivered to Benteen, from Custer, had been reduced to writing by Custer's adjacent, W. W. Cooke probably because Benteen didn't trust Martin to be able to accurately convey the message, given his heavy Italian accent. Martin had been born Giovanni Martino.
Martino had started off in life roughly, being born in 1852 in Salerno and being delivered to an orphanage just days after his birth. He served as a teenage drummer under Garibaldi, joining that revolutionary force at age 14. He immigrated to the United States at age 21 and joined the U.S. Army, serving as a trumpeter. He was temporarily detailed to Custer's command on the date of the fateful Little Big Horn battle, and therefore received the assignment that would take him away from disaster somewhat randomly.
He married an Irish immigrant in 1879, and together they had five children. He served in the Spanish American War, and retired from the Army in 1904, having served the required number of years in order to qualify for a retirement at that time. Note that this meant he'd served, at that time, thirty years. Following that, his family operated a candy store in Baltimore. In 1906, for reasons that are unclear, he relocated to Brooklyn, seemingly to be near one of his daughters, working as a ticket agent for the New York subway. The relocation meant a separation from his wife, which has caused speculation as to the reasons for it, but he traveled back to Baltimore frequently. That job wore him down, and he took a job as a watchman for the Navy Yard in 1915. His sons followed his footsteps and entered the Army.
In December 1922 he was hit by a truck after work and died from his injuries on this day.
All in all, this presents an interesting look into the day. Martin was an adult when he immigrated in 1873, and found work in an occupation that readily took in immigrants, the military, and doing what he had done in Garibaldi's forces before, acting as a musician. His marriage was "mixed", of a sort, with the common denominator being that he and his wife were both Catholics. In spite of retiring from the Military after long service, he continued to need to be employed, at jobs that at the time were physically demanding.
1983 Recluse Wyoming sees -51F. Echeta, -54F.
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