Lex Anteinternet: Movies in History: The Revenant

Lex Anteinternet: Movies in History: The Revenant:

 Newspaper article with C.M Russell depiction of the attack of the bear upon Glass. This depiction is probably more correct than any depicted in film.

This movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio is currently touring, and as anyone following movies knows, its a fictionalized telling of the legendary grizzly bear attack upon trapper Hugh Glass and his subsequent abandonment by his companions. Glass, by any measure, has to be one of the toughest men who ever lived . . .

December 24

 Today is the day of the Christmas Vigil (Christmas Eve) in the Christian world.
 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.

1922  Sunday, December 24, 1922. Christmas Eve, 1922.

Normally I post these matters in chronological order, oldest to newest, but I missed something here of interest, that being the death of Sgt. John Martin.

Sgt. Martin, circa 1904.

Martin was a career soldier in the U.S. Army who is remembered today as the 7th Cavalry trumpeter who was assigned by George A. Custer to deliver a message to Frederic Benteen, to the effect of:

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.

And of interest, when his life, long under the circumstances, was cut short, he was a veteran of Little Big Horn living during the jazz age.

1944   All beef products are again being rationed. New quotas are introduced for most other commodities as well.

1983  Recluse Wyoming sees -51F.  Echeta, -54F.

December 16

1826   Benjamin Edwards rides into Mexican-controlled Nacogdoches, Texas, and proclaims himself the ruler of the Republic of Fredonia.

1868  Albany and Carbon Counties established by the Dakota Territorial Legislature.  At this point in time, Wyoming was part of the Dakota Territory.

1868  The first train, a Union Pacific train, arrived at Evanston.

1871  Wyoming State Library established.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1875  William S. Sweezy takes over as U.S. Marshall, replacing Frank Wolcott.  Wolcott would later famously be associated with invaders side of the Johnson County War.

1916  The Cheyenne State Leader for December 16, 1916: Villa proposes deal with US?
 

Rumors were circulating that Villa had proposed a deal with the US, and Pershing stood to be promoted.

The Wyoming Tribune for December 16, 1916: Home folks send boxes to border

Care packages were being sent to Wyoming National Guardsmen in New Mexico.
1942  Bob Hope entertained troops at Casper Army Air Base.  Attribution. Wyoming State Historical Society.

1944     German forces launched a surprise attack against Allied forces in Belgium.  The massive surprise attack commenced a three week long battle known to history as The Battle of the Bulge.

1950 President Truman proclaimed a national state of emergency in order to fight "Communist imperialism."   The announcement reflected recent history, including the June invasion of South Korean by North Korea, an event which had resulted in the Federalization and commitment of the the 300th AFA of the Wyoming Army National Guard.  It also reflected a host of other events, such as the Berlin blockade and the ever increasing Soviet grip on Eastern Europe.

2016  After a long period of consideration, the United States Forest Service removes 40,000 acres in the Wyoming Range from mineral entrants.

November 2

Today is All Souls Day.

Today is Statehood Day in North Dakota.

Today is Statehood Day in South Dakota.

1812   Robert Stuart and five others began construction of a cabin at the mouth of the Poison Spider Creek in Natrona County..  The cabin was the first cabin known to be built by European Americans in Wyoming, although this does not discount the possibility that French Canadian trappers may have built structures earlier.

The temporary cabin proved to be very temporary, as it happened to be built in area of inter Tribal Indian strife and, therefore, was a dangerous location. Smith and company soon pulled up stakes and relocated for the winter in the location of the current Scotsbluff Nebraska.

For many years, this cabin was marked by a Wyoming Historical Marker sign noting it as the "First White Man's Cabin in Wyoming", but the sign came down some 20 years ago and was never put back up.

1824 In the popular vote Gen. Jackson beat John Quincy Adams in the race for the Presidency, but subsequent actions in Congress would see the House elevate Adams, and not Jackson, to the office.  This, of course, is not specifically Wyoming history, but the geography of what would become Wyoming was already mostly owned by the United States (with some still belonging to Mexico).

1875  The fourth session of the Territorial Legislative Assembly convened in Cheyenne.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1876  Future author  Charles King, 1st Lieutenant 5th Cavalry, serving in the U.S. Army, was detailed to engage in scouting in Wyoming and assigned to Ft. D. A. Russell where he would stay until July, 1877.

King would have an interrupted military career, serving as  late as the 1890s in the Philippines after having had a career in the Frontier Army.  While not well remembered in general for his literary works today, his books on the Frontier are still fondly recalled by those who study and have a fondness for the Frontier Army.

1880 James A. Garfield elected President.

Garfield was honored in at least Casper Wyoming, many years after his death, through the naming of a public school in his honor (which I attended eons ago).  Garfield Elementary School was school constructued in the 20s or 30s, and added on to during the 1950s or 1960s, and renamed to that name in the process.  During the reorganization of the Natrona County School District's schools in recent years, that school was closed and sold, but the name retained and applied to the existing Willard Elementary School, whose name was also retained placing two names on a single school.

1889 Wyoming's neighbors North Dakota and South Dakota became the 39th and 40th states.

1907  Former Governor John E. Osborne married  Selina Smith of Princeton Kentucky.

1908  A music school opens in Sheridan Wyoming.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society Calendar.

1916   The Wyoming Tribune for November 2, 1916: Attacks on Kendrick, Mexican rebel outrages, and other news
 

Presumably unaware that it was being attacked by The Cheyenne Leader on the same day, for its Kendrick articles, the Tribune kept up the drum beat. . . along with other shocking news.

The Cheyenne Leader for November 2, 1916: The Wyoming Tribune's attacks on Kendrick sponsored by Wall Street figure?
 

The Tribune had been (and will continue to) attacking John B. Kendrick daily on a matter of a state land purchase.  The Leader, in today's issue, claimed that the attacks were sponsored by an out of state opponent.

Even if they were, of course, the Tribune was staunchly Republican and backing all the GOP candidates that year. And it was sensationalist at the time as well.

1917   Freshman Caps? The Wyoming Student, November 2, 1917.
 

Freshman caps?

I'd  never heard of such a tradition, and it certainly didn't exist while I was at UW, that's for sure.

It seems they were passed out around Halloween and you were compelled to wear them, if you were a UW freshman, until the Thanksgiving break.

Based on the description, I guessed they were beanies.  And in looking up the term, I found that, yes, in fact, they were. Apparently this was a widespread college tradition at the time.  For example, the college paper for Ohio State reported in a 2014 article:

Freshmen Buckeyes were required to put on another hat besides their thinking cap back in the day

Just over 100 years ago, the tradition of the class cap was born, and all freshmen men were required to wear a class cap  or beanie as initiation into the university.

According to OSU archives, the cap tradition began in 1912 and its look changed throughout its lifetime at OSU, including styles such as “jockey-style,” the “knitted toboggan” and the “peanut-shaped skull cap.”

And Penn State's college paper recalled the tradition in a 2015 article:

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In 1906, upperclassmen at the then-Pennsylvania State College voted to have freshmen wear something to distinguish them from the rest of the students — thus the tradition of the "dink" was born.

Easily identified by the small beanie caps, freshmen were expected to know Penn State trivia and history and were often randomly called upon by upperclassmen to prove they were knowledgeable about their new school.

At least some schools preserve the tradition slightly:

RAT caps were first found on Georgia Tech’s campus in 1915. They were originally called “freshmen caps” because of the white F on the front of the cap standing for “Freshmen” rather than the traditional “T” we see today. All freshmen were required to wear the caps every day until the end of spring quarter unless Tech beat UGA in the fall quarter’s freshman football game. Freshmen caught without their RAT cap were subjected to punishment including what is known as the “T-cut”, which entailed a student’s hair being shaved into the shape of a “T”. RAT rules were enforced by Ramblin’ Reck Club and other upperclassmen. Anti-hazing policies led to the end of RAT rules. Today, out of respect for the tradition, freshmen receive a RAT cap at Convocation. Although it is now a voluntary tradition, students are encouraged to show their Tech spirit by wearing it to home football games. The marching band is a proud supporter of this wonderful Tech tradition.

A line in the last paragraph suggests something that probably is self evident.  No matter what the traditional was, it'd be difficult for this tradition to be carried on today.  Even though this tradition is long dead, some (student probably) commented on the Ohio State items thus:

This is flat out hazing. If we’re trying to remember this in a positive light, the entire university needs to reconsider how we look at student initiations.

Hmmmm. . . I'm certainly opposed to hazing, and I'm glad these weren't around when I was in university, but that seems a bit of an over reaction.  Apparently some other reader (student?) also thought so as well, starting off with  "(***), you are softer than baby thighs." and going on from there.

Well, a long gone hat related tradition.  I know of a few others, but this is one that I frankly was completely unaware of.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Related threads:

Caps, Hats, Fashion and Perceptions of Decency and being Dressed.

1919  E. G. (Gerry) Meyer, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and former Dean of College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Wyoming was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  As of the date of this entry (2019) Professor Meyer was a alive and still occupying the noted position.

  

1948  Wyoming votes for incumbent Harry Truman in the 1948 Presidential election.  Truman receives 52,354 votes to Dewey's 47,947.

1976. James E. Carter elected President of the United States.

Carter can be regarded as fitting into the more recent era of  Wyoming's politics in which Democratic candidates have had a much more difficult time on a local and national level, in regards to Wyoming's elections.  Carter himself was elected in the wake of the Watergate Disaster and was not a popular candidate in Wyoming, where he did not receive the state's support.  No Democrat running for President has received any significant support in Wyoming since Lyndon Johnson.

1982  Governor Ed Herschler elected to an unprecedented third term.   Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

 

Gov. Herschler receving a Stetson from a ceremonial detail, dressed in the uniforms of the Frontier 5th Cavalry, U.S. Army, from F. E. Warren Air Force Base.

In contrast to Democratic candidates for Federal offices, Herschler is proof, along with later Governors Sullivan and Freudenthal, that the local Democratic party can still contend for the Governor's office, in spite of the decline in the Democratic Party's fortunes in Wyoming.  Herschler was a popular Governor, and had an interesting personal history, including serving as a Marine Corps raider during World War Two.

2004 President George W. Bush was elected to a second term.

2010  Matt Mead obtains the majority vote in the Wyoming Gubernatorial election.

2012  It is reported that half of Wyoming County, West Virginia, was without power due to Hurricane Sandy.

2015:  The City of Casper, in a special referendum, approved the reinstatement of a full ban on smoking in buildings open to the public.  The history of the topic had been particularly bitter and confused, with an ordinance having been passed, then amended to allow smoking in bars, which was struck down by the Wyoming Supreme Court.

October 21

1803  The Senate authorized President Jefferson to take possession of the Louisiana Territory and establish a temporary military government for the territory.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1822  The first chartered bank west of the Mississippi, and the first in territory that included a part of Wyoming, was established inn San Antonio, Texas by Mexican Governor José Félix Trespalacios. Attribution:  On This Day.

1866 Fort Philip Kearny completed.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1872  Construction at the Territorial Prison in Laramie completed.

1873  Wyoming, Iowa, incorporated.

1909  The cornerstone for Jireh College, in Jireh was laid. Jireh College was a Protestant College that no longer exists.  The town likewise no longer exists.  It's history was relatively short, but it featured a combined effort to create a Christian school with a farming community.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1941  It was reported on this day that 53 Wyoming public school teachers were called to military service, a significant number given the population of the state.  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1995  State hit by a statewide blizzard.

October 9

Today is Leif Erikson Day

Leif Erikson Day has been federally recognized since 1964, but the day is merely a recognition, not a holiday.  The October 9 date was chosen as it was the date on which the Restauration, a ship carrying Norwegian immigrants to the United States, entered New York Harbor in 1825. That wasn't the first ship carrying Scandinavian immigrants to enter U.S. waters, but it was an early one in what became a significant migration.  Erikson's landing in North America, on what is now Labrador or thereabouts, occurred approximately on this date in 1002, however.

1835    Texans occupy Goliad.

1892  A natural gas deposit was discovered near the brewery in Buffalo. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1906  Joseph F. Glidden, inventor of barbed wire, died.

1916   A game so long it didn't even make the afternoon edition. The Wyoming Tribune for October 9, 1916
 

Yesterday's (i.e., October 8, 1916) spectacularly long and spectacular fourteen inning, one score, World Series game apparently ran to long to make the 3:30 edition of the Wyoming Tribune, which had to accordingly report it the following day.

Also on that day we learn that a Cheyenne girl was on a ship torpedoed at sea, and that the Tribune felt that Wilson's game was up.

1916   Holscher's Hub: Utah State Capitol. Inaugurated on this day in 1916.
 

Holscher's Hub: Utah State Capitol:

The Utah State Capitol was inaugurated on this day in 1916.

When you are a business traveler, you see things when you see them. Early morning photo of the Utah State Capitol building.  Taken with an Iphone.

1918  Countdown on the Great War. October 9, 1918. Cambrai Falls, Lost Battalion Rescued, UW Closes.

Private Thomas M. Holmes of the 82nd Division, East Aurora New York, receives chocolate from Lt. Burgess of the American Red Cross Field Hospital No. 328.  October 9, 1918.

1.  Cambrai Falls to Allies.

2.  The Lost Battalion rescued.

3.  UW closes its doors due to the flu.

4.  Landgrave Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse took a late war job opportunity to become the elected King of Finland. He'd occupy that role, designed to cement Finland to Imperial Germany, only until December 14 when the position ended in light of the end of Imperial Germany.  He never actually made it to Finland while he was King.

1919  The first fatal airplane crash in Wyoming's history occurred when Lt. Edwin Wales's plane crashed in a snowstorm near Elk Mountain.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

Oberg Pass. The Site of the first aircraft fatality in Wyoming.

Which occurred as part of the 1919 Air Derby.

This crash, discussed elsewhere, is usually referenced as occurring "west of Cheyenne".  It is west of Cheyenne, but the pilot was following the Union Pacific Railroad and a much better description would have been north west of Laramie, or even south of Medicine Bow.

Blog Mirror: Small planes, big mountains: Retracing the 1919 ‘Air derby’

Small planes, big mountains: Retracing the 1919 ‘Air derby’

October 9, 1919. The Reds Win A Tainted Series, Air Racers Already in State, and a Tragedy

Lefty Williams, the White Sox starting pitcher for the final game of the 1919 World Series. His performance was so bad that he was taken out of the game after one inning and replaced by Big Bill James, who was not in on the plot, but who performed badly all on his own.

And so it came to an end, at least for now.

The headlines seemed to say it all.  But as a win goes, it will forever be remembered as a false victory.  One obtained because certain members of the Red Sox not to win, but rather to accept money in payment for losing.

The loss was pathetic.  Rumors started nearly immediately that the game had been thrown and one noted sports reporter write a column that no World Series should ever be played again.

In less than a year, the cover of the plot would be off.

As the series ended, news of the air race started to dominate the local papers.  The speed of the new mode of transportation was evident. The race had just started and planes were already over Wyoming.

Airco DH-4

Not reported in these editions, one of the planes had gone down in Wyoming, killing the pilot.  It was the first fatal air crash in Wyoming's history.  It occurred when Lt. Edwin Wales DH-4 would go down in a snowstorm near Coad Peak (near Elk Mountain).  Specifically it went down over Oberg Pass.  His observer, Lt. William C. Goldsborough, survived the crash and walked into an area ranch for help.

Hard to discern in this photograph of the old rail bed of the Union Pacific, you can see Kenneday Peak, Pennock Mountain and Coad Peak.  The pilots had been following the Union Pacific and were diverting to what looks like low ground to the right, Oberg Pass.

Oberg Pass is the low ground between Pennock Mountain and Coad Peak.  In decent weather they would have been fine, but flying in 1919, in a snowstorm, they likely iced up right away. They no doubt knew they were in big trouble pretty quickly and the plane went down in rugged ground.

Elk Mountain as viewed from Shirley Basin.  This was to the north of the where they went down and they were trying to go to the south of the substantial peak.

This crash is often inaccurately noted as having occurred "west of Cheyenne".  It was "west" of Cheyenne, but west a long ways west of Cheyenne.  It was northwest of Laramie and the closest substantial town was that of Medicine Bow, if you consider Medicine Bow a substantial town.  The destination was Wolcott Junction, which doesn't have an airfield today.  Of course, the DH-4 didn't take much of a run way of any kind to land on.  Going through the pass would have shaved miles off the trip and avoided a big curve around the substantial Elk Mountain.

The Air Derby had already proved to be a fatal adventure, and it would continue to be so.  Lt. Goldsborough would carry on after recovering however, by which we mean carrying on in the Air Corps.  He lived until age 73 and retired to Redondo Beach, California.  He went to Hawaii with the Air Corps in 1923 and therefore was a very early aviator there.  

Not surprisingly, given the infancy of aviation, Goldsborough would go on to endure other incidents. As a Captain he ground looped a Boeing P-12 C in 1937. In 1938 he'd be involved in another airborne tragedy, as a Major, when he was the pilot of a plane that left Langley Field for a flight to Jacksonville Florida and weather conditions so obscured the ground that he could not land.  Both he and a civilian government employee passenger were forced to bail out of the aircraft as it ran out of gas. The passenger's parachute failed to open and he was killed.  The then Major Goldsborough successfully landed.  The incident ended up in a lawsuit against an insurance company.  He must have still been in the Air Corps when World War Two started, but at that point, I've lost track of him.  At age 46, and a Major, he would have then been a fairly senior officer.

1919  The Cincinnati Reds win the World Series, but soon it would be evident that some members of the Chicago White Sox had taken bribes to thrown the series, sparking an enduring scandal in American sports.

1922  A petition for rehearing was granted by the United States Supreme Court in Wyoming v. Colorado, a suit seeking to adjudicate the distribution of water from the Laramie River.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Charles Burke telegrammed Superintendent of the Wind River Reservation's Shoshone Agency R. P. Haas at Fort Washakie, giving him permission to work with actor Tim McCoy and film producers in the movie The Thundering Herd.

October 8

Today is Columbus Day for 2012, the date this entry was first posted.

At least in my part of the country, Columbus Day has declined to the point of being practically a non entity, as far as observed holidays are concerned.  Nothing happens to note it, other than that I think it is a Federal holiday and Federal services are halted.  Some state ones used to be, but I know that various state offices have, for many years, been given the option of omitting the holiday in exchange for taking the day after Thanksgiving off.

To our south, in Colorado, this day has sometimes been the source or real controversy, however, even in modern times, as American Indians have used it to make a counter observance noting the harm inflicted upon them by European Americans starting in 1492.

The day itself was first observed in Colorado as a state holiday staring in 1906, and became a Federal holiday in 1937.  It's a floating holiday that always occurs on the second Monday of October.

Today is also Canadian Thanksgiving Day, a national holiday in Canada since 1879.  Thanksgiving being a holiday centered on the harvest, the earlier Canadian date, as opposed to the later American date, makes sense.  The current floating holiday was established as the second Monday of October in 1957.

1821  James Long Texas forces surrendered to Mexican forces commanded by Colonel Juan Ignacio Pérez at La Bahía.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1835   John Allen Campbell, Governor of Wyoming Territory from 1869 to 1875, born in Salem Ohio.  As Territorial Governor,. Campbell was a career soldier up until his appointment as Governor, and later became a counsel to Switzerland.  He signed the bill granting Wyoming's women the right to vote.

1838   The Battle Creek Fight, also known as the Surveyor's Fight, occurred between surveyors and Indians at In Navarro County, Texas.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1867  John S. Casement, railroad contractor and Civil War era general, and post war chief engineer for the Union Pacific, appointed Territorial delegate to Congress.

1889  The brewery in Sheridan burned.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1915  The first oil well was drilled in the Elk Basin.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1917   First draft of Owen's Dulce et Decorum Est, October 8, 1917.
 

(A bit off subject here, but;) Today is the anniversary of the first known draft of Wilfred Owen's well known Great War poem, Dulce et Decorum Est.

Dulce et Decorum Est

By Wilfred Owen

 

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,

Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,

Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,

And towards our distant rest began to trudge.

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,

But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;

Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots

Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling

And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.—

Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams before my helpless sight,

He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace

Behind the wagon that we flung him in,

And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,

His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori.

I'll be Frank that Owen isn't my favorite Great War poet, in a war that oddly seemed to produce a lot of poets (or did the war just occur in a time when poetry was more common?).  And contrary to what is commonly believed, Owen's fame came posthumously after the war when his work was actually published, not during it. The sort of gloom and despair attributed found in Owen's poems, while not unique to him alone by any means, was also not a common view amongst English veterans of the Great War or even the UK itself until well after it.

1917:  The Second Liberty Loand Drive Commences. October 8, 1917.

Elyse Robert and Dorothy Kohn putting Second Liberty Loan posters on the side of the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, October 8, 1917.

1918  Countdown on the Great War. October 8, 1918: Sgt. Alvin York and the Battle of Hill 223. The Second Battle of Cambrai. A Scout Gets Through. The Desert Mounted Corps Takes Beirut. The Spanish Flu Closes Everything.

1.  On this day in 1918 Sgt. Alvin York preformed the deeds that would make him a household name in the United States and the most famous American veteran of WWI other than, perhaps, Gen. Pershing.

York was a from the Tennessee hill country and one of eleven children of a very poor family.  With virtually no education at all, he had been supporting his family for some time because of his father's early death.  A devout Evangelical Christian, York was a reformed drinker and fighter who had grown up in a family that depended upon hunting to put food on the table.  He was an extremely skilled woodsman and marksman at the time he reluctantly entered the Army due to conscription. He was also seeking conscientious objector status at that time, but reconsidered his position due to the urging of his military superiors.  He proved to be a good soldier and was assigned to the 82nd Division, seeing combat first in the St. Mihel Offensive.

On October 8 his battalion was assigned to capture Hill 223 north of  Chatel-Chéhéry, France.  During the battle Corporal York took on machinegun positions while the remainder of his party guarded captured prisoners.  York took those positions on first with his rifle, a M1917 Enfield, and then ended up killing six charging Germans with his M1911 pistol after his rifle was empty.  Ultimately a large party of Germans surrendered to York and York and seven other enlisted men marched to the rear with 132 German prisoners.  During the battle York killed 25 Germans.  His Medal of Honor citation reads:

After his platoon suffered heavy casualties and 3 other noncommissioned officers had become casualties, Cpl. York assumed command. Fearlessly leading seven men, he charged with great daring a machine gun nest which was pouring deadly and incessant fire upon his platoon. In this heroic feat the machine gun nest was taken, together with 4 officers and 128 men and several guns.

York would go on to be promoted to the rank of Sergeant before the war was over and he became the most decorated American soldier of World War One.  He was commissioned in the Signal Corps during World War Two and obtained the rank of Major, but his health had declined severely and he was used in a moral boosting role.  In spite of ill health he would remain in the Tennessee National Guard until 1951, retiring at the rank of Colonel.  He was famously the subject of a movie in which Gary Cooper portrayed him.

As noted, York was undoubtedly the most famous enlisted man of World War One, and he was truly heroic.  It's worth noting however that his accomplishments weren't entirely unique and there were several other instances of single American servicemen taking large numbers of prisoners under heroic circumstances, one of which we read about here just the other day.  In some ways the difference with York was that he was of very humble origin and not a career soldier, where as the actions by soldiers like Michael B. Ellis, whom we read about the other day, were accomplishments of men from the Regular Army.  These stories have a common aspect to them, however, in that they were undertaken by men who had extraordinary combat skill nearly singlehandedly, which was admirable but which also tends to show that the American Army was so green at the time that it proved to be necessary for extremely heroic men to undertake actions that were nearly suicidal in order to address the combat situation with which they were faced, rather than relying on coordinated unit actions.  In York's case, a lifetime in the woods had prepared him for battle in a unique way.

2.  On the same day that York's action earned the Medal of Honor, the same could be said of James Dozier.

Dozier started his military career in the South Carolina National Guard and had served on the Mexican boarder with that unit.  When it was called into service for World War One he was commissioned an officer and was a 1st Lieutenant on this day when he took over his company when its commander was wounded, even though he also was.  He commanded the unit over the next several hours, personally rushing one machinegun pit with the aid of a lieutenant.  The men under his command took 470 prisoners.

He stayed in the South Carolina National Guard becoming its AG in the 1920s and retired in 1959 as a Lieutenant General.

3.  On this day in 1918 British Empire forces launched a massive assault on the Germans near Cambrai.  In two days they captured the towns but the over matched Germans nonetheless slowed the advance to the point where it needed to be halted.

That says something about the tenacity of the Germans even at this late stage of the war.  The Germans had 180,000 men committed to the defense in this battle. The British Empire forces numbered 630,000. The British assault was a success, but the Germans none the less managed to require the British advance to halt.

Canadian troops on the Cambrai road, 1918.

4.  Pvt. Abraham Krotoshinsky made his way through enemy lines to inform the American Army of the situation concerning the "Lost Battalion".  He would lead troops back to the besieged soldiers.

Pvt. Krotoshinsky was a Polish Jew who had emigrated to the United States in 1912 to avoid service in the Imperial Russian Army. Following World War One he emigrated to Palestine but failed as a farmer and returned to the United States.  Like Michael Ellis, discussed the other day, he was rescued from unemployment by President Coolige who ordered that he be provided with a job in the United States Postal Service.

5.  The Desert Mounted Corps entered Beirut where they took 600 Ottoman troops without resistance.

6.  Laramie and Casper closed public meeting places of all types:

1919  October 8, 1919 The Sox Take Another, Aviators Take Off. And Wool.

On this day, the Sox won again, and with Cicotte pitching.

This caused real concern among the gamblers.  Prior to the series commencing the common thought that the Sox could win two Series games back to back simply by willing to do so, and now it appeared that was true. The Sox were back in the game and it looked like they might take the series.

As a result, Lefty Williams was visited by an enforcer of the gambler's that night and his family was threatened.  The order was that the Sox were to lose the next game.

While the Sox appeared to be rallying, news of the giant air race, with varied accounts as to the number of aircraft in it, started taking pride of place in the headlines.  The race had already been marred, however, by early loss of life.

Cities on the Lincoln Highway that had only recently hosted the Army Transcontinental Convoy now were getting set to look up and watch the air race.

And there was news of a woolen mill coming to the state, something that would well suit a state that, at that time, had millions of sheep.

The Gasoline Alley gang went golfing.

1944  200 Washakie County students let out of school to help with the wheat harvest in a war time measure.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

October 4

Today is Cinnamon roll day in Sweden.

1821  James Long captured the city of La Bahía.

1877 Nez Perce negotiate their surrender at the Bear Paw Mountains in Montana.

1889  Bids were requested for the construction of a public school in Casper.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1909  Upton voted for incorporation.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1998  A blizzard struck cut Converse and Niobrara counties taking out the power lines.

2005  Former governor Stan Hathaway passed away in Cheyenne.  

2013  Major blizzard shuts down central Wyoming.

2016  The Vatican announced that Bishop Etienne of Cheyenne was appointed to be the Archbishop of Anchorage, Alaska.

September 27

1821  Mexico obtains independence from Spain.

1886  Cornerstone of Old Main placed at the University of Wyoming.   Attribution:  On This Day.

1916   The Wyoming National Guard, what was it doing and where was it going?

I posted this item two years ago on the Mid Week at Work Thread.  It occurs to me that it may very well be appropriate for the Wyoming National Guard was going through in Cheyenne these few days, a century ago:

Mid-Week at Work: U.S. Troops in Mexico.

All around the water tank, waiting for a train
A thousand miles away from home, sleeping in the rain
I walked up to a brakeman just to give him a line of talk
He said "If you got money, boy, I'll see that you don't walk
I haven't got a nickel, not a penny can I show
"Get off, get off, you railroad bum" and slammed the boxcar door

He put me off in Texas, a state I dearly love
The wide open spaces all around me, the moon and the stars up above
Nobody seems to want me, or lend me a helping hand
I'm on my way from Frisco, going back to Dixieland
My pocket book is empty and my heart is full of pain
I'm a thousand miles away from home just waiting for a train.

Jimmy Rodgers, "Waiting for a Train".

As can be seen from my entry yesterday, there's some indication the Guard entrained on September 26, 1916.  And I've reported that elsewhere, years ago.  And maybe some did leave on September 26, but I now doubt it.

Rather, in looking at it more fully, the typical Army hurry up and wait seems to have been at work.  The Guard was supposed to entrain on September 26, but the cars didn't show up or didn't in adequate numbers.  It appears, also, that the Colorado National Guard was entraining at the same time, and that may have played a role in this.  Be that as it may, I now think the September 26 date that I have used, and others do use, in in error.

What seems to have happened is that most of the Guardsmen entrained on the night of September 27, late.

But where were they going?

That will play out here as well, but original reports in these papers said they were going to San Antonio. Then it was reported that nobody knew where they were going.

Well, they went to Deming New Mexico, which isn't far from where this all started off, in Columbus.

Rodgers didn't record Waiting For A Train until 1928, and he wasn't recording in 1916.  Too bad, this would have been a popular song with those troops.

The Cheyenne State Leader for September 27, 1916: Best laid plans?
 

The past couple of days the papers were reporting that the Guard would leave on September 26, but here the Cheyenne State Leader indicates that there's been some sort of delay, and the Guard was going to be leaving that day.

Did anyone leave?  Frankly, I"m not sure. The few sources I have aren't consistent.  Some report the first contingent did leave on September 26.  But this would suggest otherwise.

Elsewhere workers were discontent, and Greece appeared ready to enter World War One.

1918  The Meuse Argonne, the Sacrifice of Col. Cavendar and the Spanish Flu. The news of September 27, 1918.

Death in various forms had front and center position on the newspapers of September 27.

Of course, the big offensive on the Meuse Argonne, the second really major American offensive and the one that would carry the American effort through to the end of the war, took front and center position.  In that readers of the various major Wyoming newspapers learned that a Col. J. W. Cavendar, a Wyoming attorney in peacetime life, had been reported killed in action while leading the 148th Field Artillery, which was a unit made up of Wyoming National Guardsmen in part, together with other National Guardsmen from the Rocky Mountain Region.

Col Cavendar's loss also appeared on the front page of the Laramie Boomerang.

Manpower shortages also did with the news that the government wanted men out of jobs that women could do.

So much for the claim that Rosey the Riveter first appeared in World War Two.

The more sedate Cheyenne State Leader apparently didn't have the news about Col Cavendar when it went to press.  It featured the largest headline on the looming flu crisis, which really says something about it given that this was day two of the largest American offensive of the war.  The Leader also informed readers that if they died, they better not expect a fancy casket.

In Casper, readers of the Casper Daily Press received a lot of war news, and other news, on its busy front page, but it also learned that the flu was now in New Mexico's military camps, contrary to the news that generally had it only on the East Coast.  And it received the most prominent position on front page here as well.

The Casper Daily Tribune didn't worry about being sedate, and apparently it wasn't as worried as the other Casper paper about the flu.  The advance of the American effort, which in truth was already meeting with problems, brought out banner headlines.

Readers were also informed that Chile was getting into action against the Huns, rather late in the day frankly, which is how such things tend to go.  And the pipe dream of a return of the Russians to the Allied side also showed up in large form.

1923  Thirty railroad passengers were killed when a CB&Q train wrecked at the Cole Creek Bridge, which had been washed out due to a flood, in Natrona County.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

 

It was a horrific event.

Flooding had taken out the railroad bridge over Cole Creek near Casper, Wyoming, which was unknown to the railroad.   The night train to Denver approached the bridge on a blind curve, and the headlights detected its absence too late to stop the train.  Half of the people on the train were killed.

It's the worst disaster in Wyoming's railroad history.

1944 USS Natrona, a Haskell class attack transport, launched.

1954  The 300th AFA returned to State control, although the Wyoming Guardsmen had mostly returned quite some time ago, having served their full tour of duty.

1991   Quintin Blair House in Cody added to the National Register of Historic Places. Attribution:  On This Day.

1998  Google starts operation.

2001  A magnitude 4.3 earthquake occurred 80 miles from Lander.