Reconsidering Wounded Knee Medals of Honor.

Lex Anteinternet: Reconsidering Wounded Knee Medals of Honor.: 

Reconsidering Wounded Knee Medals of Honor.

This isn't the first time this has been done.  Earlier it was done as the criteria for receiving the medal changed and many pre World War One medals were downgraded.

Bloody 287

 

I've traveled it countless times myself, that stretch of highway between Laramie and Ft. Collins.

It's not a great road.

Thursday, three UW swimmers were killed in a single-vehicle crash on U.S. 287 in northern Colorado.  Two more were injured.  They were 18, 19, and 21.

In September of 2001, eight members of UW’s cross-country team were killed in a two-vehicle collision south of Laramie on U.S. 287 near Tie Siding.

In September 2010, UW football player Ruben Narcisse, 19, of Miami, Florida, was killed on U.S. 287 six miles south of the Wyoming state line after the driver of the vehicle he was a passenger in fell asleep. That one, I guess, you can't blame on the road.

Seems like something should be done.

Appendix:

Governor Gordon Issues Statement Following Fatal Car Accident Involving University of Wyoming Swimmers

CHEYENNE, Wyo. –   Governor Mark Gordon has issued the following statement after learning of a single-vehicle car accident that claimed the lives of three members of the University of Wyoming swim team on Thursday on U.S. 287 in northern Colorado.

“I am heartbroken to learn of the tragic deaths of three University of Wyoming student athletes in a motor vehicle accident on US 287 in Colorado. Jennie and I join the entire university community and all of Wyoming in mourning this loss, and we ask you to keep their families, friends and loved ones close to your hearts during this difficult time.”

Albany County Commissiones vote to change name of lake.

The Albany County Commissioners have voted to change the name of Swastika Lake, in the Medicine Bow National Forest, to Samuel H. Knight Lake, after the famous Wyoming geologist.

One county commissioner, interestingly the only Republican one on the board, which shows how different Albany County's politics are compared to the most of the rest of Wyoming, slammed the move as "Communists".  Testimony by others dismissed that proposition, however, and indeed historical evidence showed that Native Americans objected to the use of the word as long ago as the 1940s.

The commissioner action now goes to the Wyoming board that deals with geographical names and, if they approve the change, on to the Federal Government.

2023 Wyoming Legislature. Anti Historical Site Bill.

 A bill to make it more difficult to designate historical sites has been introduced in the legislature.

HOUSE BILL NO. HB0281

Local government approval for historic site designations.

Sponsored by: Representative(s) Storer

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to state historic sites; requiring the board of land commissioners to provide notice and to obtain consent from counties, cities or towns before making a historic site designation as specified; providing requirements; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.  W.S. 36‑8‑108 is created to read:

36‑8‑108.  Designation of state historic sites; requirements.

After designation by the legislature but before any official designation is made for a state historical site when the property to be designated belongs to a county, city or town, the board of land commissioners shall obtain consent from the board of county commissioners or the local governing body of the city or town where the proposed state historical site is located. The board of county commissioners or the local governing body of a city or town shall be given not less than thirty (30) days written notice before the site is designated as a state historic site.  After notice is given and the notice period has passed, if no objection is made, consent to the designation of the historic site shall be presumed. 

Section 2.  This act is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.

As this has a single sponsor, it likely will go nowhere, but its purpose is hard to understand.  Something being designated a historical site, contrary to widespread popular belief, doesn't commit private parties to anything.

A Bill to Recognize the Service of Lester C. Hunt

A bill has been introduced in the legislature to recognize former Governor and Senator Lester Hunt.  Given Dr. Hunt's historic place in Wyoming, and national, history, it's worth visiting the topic here.

The bill states:

2023

State of Wyoming

23LSO-0301

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. SJ0002

Recognizing the service of Lester C. Hunt.

Sponsored by: Senator(s) Case and Rothfuss and Representative(s) Stith and Yin

A JOINT RESOLUTION

for

A JOINT RESOLUTION recognizing United States Senator and Wyoming Governor and Secretary of State Lester Calloway Hunt as a consummate model to public servants for his distinguished career, his commendable civility and courage and his service to Wyoming and the United States of America.

WHEREAS, after first coming to Wyoming as a recruit to play semi-professional baseball for a Lander team, Lester C. Hunt moved permanently to Wyoming to start his family and dental practice after working full-time on the railroad to fund his attendance at dental school; and

WHEREAS, Lester C. Hunt served actively during World War I as a First Lieutenant in the United States Army Dental Corps from 1917 to 1919 and as a Major in the Army Reserve from 1919 to 1954; and

WHEREAS, Lester C. Hunt started his distinguished career in public service by serving in the Wyoming House of Representatives, as a Representative from Fremont County, from 1933 to 1934; and

WHEREAS, Lester C. Hunt served as Wyoming's Secretary of State from 1935 to 1943 where among his many accomplishments were obtaining a copyright to preserve the mark of the Bucking Horse and Rider and developing and implementing plans for the Bucking Horse and Rider license plate first issued in 1936; and

WHEREAS, Lester C. Hunt became the first person to serve for two consecutive terms as Governor of Wyoming, holding office during and after World War II. Among Governor Hunt's many accomplishments in addition to managing wartime concerns, he oversaw the creation of a pension system for teachers and advocated for a pension system for state employees as well as expanded systems of health benefits; and

WHEREAS, Lester C. Hunt served as Wyoming's accomplished junior United States Senator from 1949 until his untimely death by suicide, June 19, 1954; and

WHEREAS, Lester C. Hunt supported a number of federal social programs and advocated for federal support of low-cost health and dental insurance policies. He also supported a variety of programs proposed by the Eisenhower administration following the Republican landslide in the 1952 elections, including the abolition of racial segregation in the District of Columbia and the expansion of Social Security; and

WHEREAS, Lester C. Hunt served on Congressional committees including the Senate Armed Services Committee, a special Senate committee investigating war crimes and the Special Committee on Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce; and

WHEREAS, through Senate hearings, Lester C. Hunt was introduced to the bullying and false accusation tactics of Senator Eugene Joseph McCarthy and followers of the charismatic McCarthy, where many considered McCarthy a hero and the people who knew better stayed silent and attempted to stay on his good side; and

WHEREAS, Lester C. Hunt became a victim of this extremely polarized era in public thinking that hurt our nation and ruined the lives of many who found themselves on the other side of the boisterous "majority." During this time, Senator Hunt was a brave critic of the excesses of the McCarthyism era, even introducing legislation allowing private citizens to sue members of Congress who libeled them; and

WHEREAS, Lester C. Hunt endured threats and intimidation, to which his untimely death can be directly attributed, during this dark and harsh period of our nation's political journey characterized by incivility, irrational political dogma and unfounded beliefs; and

WHEREAS, while Lester C. Hunt was cruelly harmed by this movement, thousands of others also had their lives shattered when they were blacklisted by false accusations without credible evidence. Anyone who challenged the methods employed by the McCarthyists was labeled a communist sympathizer in a widespread chilling of free speech; and

WHEREAS, Lester C. Hunt was a victim of blackmail whereby his opponents used despicable means to obtain control of a deeply divided United States Senate; and

WHEREAS, Lester C. Hunt remained true to Wyoming and to our nation but succumbed to the overwhelming pressure and took his own life, adding to the tragic legacy of Wyoming's suicide prominence; and

WHEREAS, in 1954, within a few months after Lester C. Hunt's suicide, the Senate voted to censure Joseph McCarthy and our nation began to heal; and

WHEREAS, former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson said decades later that what happened to Lester C. Hunt "passed all boundaries of decency and exposed an evil side of politics;" and

WHEREAS, Wyoming's Lester C. Hunt with decency and courage contributed to the survival and preservation of a principled system of participatory government that has carried this nation through the darkest of times.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING:

Section 1.  That the members of the Wyoming Legislature commit to respect each member and support our democracy and the right of every citizen to be heard and respected. With this resolution, the Wyoming Legislature remembers and joins with the people of Wyoming and all our nation to rededicate ourselves to democracy, civility, decency and truth.

Section 2.  That the members of the Wyoming Legislature commit to work with those with whom we disagree and to strive for pragmatic problem-solving.

Section 3.  That the members of the Wyoming Legislature commit to be ever vigilant to do all they can to prevent suicide and to be diligent in battling against injustices, inequities, discriminative conditions and intolerant practices that can lead to suicide.

Section 4.  That the Secretary of State of Wyoming transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress and to the Wyoming Congressional Delegation.

For more on Hunt:

Baseball, Politics, Triumph and Tragedy: The Career of Lester Hunt

We have discussed Hunt here:

1942.  Lester Hunt, DDS, the sitting Wyoming Secretary of State and a Democrat narrowly defeated Governor Nels H. Smith.

Lester C. Hunt.

Hunt would serve as Governor for two terms before going on to becoming Wyoming's Senator.  He killed himself in 1954 after Washington, D. C. police picked up his son in 1953 for soliciting a male prostitute.  The scandal was kept quiet for a while, but political opponents threatened to use it against him as a threat to keep him from engaging in a 1954 bid for office.

In the Senate, Hunt had been an opponent of Joe McCarthy.

It's really interesting that this bill comes up now.

I didn't go into the story in depth, but as noted, Senator Hunt was an opponent of McCarthy and, obviously, tragically involved in a story that he couldn't overcome.

Hunt was a dentist by profession, and entered politics, first becoming, at a state level, the Wyoming Secretary of State.  He was the elected a Democratic Governor, back in the day when Wyoming had a functioning Democratic Party and the state wasn't a one party state.  He later became Wyoming's Senator.

In June 1953, his son, who was attending the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was the student body president, was picked up for solicitation of am ale prostitute.  Normally this was just passed off by the police if it was a first offense, but the arrest became known to Republican Senators, who threatened to break the information if Hunt didn't resign from office.  If that had happened, the Wyoming legislature would have appointed a Republican successor.  

Hunt refused, his son was sentenced and paid the fine, and the Washington Post picked up the story.

Hunt decided to run for reelection anyhow, and the news story received little attention.  Republicans again threatened to use it against him, although the Eisenhower Administration, seeing what was going on, tried to offer him a way out by offering him a position on the U.S. Tariff Commission.  On June 8, 1954, following a medical examination, he declared he was bowing out of elective offices entirely.  On June 19, he shot himself in his Senate office.

Following this, journalist Drew Pearson wrote about the drama and how the Republicans had threatened Hunt.  Pearson noted, however:

Two weeks ago he went to the hospital for a physical check and announced that he would not run again. It was no secret that he had been having kidney trouble for some time, but I am sure that on top of this, Lester Hunt, a much more sensitive soul than his colleagues realized, just could not bear the thought of having his son's misfortunes become the subject of whispers in his re-election campaign.

In private, however, Pearson indicated that Hunt, whom he had been in contact with, had no physical concerns at the time of his suicide.

What the resolution states is completely true.  If there's a black mark against Dr. Hunt in his public story, it would be that he was less than enthusiastic about the presence of Japanese American internees in the state during World War Two and his statements at the time would be hard not to view as racist, although they are not uniformly so.  In our modern era, we tend not to cut anyone any slack at all for transgressions of this type, but perhaps to some degree we should.  Overall, Hunt's service as Secretary of State, Governor, World War One serviceman, and Senator are praiseworthy and no matter what a person might think of McCarthy, his stand at the time was certainly praiseworthy.  The actions by the GOP in persecuting him were vile.

Which is why I suspect that this bill will go nowhere.  In Wyoming of 2023, there's almost no room in the state to praise a Democratic politician, and chances are that anyone supporting a bill condemning McCarthyism will receive pretty stout criticism as well.

Today In Wyoming's History: Wyoming has 43 federal places with 'squaw' in the name. A recent order will change that. Taking a closer look.

Arapaho woman (Hisei), late 19th Century.

Today In Wyoming's History: Wyoming has 43 federal places with 'squaw' in the ...:   Wyoming has 43 federal places with 'squaw' in the name. A recent order will change that.

So, what are they?

Takluit woman, 1910.  The coins are Chinese.

First, a precautionary note. Even setting the word squaw aside, some of these could legitimately be regarded as otherwise offensive.  I.e., if you edit "squaw" out and substitute for Indian Woman, or Native American Woman, some would still be offensive.

Hopi woman, 1900.

Okay, according to the Federal Government, this is the list in Wyoming.

I'll note right away that I know this list to be inaccurate at least in so far as what things are apparently actually called, as the clearly offensive "Squaw Teat" actually also applies to a peak, or high hill, in Natrona County.

Mohave woman, 1903.

And the last item, in case anyone wonders, is listed there as it was renamed recently from a name that formerly included the word squaw in it.

And we'd also note that one is a historical place name of a now abandoned settlement.  You probably can't, or at least shouldn't, do something in regard to that.

So let's next start first with the ultimate question  Is it offensive?

Native American woman in Oklahoma, 1939.

Let's take a look at an article recently published in Indian Country Today on that question, here's what they partially had to say on that.  For the full article, you should go to Indian Country Today.

Some historical connections

According to Dr. Marge Bruchac, an Abenaki historical consultant, Squaw means the totality of being female and the Algonquin version of the word “esqua,” “squa” “skwa” does not translate to a woman’s female anatomy. 

Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary defines the term as “often offensive: an American Indian woman” and “usually disparaging: woman, wife.”

The Urban Dictionary paints a different picture. It says the word squaw “Does not mean vagina, or any other body part for that matter. The word comes from the Massachusett (no S) Algonquian tribe and means: female, young woman. The word squaw is not related to the Mohawk word ‘ojiskwa’: which does mean vagina. There is absolutely no derogatory meaning in the word ‘squaw.’ ‘Squaw’ has been a familiar word in American literature and language since the 16th century and has been generally understood to mean an Indian woman, or wife.” It is worth noting the Urban Dictionary is not an authoritative Native source.

In her article “Reclaiming the word ‘Squaw’ in the Name of the Ancestors,” Dr. Bruchac wrote the following excerpt about the meaning of squaw.

“The word has been interpreted by modern activists as a slanderous assault against Native American women. But traditional Algonkian speakers, in both Indian and English, still say words like ‘nidobaskwa’=a female friend, ‘manigebeskwa’=woman of the woods, or ‘Squaw Sachem’=female chief. When Abenaki people sing the Birth Song, they address ‘nuncksquassis’=‘little woman baby’.”

“I understand the concern of Indian women who feel insulted by this word, but I respectfully suggest that we reclaim our language rather than let it be taken over,” wrote Bruchac.

The first recorded version of squaw was found in a book called Mourt’s Relation: A Journey of the Pilgrims at Plymouth written in 1622. The term was not used in a derogatory fashion but spoke of the “squa sachim or Massachusets Queen” in the September 20, 1621 journal entry.

Though the earliest historical references support a non-offensive slant on the meaning of squaw and support Bruchac’s claims, there are also several literary and historical instances of squaw being used in a derogatory or sexually connotative way.

According to some proponents on the inflammatory side of the words meaning, squaw could just as easily have come from the Mohawk word ojiskwa’ which translates politely to vagina.

In the 1892 book An Algonquin Maiden by Canadian writer Pauline Johnson, whose father was a Mohawk Chief, the word squaw indicates a sexual meaning.

“Poor little Wanda! not only is she non-descript and ill-starred, but as usual the authors take away her love, her life, and last and most terrible of all, reputation; for they permit a crowd of men-friends of the hero to call her a ‘squaw’ and neither hero nor authors deny that she is a squaw. It is almost too sad when so much prejudice exists against the Indians, that any one should write up an Indian heroine with such glaring accusations against her virtue…”

So, what can we say?

Well, not knowing for sure, as I'm certainly not a linguist with a knowledge of any of these languages, and it's clear that linguist don't agree themselves, I suspect that Dr. Burchac is correct. The origin is likely from a native language and unlikely to have had an offensive origin.

But that doesn't really fully answer the question, and it's a really touchy one, which I'd bet Dr. Burchac will acknowledge.

At its bare root, the word means an Indian, or perhaps more accurately now, a Native American, woman, the same way that "papoose" has been used in the past to describe a Native American baby, and "brave" has inaccurately been used to describe all Native American men (although also the much more offensive "buck" also shows up in that use).  Simply left at that, it's probably no more offensive than the word "Frau" and "Fräulein" are to describe German women, or Madam and Mademoiselle, or Señora and Señorita are in French and Spanish respectively.

Two Charger Woman, a Brule Sioux, 1907.

Indeed, in a certain context, maybe even less so, as it at least is an acknowledgement to culture.  And that sort of seems how the original use was.  The 1622 use is not only amazingly early, it was an attempt at being descriptive and providing an honorific, the "Massachusetts Queen".  In that context, the early use of the work seems to have conveyed gender and ethnicity at the same time.

Woman Of Many Deeds, the granddaughter of Red Cloud, 1907.  Note the crucifix, she was Catholic, as the Red Could family was.

It's later uses that become the problem.  And that takes us quite a ways back in and of itself.

European colonization of the New World can really be viewed as colonization by three different ethnic groups for the most part, two Catholic and one Protestant.*  While early on the original European view seems to have been largely similar among all three groups, by the mid 1600s this was changing.  It would not be fair, we'd note, to really lump this into two groups, as it wouldn't be fair to compare the Spanish with the French.  And from the lens of 2021 looking at things that occurred in 1621 is fraught with dangers inherent in misconceptions and filtration through current views.

Dusty Dress, 1910.

Very generally, however, English colonists had a fascination with Native Americans when they first landed in North America, and were pretty open to the native cultures.  French colonization started at just about the same time as the English, for all practical purposes, and the French had a highly open view of the Native populations.  The Spanish started almost 3/4s of a century earlier, and their early interactions are considerably more complicated.  All three populations were not averse to mixing with Native populations at first, with the French and Spanish being very open to it, particularly in the case of the French whose Catholic faith had instructed them that the Natives were just as much children of God as they were.  This was also true of the Spanish, but the Spanish had met with considerably more armed resistance even by the 17th Century than either the English or the French had.

Papago woman, 1907.

Things really began to fall apart, however, for the English with King Philips War, which broke out in 1675 and ran through 1678.  Hard and brutally fought, the English began to pretty quickly modify their view of Native Americans in general. While, from our prospective, the war was a cleverly fought and logical Native reaction to an invasion, from the English prospective of the period it was a bitter betrayal by a heathenous people.

Lucy  Coyote

From that point on the English, and soon we might say the American, view of Native Americans was much different than the French or the Spanish one.  The French had their run-ins with native bands, but having colonized New France to a much smaller degree, they also tended to engage the Natives in commerce really quickly and their Catholicism caused them to regard the Natives in their region as souls to be brought into the Church, with intermarriage soon to be common.  The Spanish largely took the same view, although in their case they also ran into some large, and well organized, bands that put up fierce resistance to their presence, giving them, as previously noted, a more nuanced view. Nonetheless, the view of Spanish colonists is perhaps best reflected in that the populations of much of South and Central America today are from mixed Spanish and Native heritage.  In what became Canada it gave rise ultimately to the Métis, a recognized "native", but in fact mixed heritage, group of people with their own unique history.

In the Thirteen Colonies it gave rise to pretty bitter struggles which merged into bitter American ones with native bands once the Crown was ejected from what became the United States.  The intent here isn't to give a legal or military history of the events, but to only note it in the context of what's being discussed.

Alice Pat-E-Wa, 1900.

Humans being human, the ethnic struggle did not prove to be a bar to intermixing. This occurred simply naturally, and violently.  And this resulted in an interesting and opposing set of views.

"The Trapper's Bride" by Alfred Jacob Miller.  Miller painted versions of this scense at least three times, probably by request.

On the frontier, which was male dominated, frontiersmen fairly routinely began to take Native American wives.  For those of French origin this was highly common, but it was quite common for those of English heritage, or "American" heritage as well. At the same time, however, Native Americans were a looked down upon minority class who were in the way of what was regarded as progress, even though they were simultaneously celebrated as "noble savages".  Reconciling these views is difficult to do, but they were held be Americans simultaneously.  

Annie Kash-Kash, 1899.

What we can say, however, is that these relationships were likely as varied as any other, but we shouldn't presume by any means that they were forced.  In some instances, they likely were, or were relationships darned near akin to slavery.  An earlier article on Sacajawea we published here discussed a circumstance that certainly raises such questions.  At the same time, however. you can find such as Wyoming frontiersman John Robinson who married Native women twice and genuinely.  Famed scout Kit Carson had more than one Native bride.  And an extended view may be given of a Swiss artists, whose name I have forgotten, who went West to sketch Plains Indians and returned to Switzerland with a Native bride, an illustration of whom shows upon the book Man Made Mobile.

An historically important example is given in the example of William Bent and Owl Woman, the latter of whom was a Cheyenne.  Bent, who together with his brother Charles, were very successful traders in Colorado and New Mexico ultimately ended up with three Cheyenne wives, as he followed a Cheyenne custom and married Owl Woman's two younger sisters.  Charles became Governor of New Mexico.  William Bent and Owl Woman had a large, and historically significant family, although she died when some of their children were still quite young and her sister Island became their surrogate mother.  His two Cheyenne wives ultimately abandoned him, and then he married a "mixed" Indian/European woman of age 20, when he was 60, dying the following year.

George Bent and his wife Magpie.  Bent served as an underaged cavalryman in the Confederate Army before he was captured and paroled.  Upon his return to Colorado his father sent him to live with his aunt with the Cheyenne and he was at Sand Creek when it was attacked by Colorado militia.  Ironically, a brother of his was serving with the militia as a scout.  Bent was married three times, with all of his wives being Native Americans.

All of this is noted as William Bent's marriage into a Cheyenne family worked enormously to his advantage.  At the same time, his children lived in both worlds, taking part in the Plains struggle largely on the Cheyenne side.  George Bent contributed to one of the great accounts of the period.  William Bent's marriage into a Native family was not held against him.

Native woman from Pacific Northwest.

These matches show how complicated such things can become in some ways, and how simple in others.  They were mostly men taking Native women as brides, but there are few examples at least that are the other way around.    Nonetheless, at the same time, European Americans could dismiss Native brides pretty condescendingly as well as their husbands, who ended up with the pejorative "Squaw Men".

This, then is what gives rise to the problem.  By the late 19th Century if not considerably earlier, the use of the word "squaw" could mean simply a woman of Native ethnicity, or it could be a slam on the woman herself and her entire ethnicity.  And of course, for most Native women the word was not one from their own languages and therefore only had the meanings that others from the outside attributed to it.

Cheyenne woman, 1910.

That legacy has continued on, although the word simply isn't used now, at least not without intending to convey a shocking insult.

Be that as it may, that leaves us with the over 40 place names that bear that name in Wyoming and numerous others in other states. What did those people mean?  At the time they named them, they may have simply been so acclimated to the term that they meant nothing in particular. "Squaw Creek", for example, displays an obvious intent to name a creek after an Indian woman or women, but why?  Most of the others are the same way. The odd exception may be the ones named after breasts, but then the Grand Tetons are as well, and it isn't really clear whether we should regard the nameless French trapper who termed them that as of a higher mind, for naming the mountains after breasts in general, rather than after those for women who happened to be around, or whether we ought to simply dismiss all such names as of an excessively prurient nature, which would probably be more accurate, really.

Cayuse woman, 1910.

So what to do?

Well, whatever is done, I hope they don't scrub the women out of the names.  Squaw Creeks, for example, were named after Native women for some reason. That ought to be preserved.

And beyond that, there's a terrible tendency to treat these matters, which are cosmetic, as if they really pay attention to deeper problems that face Native Americans today.  Far too often those who seek to "help" Native Americans imagine them as a people of the past, when in fact they're very much a people of the present.  Ignoring that fact does no good for them at all.

Footnotes:

*This obviously omits the Russians, who were the original colonizers of Alaska and who had a settlement as far south as California, and it unfairly lumps the English and Scottish together, even though they are seperate people and that reflected itself in early immigration to North America.

Lex Anteinternet: Juneteenth. What the new Federal Holiday Commemorates

Lex Anteinternet: Juneteenth. What the new Federal Holiday Commemor...: 

Juneteenth. What the new Federal Holiday Commemorates

Today is a Federal Holiday.  And for the first time.

Emancipation Day celebration, Richmond Virginia, 1905.

The holiday is Juneteenth.

The creation of the holiday is certainly proof that the Federal Government can in fact act quickly.  The bills on this were very recently introduced and this just passed Congress earlier this week and was signed into law yesterday, giving Federal employees the day off today. On Monday, they weren't expecting a day off.

So what is it?

The day basically celebrates the end of slavery, but in a bit of an unusual way. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on September 22, 1862.  Juneteenth, however, marks the calendar date of June 19, 1865, when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, after the end of the war, and issued proclamations voiding acts of the Texas legislature during the war and proclaiming the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation.  His General Order No. 3 was read aloud in the streets. Hence, June 19 became recognized, regionally, as the day that the Emancipation Proclamation reached the most distant outposts of the slave states, bringing slavery finally to an end.

Band for Texas Emancipation Day celebration, 1900.

Celebration of the day in Texas started almost immediately, being first observed just one year later, by the state's freed African American population.  Interestingly, the day was generally known as Emancipation Day.  However, the revival of segregation in the South in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century caused the day to suffer a decline, until it began to be revived in the 1950s.  Upon revival, the name Juneteenth began to apply to it.  It was made a state holiday in Texas in 1979.  The day received recognition in 47 of the states since then, with North and South Dakota and Hawaii being the only ones that had not up until now.

Talk of making it a Federal holiday has existed at least since the 1980s.  Generally there's been very broad support for the move, but it obviously has taken years to accomplish, if we regard 1979 as the onset.  It's interestingly been an example of states largely being out in front of the Federal Government on a holiday, and not surprisingly the various ways that states have recognized it have not been consistent.

Gen. Gordon, who brought news to African Americans in Texas that they'd been freed two years prior.

There's been next to no opposition to the holiday being created which is interesting, in part, as the current times have been very oddly polarized in all sorts of ways.  The measure had bipartisan support, although fourteen Republican members of Congress voted against it.  One interestingly voted against it as he thought the official name confusing, Juneteenth National Independence Day, which in fact it somewhat is.  That individual wanted to use the original name, Emancipation Day, which is a view I somewhat sympathize with.

It'll be interesting to see what the public reaction is given that this happened seemingly so quickly.  By and large people who are aware of it seem pleased, although Candace Owens, the African American conservative columnists and quasi gadfly, predictably wasn't.  It'll probably be next year until there's widespread national recognition of the day.

In very real ways, what it commemorates is the suffering of one of the most American of all American demographics, the African Americans, who have been in the country since its founding, but who still were the victims of legal discrimination all the way into the 1960s and whose economic plight remains marked.

Lex Anteinternet: Juneteenth

Lex Anteinternet: Juneteenth: 

Juneteenth

This passed Congress earlier this week, and was signed into law today.  Unusually, the impact is truly immediate.

For those who might not know, Juneteenth commemorates the news of the Emancipation Proclamation reaching Texas, which would have been the Confederacies most distant territorial assertion. 

Governor Gordon Responds to Federal Recognition of Juneteenth Holiday

 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Today, President Biden signed a law creating a federal holiday recognizing Juneteenth. Governor Gordon has also signed a proclamation recognizing the significance of the day, which commemorates the end of slavery, while encouraging self-development and respect for all cultures. Wyoming has recognized the Juneteenth holiday since 2003, when the state legislature passed a bill establishing the holiday on the third Saturday of the month.

Because of the President's action, Friday June 18, 2021 is a holiday for most federal employees per the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. In Wyoming the Legislature has set State Holidays. While tomorrow will not be a state holiday, the Governor will work with lawmakers to consider this option for future years. 

“Freedom is always a cause for celebration and this is a momentous day in our nation’s history. I encourage people to observe this commemoration of the full enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation, which embodies the values of all Americans,” Governor Gordon said.

--END--

Updates for April, 2021

April 8:  Girls high school softball comes to Casper.
 

August 16

1825  Wyoming's first delegate to Congress, Stephen F. Nuckolls, born in Grayson County, Virginia.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1918  Typhus Fears In Casper and salamanders in the water, August 16, 1918.

Typhus is something we don't worry much about in the United States anymore, but at one time we did.  Problems with typhus in the water supply were a frequent source of concern for Casperites early in the city's history.

And fortunately an oilfield worker was only slightly burned, and returned to work on the Muddy Field. 

1919  August 16, 1919. Steep grades for the Motor Transport Convoy, the 35 miles between Fort Bridger and Evanston Wyoming.

Evanston, Wyoming's well preserved downtown.

Mountainous terrain became the challenge this day for the Motor Transport Convoy, as it passed from Fort Bridger to Evanston Wyoming.

A 12% grade is incredibly steep.

Former Union Pacific roundhouse in Evanston, Wyoming, now a museum.

In other vehicle news, the first automobile race at the Orange County California Fair was held.

Back home, Frank Hadsell was so impressed with the recent cover photograph on the August issue of the Wyoming Stockman Farmer, he was hoping to buy fifty copies.

1920.  The first airplane to land at Kemmerer crashed into a tree during the process of landing. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

2022.  In an extremely contentious primary contest, overshadowed by the January 6 insurrection, incumbent Elizabeth Cheney lost the Republican primary to Harriet Hageman for the position of U.S. Congressman from Wyoming.

August 4

1778  The Wyoming Independent Company establishes Camp Westmoreland near Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, in the Wyoming Valley.

1876  Frank E. Lucas, the13th Governor of Wyoming upon the death of Governor William B. Ross in 1924, born in Grant City, Missouri.  Upon his defeat by Nellie Tayloe Ross, he returned to his adopted town of Buffalo and became the editor of the Buffalo Bulletin.  His term as governor was a mere matter of months in length.

1886  Doc Holliday, doing well living on an income from gambling, was arrested in Denver Colorado for not having a legal means of making a living.  This was part of a city wide crackdown on gambling.

1916   Cheyenne State Leader for August 4, 1916. The Wyoming National Guard still short of recruits.
 

The August 4, 1916 details the continued efforts to bring the Wyoming National Guard up to strength, this time with an appeal from the Governor for five recruits from every county.

2020  Mills became a city under Wyoming law.

The proclamation by Governor Gordon reflected the municipality having achieved a population in excess of 4,000 residents.  This by extension meant that Natrona County became the only county in Wyoming to have two first class cities within its boundaries.

July 21

1860  Fenimore Chatterton, born in Oswego County, New York. He was a businessman, politician and lawyer who had relocated to Sheridan and then was elected Wyoming's Secretary of State in 1898, after having served in two terms of the legislature.  The death of Governor DeForest Richards made Chatterton governor in 1903, but he was not reelected in 1905.  He resumed the practice of law thereafter.

1867 Ft. D. A. Russell established outside of Cheyenne on  Crow Creek.  It survives as an active duty military post today, now as Warren Air Force Base.

Veterinary Hospital at F. E. Warren.

1885  Owen Wister was in Medicine Bow again, this time spending the night in the corner of a store.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1890  H. G. Welch demonstrated that strawberries could be raised on the Laramie Plains, which are generally at least 7,000 feet in elevation. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1941  President Roosevelt asks Congress to extend the draft period from one year to 30 months and to make similar increases in the terms of service for the National Guard.

So much for the lyrics of one of the then popular songs:

GOODBYE DEAR, I'LL BE BACK IN A YEAR

Goodbye Dear, I'll be back in a year
'Cause I'm in the army now
They took my number right out of the hat
And there's nothing a guy can do about that

But when you get back you'll be all tanned and brown
Say, couldn't we buy that cottage right outside of town

Goodbye Dear, I'll be back in a year
Don't forget that I love you

Don't fear, Dear, I'll be here in a year
'Cause I'm true to the Army now
Ah, what a soldier, you wait and see
Why, I'll be a big gun in the artillery

Now honey, be sure and keep cozy and warm
Gee, you look cute in that new uniform:
Oh, goodbye Dear, I'll be back in a year
Don't forget that I love you

Goodbye Dear, well I'm here for a year
I'm in the Army now
But don't you worry, the General and I
Are the greatest of pals

Now, Ronnie, don't you lie
Well, he fixed it up so I could have breakfast in bed
Well, why are you peeling potatoes instead?
Oh, he's just kidding me
Good bye dear, I'll be back in a year
Don't forget that I

Don't forget that I
BOTH: Don't forget that I love you

Another versions (multiple versions in one year were common at the time):

Goodbye Dear, I'll be back in a year
'Cause I'm in the army now
They took my number out of the hat
And there's nothing a guy can do about that

But when I get back, I'll be all tanned and brown
And we'll buy that cottage just outside of town
So, goodbye Dear, I'll be back in a year
Don't forget that I love you

Goodbye Dear, I'll be back in a year
'Cause I'm in the army now
Don't I look handsome dressed up like this
Stop your cryin' and give your soldier a kiss

They may send me out to the old Philippines
But, Sweetheart, you'll still be the girl of my dreams
So, goodbye Dear, I'll be back in a year
Don't forget that I love you

1942  Big Horn County's Fair cancelled.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1952 John Barrasso born in Reading Pennsylvania.  He was appointed to the U.S. Senate after the death of Craig Thomas in 2007 and has been serving in that office since that date.

1974  The Campbell County Rockpile Museum opened.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1987  The most powerful tornado in Wyoming's history,  the Teton–Yellowstone tornado,an F4, touched down in Yellowstone National Park and left a path of destruction 1 to 2 miles wide, and 24 miles long while leveling 15,000 acres of mature pine forest.

2010  The State Code adopted by the Legislature.

Wyoming, like most states has a set of state symbols.  I think I've listed them all over time, including now this one, the most recent to be adopted.

I've generally abstained from commenting on the symbols, even though a few of them strike me as a bit odd. For example, we have a State Insect, which I don't know that we need.  But so be it.

Here, however, I can't help but comment.

The State Code I guess, is okay enough.  Here's the statute that sets it out:

 8-3-123. State code.

(a) The code of the west, as derived from the book Cowboy Ethics by James P. Owen, and summarized as follows  is the official state code of Wyoming. The code includes:

(i) Live each day with courage;

(ii) Take pride in your work;

(iii) Always finish what you start;

(iv) Do what has to be done;

(v) Be tough, but fair;

(vi) When you make a promise, keep it; 

(vii) Ride for the brand; 

(viii) Talk less, say more; 

(ix) Remember that some things are not for sale; 

(x) Know where to draw the line.

There's nothing in here in particular that I disagree with, although that "ride for the brand" item doesn't really reflect a lot of Wyoming's history very accurately.  The central conflict in the state from the 1876 to 1900 time frame really centered around individuals who started out riding for one brand, and then acquired their own brand and quit riding for the Brand No. 1.  Indeed, it might justifiably be argued that Individuals, rather than Ride For The Brand, is the true mark of a Wyomingite.

My greater problem, or perhaps irritation, with the State Code is, I suppose, similar to my comments regarding "state" authors, in that in supposedly finding a "code" that identifies us, we had to copy it from a Wall Street figure and not a Wyomingite.  The code comes from a book that Owens wrote in which he identified what he though were "Cowboy Ethics" and argued that this simple Code of the West could teach the nation something.  I'm not arguing that it couldn't, but I tend to doubt that a Wall Street figures is really capable of capturing the ethics of a class and group so very foreign to his own.

Again, as noted, having been around a lot of cowboys and rural workers, one thing I think is totally missing is that they all tend to have a high degree of independence and its not unusual at all to find actual working cowboys who switch employers a lot.  Perhaps they "ride for the brand", but often only briefly.  The "talk less, say more" item is a nice toss to a certain Gary Cooper view of the cowboy (and Gary Cooper was raised on a Montana ranch) but truth be told, being an isolated group, quite a few cowhands like to talk quite a bit, if given the opportunity to.  One Wyoming politician, the former Senator Simpson, is widely celebrated in Wyoming for his gift of gab at that, which has occasionally gotten him into trouble.  But the general list is not a bad one.  I only think it a bit sad that in order to define what our ethics are, we had to borrow them from a Wall Street figure who wrote what he thinks ours our.  It would seem that we could have defined them ourselves.

2022.  Wyoming Attorney General Bridget hill informed the Governor that nothing precluded Wyoming's "trigger law" prohibiting most abortions from going into effect following the Dobbs decision.

June 13

1866 Negotiations between US and Sioux representatives took place at Ft. Phil Kearny.  Attribution:  On This Day. 

1887  Construction on the St. Paul & Manitoba Railroad enters Wyoming.

1889  Rawlins received two feet of snow.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1891  The cemetery at Ft. Laramie relocated to Ft. McPherson Nebraska.

1917   And just when you thought border troubles with Mexico were off the front page. . .

replaced by war news from France (and today Greece). . . 

It was back.

In the form of a cross border raid by "Mexican bandit" who attached a patrol of the 8th U.S. Cavalry.

Of course the rest of the news had a focus on the war in Europe, to be sure. 

1929  A Peak in the Wind River Range was named for Senator F. E. Warren.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1944 Sixty three Japanese-Americans internees at Heart Mountain Relocation Center charged with violation of Selective Service Act.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1979  The Sioux are awarded $105,000,000 for the U.S. seizure of the Black Hills in the 19th Century.

2022  Destructive flooding destroyed roads and infrastructure inside of Yellowstone National Park. Access to the park was closed, and individuals inside the park were trapped there.

Major flooding also occured on the same day in Red Lodge, Montana.

June 12

1847  Mormon emigrants in Brigham Young's wagon train reached the Platte River near the present location of Casper.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1863  First newspaper in Wyoming published in Ft. Bridger.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1867  The 2nd Cavalry sustains a loss when a trooper is killed by Indians at Ft. Phil Kearny.

1867  Negotiations with Man Afraid of His Horses at Ft. Laramie break down over his request for ammunition.

1880  The remaining portions of Crow territory in Wyoming were ceded to the United States.

1890  The brewery in Laramie sold its first beer.  Up until Prohibition, small local breweries were extremely common in the United States.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1918  The Wyoming State Tribune: A dread occurrence in headgear. June 12, 2018.

The war raged on and the Army had authorized the "rabbit cap".

I've never heard it called that, but I know what they meant.  They meant the Garrison Cap, or Overseas Cap.  That useless piece of headgear which every soldier was afflicted with in varying degrees for decades, and which is still worn by Veterans Organizations.

World War One soldier wearing the complete assortment of wartime gear, including the garrison cap, puttees, and wartime roughout "Pershing boots".  He is carrying the M1917 Enfield Rifle, rather than the M1903.

They'll be more on this in an upcoming thread.  Probably more than one.  Suffice it to say, the cap had no real virtues other than that its flat and doesn't take up any room if you aren't wearing it.  Based on a French pattern, it sufficed for some sort of hat for men who were wearing helmets in combat, and therefore had to keep their campaign hats somewhere while at the front, which was a pain.

But it was around forever.

1920  The 1st Reg, Wyoming Cavalry, National Guard, organized.  It would become the 115th Cavalry Rgt in 1922.

Contrary to what many may expect, cavalry units in the National Guard were greatly expanded following World War One, as the National Guard became more closely aligned with the overall needs of the U.S. Army.

1921   President Harding urged every young man to attend military training camp.

1930  An earthquake collapsed a building in Grover.

2021  Mills Wyoming celebrated 100 years as a municipality in its annual Summerfest event. The anniversary was marked by speeches from the Wyoming Secretary of State, Senator Barasso, and Mayor Coleman.