How To Use This Site




How To Use This Site


This blog was updated on a daily basis for about two years, with those daily entries ceasing on December 31, 2013. The blog is still active, however, and we hope that people stopping in, who find something lacking, will add to the daily entries.

The blog still receives new posts as well, but now it receives them on items of Wyoming history. That has always been a feature of the blog, but Wyoming's history is rich and there are many items that are not fully covered here, if covered at all. Over time, we hope to remedy that.

You can obtain an entire month's listings by hitting on the appropriate month below, or an individual day by hitting on that calendar date.
Use 2013 for the search date, as that's the day regular dates were established and fixed.

Alternatively, the months are listed immediately below, with the individual days appearing backwards (oldest first).

We hope you enjoy this site.
Showing posts with label Weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weather. Show all posts

Friday, April 7, 2023

"Blizzard Largest In City's History"

So states the Tribune in a headline.

M'eh


I’m calling bull on this one.

For one thing, snow is measured at the airport, which gets pretty high winds, I might note. This is probably the largest blizzard the airport has recorded.

Folks on the mountain found and published an article from the Easter 1973 storm in which the Trib reported the mountain got "feet", as in around 10 feet, of snow.  I vaguely recall that storm.  Was it as bad as this one?  I suspect so.

Frankly, this storm just wasn't that unusual. We were just paying attention, as we aren't used to them anymore.

We may have to get used to them again.

Friday, March 24, 2017

It seemed wet

The Casper Star Tribune is reporting that:
Wyoming’s three main winter months – December through February – were the wettest in the state’s recorded history, according to the National Weather Service.
Almost 5.5 inches of precipitation fell on the state this season, breaking the previous record of 4.93 inches set in 1898.
It seemed wet, that's for sure.

And its not really over yet.

 Image may contain: outdoor

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

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.




Thursday, December 19, 2013

December 19

1866   Indians attempted to lure a detachment commanded by Captain James Powell into a trap near Ft. Phil Kearny but did not succeed.

1882  The telegraph line between Ft. McKinney and Ft. Laramie became a telephone line.  Attribution.  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1892  A subpoena was issued in the case of Subpoena, State of Wyoming vs. Frank M. Canton, et al., a criminal action following the Johnson County War.  The original is now held by Texas A&M.

1906 This photograph was taken of Pilot Knob.  The date is interesting in that Pilot Knob is quite near Ft. Phil Kearny, and December dates are significant for that reason.

1944  A ridge on Saipan was named after a Casper man.  This information is via the State Archives (from the WSHS) site.  Unfortunately, they don't give the name.

1960  Ft. Phil Kearny designated a National Historic Landmark.

1960  The Sun Ranch was designated a National Historic Landmark.

1977  Nellie Tayloe Ross died at age 101 in Washington D. C.  She was buried alongside her late husband in Cheyenne. She had not, of course, lived in Cheyenne for many years, or even for the most of her long life.  Her years in Washington were considerably longer in extent than those in Wyoming.
 Nellie Tayloe Ross on her Massachusetts' farm.

2016  A recorded gust of wind reached 88 mph on the base of Casper Mountain, a new record 14 mph higher than any previously recorded gust in that location.  Clark Wyoming reported a blast of 108 mph.  It was a very blustery day.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

December 7


Today is, by State Statute, WS 8-4-106, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.  The Statute provides:
(a) In recognition of the members of the armed forces who lost their lives and those who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, territory of Hawaii on December 7, 1941, December 7 of each year is designated as "Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day". The day shall be appropriately observed in the public schools of the state.
(b) The governor, not later than September 1 of each year, shall issue a proclamation requesting proper observance of "Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day".
(c) This section shall not affect commercial paper, the making or execution of written agreements or judicial proceedings, or authorize public schools, businesses or state and local government offices to close.
Your Recollections:  What about you?

Do you have any personal recollections about December 7, 1941?  Either first hand, or that you recall hearing from family and friends?  And, by that, not just Pearl Harbor stories, but I'd be very interested to learn of any family recollections from those at home, on that day.  Wyoming is three hours ahead of Hawaii, did your family hear it that morning, or later in the day?  Just after church, or while tuning in for a football game?  Any recollection is welcome.

_________________________________________________________________________________

I also note, at least according to an engineer who explained it to me, that December 7 is also a date involving an astronomical anomaly, that being that it is the day of the year which, in the Northern Hemisphere, features the earliest sunset.  That doesn't, of course, make it the shortest day of the year, it's just that the sunsets the earliest on this day, or so I am told.

1868  U.S. Post Office reestablished at Green River.

1890   The subject of sermon at the Rawlins Presbyterian Church was “Choosing a Husband.”

1898  Battery A, Wyoming Light Artillery, arrives in Manilla where it will serve in the Philippine Insurrection.

1909   The Natrona County Tribune reported in a story that ran this week:
"Snowed In.

"W. L. Hobbs and Dr. J. W. Padgett left Lander over seven weeks ago on a three weeks' elk hunt, and the first of last week one of their horses returned, and their friends feared that they had perished in the deep snow in the mountains, and relief parties were organized to search for them. On Sunday night Dr. Padgett was brought into Lander by a trapper, and the doctor said that Mr. Hobbs was badly snowed in near Fremont Peak, there being three to five feet of snow all over the mountains. He said that Mr. Hobbs would not leave his horses, that he had plenty to eat and was clearing small patches of ground so his horses could feed, that there was no immediate danger of either the horses or Mr. Hobbs perishing."
1910  Cornerstone laid at high school in Lander.

1916   The Cheyenne Leader for December 7, 1916: Wyoming Guard coming home before Christmas?
 

The proverbial soldier "home before Christmas" story was running in the Leader.  Would it be true?

And given the rest of the news, how long would that be true for, if it was true?
1916:  Farmer Al Falfa's Blind Pig released, December 7, 1916
 
1916 saw the release of an entire series of Farmer Al Falfa cartoons. This film was the eleventh to be released this year (there's some dispute on the date, some sources claim the release date was December 1).

The series continued all the way through 1956, making it a very successful cartoon.

This particular cartoon is not on line, and it might largely be lost, like many films of this period.

Farmer Al Falfa in Tentless Circus, a cartoon released earlier in 1916.
Farm based cartoon would make up an entire genre of cartoons for a very long time and show the curious nature of the United States in regards to its rural population.  If we look at the 1920 census, the closest to the year in question, the US was 51.2% urban.  That's really remarkable actually as it meant that the US was already a heavily urban society at the time.  It might be more telling, however, to look at the 1900 census. That would reveal that, at that time, the US was 39.6% urban and 60.4% rural.  In other words, the US had gone from having a population that was clearly majority rural in 1900 to one which was slightly majority urban by 1920.
Like a lot of things about this era, almost all of which are now unappreciated, this meant that the society was undergoing massive changes.  We like to think of our current society experiencing that, and indeed it is, but arguably the period of 1900 to 1950 saw much more rapid changes of all types, a lot of which would have been extremely distressing to anyone experiencing them.  Indeed, carrying on the US would be 56.1% urban by 1930, meaning that in a thirty year period the US had effectively gone from heavily rural to heavily urban, with the percentage effectively reversing themselves in that time period.  Indeed, while not the point of this entry, this would really call  into question the claims by folks like James Kunstler that the Great Depression was not as bad as it seems because everyone came from a farm family and had a farm to go back to.  The nation had more farm families, to be sure, during the Great Depression than now, but the nation had been rocketing  into an urban transfer during that period for a lot of reasons, a lot of which were technological in  nature.
None of which is what this entry is about. 
Rather, what we'd note is that Farmer Al Falfa is an early example of a rustic depiction of farm life for movie goers.  Cartoons were shown before movies at the time and would be for a long time.  Depictions of farmers as hicks, but somewhat sympathetic hicks, were common in cartoons throughout the this period and on into the 1950s.  That's interesting in that it was a cartoon depiction of the American duality of thought in regards to farmers.  On the one hand, as people moved from the farms into the cities, they wanted to view their new lives as more sophisticated in every way over rural life, even if that meant running down rural residents.  On the other hand, rural life remained familiar enough to the viewing audience that really rural characters were familiar to them and the depictions, even if condescending, had to be at least somewhat sympathetic.  Depictions like this would last for a long time, even if they began to change a bit by the 1940s when urbanites began to show more interest in rural life. Even at that time, however, the depictions could run side by side, as with the introduction of Ma and Pa Kettle in The Egg and I.

1917  The USS Wyoming, under sail since November 25, arrives in Scapa Flow.  Four U.S. battleships arrive at Scapa Flow taking on the role of the British Grand Fleet's Sixth Battle Squadron. These include USS Delaware (BB-28), USS Florida (BB-30), New York (BB-34), and USS Wyoming (BB-32).

1917  The United States declared war against Austria-Hungary.

 December 7, 1917. The United States Declares War On Austria Hungary
Whereas the Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Government has committed repeated acts of war against the Government and the people of the United States of America : Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That a state of war is hereby declared to exist between the United States of America and the Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Government; and that the President be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources of the Government to carry on war against the Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Government; and to bring the conflict to a successful termination all the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States.
1917   The Cheyenne State Leader. Disaster and bad decisions
 

On December 7, a date we associate with a later war, Cheyenne's residents had headline about another maritime disaster.

And they got to read about a stupid proposal., the concept of eliminating German from the high schools even though it was a popular course.

War . . . 
 
1933  Natural gas explosion at bank in Torrington kills one and injuries four

1941  US military installations were attack in Hawaii by the Imperial Japanese Navy bringing the US formally into World War Two.

It was a surprisingly warm day in Central Wyoming that fateful day.  The high was in the upper 40s, and low in the lower 20s.  Not atypical temperatures for December but certainly warmer than it can be.

Events played out like this:

0342 Hawaii Time, 0642 Mountain Standard Time:  The minesweeper USS Condor sighted a periscope and radioed the USS Ward:   "Sighted submerged submarine on westerly course, speed 9 knots.”

USS Condor

0610 Hawaii Time, 0910 Mountain Standard Time:  Japanese aircraft carriers turn into the wind and launch the first attack wave.

0645-0653:  Hawaii Time, 0945-0953 Mountain Standard Time:  The USS Ward, mostly staffed by Naval Reservists, sights and engages a Japanese mini submarine first reported by the USS Connor, sinking the submarine. The Ward reports the entire action, albeit in code, noting:  "“We have dropped depth charges upon sub operating in defensive sea area" and “We have attacked, fired upon, and dropped depth charges upon submarine operating in defensive sea area.”

 USS Ward

At this point in time, most Wyomingites would be up and enjoying the day.  A large percentage would have gone to Church for the Sunday morning and have now started the rest of their Sundays.

0702 Hawaii Time, 1002 Mountain Standard Time:    An operator at the U.S. Army's newly installed Opana Mobile Radar Station, one of six such facilities on Oahu, sights 50 aircraft hits on his radar scope, which is confirmed by his co-operator.  They call Ft. Shafter and report the sighting.

 0715 Hawaii Time, 1015 Mountain Standard Time:  USS Ward's message decoded and reported to Admiral Kimmel, who orders back to "wait for verification."

0720 Hawaii Time, 1020 Mountain Standard Time:  U.S. Army lieutenant at Ft. Shafter reviews radar operator's message and believes the message to apply to a flight of B-17s which are known to be in bound from Califorina.  He orders that the message is not to be worried about.

0733 Hawaii Time, 1033 Mountain Standard Time, 1233 Eastern Time:  Gen. George Marshall issues a warning order to Gen. Short that hostilities many be imminent, but due to atmospheric conditions, it has to go by telegraph rather than radio.  It was not routed to go as a priority and would only arrive after the attack was well underway.

0749  Hawaii Time, 1049 Mountain Standard Time:  Japanese Air-attack commander Mitsuo Fuchida looks down on Pearl Harbor and observes that the US carriers are absent.  He orders his telegraph operator to tap out to, to, to: signalling "attack" and then: to ra, to ra, to ra: attack, surprise achieved.  This is interpreted as some as Tora, Tora, Tora, "tiger, tiger, tiger" which it was not.  Those who heard that sometimes interpreted to be indicative of the Japanese phrase; "A tiger goes out 1,000 ri and returns without fail.” 

0755 Hawaii Time, 1055 Mountain Standard Time:  Commander Logan C. Ramsey, at the Command Center on Ford Island, looks out a window to see a low-flying plane he believes to be a reckless and improperly acting U.S. aircraft.  He then notices “something black fall out of that plane” and realizes instantly an air raid is in progress.  He orders telegraph operators to send out an uncoded message to every ship and the base that: "AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NOT DRILL"

0800 Hawaii time, 11:00 Mountain Standard Time.  B-17s which were to be stationed at Oahu begin to land, right in the midst of the Japanese air raid.

0810  Hawaii Time, 11:10 Mountain Standard Time.  The USS Arizona fatally hit.

 USS Arizona

0817 Hawaii Time:  11:17 Mountain Standard Time.  The USS Helm notices a submarine ensnared in the the antisubmarine net and engages it.  It submerges but this partially floods the submarine, which must be abandoned.

 USS Helm

0839  Hawaii Time.  1139  Mountain Standard Time. The USS Monaghan, attempting to get out of the harbor, spotted another miniature submarine and rammed and depth charged it.

 USS Monaghan

0850 Hawaii Time.  11:50 Mountain Standard Time.  The USS Nevada, with her steam now up, heads for open water.  It wouldn't make it and it was intentionally run aground to avoid it being sunk.

USS Nevada

0854  Hawaii Time.  1150 Mountain Standard Time.  The Japanese second wave hits.

0929 Hawaii Time.  1229 Mountain Standard Time.  NBC interrupts regular programming to announce that Pearl Harbor was being attacked.

0930  Hawaii Time.  1230  Mountain Standard Time.  CBS interrupts regular programming to announce that Pearl Harbor was being attacked.

0930 Hawaii Time.  1230 Mountain Standard Time.  The bow of the USS Shaw, a destroyer, is blown off.  The ship would be repaired and used in the war.

 Explosion on the Shaw.

0938 Hawaii Time, 1238 Mountain Standard Time.  CBS erroneously announces that Manila was being attacked.  It wasn't far off, however, as the Philippines would be attacked that day (December 8 given the International Date Line).

10:00 Hawaii Time, 13:00 Mountain Standard Time

The USS West Virginia at Pearl Harbor on this day.

1300 Hawaii Time.  1600 Mountain Standard Time.  Japanese task forces begins to turn towards Japan.

A third wave was by the Japanese debated, but not launched.

Wyoming is three hours ahead of Hawaii (less than I'd have guessed) making the local time here about 10:30 a.m. on that Sunday morning when the attack started..  The national radio networks began to interrupt their programming about 12:30.  On NBC the announcement fell between Sammy Kaye's Sunday Serenade and the University of Chicago Round Table, which was featuring a program on Canada at war.  On NBC the day's episode of Great Plays was interrupted for their announcement. CBS had just begun to broadcast The World Today which actually  headlined with their announcement fairly seamlessly.

2010  Lighting ceremony held in Washington D.C. for the Capitol Christmas Tree, which this year came from  the Bridger Teton National Forest.

Monday, November 11, 2013

November 11. Veterans Day

Today is Veterans Day in the United States.

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada, and similar holidays in many other countries.


Today is also Polish Independence Day, commemorating the restoration of Polish independence on this day in 1918.
Today is also the Memorial of St. Martin of Tours, 316-397, the Patron Saint of Horsemen.

St. Martin, it should be noted, had been a Roman officer, albeit a reluctant one, who took up that position due to the insistence of his family.  He's famously depicted on horseback, giving his cloak to a naked figure he encountered en route.  He left the Roman military to become a priest, and ultimately became a Bishop.

St. Martin's feast day used to be celebrated in Poland in a manner which included baking horseshoe cookies "for his horse".  The recipe:

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats, uncooked
Makes three dozen cookies.

Cream butter or margarine; add sugar gradually while continuing to cream; beat until fluffy. Stir in vanilla, flour, and salt. Blend in rolled oats. Roll out about 1/4 inch thick on lightly floured board. Cut in strips 6 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. On ungreased cookie sheets shape strips to resemble horseshoes. Bake at 325° for 20 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

1620 Pilgrims execute the Mayflower Compact, one of the founding charters of American democracy.

The original document has not survived, but several early copies have.  There are slight differences in spelling and punctuation, but basically the text reads as follows:
In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, defender of the Faith, etc.
Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic; for our better ordering, and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.
In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, 1620.[

1817  Francisco Xavier Mina and 25 compatriots executed at Fort San Gregorio for insurrection.

1864  The Lincoln Mining District, the first mining district near South Pass, organized. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1865  The U.S. Army renamed Fort Connor to Fort Reno in honor of Major General Jesse L. Reno.

1886  George W. Baxter assumes the office of Territorial Governor.  He resigned on December 20 of the same year.  Given his very brief stint as Territorial Governor, questions would have to be raised as to whether or not he wanted the job, or simply agreed to take it at the request of President Cleveland, who was then in office and who had removed F. E. Warren.

On the same day, Francis E. Warren stepped down as Territorial Governor at the request of President Cleveland.   Questions regarding dealings with a Cheyenne Wyoming businessman caused his resignation, but his reputation would prove intact, and he would resume the position in 1889, and keep it until 1890 when became Wyoming's first elected State Governor.  He went on to become a US Senator from November 1890 until 1893, and then again until his death on November 24, 1929.  He was John J. Pershing's father in law.

1890  The Wyoming Supreme Court meets for the first time.

1918  On this day, Ninety years ago, World War One ended.  The Armistice became effective at 11:00.  Since hostilities had commenced in 1914, 9,000,000 soldiers had died in action, 21,000,000 had been wounded, and many additional soldiers civilians had died due to the direct and indirect consequences of the war, not the least of which was the unleashing of the Spanish Flu in military camp conditions, which would claim more lives than combat had.  The German, Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires had been destroyed with no real ability for a successful popular democratic ideal to take root in those nations, which fell into turmoil.  Communism and similar movements, previously occupying the fringe of the Socialist left, filled in the vacuum resulting in violent revolution in various localities including Russia and Germany, achieving power in Russia and failing to do so in Germany, which was none the less left in turmoil.  New nations, such as Poland, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia were born, or resumed their positions on the map after having not had them for centuries.  The German Imperial Army, refusing to go down with the Kaiser, had effectively arranged for his surrender of power and fully assumed the status of a power unto itself, with grave consequences for the future.  Japan, ascendant since the late 19th Century, had seized territory in the East as an Allied power.  Ireland had gone into revolution over the issue of conscription, and the UK was left with a guerrilla war in Ireland.  The Ottoman Empire had collapsed and Turkey was born, with the war against Turkey still going on.  The former Ottoman possession in the Middle East were now European territories.  The United States, which had sat on the fence of world power status for decades, briefly assumed that role, and then retreated from it. The Dominions of Canada and Australia had entered the war as confirmed dominions and left it much more independent nations.  In spite of the inconclusive results, to some extent, and the views later  held in later eras, the war was regarded as worthwhile and a victory in the English speaking world at this time.

In Wyoming, World War One had caused a very significant economic boom which very much predated the US entry into the war.  Starting in 1914, British Remount agents scoured the United States for suitable military horses, purchasing thousands, and causing a horse boom in Wyoming which lasted throughout the war, as the US later began to do the same.  Cattle prices also rose as the demand for meat rose due to the war.  Homesteading received its last great boom, which would peak in 1919, the last year that the American farmer achieved economic parity with the urban middle class.

Oil exploration massively accelerated during the wear, causing towns like Casper to boom, and which resulted in Casper's first "sky scraper", the Oil Exchange Building, now the Consolidated Royalty Building.  



The boom would not last, and an economic recession began to set in during 1919.  This is further examined in our companion site, Lex Anteinternet.


The day became a holiday in many countries following World War One, and is recalled today under a variety of names.  It is a Federal holiday in the Unites States, being known as Veterans' Day, having come to honor American veterans of all wars.

Some poetry from the last war to inspire a fair amount of important poetry, but which speaks to all wars.

In Memoriam

by Ewart Alan Mackintosh (who himself was killed in action).

(Private D Sutherland killed in action in the German trenches, 16 May 1916, and the others who died.)

So you were David's father,
And he was your only son,
And the new-cut peats are rotting
And the work is left undone,
Because of an old man weeping,
Just an old man in pain,
For David, his son David,
That will not come again.

Oh, the letters he wrote you,
And I can see them still,
Not a word of the fighting,
But just the sheep on the hill
And how you should get the crops in
Ere the year get stormier,
And the Bosches have got his body,
And I was his officer.

You were only David's father,
But I had fifty sons
When we went up in the evening
Under the arch of the guns,
And we came back at twilight -
O God! I heard them call
To me for help and pity
That could not help at all.

Oh, never will I forget you,
My men that trusted me,
More my sons than your fathers',
For they could only see
The little helpless babies
And the young men in their pride.
They could not see you dying,
And hold you while you died.

Happy and young and gallant,
They saw their first-born go,
But not the strong limbs broken
And the beautiful men brought low,
The piteous writhing bodies,
They screamed 'Don't leave me, sir',
For they were only your fathers
But I was your officer.

And my favorite, In Flanders Fields, by Canadian John McCrae, who died of the Influenza Epidemic during the war, while serving in France.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

World War One Ends. November 11, 1918, 1100 (0400 MST).


"To Our Hero's".  Cemetery Wall in Paris, France.  France's contribution to the Allied victory in World War One surpasses that of any other Allied nation. . .something you'd sometimes not realize if you only read the English language accounts of the war.  MKTH photograph.

On this date in 1918, the Great War came to an end.*




Usually such posts are highly retrospective, and I suppose this one will be to a degree, but not in the "oh what a terrible waste" fashion that so many of them are.  The "Oh, What A Lovely War" view of the war popularized by the posthumous post World War Two publication of Siegfried Sassoon's poetry is largely baloney.**  In reality, the view taken earlier, that Germany was a horrible world menace on the European stage ruled by its military and a few autocrats who cared little about the rivers of blood they were spilling in order to impose Germany's imperial will on Europe is much closer to reality.


Indeed, its telling that in order to being the peace about, it had to occur in the context of a German revolution.  That revolution threatened for a time to make former Imperial Germany into a communist Soviet state, and put the new provisional government in the position of having to put down a left wing revolution.  That alignment, and the unrepentant view of Germany's hard right and its military would guaranty a second war, not the supposedly "harsh" terms of the Versailles Treaty.  A hard won victory, therefore, would not bring lasting peace, but that too really isn't for the reasons so often cited.



Indeed, had the provisions of the Versailles Treaty been more strictly enforced, World War Two would not have come about.  And had the conditions of the treaty been arrived upon more quickly, when Germans had no choice but to admit that they'd been fully defeated on the battlefield and the revolution only saved Germany from the Allies entering German soil in action, as they did in 1945, the excuse that the treaty became would not have occurred.  And the treaty did become a German excuse, and the "stabbed in the back" myth would arise, but more than anything it was the smashing of the Old Order that brought about the second war.



But was the collapse of the imperial order in nations that had not moved sufficiently towards democratic rule as populations moved from rural peasantry towards industrial laborers that really created the mess that would result in World War Two.



Almost every European nation had faced this in some fashion, but some had handled it much better.  Nations like Germany, Austro Hungaria, and Russia, however, had not.  Indeed, they'd not only failed to accommodate the new world of a more educated working class, but in Germany's case they'd actually arrived upon an autocratic imperial state late.  Nations like France and Germany, in contrast, had moved more and more towards real democratic rule much earlier, and therefore the forces that would gather in the vacuum of the demise of the Old Order would not impact them in the same degree, or indeed in the democratic UK, at all.


In nations like Germany, Russia and (for WWI Allied) Japan, however, the demise of the Old Order would create a vacuum that would be filled by a vicious extreme forces, communistic or fascistic in nature, that opposed democratic rule and glorified martial violence.  In some places those forces would oppose any hint at restoring the Old Order, as in Russia, in others they'd co-opt elements of it, as in Italy.  In all such places, the result was to bring about disaster in every form.


When that war came, much of what the world had become acclimated to in the First World War would play out in horrific fashion.  And much of that can be blamed on Germany, which had often acted just as barbarously in the Great War as they were to act in World War Two.

Germany had in large measure brought that defeat in the Great War upon itself.  While people like to look back for some reason and imagine the Germany military of World War One and World War Two as hyper competent, quite the opposite was often true.  While the Spring 1918 offensive was absolutely brilliant, Germany's dithering with the collapse of Russia guaranteed that a million men it desperately need on the Western Front would not be available.  If Germany was stabbed in the back, it's own autocratic class and military leadership did the stabbing, as Germany set about advancing in a country it had already defeated and had helped push into civil war.  It acted as if it had won the war, when in fact it had not.

Officers of the newly crated Third Army which was formed in France too late to see combat, but which would go on to occupation duty in Germany.

Of course the arms of the Western Allies cannot be ignored in that role. The ability of the British to rebound in the face of the 1918 offensive was magnificent, even if the common British view that they seemingly won the war on their own is exaggerated.  The long suffering French deserve huge credit for the defense of their own country and carrying the war through to the end, which included the contribution of Marshall Foch whose coordinating the efforts of the Allies was a monumentally difficult task.

Drafted inductees into the U.S. Army, Los Angeles California, November 11, 1918. The U.S. continued to draft right up until the end of the war.  I don't know what happened to men brought in this late.

And the US deserves much more credit than it is typically given by non American historians even if its military leadership deserves much more criticism than American ones will give it.  The surprising ability of the U.S. to create a 4,000,000 man Army in just over a year's time, and to deploy 2,000,000 of them to France (and Italy) was a stunning achievement.  The individual fighting qualities of the American soldier were also hugely impressive, although much of that was due to the soldier being very green and, frankly, poorly lead.

Paris crowd, November 11, 1918.

The U.S. Army, in fact, was committed to action in a manner that was to prove wasteful of lives as the American leadership persisted in the belief that there were no lessons to be learned from the Allies.  The American effort was only able to get away with this as the Army was thrown into action at a time when massive force was likely to prevail against the Germans, even if it proved to be hugely costly.  Indeed, real questions should be raised as to why the American leadership continued to persist in this fashion when even the very early efforts demonstrated how bloody such actions would be, even if the American willingness to endure the bloodshed, much like the Union's willingness to endure it in the latter half of the Civil War, guaranteed that an Allied victory would occur.***

American Red Cross works gathering in London for a parade, November 11, 1918, in honor of the war's end.

And it did so bring it about, even if it did not do so single-handedly.  That sacrifice should not be forgotten.

_________________________________________________________________________________

*Before anyone points it out, yes I know that a state of war continued on until the execution of the Versailles Treaty, or even later if you consider that the US had to declare the war to be over unilaterally after the U.S. refused to enter into the treaty.  Indeed, I've already been "corrected" on that once.

Well, whatever, but the war ended on this day. Germany wasn't going back to fighting under any circumstances, and couldn't, after entering into the Armistice on this day.

**The morose British war poet view of the war is largely a post World War Two view of it that reflects more than anything the state of the British mind following World War Two, which left Britain with an empire that it obviously was going to leave and with an utterly wrecked economy.

***The U.S. Navy, on the other hand, was really effectively commanded in the Great War and contributed enormously to a reduction of the effectiveness of German submarines.  It's role, however, is largely forgotten.

Postscript

This day is also marked as Polish independence day, although it would be just as easy to pick a date several weeks earlier and indeed would perhaps be more accurate as various Polish political bodies had declared independence from Russia and Germany by this time.

There are several sad deaths often noted about the day.  Augustin Trebuchon was the last French soldier to die in the war.  He was 40 years old and had joined the French Army in August, 1914.  A shepherd by trade, he'd fought the entire war.  He had occupied the role of messenger throughout the war and knew that an agreement had been signed even when his unit went into action that morning, committed to an attack even with the knowledge that peace was likely to be soon agreed upon.  That battle went on until 6:00 p.m., a good seven hours after the armistice had been signed, when the unit received word that the fighting had ended.  French officials originally recorded his death as November 10, as they were embarrassed to admit that they had been fighting when peace was imminent.

George Lawrence Price was the last Canadian soldier killed.  The 25 year old private originally from Nova Scotia was killed in a small unit action by a German sniper when they were reconnoitering some Belgian houses and discovered German machinegunners.  He'd come into the Canadian army as a conscript the prior year, having been conscripted from his then home in Saskatchewan.

Private George Edwin Ellison was the last British soldier killed.  The British cavalryman, age 40, had served for a time as a per war soldier and had been recalled into his old unit, the 5th Royal Irish Lancers, in 1914.

Charles I, the Austro Hungarian Emperor, announced he would give up the Austrian crown.  He would do the same in regards to Hungary two days later.  He never actually abdicated in hopes he'd be recalled.  He wasn't.

Counter campaigns against Dutch socialist occured in the Hague.

British, Canadian and American troops, numbering about 600, engaged with a Red Army force of 2,500 at Tulgas, where the Armistice had no effect.  About 1/2 the force were Americans.  The combined unit had been attacked but after two days launched an Assault, 20th Maine at Gettysburg style, and drove the much larger Red unit back.  Red Army casualties nearly exceeded the number of men total in the Allied force.

1919  Armistice Day, 1919.
Today was the first Armistice Day, now converted into Veteran's Day, in U.S. history.  It came, of course, one year after the Armistice that had brought about an end to the fighting on the Western front in November, 1918.

Plans had been made in advance to celebrate the day, which of course was celebrated around the country.


In Central Wyoming the day's events were muted by the arrival of snow.


Which makes the day in 2019 a nice bookend.  Snow again.

In Washington, the Prince of Wales was visiting and marked the day, which was likewise being celebrated in English speaking countries around the world.



1921 Warren G. Harding dedicated the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.


On this day in 1921 the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was dedicated in Arlington National Cemetery.  I noted that on our companion blog, Today In Wyoming's History, quite some time ago, but the photo below, of Chief Plenty Coups, whom I discussed on November 8, is a new addition here.



Also noting the tragedy of the Great War, today was the first day in which the Royal British Legion sold poppies in remembrance of the war.  This tradition still goes on in the United Kingdom and also in Canada.  When I was a kid, it occurred here in the form of artificial "bloody poppies" that were sold by one of the two veterans organizations, although I forget which one  I dimly recall it was the VFW, but I could be in error.

Harding gave a speech, as noted, at the event, which was transmitted nationwide by telephone wires by AT&T.

A photographer played with black and while film to capture this image at 10:30 that evening.


The war with Germany officially ended on this day, not coincidentally, as the US and Weimar Germany officially recognized the peace.   Germany also was reaching out to the Soviet Union with the formation of Deruluft, a joint German Russian airline.  It operated until 1937.

The New York Bible Society presented a bible to the conference meeting in Washington on arms limitation.


1924  George Carr Frison, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Wyoming born in Worland Wyoming.

1926  Plans for U.S. Highway 30, replacing the Lincoln Highway but generally along the same route, finalized.

1930  Clarence Don Clark, Wyoming's U.S. Congressman from 1890 to 1893, and US Senator from Wyoming from 1895 to 1917, died. 
 

1940  Willys introduces their variant of the Jeep for the Army's competition for a light 4x4 vehicle.  The very unstable dangerous little 4x4 car would enter into civilian production post war as the CJ2, the first really light commercially offered 4x4 truck (and a highly dangerous one).  4x4s would feature prominently in a revolution in accessibility to the Wyoming back-country post World War Two.

 https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh61ptc3-_y4h_D1yjF4LscPoLaFRD6GdGE4Hr_oWOVVWX4P3yrzso5On9df_kB67tJFLfxxBoAbpm-FJYeu6Fe6xHdYXw1M45vHk1CnFr63XAaZQtdIQ98bKqDm5QVGIBo3X4xNIpR58Q/s1600/1-22-2012_005.JPG
1958 M38A1, the military version of the same Jeep that was known as the CJ5.

1940  Here's an unusual item, although not a Wyoming one, that shows us, in part, how much things have changed even in regards to weather reports. We're so used to relatively accurate ones now, we don't recall the days when the weather was often a real surprise.  We should note that this winter event did stretch out across the plains to Wyoming, even though it didn't have the devastating impact here that it did in Iowa.

Iowa's 1940 Armistice Day blizzard.

 Image


1942 Congress lowered the age of conscription to 18 and raised the upper limit to age 37.

1943  The Commander of the Prisoner of War Camp in Douglas announced that 1,000 Italians held at the camp would be helping with the fall harvest. Given the timing of the announcement, it would have to be presumed that the harvest was well underway at the time.  As Douglas itself is not in a farming belt, it would be interesting to know where the POWs actually went, and how they were housed.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

Thursday, November 11, 1943. Armistace Day.

It was Armistice Day for 1943.

Japanese American Girl Scouts walking in front of barracks and carrying American flags while incarcerated at Heart Mountain concentration camp, Wyoming, 11/11/43.

1950  A DC-3 belonging to a religious missionary organization hit Mount Moran in dense cloud cover, killing all 21 people on board.  The impact was nearly direct, and nothing from the plane could be recovered, including the bodies of the victims, all of whom remain on Mount Moran.

1954  November 11 designated as Veterans Day to honor veterans of all U.S. wars.  This was due in part to the efforts of Alvin J. King of Emporia Kansas.

Friday, November 1, 2013

November 1


1620 Mayflower Compact signed, albeit by a minority of those who traveled over.

1835 Texans begin siege of San Antonio.

1866  William J. Fetterman arrives at Ft. Phil Kearney.

1886  First snowfall of what would prove to be a disastrous winter. Attribution.  Wyoming State Archives.

1904     Army War College opens, with Capt. John J. Pershing in the first class.  Pershing's father in law was U.S. Sen. Francis E. Warren of Cheyenne.

1911  The Wyoming General Hospital opens in Casper, Wyoming.  The hospital remains open today, in different quarters, as the Wyoming Medical Center.

1916   The Laramie Republican for November 1, 1916: Villa again, and the Marina
 

Similar news to that of the Wyoming Tribune, but less dramatic.
The Wyoming Tribune for November 1, 1916. Villa resurgant, land sales questioned
 

By this date in 1916, it looked to be the case that Villa, who had been down and out just this past March, was resurgent.

And the sale of public land was being questioned.

And of course the drama and tragedy of World War One continued on.

1919  A contingent of the 15th Cavalry under the command of Major Warren Dean arrived at Ft. Mackenzie from Ft. D. A. Russell in order to deal with labor strife at Carneyville, near Sheridan.

Today In Wyoming's History: November 1, 1919: Labor Strike and Reaction visits Wyoming.

On this day in 1919.
Today In Wyoming's History: November 1
1919  A contingent of the 15th Cavalry under the command of Major Warren Dean arrived at Ft. Mackenzie from Ft. D. A. Russell in order to deal with labor strife at Carneyville, near Sheridan.
It was a year for labor strife, and that strife was looking like it was going to visit Wyoming.  The strike itself was a nationwide coal strike.

At the time, a coal strike threatened the entire nation's well being. Everything from industry to home heat depended on coal.  And coal was a significant industry in Wyoming then, as now.

That other significant industry in the state in 1919, agriculture, celebrated the outdoor life in its December 1919 issue.


What was being shown on the cover wasn't really a very good idea.

1940  The 115th Cavalry Regiment, Wyoming National Guard, re-designated the115th Cavalry Regiment (Horse Mechanized).  The change in designation came about as a reflection in a de facto change in the TOE of the unit, which was made into a new category in the Army.  Horse Mechanized was a late horse cavalry era effort to incorporate motorization within the horse mounted units. While no horse mechanized unit ever saw action in the U.S. Army during World War Two, the concept was not far from what was actually employed by the Soviet Union during the war.

The 115th Cavalry had a very good reputation early in its mobilization period, and was highly praised by Lucien Truscott, the World War Two general, in his book Twilight of the Cavalry.

1943  The War Housing Administration met with residents of Green  River about upcoming housing projects.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1957  A blizzard featuring ice storms, a relatively rare event in Wyoming, commenced.

1995  A major winter storm closed highways.

2000 A blizzard in northeastern Wyoming brought down power lines in the area.