Who Came First?

Posted on October 15, 2019 by admin

Remember this little ditty?

In fourteen hundred ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

He had three ships and left from Spain;
He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain.

He sailed by night; he sailed by day;
He used the stars to find his way.

Ninety sailors were on board;
Some men worked while others snored.

Day after day they looked for land;
They dreamed of trees and rocks and sand.

On October 12 their dream came true,
You never saw a happier crew!

The first American? No, not quite.
But Columbus was brave, and he was bright.

The first Europeans to arrive in North America – at least the first for whom there is solid evidence – were Norse. Traveling west from Greenland, where they founded a settlement around the year 985. By 1001 some of the Viking sailors were in what is now Canada and spent at least one winter there. (photo: historyhit.com)

Fourteen hundred ninety-two was a long time after the 6th century Irish monks made a currach of wood frames covered with animal skins and set sail following the sun to the west. Legend tells us they arrived in what is today Iceland, but no substantial proof has ever been made.

Four centuries later Vikings, leaving well-documented evidence landed at Vinland, or Newfoundland, settled for ten years, grew grapes, and enjoyed life until natives ran them off. The Vikings sailed in uniquely shaped crafts up and down the Atlantic Coast. Amateur historians claim Chinese explorers arrived on the same coast in the 15th century. The route and legend are somewhat sketchy.

However, we know that Columbus, sailing for the Spanish king and queen, set off a stampede of sailors and explorers. The arrival of these men from Europe began what is known as the Eurocentric concept. In doing so, 90% of the native population died quickly of European diseases and European firearms. Those people who greeted Columbus were descendants of those who had occupied the North American continent for at least 20,000 years.

News of Columbus’ find spread throughout Europe. Juan de Ponce de Leon arrived in what is now the northeast corner of Florida to claim St. Augustine for Spain. De Leon came seeking the Fountain of Youth. By 1513, some fifty-two years later Pedro Menendez and 2000 other Spaniards set out to settle on the site of the special fountain. When the armada docked in Hispaniola, some 500 members abandoned ship before arriving at their destination. The ships were loaded with about 1,000 soldiers, 200 sailors, 100 wives, 150 children; most of whom decided that Hispaniola was the best spot for them.

In 1586 Sir Francis Drake sacked the port at San Augustine. In 1672 it was still standing and later fell into the hands of Great Britain. Spain again claimed St. Augustine briefly before ceding it to the United States two hundred years agi. Do you realize that all of this occurred before the British landed at Jamestown in 1607, even earlier than the Pilgrims in 1620? So, while we are enjoying turkey and dressing next month, remember the vast numbers of explorers, conquerors, and a few settlers who came before us. While some were definitely not saints, they all helped make what our country is today.

Give a cheer for old Christopher Columbus and his crew this weekend.

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Wheatville, Home of a National Politician

Posted on October 6, 2019 by admin
John Levi Sheppard, son of Confederate captain who lost his life in the Civil War. John Levi became a lawyer, District Attorney, and District Judge before winning the seat in the U. S. House of Representative for the 4th Congressional District of Texas. He was the father and mentor of his son Morris Sheppard, who spent ten years in the House and twenty-eight years in the U. S. Senate. (Wikipedia)

The small Cass County town of Wheatville was first settled in 1852. At some time, the citizens picked up, moved three or four miles down the road to become Naples.

Rev. Sam Morris arrived in town from Alabama. Evidence leads to the good reverend being a Methodist, but no concrete proof is available. About the same time, his son-in-law W. B. Sheppard also arrived from the same county in Alabama. Sheppard helped raised two units of Confederate volunteers; many never returned, including Sheppard. The daughter of Rev. Morris was W. B. Sheppard’s widow.

Her oldest son John Levi Sheppard took a great interest in his own children, probably as a result of being orphaned as a lad. While reading law, John taught his oldest son Morris Sheppard to read and write before he entered school. It is reported young Morris read the entire New Testament before age six. Morris was noted for powerful speeches and beautiful poems.

John Levi was admitted to the Texas bar in 1879. By 1882 he was District Attorney in the Fifth Judicial District. Six years later he came a District judge and active in the Texas Democratic party. John Levi was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1898.

While John Levi was still in Texas, he made sure that son Morris attended schools in East Texas towns of Pittsburg, Daingerfield, Cumby, and Linden. Since there was no public supported education in Texas at this time, all of the above towns had quality private schools.

As a young man, Morris Sheppard completed both a baccalaureate and law degree at the University of Texas in Austin. He would attain a Master of Laws degree from Yale Univeristy in 1898. It was at Yale that Morris made an iron-clad oath to himself. He would not imbibe in alcohol, coffee, or tea; and would try to convince others of such a path.

Once out of Yale, Morris returned to the largest city in that part of East Texas. He practiced law in his father’s firm in Texarkana, Texas. His father died in 1902 after a long bout of Bright’s Disease.

Once he won the seat in the House of Representatives, Morris began a decade-long career from Texas’ Fourth Congressional District. He soon won the reputation as one of the most entertaining public speakers of his era. Many politicians asked him to speak during an election campaign.

In 1912, Texas was without a senator for the term beginning in 1913. Those in the House of Representatives were elected by their district according to the U. S. Constitution, but not so for senators who were chosen by their current state legislature. Morris won the election, moved to Washington where he remained until 1941, one of the longest continual U. S. senators in history.

Morris Sheppard was a Progressive Democrat who served under Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was an ardent supporter of women’s suffrage, served on such Senate committees as agriculture, forestry, commerce, and immigration. He was in the group of diplomats that visited Germany before Chamberlain signed off on the agreement with Hitler to give Czechoslovakia to the Nazis. His report of the Luftwaffe’s strength helped start a modernization of our Army Air Corps.

But Morris Sheppard is best remembered for the 18th Amendment, the one that outlawed alcohol. He became known as the Father of Prohibition. Senator Morris Sheppard died of a brain hemorrhage while in office in 1941.

Little Wheatville produced a giant politician in Sheppard.

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Frontier Life Was Hard

Posted on September 29, 2019 by admin
David C. Nance was a true pioneer. Helping his family establish a home in Dallas County, Nance used what spare time he found to learn to read and write. Surviving the Civil War, he made his way back to the farm he loved. He remained there until his death in 1925. (Photo from Dallas Gateway)

The nine-year-old boy and his family arrived on their new farm in the southwest corner of Dallas County in 1852. It became his home, his life, and his love for the next eighty-two years. When they arrived bears, panthers, wildcats, and foxes along with buffalo and nomadic Native Americans were the norm.

Quickly the boy learned the dangers of living on the periphery of civilization. He was the oldest child, his father was in poor health, so the boy took charge of much of the hard work on the farm. He learned how to plow, cut and haul cedar logs for fences with ox teams. The normal day began with sunrise or earlier. He shucked and shelled a large bucket full of corn for the family breakfast. As his mother cooked, he fed the sheep. When boy and sheep were finished, the boy turned the sheep and cattle out with the dogs and followed them to the open prairie to graze. Around mid-day the boy ate the small lunch his mother sent with him. Just before sunset, the boy and his stock headed home before another day just like the one they had.

From the time the family arrived in Dallas County, the boy’s life was spent caring for sheep and cattle, growing the crops, adding acreage to the farm, and building and adding onto the house. With some help from his father, mother and younger siblings the family found little time or chances for recreation.

Like many youngsters of that era, the son learned to read and write from his father and by teaching himself. Occasionally he had the opportunity to attend a “pay” school. In Texas at that time, there were no state-supported schools. Itinerate teachers began a school wherever they found four or five children whose parents would and could pay the meager tuition.

To pay his way, this young lad made essential household items, such as buckets, churns, and wash tubs from local cedar trees to sell to neighbors. With his hard-earned money he paid tuition and bought books. His favorite book was the Bible. In later years he confessed he never read fiction. I applaud him for that choice.

In September 1861, countless young men with just itching to join the Army; the Confederate Army in Texas. The young man enlisted in the 12th Texas Cavalry. And his adventures in the war indicate how special he was. He was wounded three times at the Battle of Cache River in Arkansas, survived an explosion in a gunpowder manufacturing plant, and received two more wounds in Nathanial Banks’ Red River Campaign. Fortunately, he survived all his trauma.

David Carey Nance (1843-1925) lived a long and useful life. He died peacefully on his farm in Dallas County in the summer of 1925. This version of his story that he wrote in 1924-1925 is from Texas, The Dark Corner of the Confederacy; Contemporary Accounts of the Lone Star State in the Civil War, edited by B. P. Gallaway.

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Going Through Customs and Immigration in Philadelphia

Posted on September 22, 2019 by admin
“Travel once the emigrants reached Philadelphia or other ports in the 18th century. (en.m.wikipedia.org)”

On September 16, 1751 Captain Coatam from Rotterdam sailed the vessel Nancy into Philadelphia harbor. All males of the age of majority were escorted by British soldiers to the State House. The group of some seventy-five men became British citizens before walking back to the ship to collect personal goods and family members before beginning a new life. Aboard was Christian Nagel, a tailor from Doffngen, Wurttemberg, Germany. Nagel and his second wife Anna left Germany with their four children. Daughter Christine died on the voyage and was buried at sea. Christian lived only eighteen months longer.

Three years later Christian Nagel’s son Gottlieb Nagel arrived in Philadelphia on the vessel Barclay on September 14, 1754. Gottlieb, too, went through the immigration procedure at the Philadelphia State House. Both men swore allegiance to King George II of England. Ironically, George II was a member of the Hanover Dynasty from Germany. According to legend, George II could not speak English, although he ruled from the British throne in London.

Gottlieb spent the next twenty years in Pennsylvania where he married and started a family. By 1774 the family moved down the Great Wagon Road to Mecklenburg, now North Carolina. Gottlieb and his family relocated to Rowan County in 1778. At that time, he changed his name to Caleb Nail, much more Anglicized. He received a land grant of 127 acres on Bear Creek in Rowan County. Gottlieb/Caleb served in Captain Pearson’s company and attended the Old Heidelberg Lutheran Church as late as 1793. Gottlieb/Caleb died intestate on May 6, 1794. Son John was appointed administrator of his estate.

The Nail family came to America from an area of Germany that straddled the Rhine River, an extremely fertile farming region coveted by France and other European countries. The residents were known as Palatines, some of the best farmers in the world. But warring nations and continual fighting forced countless Palatines to emigrate to William Penn’s Province of Pennsylvania, where they were welcomed with open arms.

After Gottlieb/Caleb died, two of his sons migrated to northeast Indiana where a group of Swiss and Germans congregated. Over the years the families migrated southwesterly. From Indiana they found their way to Illinois around the vicinity of Alton on the Mississippi River. After the Civil War they tried farming in Missouri and Indian Territory before arriving in Montague County, Texas. Along the way, members of the family married and changed names, found spots they wanted to make their homes, or continued on the migration trail.

If you haven’t guessed, this is one of my ancestral families. Yet, the Nagel/Nails through to the Hardy family have a uniqueness I found nowhere else. I must admit that I have not completely found all of my ancestors, but the descendants of Christian Nagel are the only ones who had to swear allegiance to the King of England. As far as I know, everyone else were either English, Scots or Irish. At the time of their arrival the American Colonies were part of Great Britain. No need to swear allegiance to any of the three King Georges.

My genealogy friends are always finding naturalization records, ships records, and such while mine slipped in with no questions asked. As far as I can determine at this time, everyone was here before Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. I visited Philadelphia recently and tried unsuccessfully to find the State House. But I did see where all the other significant works that created our nation in a very difficult time.

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Pig Weed and Honey

Posted on September 18, 2019 by admin
Pig weed or Amaranthus retroflexus common to a large part of the world. While it is potentially toxic to cattle, goats, sheep, and swine, humans find a tea made from pig weed leaves useful as an astringent. An infusion has been used to treat hoarseness. (Amazon.com)

I have been semi-confined to the house for almost a month. What I thought was a summer cold turned out to be bronchitis. While I have taken the prescribed medications, my husband, who is not a doctor, recommended I stay inside while “pig weed” was in the air. I have lived in Greenville for forty-five years and have never heard of “pig weed,” but supposedly it is a local weed that give some people fits, especially me. Every year at this time I seem to have the same symptoms. Once again, my husband came to my rescue and bought me a jar of local honey. Supposedly that does the trick. So, every morning I have toast and local honey. Local is the key word here.

The late Jim Conrad published Blacklands: Historical Sketches of Hunt County, Texas in 1992. It’s a wonderful collection of oral histories with many of the old-timers around here including his numerous conversations with local beekeeper Lee Rice.

Supposedly when Davy Crockett came into Texas from Indian Territory, he found a huge bee tree located near present-day Ladonia. He and his fellow travelers cut down the tree, and enjoyed the fresh honey found inside. Crockett then wrote a letter praising the “land of milk and honey” to one of his sons stating that he planned to locate in that spot once he helped cleared out the problems with Mexico. Of course, Crockett didn’t survive the Alamo, but the letter made its way back to Tennessee.

Early day farmers collected tubs brimming with white comb honey from the wild honeybees in the native forests we know as “thickets.” Bee trees were cut down in late spring before settlers filled large wash tubs with the honey to use for food, medicine (pure honey is not only a remedy for allergies but also an antiseptic), ornamentation and barter. As the frontier days faded away and Greenville became a market center, new industries sprang up in town.

About the turn of the 20th century, Greenville and many, many more Southern towns began to diversify into small industries. Bee keeping was one such business that co-opted well with mill work. In 1913 Greenville Power and Manufacturing Company was located at 3010 St. John Street. City Directory ads for that year note that the business manufactured screens, mill work for house building, and interior finish in hard and soft. In small print the ad noted that beehives and bee-keepers’ supplies were a specialty.

Further investigation reveals that at the same location was Weathers Grain Co., with the same telephone numbers. Weathers Grain Company advertised wholesale flour, meal, bran and all kinds of feed stuff (for livestock). The business also sold coal, ear corn, shucks, and custom corn mill. Owner of both Weathers Grain and Greenville Power and Manufacturing was H. Thomas Weathers. The businesses were managed by W. W. Horn, who pops up again in 1922.

Mr. Weathers business was not the only establishment to invest in beehives and beekeeping equipment. William H. White owned White Manufacturing on Bee Street near Wright Park. He was not involved in sales of grain, but strictly mill work and beekeeping.

Nine years later two manufacturing companies advertised beekeeping equipment in conjunction with their mill work. Graham Manufacturing Company located at 2401 Washington Street and managed by W. A. Graham. Further north on Stonewall Street was Greenville Manufacturing Company, managed by W. W. Horn, late manager of Weathers Grain and Greenville Power and Manufacturing Companies.

They probably knew the virtues of toast and honey for breakfast.

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Voices from Small Places

Posted on September 8, 2019 by admin
On the right is the Matriarch and her two younger sisters, all cleaned up from the cotton fields. Life was hard at that time, money was fairly impossible to get or keep, and entertainment was home grown and homemade. But these three ladies survived, raised their own children and today love to share precious memories.

Dr. Perky Beisel, Public History Professor at Stephen F. Austin University, introduced me to a wonderful, oral history project she and others created several years ago. It is exceptionally useful for small communities with elderly populations.

Over the Labor Day holiday, I had the privilege of attending an example, completely unplanned but very successful. The eighty-five-year-old matriarch and her two younger sisters regaled relatives with wonderful stories of their childhood. Present were the two widowed sisters and the youngest sister with her husband of more than fifty years. The honoree has three children, two sons and one daughter who has two children and four grandchildren. She and her brood of children played games while their elders reminisced.

The youngest of the sisters and her husband came in from Lubbock, but their children and families lived too far away to come with school starting. The middle sister was there with her two children but again, grandchildren and great-grandchildren had other activities. I really think the younger family members are bored with all these memories. It takes someone interested in the past to listen to the fascinating stories.

After a huge lunch of fried chicken and numerous desserts, including a delicious coconut pie, the party moved to the back porch where fans worked up a good breeze. That’s when the story-telling began. The extended family consisted of members who have worked at farming, in industries, secretarial work, and teaching. One son is a professional businessman but did lots of farm work as a youngster and is still piddling with the cattle business.

I have been researching Southern history after the Civil War. One of my sources is The Mind of the South by W. J. Cash. Published in 1940, the book is still relevant about the pre-World War II era. His insight into the Great Depression is tremendous. And these women, the children of a tenant farmer and his wife, were well aware of hard-times farming cotton. Seldom do they talk about that part of their lives, but on that Sunday afternoon, with the three together, they opened up.

One story I had never heard was paying the monthly bill at the store. I am knowledgeable about furnishing merchants or credit stores in existence from the Civil War to World War II. In some places the custom continued into the 1950s. But it seems the girls’ father was somewhat of a reprobate, and quite contrary at times. Every time the monthly bill arrived, the girls and their mother had to stand while he went over the bill and fussed about their extravagances. That is until the middle daughter tallied up what they spent and compared it with livestock and farm expenses along with cans of Prince Albert tobacco. She went into banking as an adult.

Before the War, the family moved two or three times to other farms. The matriarch told about often not finishing the school year without moving. The middle daughter had stories about milking the family cow and having the tail hit her in the face at least once at every milking.

After the War, the family moved to Merit. The matriarch married soon after. She and her husband had the first grandchild, an energetic and smart boy who inherited some of his grandfather’s traits. One day, he told his grandmother he was going to the store. Later the grandfather came home and wanted to know where the boy was. His wife forgot he went to the store. The whole town was called out to help locate the child. A pond behind the house was dragged. Everybody but the boy and his uncle were frantic. Those two were in the store laughing at all the commotion until someone ran into the store. The story stopped there. Did the boy get hugs and kisses or a good spanking? He never says when he tells that story.

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Dismantling the 18th Amendment

Posted on September 1, 2019 by admin

There are twenty-seven amendments to the United States Constitution. Citizens for years have debated about getting rid of some of them. We still hear it today. But it actually happened in 1932. Americans voted to repeal the 18th Amendment with the 21st Amendment. But not after Congress was accused of encroaching on the rights of all citizens.

George Remus of Cincinnati, OH, was known as the “King of the Bootleggers” during Prohibition.

To be perfectly blunt, the 18th Amendment was a big mistake, for several reasons. The controversy was not about intoxicating beverages, but how the whole system was set up to fail.

In December 1917 Americans voted to enacted Prohibition. Texas Senator Morris Sheppard led the move to close down all saloons, wineries, breweries, distilleries, and all other illegal alcoholic industries. Senator Sheppard even wrote the Volstead Act, that legislation to control prohibition. However, it was not a wise thing to do.

The United States had survived several years of economic tragedy, unemployment, starvation, and rising crime. As soon as the 18th Amendment went into effect, all employees of the above-mentioned industries as well as glass makers, truck drivers, bar tenders and the like were out of their jobs. The economics of the 1920s were shaky at best. Even before the Stock Market bottomed out in October 1929, Americans were barely making a living.

One of the issues that rose in numbers was crimes. If you stop to think about it, members of the Mafia and other criminals were very clever at providing Americans with “intoxicating beverages”, importing from Canada and the Caribbean Island, and hiding their wares many times. They became millionaires almost instantly.

One such entrepreneur was George Remus who came to the United States from Germany with his parents at the age of 6. As an adult he operated a pharmacy on the West Side of Chicago. There he peddled questionable brew under the label Remus’s Nerve Tonic that was loaded with toxic ingredients. But it sold well and if someone died from it, no one seemed to care, especially policemen.

When Senator Sheppard wrote the Volstead Act with strict laws, the federal and state government did not adequately fund those laws. As the economy dropped and dropped, funds were not taken from other sources to control crime.

Here’s where George Remus entered the picture. He attended law school at nights until he was a certified defense attorney who represented criminals worth thousands of dollars. Studying the laws carefully he discovered that there was a loophole that permitted pharmacists to legally acquire liquor for “medicinal purposes.”

Cincinnati just happened to be where 80 percent of the country’s pre-Prohibition bonded whiskey was stored within 300 miles. Mr. Remus quickly relocated to Cincinnati where he created an elaborate scheme of buying distilleries, wholesale drug companies, and a transportation company. Just in case he bribed local and national government officials. Within a year he owned 35 percent of all the liquor in the United States. Tabloids named him the “King of Bootleggers.”

This is only one example of crime just prior to the Great Depression. For more stories and interesting facts, join me at the Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum for Lunch Break Special on October 3rd. Lunch begins at noon. I look forward to seeing you there.

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Small Town Summers in Texas

Posted on August 25, 2019 by admin

Yes, it is hot! That’s the way things are in summer in the Northern Hemisphere. It was much worse when there was no air conditioning, refrigeration, or places to go swimming, but not nearly as much fun.

One of several paths Girl Scouts walked over each summer, watching for snakes, spiders and other varmints. The shade brought the hot summer sunlight. (tripadvisor.com)

Let’s examine what summer was like west of Fort Worth and Wichita Falls in the 1950s. Believe it or not, that were so many things to do no one whined about not having television or the hot weather. Out in that part of Texas there is much less humidity, so fans did the trick. And everyone knew all sorts of tricks to ignore the heat.

First, if you lived in town your mother probably sent you to Bible School. Sometimes you went to more than one. You might one week go to the Methodist Church and to the Baptist Church the next week. And if your grandparents lived nearby but, in another town, you might go spend the week with them to go to another Bible School. Bible School was held in the mornings so kids could go outside to play games before snacks and juice. One of the favorite games was Red Rover; that is until someone decided it was too dangerous for kids. Swinging Statues was also popular.

Girls Scouts had a weeklong camp when no Bible Schools were scheduled. Growing up in Jacksboro, we had the state park around Fort Richardson to have a good time in. There were trails to follow, almost dry creeks to cross, camp fires to build and finally by third grade, each girl could camp out overnight. Of course, there was always a girl afraid of snakes and spiders and who knows what else. We tried not to give her too much grief.

We borrowed the concept of a “siesta” from our Hispanic neighbors. After lunch, women and children rested. If you were old enough to read, you could do that instead of sleeping. Because I had no sibling near my age, I played with paper dolls or jacks a lot. I loved paper dolls. I found a set the other day when cleaning out a filing cabinet. While paper dolls came with clothes to cut out and dress them, it was even more fun to create new clothes with paper, crayons, and scissors. And the adventures the paper dolls had were dependent on the imagination of the little girl. It was a great way to develop a magnificent imagination.

As we got older, around Junior High or High School, we went to at least one performance at a local rodeo. And almost every town had a rodeo and rodeo dance. Of course, it didn’t rate up there with the Stock Show Rodeo in Fort Worth, but it was fun.

Since it is almost always dry out there, and droughts routinely stayed for several years, the Fourth of July was not celebrated with fireworks. Lots of cold watermelons and homemade peach ice cream, but anything with the word “fire” was forbidden. My grandmother had a big wrap-around porch with concrete floors. Before and after watermelons we could “help” wash off the porch.

Did we go swimming? I can only remember one swimming pool in town. It belonged to a doctor who occasionally had a party for specific guests. Sometimes I was invited, but since I never learned how to swim, that wasn’t my thing. Every Saturday the local movie had a matinee, usually westerns, throughout the year. But again, that wasn’t my thing.

The big event every summer for me was a trip to Fort Worth to buy new clothes and shoes. Mother was a great seamstress, but there were still items to buy including fabric for at least six or eight dresses. That is one summer tradition I still cling to; and not only in late August. That was and still is my thing!

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Of Imagination All Compact

Posted on August 19, 2019 by admin
J. Frank Dobie, Texas folklorist, author and newspaper columnist at work at his Austin home. Dobie loved life in rural Texas and was one of the individuals to help distance Texas from the Old South in the early 20th century. (The Wittliff Collections: Texas State University)

For at least three or four generations, my mother’s family have been voracious readers of Texas folklore, particularly those tales of early cattle ranching. My brother Jeff is as avid as I am. So today I picked up Cow People by J. Frank Dobie. In the preface, Dobie gave a brief of summary of his works, ending with a comment I found very useful for all writers. He credited a critic of style and a thinker named Bertha McKee Dobie when he wrote, “She has overlooked every line and influenced me to exercise the never sufficiently accomplished art of omission.” I took that to mean his wife and hope I can remember it. My husband insinuates the same thing.

The Dog Days of August are about to wear me down. Usually I have little trouble deciding on a topic and writing about it. But not this week. I am so lethargic all I want to do is read, not write. But here goes.

Dobie is considered one of the greatest Texas writers of the early 20th century, up there with Bedichek and Lomax. He was college educated, taught English prose at the University of Texas before getting a newspaper job. That was a time period when jobs like those were scarce. And Dobie followed his wife’s wisdom.

When Dobie interviewed, or more likely talked to an old cowhand, he only wrote down the man’s name. Later he wrote down everything he felt was relevant; sometimes with a little extra of his own contribution.

In chapter 8 Dobie covered seventeen pages with four tales, all unbelievable. He began with a piece about the Two Minnies. Supposedly it happened in Fort Worth in a neighborhood known as Hell’s Half Acre. The Two Minnies was a unique saloon with plush chairs, tables everywhere for drinks, and an unlikely wait staff quite spiffily dressed. But when the cowboy threw back his head to down his drink, he could hardly believe his eyes. The ceiling was made of clear glass that exposed about a dozen lovely women above. They were absolutely naked, not a stitch of clothing on anyone. This piece covered a few more pages than the others.

Another story told about a large herd of yearlings moved across a flooded South Fork of the Platte River. Very unlikely in my opinion. But a little embellishment never hurt any story. Then there was the tale of a cowboy loner known as Bob. It seems Bob claimed he had electricity in his body. When another cowhand bullied him, Bob took care of him by giving him a strong dose of electricity.

Last one in this chapter is related to rattlesnakes in Archer County. My grandfather was cattleman there starting in 1913. Over the years my brother and I spent many summers on the ranch. Of course, we were cautioned to watch out for snakes. The only encounter we ever had was with a pet dachshund who was so nosy that his name was Nosy. One day Nosy met with a rattlesnake and lost. Mother rushed him to the vet and for a few days the outcome was doubtful. But he recovered, never to engage any kind of snake.

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Why and How

Posted on August 10, 2019 by admin
The Zimmermann telegram as it was first seen in Room 40 of the British Naval Intelligence Agency and below is the translated text.
The Zimmermann telegram as it was first seen in Room 40 of the British Naval Intelligence Agency and below is the translated text.

On the first of August this year, I made a speech about World War I. This was not unusual, I spent about five years earlier this decade learning about this little-known war. Like the Korean War, it was overshadowed by World War II.

As I prepared, I realized that two words kept jumping out at me: “Why” and “How”. I realized that both words are very important in explaining any event, today or centuries ago. Three days later, those words hit me in the face again when I picked up the newspaper to read news of the massacre at El Paso.

Why does the United States continue to experience massacres again and again? How can they be stopped? As I have thought about this and discussed it with others, I have no answer to either question. But, does anyone?

I know that almost everyone in the United States has an explanation for “why” and numerous answers “how” to cease this violence. I know that law enforcement at all levels, countless psychologists, and government officials are working diligently.

I have no answer, no clue why these things happen and certainly not how to stop them. Every American seems to have a cause and cure but are they realistic?

Yes, hate is at the bottom if the massacres as it has since the beginning of time. Is that the only cause? What about wanting to have fifteen seconds in the spotlight? What about the man who killed those people at the music concert in Las Vegas recently? Was he killing at random or issuing a statement about that genre of music?

I do know that the United States entered the Great War, as it was then known, late in the war. President Woodrow Wilson stated in 1914 the United States would not be involved, even when ships were destroyed by German U-boats, labor strikes were organized by German spies, Mexican troops were supplied arms and ammunition to cause havoc along the Mexican border. He was reelected in 1916 on the pledge that he had kept America out of war. In 1917 the British code readers translated the Enigma Code of the Germans. Of course, the code was given to the United States. Known as the Zimmerman Telegram it contained a message from the German foreign minister to his ambassador in Mexico detailing plans to invade the United States through Mexico along the Rio Grande.

Needless to say, the word “how” came into play when the United States joined the war, quickly formed an army to assist the Allies of Great Britain, France, and other countries to defeat the German army. Many times, the “how” becomes clear, when the “why” is finally disclosed.

I am going to the Maritime Provinces of Canada in September. The thought of staying up there is appealing, except that I don’t like cold weather. But running from the “why” will not stop it any more than flowers piled on the sidewalks, footage on television and social media, or name-calling and finger-pointing. We, as United States citizens, must come to grips with the issue, support the groups that are trying to find the “HOW” and not express loose ideas and comments.

Let’s remember we are American citizens or guests of the United States. We must work together now.

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