Posted on 10/01/2017 6:53:11 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
First session: November 21, 2015. Last date to add: Sometime in the future.
Reading: Self-assigned. Recommendations made and welcomed. To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by reply or freepmail.
* “The failure of the attempt to lay the Atlantic Telegraph Cable is the most noteworthy event of the month.”
“During the month of August elections for State officers and members of Congress have been held in different States. . . . In Missouri Mr. Stewart, Democrat, has been elected by about 300 majority over Mr. Rollins. This election is noteworthy on account of the position of Mr. Rollins, who is himself a slaveholder, on the slavery question. He said, in the canvass, that he was in favor of submitting the subject of future emancipation to the laws of climate, of emigration, of labor, and of production. He would offer every inducement to emigration from the North and the South; and if, he says, ‘this emigration, in the course of years, brings about such a disproportion between the white and the black races, that it is no longer the interest of the people of Missouri to continue it a Slave State, then let it go.’ His own opinion is, in view of the high northern latitude of the State, and of the constantly increasing disproportion between the white and black population that, in the course of time, it will become the interest of the slaveholders themselves to abolish the institution. . . .The two Constitutional Conventions in Minnesota have agreed upon a State Constitution to be presented for the suffrages of the people of that Territory. It provides that slavery or involuntary servitude shall never exist in the State . . . In Kansas there now appears to be a growing disposition on the part of the Free State men to vote at the coming election. At a Convention held at Grasshopper Springs, August 26, resolutions to that effect were almost unanimously passed. Mr. Robinson has been brought to trial on the charge of having acted as Governor under the Topeka Constitution, and acquitted.”
“A ‘National Emancipation Convention’ met at Cleveland, Ohio, August 26, in order to devise a plan by which the slaves in the South should all be bought up by the General and State Governments for the purpose of liberating them. . . . The American Association for the Advancement of Science held its eleventh annual meeting at Montreal, commencing August 12. Among the papers presented were the following: . . . [O]n the Prevention of Counterfeiting, by Professor B. Silliman, Jun. The invention of photography had given rise to new and dangerous counterfeits of bank-bills, to guard against which it was proposed to print them in two colors, between which there was no photographic contrast.” “A division is likely to take place in the New School Presbyterian Church. The Southern members feeling aggrieved at the course in respect to slavery taken by the late General Assembly, held a convention at Richmond, Virginia commencing August 27. Resolutions were passed declaring that all censures against members on account of their being slaveholders are contrary to the examples and teachings of Christ and his Apostle, and a violation of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church; that the relation of master and slave, as such, is not a proper subject for discussion in Church judicatories . . .”
“The camel experiment upon the plains is pronounced to be entirely successful. Besides their power of abstaining from water, they are more tractable than mules, bear heavier loads, are less easily jaded, and live upon food on which other animals would starve.”
“The Indians are becoming exceedingly troublesome all along our western and northwestern frontiers. Colonel Sumner reports an engagement with the Cheyennes, August 29. Three hundred warriors were drawn up to oppose the advance of our troops. Being charged by cavalry they fled, and were pursued seven miles. They lost a large number of men; our loss being two killed and several wounded. Their village, consisting of 170 lodges, was burned. – In New Mexico an action has taken place with the Coyatero Indians, who lost 41 killed and 45 prisoners; our loss was 7 wounded. – The Indians in Iowa have been fighting among themselves. On the 1st of August, a party of Chippewas attacked a detached band of the Sioux, took 30 scalps, and retreated down the Red River.”
“Margaret Rine, the last slave in the State of New York, died recently on Long Island, at the age of 79 years.”
In Great Britain, Parliament is greatly aroused over the Indian mutiny, which is described in news from The East.
“The camel experiment upon the plains is pronounced successful.”
Until it wasn’t.
Scarcely a year had passed since their first arrival, hardly enough time to judge.
Upon becoming secretary of war, he obtained congressional authorization to purchase and employ camels, and in 1855 sent an expedition to the Middle East to buy and bring back the beasts. . . . Davis had two goals for his camel force: basic transportation and direct military involvement against Indians, when camels could carry light cannon and infantry, as well as substitute for cavalry horses. . . . Although the camel corps never became as important as Davis envisioned and railroads would soon make the concept obsolete, this short-lived affair underscored his willingness to innovate.
The Legend of the Red Ghost
Most folks will tell you camels are not found in Arizona’s high country. Truth is, those adaptable beasts can thrive in just about any kind of terrain. The U.S. Army introduced camels to the Southwest back in the 1850s, using them as beasts of burden while surveying a road across northern Arizona. But, the Civil War interrupted the great camel experiment, and most of the homely critters were sold at auction. A few were turned loose to run wild—and therein lies the basis for the legend of Red Ghost.
The story begins back in 1883 at a lonely ranch near Eagle Creek in southeastern Arizona. The Apache wars were drawing to a close. However, a few renegade bands were on the prowl, keeping isolated ranches in a constant state of siege. Early one morning, two men rode out to check on the livestock leaving their wives at the ranch with the children. About midmorning, one of the women went down to the spring to fetch a bucket of water while the other remained in the house with the children.
Suddenly one of the dogs began to bark ferociously. The woman inside the house heard a terrifying scream. Looking out the window, she saw a huge, reddish-hued beast run by with a devilish-looking creature strapped on its back.
The frightened woman barricaded herself in the house and waited anxiously for the men to return. That night they found the body of the other woman, trampled to death. Next day tracks were found, cloven hoof prints much larger than those of a horse, along with long strands of reddish hair.
A few days later, a party of prospectors near Clifton were awakened by the sound of thundering hoofs and ear-piercing screams. Their tent collapsed, and the men clawed their way out of the tangle just in time to see a gigantic creature run off in the moonlight. The next day, they too, found huge clovenhoof prints and long, red strands of hair clinging to the brush.
Naturally these stories grew and were embellished by local raconteurs. One man claimed he saw the beast kill and eat a grizzly bear. Another insisted he had chased the Red Ghost, only to have it disappear before his eyes.
A few months after the incident with the miners, Cyrus Hamblin, a rancher on the Salt River, rode up on the animal while rounding up cows. Hamblin recognized the beast as a camel, with something tied to its back that resembled the skeleton of a man. Although Hamblin had a reputation as an honest man and one not given to tall tales, many refused to believe his story. Several weeks later, over on the Verde River, the camel was spotted again, this time by another group of prospectors. They, too, saw something attached to the animal’s back. Grabbing their weapons they fired at the camel but missed. The animal bolted and ran, causing a piece of the strange object to fall to the ground. What the miners saw made the hair bristle on their necks. On the ground lay a human skull with some parts of flesh and hair still attached.
A few days later, the Red Ghost struck again. This time the victims’ were teamsters camped beside a lonely road. They said they were awakened in the middle of the night by a loud scream. According to the terrified drivers, a creature at least 30-feet-tall knocked over two freight wagons and generally raised hell with the camp. The men ran for their lives and hid in the brush. Returning the next day, they found cloven-hoof prints and red strands of hair.
About a year later, a cowboy near Phoenix came upon the Red Ghost eating grass in a corral. Traditionally, cowboys have been unable to resist the temptation to rope anything that wears hair, and this fellow was no exception. He built a fast loop in his rope and tossed it over the camel’s head. Suddenly the angry beast turned and charged. The cowboy’s horse tried to dodge, but to no avail. Horse and rider went down, and as the camel galloped off in a cloud of dust, the astonished cowboy recognized the skeletal remains of a man lashed to its back.
During the next few years, stories of the Red Ghost grew to legendary proportions. The creature made its last appearance nine years later in eastern Arizona. A rancher awoke one morning and saw the huge animal casually grazing in his garden. He drew a careful bead with his trusty Winchester and dropped the beast with one shot. An examination of the corpse convinced all that this was indeed the fabled Red Ghost. The animal’s back was heavily scarred from rawhide strips that had been used to tie down the body of a man. Some of the leather strands had cut into the camel’s flesh. But how the human body came to be attached to the back of the camel remains a cruel mystery.
ARIZONA ODDITIES - http://arizonaoddities.com/2010/03/the-legend-of-red-ghost/
From the column, an English pound sterling was worth five gold dollars.
Just wow. Money as a store of wealth, and not an instrument of social justice.
The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas
"You mean you want to do what? That's disgusting!
Continued from September 11 (reply #41) .
Nicole Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas: Contested Liberty in the Civil War Era
The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas
The Wild West’s Mysterious Red Ghost
They said that it was a camel, with a skeletal rider on its back.
https://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2014/09/wild-wests-mysterious-red-ghost-camel/
I feel like I should have heard of “Motley” and “The Rise of the Dutch Republic,” as well as whatever else he wrote.
I read Simon Schama’s book on the Dutch Republic, “The Embarassment of Riches.” He’s a bit of a goon, but a great researcher.
Continued from April 5 (reply #18). (Letter from Sherman to wife Ellen referenced in footnote 18 written on today's date.)
James Lee McDonough, William Tecumseh Sherman: In the Service of My Country, A Life
The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas
While poking around the net looking for info about the Don Giovanni performance attended by Mr. Strong and company I accidently discovered that the New York Daily Tribune , Horace Greeley’s Republican newspaper, is available for viewing. The Don Giovanni production, starring Madame Anna La Grange, has notices in both the October 7 and October 8 editions (top of page 1 on both days). I haven’t figured out how to print articles from it in anything approaching a legible form, but it is not hard to read them on screen using the magnification features. I saw stories about the financial panic and the sinking of the Central America on the pages. I recommend the site for browsing purposes.
A scene from the Shermans' marriage?
The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas
Mr. Strong doesn’t seem to be affected personally by the bank panic.
I thought I read somewhere that Mr. Ruggles was hurt but now I can’t find it.
Thanks for looking. I’m fond of Mr. Ruggles, so I hope he’s not hit too hard.
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