Posted on 11/24/2021 7:03:13 AM PST by mairdie
I've spent the last few months putting together a book on my grandfather, Jack Bell, a prospector who won and lost fortunes from Alaska down to Mexico - naturalist, angler, newspaper and magazine writer, law enforcement. Book's too big. So while I'm figuring out what to do about that, thought I'd put up the occasional story of his to see if people find them interesting. Major categories that might interest you are prospecting/naturalist, fishing, the first air mail pilots, and crime.
Drop the fishing stories!
Are you crazy?
Great…now we’ll here nonstop liberal yakking about how BBIPOCs built the country. It’s yet another “underserved, unrecognized community.”
Biden will stutter horribly as he tries to get “BBIPOC” out, but it will sound normal and nobody will notice.
Neat stuff!
Sadly, a bunch of jackasses are doing their best to tear it all down.
One of them describes the long process of a water moccasin creating a circular trap with its body and then sucking in fingerling trout. Another describes the bug situation for the use of eggs as bait.
Some describe the fishing spots, in exquisite detail, on the Truckee river near Reno. Several list, again in detail, the prices of each piece of needed gear for each level of quality an angler might want. Seems that women were taking up the sport in massive numbers, copying the eastern fashion. Most passionate about Leonard rods.
Thank you for posting this. A perfect opportunity to reflect on the role of jackasses in American history.
Absolutely LOVE this! Very clever of the town. That should generate significant tourist publicity. If we were into traveling these days, that photo would definitely put that town on my TODO list.
I started trying to list them in my mind, but wore out too fast. I really love these stories of when people were proud to be Americans.
I’ve always heard that gold prospectors used them because they could survive on most any kind of vegetation, whereas horses required much more food and water.
Reparations for the burros!! No justice No peace
Makes sense. Grandfather also makes the point in the article that their backbone is wider, allowing them to carry more. One of the articles describes him being bitten by a sidewinder, strapping himself to a burro and going unconscious as the burro carried him to safety, the rest of the string following, as trained.
These are fantastic! What a treasure.
Fascinating!
I’ve recently moved to
“Prospecting Country”.
The mid 1800’s is alive and well in my Neighborhood!
.
Keep it up, Thanks!
If that would save the wild burros and horses in the west from dogfood makers, I’d sign up in a heartbeat for your campaign.
“Wild” burros are fed by hand in South Dakota too. They love carrots.
By the way, Pony Soldiers were a real thing, and for good reason. Ponies need less water than horses.
So lovely to see you. Always enjoy reading your posts. What fun you must be having.
I once watched a course on You Tube on the history of Western Civilization. The professor made the argument that the success of our civilization was due to the donkey. It seemed a ludicrous theory on it’s face but when he explained it it actually made sense. The donkey was the main source of transport for goods between the civilizations of Mesopotamia and the Levant into Egypt. All the progress of our civilization in it’s formative years, was literally carried on the back of an ass
This is like the contention in James Burke’s “Connections” that it was the plow, that allowed for the advance of human civilization, it triggered everything that came after it.
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