Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

USO Canteen FReeper Style ~ Canteen Goes West ~ April 8, 2003
April 8, 2003 | LaDivaLoca

Posted on 04/08/2003 12:02:46 AM PDT by LaDivaLoca

USO CANTEEN GOES WEST

We call it the Wild West. To many it means guns, cattle, horses and gunfights. But it was also homesteading and pioneering. It was a rugged country back then with little amenities and much danger. It represented the growth of our nation from independent states and scattered people to a united country. Read about the colorful west and some of the people who made it.

TEXAS RANGERS:

These were Indian fighting militiamen who were established in a Texas area that was freed of Mexican rule. After Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana overthrew the Constitution of 1824, the Rangers organized themselves into a broader band whose intent was to seek restoration of the Constitution. Thus, "The Texas Rangers" was formally organized into a force of three 56-men companies to be deployed on the Indian frontier to protect the Texas citizenry against Indians and Mexican raiders.

Some of the most prominent rangers included: Ben McCulloch, the Tennessee frontiersman and friend of Davy Crockett's, William A.A. "Big Foot" Wallace, John Coffee "Jack" Hays. It was Hays who helped the Rangers earn their reputation for brutality during the war, men with "uncouth costumes, bearded faces, lean and brawny forms, fierce wild eyes and swaggering manners...fit representatives of the outlaws which make up the population of the Lone Star State", according to Samuel Chamberlain.

After the Mexican War, the Rangers returned to patrol the new state of Texas, trying to end Comanche Indian raids. Captain John S. "Rip" Ford was the famous frontiersman who is credited with killing many Comanches. IN the Civil War and Reconstruction eras, the Rangers continued their pursuit of Indian raiders, outlaws, and cattle rustlers. They tracked the bandit John Wesley Hardin all to the way to Pensacola, Florida . The Texas Rangers were reorganized in 1935 as a branch of the Texas Department of Public Safety and remain active today as the oldest law enforcement agency in America.

BUFFALO SOLDIERS:

This was the name given to the black soldiers of the U.S. army who fought Indians and policed the frontier in the years following the Civil War. The term was derived from the men's hair which the Indians thought resembled the fur of the buffalo. Not all of the recruits were former slaves; most were free blacks of Northern parentage and many had served with distinction during the Civil War.

Fast Facts

  • Nearly a third of the cowboys in the building of the American West were Black.
  • Black families came west in covered wagons; established self-sufficient all-Black towns, filling every job from barber to teacher, doctor to state legislator.
  • African Americans were some of the West's earliest millionaires, owning much of the West's most valuable real estate and many of its prominent businesses.
  • One of the first gold discoveries in Idaho Springs, Colo., was made by Henry Parker, a Black mine owner.
  • Blacks were also military heroes, taking San Jua Hill with Teddy Roosevelt in the Spanish-American War. It is a little-known fact that the all-Black 10th Cavalry should really be credited for that victory.

THE ALAMO:

The Alamo was founded in 1718 in San Antonio, Texas as the Mission de San Antonio de Valero and its function was to convert several area Indian tribes. In 1836, however, it was converted into a fortress to protect Texas against Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna who took control of the Mexican government, declared Martial Law and abolished the 1824 constitution. Santa Anna began his siege of the Alamo on February 24, 1836 with a force numbering about 4,000 against the 150 who protected the mission. Some of the principals included Colonel Jim Bowie (famous for the Bowie knife), David Crockett (who brought the Tennessee Mounted Volunteers, Sam Houston (as commander in chief of the Texas Army), William Barret Travis.

The final siege was on March 6, 1836 and most everyone inside was killed, including the sick in the hospital who were slaughtered outright. One man escaped alive overnight by going over the wall. That final battle lasted 90 minutes. When it was over, five defenders had survived long enough to be brought to Santa Anna who promptly executed them and set them afire. "Remember the Alamo" became the rallying cry as the Mexicans were driven from Texas the following April when Sam Houston and 800 men defeated Santa Anna's 3,000-man army and forced the now captured Santa Anna to sign a peace treaty recognizing Texas independence.

DANIEL BOONE:

Frontiersman Daniel Boone was born in 1734 in Pennsylvania. His family to North Carolina in 1750. He went to Kentucky in 1767 and again in 1769. He was hired to blaze a new trail from Cumberland Gap, Virginia to the Kentucky River which he did. He brought his wife and daughter with him and founded Boonesborough. In 1778 he was captured by the Shawnee Indians but escaped five months later. He raced back to Boonesborough to warn of an imminent attack by a joint force of British soldiers and Shawnees. His preservation of the fort (Boonesborough) proved vital to continued westward migration and settlement. During the Revolutionary War, Boone served as a lieutenant colonel of the Fayette County militia; he was also a legislator, county lieutenant and deputy surveyor. He was captured by the British in 1781 but later released. he died in 1820.

WILLIAM FREDERICK CODY (BUFFALO BILL):

He was born in Iowa in 1846 and his family moved to Kansas in 1854. He was a frontiersman, scout and showman. he rode for the Pony Express when he was just 15. He served in the Calvary during the Civil War. Following the war, he served as a scout and soon married Louisa Frederici. He left scouting to run a hotel but this was not the life for him so he left and scouted for Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. It is believed he earned his nickname in 1867 while hunting buffalo for the Union Pacific construction crews. Between 1866 and 1872 he fought in a slew of Indian skirmishes. He soon became the legend behind a series of dime store novels. He was awarded the Medal Honor in 1872 for his service in Indian campaigns but it was rescinded in 1917 because he had been a civilian at the time and was not qualified to receive one.

In 1989 the Medal was restored to Cody, 72 years after his death following a new ruling by the Army. In 1882, in North Platte, Nebraska and in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Cody launched his world famous "Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show", an extravaganza that included a Pony Express race, a runaway stagecoach, a reenactment of a Custer battle with Indians, sharpshooting, roping and riding exhibitions. The show featured Annie Oakley and in 1885, the Hunkapap Sioux chief Sitting Bull joined them. The show also went to Europe in 1887, 1889 and in 1906 and was a huge success everywhere. He merged his show with another then performed periodically with a circus until a month before his death in January 1917.



For additional information, click the graphic

WOMEN OF THE WEST

ANNIE OAKLEY:

An expert rifle and shotgun markswoman, Phoebe Anne Moses went on to achieve fame all over the world as a member of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show - although most people know her as Annie Oakley. Despite her big reputation as being a heroine of the Old West and she did visit, she never really lived any further west than Ohio. Her nickname was "Little Sure Shot" was given to her by Chief Sitting Bull who was so amazed by her skills. She was severely injured in 1901 when the train that carried the Wild West show collided with another and she became partially paralyzed. She performed again but not as the same Annie. She died in 1926, a few years after an auto accident from which she never regained her health


CALAMITY JANE:

She was born Martha Jane Canary; there are numerous tales of how she got her nickname but no one knows for sure. She was a tough cookie and dressed like a man, in buckskins. By the time she was 18, after moving to Salt Lake City with her parents after the Civil War, Jane had been a nurse, a dishwasher, a waitress, a cook and an ox-team driver. She had a reputation for being able to handle a man, shoot like a cowboy, skills that took her into Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show where she performed sharpshooting astride her horse. The love of her life was Wild Bill Hickok. They were secretly married in 1870 but he took off after the birth of their daughter three years later. Jane then remarried as had Hickok and they were reunited briefly, just before Hickok was killed. During the 1870's, Jane was the subject of some dime novels which brought her national fame. She is buried in Deadwood near Wild Bill Hickok


HELEN HUNT JACKSON:

A novelist and a poet, Helen Jackson's remarkable "A Century of Dishonor" stirred public outrage over the U.S. government's mistreatment of Native Americans. Her book centered on seven tribes, among them: Cheyennes, Nez Perce, Sioux, Cherokees and detailed four massacres in particular. At her own expense, she sent a copy of the book to every member of Congress. She was born in Massachusetts in 1830 and became a lifelong friend of poet Emily Dickinson. After her first husband's death (and that of her two young sons in an accident), Jackson moved to Colorado Springs where she married William Sharpless Jackson. It was on a visit to Boston that she learned of the unjust treatment of Indians during a lecture and spent countless years crusading for public awareness. She founded the Boston Indian Citizenship Association. Her crusade lasted until her death in 1885 when even from her deathbed she wrote President Grover Cleveland a letter urging the Indian cause.

WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE:

Before 1917, the only states in the Union that granted the vote to women were in the West. Women were granted the right to vote in Wyoming Territory in 1869; Utah Territory in 1870; Washington Territory in 1883, state of Wyoming in 1890; Colorado in 1893 and in Utah in 1896. As a result: the first woman elected to Congress was Jeannette Rankin of Montana; first elected mayor was Mary Howard of Kanab, Utah; the first elected mayor of a major city was Bertha Landes of Seattle, Washington; the first elected governors were Miriam "Ma" Ferguson of Texas and Nellie Taylor Ross of Wyoming.



For Additional information, click on the graphic

Click graphics for additional information about:




20th Century Warriors: Native American Participation in the United States Military

A Long Tradition Of Participation

American Indians have participated with distinction in United States military actions for more than 200 years. Their courage, determination, and fighting spirit were recognized by American military leaders as early as the 18th century.

I think they [Indians] can be made of excellent use, as scouts and light troops. --Gen. George Washington, 1778

Many tribes were involved in the War of 1812, and Indians fought for both sides as auxiliary troops in the Civil War. Scouting the enemy was recognized as a particular skill of the Native American soldier. In 1866, the U.S. Army established its Indian Scouts to exploit this aptitude. The Scouts were active in the American West in the late 1800s and early 1900s, accompanying Gen. John J. Pershing's expedition to Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa in 1916. They were deactivated in 1947 when their last member retired from the Army in ceremonies at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona. Native Americans from Indian Territory were also recruited by Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders and saw action in Cuba in the Spanish-American War in 1898. As the military entered the 20th century, American Indians had already made a substantial contribution through military service and were on the brink of playing an even larger role. (For the rest of the story, click on the graphic)



TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Political Humor/Cartoons; Unclassified; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: michaeldobbs
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 461-480481-500501-520521-535 last
To: JohnHuang2
Good morning to you, you are a nice 'face to see' in the morning. :)
521 posted on 04/09/2003 5:35:48 AM PDT by snippy_about_it (Pray for our Troops)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 503 | View Replies]

To: radu; LibertyLight
You can believe it when they tell you they will have you posting graphics in no time..... they got me under way and I am a "graphics junkie." know what i mean?
522 posted on 04/09/2003 5:37:09 AM PDT by beachn4fun (teehee..........LOLROTFLMAO...................)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 475 | View Replies]

To: radu
Ouch!!!! Those guys are suffering enough without you giving them something "personal" to think about ;->
ouch.........ouch........
523 posted on 04/09/2003 5:38:59 AM PDT by beachn4fun (teehee..........LOLROTFLMAO...................)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 477 | View Replies]

To: beachn4fun
LOL!! That's what I looked like last night when my hubby jumped on the 'puter....and wouldn't give it up for the longest! I thught I'd be bald by the time I got my hands back on it!
524 posted on 04/09/2003 5:42:38 AM PDT by radu (May God watch over our Troops and Allies and keep them safe)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 517 | View Replies]

To: All
NEW THREAD
525 posted on 04/09/2003 5:48:53 AM PDT by 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub (God Bless and Protect our military and our allies military.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 518 | View Replies]

To: bentfeather
Good morning ms. feather!
I hope your party will last a while. This lil vampire won't be able to hang much longer. I was trying to get through the thread but I'll never make it. Neeeeeed sleeeeeeep! LOL!

But I'll be back after a bit of zzzzzzz's. You and Barry have a large time but save a little fun for later. *grin*

526 posted on 04/09/2003 5:52:58 AM PDT by radu (May God watch over our Troops and Allies and keep them safe)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 519 | View Replies]

To: Kathy in Alaska; radu; tomkow6; MeeknMing; 68-69TonkinGulfYatchClub; Bethbg79; bentfeather; ...
GOOD MORNING CANTEEN CREW AND TROOPS

JUST A QUICK Very busy day today. Won't be able to visit much at the Canteen today. Will stop in when I can. I just want to say one thing before I take off for a while.....

AREN'T OUR MILITARY FORCES ....

A_W_E_S_O_M_E????????????? YEE.......HA...........

527 posted on 04/09/2003 5:55:08 AM PDT by beachn4fun (So, tell me.... why do you think 12 years is not enough time to give PEACE a chance?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 523 | View Replies]

To: snippy_about_it
'Morning! I'm about to pick up this lump of fur....

....and head for the bat cave. LOL! Been a looooong night. Too much action in Baghdad and it's kept me up later than I needed to be.

528 posted on 04/09/2003 5:58:12 AM PDT by radu (May God watch over our Troops and Allies and keep them safe)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 520 | View Replies]

To: beachn4fun
Good Mornig beachn!

Have a great day!!
529 posted on 04/09/2003 6:01:57 AM PDT by Soaring Feather
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 527 | View Replies]

To: radu

530 posted on 04/09/2003 6:57:57 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP (Bu-bye Saddam! / Check out my Freeper site !: http://home.attbi.com/~freeper/wsb/index.html)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 490 | View Replies]

To: LaDivaLoca
'Howdy, Eureka! Glad you could join us.'

Thank you. I try to stop by on occasion but the press of keeping up with the news and work limits me. Have a good day...

531 posted on 04/09/2003 7:21:22 AM PDT by eureka! (Bless our Troops and Allies.........)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 297 | View Replies]

To: LaDivaLoca
RE#295- lol! Thanks Diva (-:
532 posted on 04/09/2003 8:38:17 AM PDT by firewalk
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 295 | View Replies]

To: beachn4fun; LaDivaLoca
Thanks for the kind welcome!
533 posted on 04/09/2003 9:38:36 AM PDT by cardinal4 (The Senate Armed Services Comm; the Chinese pipeline into US secrets)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 522 | View Replies]

Comment #534 Removed by Moderator

Comment #535 Removed by Moderator


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 461-480481-500501-520521-535 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson