Buffalo Bill

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Bill)

Children

Four children, two of whom died young: Kit died of scarlet fever in April, 1876, and his daughter Orra died in 1880

William Frederick “Buffalo Bill” Cody (February 26, 1846 January 10, 1917) was an American soldier, bison hunter and showman. He was born in the Iowa Territory (now the American state of Iowa), near Le Claire. He was one of the most colorful figures of the American Old West, and mostly famous for the shows he organized with cowboy themes. Buffalo Bill received the Medal of Honor in 1872.

Contents

1 Nickname and work life

2 Early years

3 Military service

3.1 Medal of Honor

4 Buffalo Bill’s Wild West

4.1 Irrigation

5 Life in Cody, Wyoming

6 Life in Staten Island, New York

7 Death

8 Legacy

9 In film and television

10 The false Italian pedigree

11 Buffalo Bill’s / defunct

12 Other Buffalo Bills

13 See also

14 References

15 Further reading

16 External links

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Nickname and work life

William Frederick Cody (“Buffalo Bill”) got his nickname after he undertook a contract to supply Kansas Pacific Railroad workers with buffalo meat. The nickname originally referred to Bill Comstock. Cody earned the nickname by killing 4,860 American Bison (commonly known as buffalo) in eight months (186768). He and Comstock eventually competed in a shooting match over the exclusive right to use the name, which Cody won.

In addition to his documented service as a soldier during the Civil War and as Chief of Scouts for the Third Cavalry during the Plains Wars, Cody claimed to have worked many jobs, including as a trapper, bullwhacker, “Fifty-Niner” in Colorado, a Pony Express rider in 1860, wagonmaster, stagecoach driver, and even a hotel manager, but it’s unclear which claims were factual and which were fabricated for purposes of publicity. He became world famous for his Wild West Shows.

Early years

William Cody at age 19

While giving an anti-slavery speech at the local trading post, his father so inflamed the supporters of slavery in the audience that they formed a mob and one of them stabbed him. Cody helped to drag his father to safety, although he never fully recovered from his injuries. The family was constantly persecuted by the supporters of slavery, forcing Isaac Cody to spend much of his time away from home. His enemies learned of a planned visit to his family and plotted to kill him on the way. Cody, despite his youth and the fact that he was ill, rode 30 miles (48 km) to warn his father. Cody’s father died in 1857 from complications from his stabbing.

After his father’s death, the Cody family suffered financial difficulties, and Cody, aged 11, took a job with a freight carrier as a “boy extra,” riding up and down the length of a wagon train, delivering messages. From here, he joined Johnston’s Army as an unofficial member of the scouts assigned to guide the Army to Utah to put down a falsely-reported rebellion by the Mormon population of Salt Lake City. According to Cody’s account in Buffalo Bill’s Own Story, the Utah War was where he first began his career as an “Indian fighter”.

Presently the moon rose, dead ahead of me; and painted boldly across its face was the figure of an Indian. He wore this war-bonnet of the Sioux, at his shoulder was a rifle pointed at someone in the river-bottom 30 feet (9 m) below; in another second he would drop one of my friends. I raised my old muzzle-loader and fired. The figure collapsed, tumbled down the bank and landed with a splash in the water. ‘What is it?’ called McCarthy, as he hurried back. ‘It’s over there in the water,’. ‘Hi!’ he cried. ‘Little Billy’s killed an Indian all by himself!’ So began my career as an Indian fighter.

At the age of 14, Cody was struck by gold fever, but on his way to the gold fields, he met an agent for the Pony Express. He signed with them and after building several way stations and corrals was given a job as a rider, which he kept until he was called home to his sick mother’s bedside.

Military service

circa 1875

After his mother recovered Cody wished to enlist as a soldier, but was refused for his age. He began working with a United States freight caravan which delivered supplies to Fort Laramie. In 1863 he enlisted as a teamster with the rank of Private in Company H, 7th Kansas Cavalry and served until discharged in 1865.

From 1868 until 1872 Cody was employed as a scout by the United States Army. Part of this time he spent scouting for Indians, and the remainder was spent gathering and killing bison for them and the Kansas Pacific Railroad. In January 1872 Cody was a scout for Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia’s highly publicized royal hunt.

Medal of Honor

Cody received a Medal of Honor in 1872 for “gallantry in action” while serving as a civilian scout for the 3rd Cavalry Regiment. In 1917, the U.S.Congressfter revising the standards for award of the medalevoked 911 medals previously awarded either to civilians, or for actions that would not warrant a Medal of Honor under the new higher standards. After Dr. Mary Edwards Walker’s medal was restored in 1977, other reviews began that led to Cody’s medallong with those given to four other civilian scoutseing re-instated on June 12, 1989.

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West

The Wild West Show, 1890

In December 1872 Cody traveled to Chicago to make his stage debut with friend Texas Jack Omohundro in The Scouts of the Prairie, one of the original Wild West shows produced by Ned Buntline. During the 1873-74 season, Cody and Omohundro invited their friend James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok to join them in a new play called Scouts of the Plains.

The troupe toured for ten years and his part typically included an 1876 incident at the Warbonnet Creek where he claimed to have scalped a Cheyenne warrior, purportedly in revenge for the death of George Armstrong Custer.

It was the age of great showmen and traveling entertainers. Cody put together a new traveling show based on both of those forms of entertainment. In 1883 in the area of North Platte, Nebraska he founded “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West,” (despite popular misconception, the word “show” was not a part of the title) a circus-like attraction that toured annually.

In 1893 the title was changed to “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World”. The show began with a parade on horseback, with participants from horse-culture groups that included US and other military, American Indians, and performers from all over the world in their best attire. There were Turks, Gauchos, Arabs, Mongols and Georgians, among others, each showing their own distinctive horses and colorful costumes. Visitors to this spectacle could see main events, feats of skill, staged races, and sideshows. Many authentic western personalities were part of the show. For example Sitting Bull and a band of twenty braves appeared. Cody’s headline performers were well known in their own right. People like Annie Oakley and her husband Frank Butler put on shooting exhibitions along with the likes of Gabriel Dumont. Buffalo Bill and his performers would re-enact the riding of the Pony Express, Indian attacks on wagon trains, and stagecoach robberies. The show typically ended with a melodramatic re-enactment of Custer’s Last Stand in which Cody himself portrayed General Custer.

Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill, Montreal, QC, 1885

The profits from his show enabled him to purchase a 4,000-acre (16 km2) ranch near North Platte, Nebraska in 1886. Scout’s Rest Ranch included an eighteen-room mansion and a large barn for winter storage of the show’s livestock.

In 1887 he took the show to Britain in celebration of the Jubilee year of Queen Victoria. The show was staged in London before going on to Birmingham and then Salford near Manchester, where it stayed for five months. In 1889 the show toured Europe. In 1890 he met Pope Leo XIII. He set up an exhibition near the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, which greatly contributed to his popularity, and also vexed the promoters of the fair. As noted in The Devil in the White City, he had been rebuffed in his request to be part of the fair, so he set up shop just to the west of the fairgrounds, drawing many of their patrons away. Since his show was not part of the fair, he was not obligated to pay the promoters any royalties, which they could have used to temper their financial problems.

Irrigation

Larry McMurtry, along with some historians such as RL Wilson, asserts that at the turn of the 20th century Buffalo Bill Cody was the most recognizable celebrity on earth. And yet, despite all of the recognition and appreciation Cody’s show brought for the Western and American Indian cultures, Buffalo Bill saw the American West change dramatically during his tumultuous life. Bison herds, which had once numbered in the millions, were now threatened with extinction. Railroads crossed the plains, barbed wire, and other types of fences divided the land for farmers and ranchers, and the once-threatening Indian tribes were now almost completely confined to reservations. Wyoming’s resources of coal, oil and natural gas were beginning to be exploited towards the end of his life.

Even the Shoshone River was dammed for hydroelectric power as well as for irrigation. In 1897 and 1899 Cody and his associates acquired from the State of Wyoming the right to take water from the Shoshone River to irrigate about 169,000 acres (680 km2) of land in the Big Horn Basin. They began developing a canal to carry water diverted from the river, but their plans did not include a water storage reservoir. Cody and his associates were unable to raise sufficient capital to complete their plan. Early in 1903 they joined with the Wyoming Board of Land Commissioners in urging the federal government to step in and help with irrigation development in the valley.

The Shoshone Project became one of the first federal water development projects undertaken by the newly formed Reclamation Service, later to become known as the Bureau of Reclamation. After Reclamation took over the project in 1903, investigating engineers recommended constructing a dam on the Shoshone River in the canyon west of Cody.

Construction of the Shoshone Dam started in 1905, a year after the Shoshone Project was authorized. Almost three decades after its construction, the name of the dam and reservoir was changed to Buffalo Bill Dam by an act of Congress to honor Cody.

Life in Cody, Wyoming

In 1895, William Cody was instrumental in the founding of Cody, the seat of Park County in northwestern Wyoming. The site where the community was established is now the Old Trail Town museum, which honors the traditions of Western life. Cody first passed through the region in the 1870s. He was so impressed by the development possibilities from irrigation, rich soil, grand scenery, hunting, and proximity to Yellowstone Park that he returned in the mid-1890s to start a town. He brought with him men whose names are still on street signs in Cody downtown area Beck, Alger, Rumsey, Bleistein and Salsbury. The town was incorporated in 1901.

In November 1902, Cody opened the Irma Hotel in downtown Cody, a hotel named after his daughter. He envisioned a growing number of tourists coming to the town via the recently opened Burlington rail line. He expected that they would spend money at local business including the Irma Hotel. Cody also expected that they would proceed up the Cody Road along the North Fork of the Shoshone River to visit Yellowstone Park. To accommodate travelers along the Cody Road, Cody completed construction of the Wapiti Inn and Pahaska Tepee in 1905 and opened both to guests.

Cody also established the TE Ranch, which was located on the South Fork of the Shoshone River about thirty-five miles from Cody. When he acquired the TE property, he ordered the movement of Nebraska and South Dakota cattle to Wyoming. This new herd carried the TE brand. The late 1890s were relatively prosperous years for Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and he used some of the profits to accumulate lands which were added to the TE holdings. Eventually Cody held around eight thousand acres (32 km) of private land for grazing operations and ran about a thousand head of cattle. He also operated a dude ranch, pack horse camping trips, and big game hunting business at and from the TE Ranch, on the South fork of the Shoshone River. In his spacious and comfortable ranch house he entertained notable guests from Europe and America.

Life in Staten Island, New York

Cody brought his “Wild West Show” to an area of Mariners Harbor called Erastina (named for Staten Island promoter Erastus Wiman) for two seasons from June to October in 1886 and again in 1887. During the winter of 1886, the show moved indoors to Madison Square Garden. His show, featuring Native Americans, trick riders, “the smallest cowboy” and sharpshooters (including Annie Oakley) is said to have drawn millions of visitors to the island.

His 1879 autobiography is titled The Life and Adventures of Buffalo Bill

Death

Buffalo Bill’s grave on Lookout Mountain in Colorado.

William F. Cody died of kidney failure on January 10, 1917, surrounded by family and friends at his sister’s house in Denver. Cody was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church the day before his death by Father Christopher Walsh of the Denver Cathedral. Upon the news of Cody’s death, he received tributes from King George V of the United Kingdom, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Imperial Germany, and President Woodrow Wilson. His funeral was in Denver at the Elks Lodge Hall. Wyoming Governor John B. Kendrick, a friend of Cody’s, led the funeral procession to the Elks Lodge.

Contrary to popular belief, Cody was not destitute, but his once great fortune had dwindled to under 0,000. Despite his request in an early will to be buried in Cody, Wyoming, a later will left his burial arrangements up to his wife Louisa. To this day, there is controversy as to where Cody should have been buried. According to the writer Larry McMurtry, Harry Tammen and Frederick Gilmer Bonfils of the Denver Post, who had strong-armed Cody into appearing in their Sells-Floto Circus, either “bullied or bamboozled the grieving Louisa” and had Cody buried in Colorado. This is consistent with an account by Gene Fowler, who wrote Cody’s obituary for the Post under direction from Tammen and Bonfils.

On June 3, 1917, Cody was buried on Colorado’s Lookout Mountain in Golden, Colorado, west of the city of Denver, on the edge of the Rocky Mountains, overlooking the Great Plains. His exact burial site was selected by his sister, Mrs. Mary Decker, while looking over the area accompanied by W.F.R. Mills, manager of the Denver Mountain Parks. In 1948 the Cody branch of the American Legion offered a reward for the ‘return’ of the body, so the Denver branch mounted a guard over the grave until a deeper shaft could be blasted into the rock.

Legacy

Buffalo Bill Cody in 1903

In contrast to his image and stereotype as a rough-hewn outdoorsman, Buffalo Bill pushed for the rights of American Indians and women. In addition, despite his history of killing bison, he supported their conservation by speaking out against hide-hunting and pushing for a hunting season.

Buffalo Bill became so well known and his exploits so well entrenched in American culture that his character has appeared in many literary works, as well as television shows and movies, and on two U.S. postage stamps. Westerns were very popular in the 1950s and 60s, and Buffalo Bill would make an appearance in many of them. As a character, he is in the very popular Broadway musical Annie Get Your Gun, which was very successful both with Ethel Merman and more recently with Bernadette Peters in the lead role.

Having been a frontier scout who respected the natives, he was a staunch supporter of their rights. He employed many more natives than just Sitting Bull, feeling his show offered them a better life, calling them “the former foe, present friend, the American”, and once said,

“Every Indian outbreak that I have ever known has resulted from broken promises and broken treaties by the government”.

While in his shows the Indians were usually the “bad guys”, attacking stagecoaches and wagon trains in order to be driven off by “heroic” cowboys and soldiers, Bill also had the wives and children of his Indian performers set up camp as they would in the homelands as part of the show, so that the paying public could see the human side of the “fierce warriors”, that they were families like any other, just part of a different culture.

The city of Cody, Wyoming was founded in 1896 by Cody and some investors, and is named for him. It is the home of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. Fifty miles from Yellowstone National Park, it became a tourist magnet with many dignitaries and political leaders coming to hunt. Bill did indeed spend a great amount of time in Wyoming at his home in Cody. However, he also had a house in the town of North Platte, Nebraska and later built the Scout’s Rest Ranch there where he came to be with his family between shows. This western Nebraska town is still home to “Nebraskaland Days,” an annual festival including concerts and a large rodeo. The Scout’s Rest Ranch in North Platte is both a museum, and a tourist destination for thousands of people every year.

Buffalo Bill became a hero of the Bills, a Congolese youth subculture of the late 1950s who idolized Western movies.

The nickname of the K.A.A. Gent football club in Ghent, Belgium is De Buffalo’s (The Buffalos), which was adopted after the Wild West Show visited the area in the early 1900s.

In film and television

On television, his character has appeared on shows such as Bat Masterson and even Bonanza. His persona has been portrayed as anything from an elder statesman to a flamboyant, self-serving exhibitionist. Buffalo Bill has been portrayed in the movies and on television by: bill the buffalo

Himself (1898 and 1912)

George Waggner (1924)

John Fox, Jr. (1924)

Jack Hoxie (1926)

Roy Stewart (1926)

William Fairbanks (1928)

Tom Tyler (1931)

Douglass Dumbrille (1933)

Earl Dwire (1935)

Moroni Olsen (1935)

Ted Adams (1936)

James Ellison (1936)

Carlyle Moore (1938)

Jack Rutherford (1938)

George Reeves (1940)

Roy Rogers (1940)

Joel McCrea (1944)

Richard Arlen (1947)

Enzo Fiermonte (1949)

Monte Hale (1949)

Louis Calhern (1950)

Tex Cooper (1951)

Clayton Moore (1952)

Rodd Redwing (1952)

Charlton Heston (1953)

William O’Neal (1957)

Malcolm Atterbury (1958)

James McMullan (1963)

Gordon Scott (1964)

Guy Stockwell (1966)

Rufus Smith (1967)

Matt Clark (1974)

Michel Piccoli (1974)

Paul Newman (1976)

Buff Brady (1979)

R. L. Tolbert (1979)

Ted Flicker (1981)

Robert Donner (1983)

Ken Kercheval (1984)

Jeffrey Jones (1987)

Stephen Baldwin (1989)

Brian Keith (1993)

Dennis Weaver (1994)

Keith Carradine (1995)

Peter Coyote (1995)

J. K. Simmons (2004)

Frank Conniff (2005)

Cameron Klinger (2008)

Nicholas Campbell (2009)

William Cody’s statue at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming.

The false Italian pedigree

Italy was among many countries where stories recounting various adventures attributed to Buffalo Bill were highly popular. In the 1930s and 1940s, the Nerbini Publishing House of Florence monthly published such brochures, sold at 60 centesimi each.

In 1942, when Fascist Italy found itself at war with the United States, the publisher added a note purporting to reveal that Buffalo Bill had actually been an Italian immigrant named Domenico Tombini, originally from Romagna, Mussolini’s own native province – a pedigree for which no shred of historical evidence exists. In this way, the adventures could continue publication in wartime Italy, under the title “Buffalo Bill, the Italian Hero of the Plains”.

Buffalo Bill’s / defunct

A free verse poem on mortality by E E Cummings uses Buffalo Bill as an image of life and vibrancy. The poem is generally untitled, and commonly known by its first two lines: “Buffalo Bill’s / defunct”, however some books such as Poetry edited by J. Hunter uses the name “portrait”. The poem uses expressive phrases to describe Buffalo Bill’s showmanship, referring to his “watersmooth-silver / stallion”, and using a staccato beat to describe his rapid shooting of a series of clay pigeons. The poem which featured this character caused great controversy. The fusion of words such as “onetwothreefourfive” interprets the impression which Buffalo Bill left on his audiences.

Other Buffalo Bills

Buffalo Bill is also the name of a musician/producer/M.C. from the group Mechanics of Sound. Buffalo Bill is most known for his work with Melodic Undertone Production Group and his help in the underground hiphop movement of San Antonio.

Buffalo Bill was the first song written by Australian country music singer Sara Storer. Living in Camooweal, north of Mount Isa, she met a retired water buffalo shooter whose stories inspired her to write Buffalo Bill, her first song. Buffalo Bill won a Golden Guitar at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in 2001 for New Talent of the Year and appears on her first album, Chasing Buffalos.

Buffalo Bill is also the name of a fictional character from Thomas Harris’s The Silence of the Lambs, who was also parodied in the movie Joe Dirt under the name Buffalo Bob.

Two television series, Buffalo Bill, Jr. (19556) starring Dickie Jones and Buffalo Bill (19834) starring Dabney Coleman, had nothing to do with the historic person.

The Buffalo Bills, an NFL team based in Buffalo, New York, were named after Buffalo Bill. Prior to that team’s existence, other early football teams (such as Buffalo Bills (AAFC)) used the nickname, solely due to name recognition, as Bill Cody had no special connection with the city.

The Buffalo Bills are a barbershop-quartet singing group consisting of Vern Reed, Al Shea, Bill Spangenberg, and Wayne Ward. They appeared in the original Broadway cast of The Music Man (opened 1957) and in the 1962 motion-picture version of that play.

Buffalo Bill is the title of a song by the jam band Phish.

Buffalo Bill is the name of a bluegrass band in Wisconsin.

Samuel Cowdery, buffalo hunter, “wild west” showman and aviation pioneer changed his surname to “Cody” and was often taken for the original “Buffalo Bill” in his touring show Captain Cody King of the Cowboys.

William Wilson “Buffalo Bill” Quinn: Retired Lieutenant General and Silver Star recipient. He served in World War II as a colonel and became a full colonel in Korea; and at the end of Korea became a Brigadier General.

Bungalow Bill is the title of a song by the Beatles that indirectly refers to Buffalo Bill.

Buffalo Bill is the title of a song by American rapper Eminem

See also

United States Army portal

American Civil War portal

List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Indian Wars

Ned Buntline: Contemporary of Buffalo Bill and author of successful dime novel series “Buffalo Bill Cody – King of the Border Men”

William “Doc” Carver

References

^ a b Herring, Hal (2008). Famous Firearms of the Old West: From Wild Bill Hickok’s Colt Revolvers to Geronimo’s Winchester, Twelve Guns That Shaped Our History. TwoDot. pp. 224. ISBN 0762745088. 

^ a b c Cody, Col. William F: “The Adventures of Buffalo Bill Cody”, 1st ed. page viii. New York and London: Harper & Brother, 1904

^ a b c d e f g h i j Wilson, R.L. (1998). Buffalo Bill’s Wild West: An American Legend. Random House. pp. 316. ISBN 978-0375501067. 

^ a b c Carter, Robert A. (2002). Buffalo Bill Cody: The Man Behind the Legend. Wiley. pp. 512. ISBN 978-0471077800. 

^ Miles from Nowhere: Tales from America’s Contemporary Frontier, Dayton Duncan, U of Nebraska Press, 2000 ISBN 0803266278, 9780803266278

^ Polanski, Charles (2006). “The Medal’s History”. Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070928073912/http://www.cmohs.com/medal/medal_history.htm. 

^ Sterner, C. Douglas (19992009). “Restoration of 6 Awards Previously Purged From The Roll Of Honor”. HomeOfHeroes.com. http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/corrections/restorations.html. 

^ Performing the American Frontier, 1870-1906, Roger A. Hall, Cambridge University Press, 2001, p.54, ISBN 0521793203, 9780521793209

^ The life of Hon. William F. Cody, known as Buffalo Bill, the famous hunter, scout and guide. An autobiography, F. E. BLISS. HARTFORD, CONN, 1879, p329

^ Retrieved on 2008-06-07

^ Retrieved on 2008-06-07

^ Could Building Site be burial ground of the lost warrior from Buffalo Bill’s show? Retrieved on 2008-04-25

^ Kensel, W. Hudson. Pahaska Tepee, Buffalo Bill’s Old Hunting Lodge and Hotel, A History, 1901-1946. Buffalo Bill Historical Center, 1987.

^ Staten Island on the Web: Famous Staten Islanders

^ a b Lloyd, J & Mitchinson, J: “The Book of General Ignorance”. Faber & Faber, 2006.

^ Larry McMurtry: “Sacagawea’s Nickname”. New York Review of Books, 2001.

^ Colorado Transcript, May 17, 1917.

^ The false Italian pedigree of Buffalo Bill is one of the many items unearthed by Umberto Eco during his extensive research into the pulp literature and popular culture of Fascist Italy, undertaken for writing “The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana”

Further reading

Buffalo Bill Days (June 2224, 2007). A 20-page special section of The Sheridan Press, published in June 2007 by Sheridan Newspapers, Inc., 144 Grinnell Avenue, Post Office Box 2006, Sheridan, Wyoming, 82801, USA. (Includes extensive information about Buffalo Bill, as well as the schedule of the annual three-day event held in Sheridan, Wyoming.)

Story of the Wild West and Camp-Fire Chats by Buffalo Bill (Hon. W.F. Cody.) “A Full and Complete History of the Renowned Pioneer Quartette, Boone, Crockett, Carson and Buffalo Bill.”, c1888 by HS Smith, published 1889 by Standard Publishing Co., Philadelphia, PA.

The life of Hon. William F. Cody, known as Buffalo Bill, the famous hunter, scout and guide. An autobiography, F. E. Bliss. Hartford, Conn, 1879 Digitized from the Library of Congress.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Buffalo Bill

buffalobill.org

Works by Buffalo Bill at Project Gutenberg

Buffalo Bill Historical Center

The Scottish National Buffalo Bill Archive

Advert and press report about Buffalo Bill’s Wild West in Horsham, West Sussex, June 15, 1904

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/wwquinn.htm

v  d  e

American Old West

Towns

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California

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New Mexico

Alamogordo  Albuquerque  Cimarron  Gallup  Lincoln  Mogollon  Roswell  Santa Fe  Tucumcari

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South Dakota

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Texas

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Others

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Prominent Figures

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Transport & trails

First Transcontinental Railroad  Mormon Trail  Oregon Trail  Pony Express  Great Platte River Road  Great Western Cattle Trail

Native Americans

Apache scouts  Battle of the Little Bighorn  Battle of Washita River  Wounded Knee Massacre  Long Walk of the Navajo  Scalping

Lore

Alma Massacre  Gunfight at the O.K. Corral  Chisholm Trail  Battle of Tularosa  Dead man’s hand  Boot Hill  Western saloon  Wild West Shows  Frisco Shootout  Lincoln County War  One-room schoolhouse

American Folklore

Pecos Bill 

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v  d  e

American folklore and tall tales

 

General

Historical figures

Johnny Appleseed   Andrew Jackson  Abraham Lincoln   Billy the Kid   Blackbeard   Buffalo Bill  Balto  Daniel Boone   Jim Bowie   Kit Carson   Davy Crockett   Leif Ericson   Madoc  Mike Fink  Wild Bill Hickok   Jesse James   Calamity Jane  Casey Jones   Geronimo   Hiawatha   Captain Kidd  Jean Lafitte   Annie Oakley   Pocahontas  Chief Powhatan  Juan Ponce de Len  John Smith (explorer)   George Washington   Soapy Smith  Devil Anse Hatfield  Randolph McCoy  Robert E. Lee  Molly Pitcher  Wyatt Earp  Doc Holiday  John Rolfe  Jos Gaspar  Ulysses S. Grant  Sacagawea  Meriwether Lewis  William Clark (explorer)  Squanto  Myles Standish  Peter Stuyvesant  Jedediah Smith  John Colter  Sitting Bull  George Armstrong Custer  Theodore Roosevelt  Charles Bolles  Jim Bridger  Roy Bean 

Legendary figures

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Fearsome critters

Argopelter  Axehandle hound  Ball-tailed cat  Cactus cat  Fur-bearing trout  Glawackus  Hidebehind  Hodag  Hoop snake  Jackalope  Jersey Devil  Joint snake  Sidehill gouger  Snallygaster  Splintercat  Squonk  Teakettler  Wampus cat

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Miscellaneous

Terms

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Literature

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Genre

Western (genre)  Northern (Genre) 

Persondata

NAME

William Frederick Cody

ALTERNATIVE NAMES

Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill

SHORT DESCRIPTION

frontiersman, showman

DATE OF BIRTH

February 26, 1846

PLACE OF BIRTH

near Le Claire, Iowa, United States

DATE OF DEATH

January 10, 1917

PLACE OF DEATH

Denver, Colorado, United States

Categories: American folklore | American hunters | American people of the Indian Wars | American pioneers | American Roman Catholics | American stage actors | American writers | Bison hunters | Civilian recipients of the Medal of Honor | Converts to Roman Catholicism | Deaths from renal failure | People from Omaha, Nebraska | History of Nebraska | International Circus Hall of Fame inductees | Irish Americans | Irish-Americans in the military | Irish-American writers | People from New York City | People from North Omaha, Nebraska | People from Park County, Wyoming | People from Scott County, Iowa | People from Staten Island | People of the Black Hills War | Union Army soldiers | Utah War | Wild west shows | 1846 births | 1917 deathsHidden categories: Articles with hCards

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Encinitas is Spanish for “hills of live oaks,” describes the native vegetation found by the first Spanish expeditions in the mid 1700’s.  Our beach community is located on 6 miles of rugged cliffs along the Pacific Ocean in Northern San Diego County.

At the northen edge of Encinitas, the Coast Highway still has a few of the old hotels and motels built in the 1950s. These Encinitas hotels and motels line Historic Highway 101 in Encinitas. Most of these hotels and motels are now “two star” motels with weekly accommodations that allow smoking.

Proceeding southward, the Historic Coast Highway gives way to trendy Encinitas restaurants, chic boutiques and art studios – great for walking around in the sunshine.  The Old Coast Highway continues south through Old Encinitas, through the heart of our lost-in-time “old downtown” –  right past Swami’s Surf Beach, known far and wide for it’s awesome surfing.

Forever immortalized in the Beach Boys’ Surfin’ USA,  Swami’s is still a “surfer’s heaven” where you can watch the greatest surfers in the world practice their skills every day.  Swami’s is a delightful walk down the beach.

Encinitas is well known for its outstanding dining. People enjoy walking along historic Coast Highway 101 to any one of our many excellent sidewalk cafes, trattorias and restaurants.  2 miles south along old Highway 101, restaurants in picturesque Cardiff-by-the-Sea feature ocean front dining right on the beach with a diverse choice of cuisine, while another 3 mile drive right on the edge of the Pacific Ocean brings you to Del Mar.

Encinitas is blessed with 6 miles of gorgeous beaches – eleven of them!   Whether it’s surfing, swimming, scuba diving, boogie-boarding, sunning, reading a book, jogging, volley-balling or just basking in the serenity of a secluded beach, Encinitas has it all. The largest beach in Encinitas is Moonlight Beach.  Across the street is the Inn at Moonlight Beach, perched on a hill:  http://www.innatmoonlightbeach.com/

World famous cable cars still take transit riders throughout San Francisco. We’d never seen anything like it! It was so incredible! Music by: Alex Yiannaras www.elixirion.com ‘Pai’ (Chill Mix)
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History of Indian Race

INTRODUCTION

Traditionally, the very beginning of the United States’ history is considered from the time of European exploration and settlement, starting in the 16th century, to the present. But people had been living in America for over 30,000 years before the first European colonists arrived.

When Columbus landed on the island of San Salvador in 1492 he was welcomed by a brown-skinned people whose physical appearance confirmed him in his opinion that he had at last reached India, and whom, therefore, he called Indios, Indians, a name which, however mistaken in its first application continued to hold its own, and has long since won general acceptance, except in strictly scientific writing, where the more exact term American is commonly used. As exploration was extended north and south it was found that the same race was spread over the whole continent, from the Arctic shores to Cape Horn, everywhere alike in the main physical characteristics, with the exception of the Eskimo in the extreme North (whose features suggest the Mongolian).

GENERAL BACKGROUND

Origin and Antiquity

Various origins have been assigned to the Indian race. The more or less beleivable explanation is following. At the height of the Ice Age, between 34,000 and 30,000 B.C., much of the world’s water was contained in vast continental ice sheets. As a result, the Bering Sea was hundreds of meters below its current level, and a land bridge, known as Beringia, emerged between Asia and North America. At its peak, Beringia is thought to have been some 1,500 kilometers wide. A moist and treeless tundra, it was covered with grasses and plant life, attracting the large animals that early humans hunted for their survival. The first people to reach North America almost certainly did so without knowing they had crossed into a new continent. They would have been following game, as their ancestors had for thousands of years, along the Siberian coast and then across the land bridge.

Race Type

The most marked physical characteristics of the Indian race type are brown skin, dark brown eyes, prominent cheek bones, straight black hair, and scantiness of beard. The color is not red, as is popularly supposed, but varies from very light in some tribes, as the Cheyenne, to almost black in others, as the Caddo and Tarimari. In a few tribes, as the Flatheads, the skin has a distinct yellowish cast. The hair is brown in childhood, but always black in the adult until it turns grey with age. Baldness is almost unknown. The eye is not held so open as in the Caucasian and seems better adapted to distance than to close work. The nose is usually straight and well shaped, and in some tribes strongly aquiline. Their hands and feet are comparatively small. Height and weight vary as among Europeans, the Pueblos averaging but little more than five feet, while the Cheyenne and Arapaho are exceptionally tall, and the Tehuelche of Patagonia almost massive in build. As a rule, the desert Indians, as the Apache, are spare and muscular in build, while those of the timbered regions are heavier, although not proportionately stronger. The beard is always scanty, but increases with the admixture of white blood. The mistaken idea that the Indian has naturally no beard is due to the fact that in most tribes it is plucked out as fast as it grows, the eyebrows being treated in the same way. There is no tribe of “white Indians”, but albinos with blond skin, weak pink eyes and almost white hair are occasionally found, especially among the Pueblos.

Major Cultural Areas

From prehistoric times until recent historic times there were roughly six major cultural areas, excluding that of the Arctic (see Eskimo), i.e., Northwest Coast, Plains, Plateau, Eastern Woodlands, Northern, and Southwest.

·        The Northwest Coast Area

The Northwest Coast area extended along the Pacific coast from South Alaska to North California. The main language families in this area were the Nadene in the north and the Wakashan (a subdivision of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock) and the Tsimshian (a subdivision of the Penutian linguistic stock) in the central area. Typical tribes were the Kwakiutl, the Haida, the Tsimshian, and the Nootka. Thickly wooded, with a temperate climate and heavy rainfall, the area had long supported a large Native American population. Salmon was the staple food, supplemented by sea mammals (seals and sea lions) and land mammals (deer, elk, and bears) as well as berries and other wild fruit. The Native Americans of this area used wood to build their houses and had cedar-planked canoes and carved dugouts. In their permanent winter villages some of the groups had totem poles, which were elaborately carved and covered with symbolic animal decoration. Their art work, for which they are famed, also included the making of ceremonial items, such as rattles and masks; weaving; and basketry. They had a highly stratified society with chiefs, nobles, commoners, and slaves. Public display and disposal of wealth were basic features of the society. They had woven robes, furs, and basket hats as well as wooden armor and helmets for battle. This distinctive culture, which included cannibalistic rituals, was not greatly affected by European influences until after the late 18th cent., when the white fur traders and hunters came to the area.

TRIBES: Abenaki, Algonkin, Beothuk, Delaware, Erie, Fox, Huron, Illinois, Iroquois, Kickapoo, Mahican, Mascouten, Massachuset, Mattabesic, Menominee, Metoac, Miami, Micmac, Mohegan, Montagnais, Narragansett, Nauset, Neutrals, Niantic, Nipissing, Nipmuc, Ojibwe, Ottawa, Pennacook, Pequot, Pocumtuck, Potawatomi, Sauk, Shawnee, Susquehannock, Tionontati, Wampanoag, Wappinger, Wenro, Winnebago.

·        The Plains Area

The Plains area extended from just North of the Canadian border, South to Texas and included the grasslands area between the Mississippi River and the foothills of the Rocky Mts. The main language families in this area were the Algonquian-Wakashan, the Aztec-Tanoan, and the Hokan-Siouan. In pre-Columbian times there were two distinct types of Native Americans there: sedentary and nomadic. The sedentary tribes, who had migrated from neighbor ing regions and had initally settled along the great river valleys, were farmers and lived in permanent villages of dome-shaped earth lodges surrounded by earthen walls. They raised corn, squash, and beans. The foot  nomads, on the other hand, moved about with their goods on dog-drawn travois and eked out a precarious existence by hunting the vast herds of buffalo (bison) – usually by driving them into enclosures or rounding them up by setting grass fires. They supplemented their diet by exchanging meat and hides for the corn of the agricultural Native Americans.

The horse, first introduced by the Spanish of the Southwest, appeared in the Plains about the beginning of the 18th cent. and revolutionized the life of the Plains Indians. Many Native Americans left their villages and joined the nomads. Mounted and armed with bow and arrow, they ranged the grasslands hunting buffalo. The other Native Americans remained farmers (e.g., the Arikara, the Hidatsa, and the Mandan). Native Americans from surrounding areas came into the Plains (e.g., the Sioux from the Great Lakes, the Comanche and the Kiowa from the west and northwest, and the Navajo and the Apache from the southwest). A universal sign language developed among the perpetually wandering and often warring Native Americans. Living on horseback and in the portable tepee, they preserved food by pounding and drying lean meat and made their clothes from buffalo hides and deerskins. The system of coup was a characteristic feature of their society. Other features were rites of fasting in quest of a vision, warrior clans, bead and feather art work, and decorated hides. These Plains Indians were among the last to engage in a serious struggle with the white settlers in the United States.

TRIBES: Arapaho, Arikara, Assiniboine, Bidai, Blackfoot, Caddo, Cheyenne, Comanche, Cree, Crow, Dakota (Sioux), Gros Ventre, Hidatsa, Iowa, Kansa, Kiowa, Kiowa-Apache, Kitsai, Lakota (Sioux), Mandan, Metis, Missouri, Nakota (Sioux), Omaha, Osage, Otoe, Pawnee, Ponca, Sarsi, Sutai, Tonkawa, Wichita.

·        The Plateau Area

The Plateau area extended from above the Canadian border through the plateau and mountain area of the Rocky Mts. to the Southwest and included much of California. Typical tribes were the Spokan, the Paiute, the Nez Perce, and the Shoshone. This was an area of great linguistic diversity. Because of the inhospitable environment the cultural development was generally low. The Native Americans in the Central Valley of California and on the California coast, notably the Pomo, were sedentary peoples who gathered edible plants, roots, and fruit and also hunted small game. Their acorn bread, made by pounding acorns into meal and then leaching it with hot water, was distinctive, and they cooked in baskets filled with water and heated by hot stones. Living in brush shelters or more substantial lean-tos, they had partly buried earth lodges for ceremonies and ritual sweat baths. Basketry, coiled and twined, was highly developed. To the north, between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mts., the social, political, and religious systems were simple, and art was nonexistent. The Native Americans there underwent (since 1730) a great cultural change when they obtained from the Plains Indians the horse, the tepee, a form of the sun dance, and deerskin clothes. They continued, however, to fish for salmon with nets and spears and to gather camas bulbs. They also gathered ants and other insects and hunted small game and, in later times, buffalo. Their permanent winter villages on waterways had semisubterranean lodges with conical roofs; a few Native Americans lived in bark-covered long houses.

TRIBES: Carrier, Cayuse, Coeur D’Alene, Colville, Dock-Spus, Eneeshur, Flathead, Kalispel, Kawachkin, Kittitas, Klamath, Klickitat, Kosith, Kutenai, Lakes, Lillooet, Methow, Modac, Nez Perce, Okanogan, Palouse, Sanpoil, Shushwap, Sinkiuse, Spokane, Tenino, Thompson, Tyigh, Umatilla, Wallawalla, Wasco, Wauyukma, Wenatchee, Wishram, Wyampum, Yakima. Californian: Achomawi, Atsugewi, Cahuilla, Chimariko, Chumash, Costanoan, Esselen, Hupa, Karuk, Kawaiisu, Maidu, Mission Indians, Miwok, Mono, Patwin, Pomo, Serrano, Shasta, Tolowa, Tubatulabal, Wailaki, Wintu, Wiyot, Yaha, Yokuts, Yuki, Yuman (California).

·        The Eastern Woodlands Area

The Eastern Woodlands area covered the eastern part of the United States, roughly from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River, and included the Great Lakes. The Natchez, the Choctaw, the Cherokee, and the Creek were typical inhabitants. The northeastern part of this area extended from Canada to Kentucky and Virginia. The people of the area (speaking languages of the Algonquian-Wakashan stock) were largely deer hunters and farmers; the women tended small plots of corn, squash, and beans. The birchbark canoe gained wide usage in this area. The general pattern of existence of these Algonquian peoples and their neighbors, who spoke languages belonging to the Iroquoian branch of the Hokan-Siouan stock (enemies who had probably invaded from the south), was quite complex. Their diet of deer meat was supplemented by other game (e.g., bear), fish (caught with hook, spear, and net), and shellfish. Cooking was done in vessels of wood and bark or simple black pottery. The dome-shaped wigwam and the longhouse of the Iroquois characterized their housing. The deerskin clothing, the painting of the face and (in the case of the men) body, and the scalp lock of the men (left when hair was shaved on both sides of the head), were typical. The myths of Manitou (often called Manibozho or Manabaus), the hero who remade the world from mud after a deluge, are also widely known.

The region from the Ohio River South to the Gulf of Mexico, with its forests and fertile soil, was the heart of the southeastern part of the Eastern Woodlands cultural area. There before c.500 the inhabitants were seminomads who hunted, fished, and gathered roots and seeds. Between 500 and 900 they adopted agriculture, tobacco smoking, pottery making, and burial mounds. By c.1300 the agricultural economy was well established, and artifacts found in the mounds show that trade was widespread. Long before the Europeans arrived, the peoples of the Natchez and Muskogean branches of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic family were farmers who used hoes with stone, bone, or shell blades. They hunted with bow and arrow and blowgun, caught fish by poisoning streams, and gathered berries, fruit, and shellfish. They had excellent pottery, sometimes decorated with abstract figures of animals or humans. Since warfare was frequent and intense, the villages were enclosed by wooden palisades reinforced with earth. Some of the large villages, usually ceremonial centers, dominated the smaller settlements of the surrounding countryside. There were temples for sun worship; rites were elaborate and featured an altar with perpetual fire, extinguished and rekindled each year in a “new fire” ceremony. The society was commonly divided into classes, with a chief, his children, nobles, and commoners making up the hierarchy. For a discussion of the earliest Woodland groups, see the separate article Eastern Woodlands culture.

TRIBES: Acolapissa, Asis, Alibamu, Apalachee, Atakapa, Bayougoula, Biloxi, Calusa, Catawba, Chakchiuma, Cherokee, Chesapeake Algonquin, Chickasaw, Chitamacha, Choctaw, Coushatta, Creek, Cusabo, Gaucata, Guale, Hitchiti, Houma, Jeags, Karankawa, Lumbee, Miccosukee, Mobile, Napochi, Nappissa, Natchez, Ofo, Powhatan, Quapaw, Seminole, Southeastern Siouan, Tekesta, Tidewater Algonquin, Timucua, Tunica, Tuscarora, Yamasee, Yuchi. Bannock, Paiute (Northern), Paiute (Southern), Sheepeater, Shoshone (Northern), Shoshone (Western), Ute, Washo.

·        The Northern Area

The Northern area covered most of Canada, also known as the Subarctic, in the belt of semiarctic land from the Rocky Mts. to Hudson Bay. The main languages in this area were those of the Algonquian-Wakashan and the Nadene stocks. Typical of the people there were the Chipewyan. Limiting environmental conditions prevented farming, but hunting, gathering, and activities such as trapping and fishing were carried on. Nomadic hunters moved with the season from forest to tundra, killing the caribou in semiannual drives. Other food was provided by small game, berries, and edible roots. Not only food but clothing and even some shelter (caribou-skin tents) came from the caribou, and with caribou leather thongs the Indians laced their snowshoes and made nets and bags. The snowshoe was one of the most important items of material culture. The shaman featured in the religion of many of these people.

TRIBES: Calapuya, Cathlamet, Chehalis, Chemakum, Chetco, Chilluckkittequaw, Chinook, Clackamas, Clatskani, Clatsop, Cowich, Cowlitz, Haida, Hoh, Klallam, Kwalhioqua, Lushootseed, Makah, Molala, Multomah, Oynut, Ozette, Queets, Quileute, Quinault, Rogue River, Siletz, Taidhapam, Tillamook, Tutuni, Yakonan.

·        The Southwest Area

The Southwest area generally extended over Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Colorado and Utah. The Uto-Aztecan branch of the Aztec-Tanoan linguistic stock was the main language group of the area. Here a seminomadic people called the Basket Makers, who hunted with a spear thrower, or atlatl, acquired (c.1000 B.C.) the art of cultivating beans and squash, probably from their southern neighbors. They also learned to make unfired pottery. They wove baskets, sandals, and bags. By c.700 B.C. they had initiated intensive agriculture, made true pottery, and hunted with bow and arrow. They lived in pit dwellings, which were partly underground and were lined with slabs of stone – the so-called slab houses. A new people came into the area some two centuries later; these were the ancestors of the Pueblo Indians. They lived in large, terraced community houses set on ledges of cliffs or canyons for protection and developed a ceremonial chamber (the kiva) out of what had been the living room of the pit dwellings. This period of development ended c.1300, after a severe drought and the beginnings of the invasions from the north by the Athabascan-speaking Navajo and Apache. The known historic Pueblo cultures of such sedentary farming peoples as the Hopi and the Zuni then came into being. They cultivated corn, beans, squash, cotton, and tobacco, killed rabbits with a wooden throwing stick, and traded cotton textiles and corn for buffalo meat from nomadic tribes. The men wove cotton textiles and cultivated the fields, while women made fine polychrome pottery. The mythology and religious ceremonies were complex.

TRIBES: Apache (Eastern), Apache (Western), Chemehuevi, Coahuiltec, Hopi, Jano, Manso, Maricopa, Mohave, Navaho, Pai, Papago, Pima, Pueblo (breaking into: Acoma, Cochiti, Isleta, Jemez, Laguna, Nambe, Picuris, Pojoaque, Sandia, San Felipe, San Ildefonso, San Juan, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Santo Domingo, Taos, Tesuque, Zia), Yaqui, Yavapai, Yuman, Zuni.  Am strongly thinking about

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Marin’s Small Towns Charm Bay Area Tourists

Visitors to San Francisco will find a different world just a few miles north of the Golden Gate bridge where charming communities boast recreation opportunities you might find in a state or national park.

That’s why Marin County is an attractive place to live — as much as half the acreage is in open space, so residents enjoy an endless selection of trails and visitas, all quite clost to home. It’s expensive to live here, all right, but then how many places offer you a multi-cultural city of sophistication on one side of the bridge, and quiet trails and solitude on the other? If you crave recreation in the Great Outdoors but drive a Mercedes, you just might be a Marin County resident.

What’s nice is that any of us can stop by and experience — for a weekend, anyway — this lifestyle for ourselves. We took a little time to visit the southern part of the county, setting up our base of operations at the San Anselmo Inn, a charming European-style lodging in Northern California’s antiquing capital, San Anselmo. It was easy to drive short distances from there to explore many nearby attractions and communities;

The San Anselmo Inn is on San Anselmo Avenue, an especially enchanting downtown street that gently winds its way through the town’s historic buildings. The streets in this area are narrow and buildings close together, so the European feeling extends well beyond the inn itself. On a bright fall weekday, a wide variety of shops and stores

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California Governor Proposes Closure of 220 State Parks to Make up for Budget Shortfall

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to close over 200 state parks to public meet predictable criticism.

The Governor said that the state can no longer afford to sustain the parks after noting a budget defect of nearly billion. He is hoping that the closure of the parks would save the state millions of dollar in service costs over the next twelve months. Predictably the public are not taking to this suggestion easily.

This proposal would affect nearly 80 percent of California’s state parks and restrict access to nearly 30 percent of California’s coastlines.

The proposal would affect parks all down the state from the Sierra Nevada mountains to the Big Sur beaches down south. Preventing access to giant redwoods and such features as Lake Tahoe.

At least 2,000 jobs would be threatened, affecting park rangers, biologists and lifeguards, who would be laid off due to the Governor’s plans.

But the National Park Service are threatening to seize some locations if Schwarzenegger goes through with the legislation.

Of the areas that the Service have threatened to siege are San Francisco’s Angel Island,  which is where Chinese immigrants were barracked, Mount Diablo, Point Sur historical park in Big Sur and three beaches Ford Ort Dunes near Monterrey.

In his warning letter National Park Service director Jonathan Jarvis warns that the state could lose any future park funding.

Speaking on Schwarzenegger’s behalf a representative remarked: “We’re reviewing the letter and state parks director Ruth Coleman is in the process of talking with the National Park Service and Jon Jarvis about these very issues.
“They are discussing a variety of outcomes and solutions depending on what final budget package is passed by the Legislature.”

So far the Governor has rejected the democrats proposal for a annual fee for vehicle registration in order to help maintain the parks.

A spokesman for the National Parks Service said that another option is to cut down the park hours rather than cut them off completely. “We want to work with them, and see what they have to offer” he said “because we don’t want to close the parks and I’m sure they don’t want to either”.

Conservationists have been raising concerns about the implications of leaving the parks untended. They suggest it would costs as much to keep people out of the parks, and in future repairs, as it would to keep them open. They also point out that the parks are a great source of revenue for the state and closing them down may impinge on tourist revenue.

With the threat of the closure of Lake Tahoe to the public many people with property being let as Lake Tahoe vacation rentals are also upset by the proposition along with a large number of businesses and hotels relying on tourist money.

A representative of The National Parks Service had this to say, “Each visitor to a state park is worth per visit. The parks have generated millions throughout California. It’s almost as if they are shooting themselves in the foot.”

The American Automobile Association

The American Automobile Association, also referred to as AAA, is a non-profit organization that has over 50 million members. Its headquarters are located in Heathrow, Florida; right outside of Orlando, Florida. The group is a service organization as well as an organization that sells vehicle insurance to its clients if they wish to purchase it from them. Members of the American Automobile Association can renew their membership with the organization whenever their current membership expires and anyone in the country can join the organization if they want to. AAA doesn’t just offer services for motor vehicle owners but it also offers services for its members when they are not on the roads but traveling on planes, ships, and trains.

AAA is a discount club along with being an automotive club. The American Automobile Association not only provides emergency roadside services and maps to their members. They also provide services in four other main areas that include travel, financial services, car buying and car insurance. As a member of AAA, the company can help people with rental car reservations, lodging reservations, dinner reservations, procuring tickets to plays and sporting events, booking cruises, booking flights and much more. Their financial services include providing their members with gift cards or gift checks instead of carrying around cash when traveling to other areas of the country. If you are looking to purchase a new car then AAA can also help in this category. How? They can help their members find a car, negotiate the price, arrange the financing and even perform the financing on the car when service is due. AAA not only offers vehicle insurance from their company but also health, homeowners, and life insurance to their members.

The American Automobile Association was founded in 1902 in Cleveland, Ohio in response to the lack of roads and highways suitable for automobiles. The original membership consisted of 1,000 charter members. The first maps published by AAA were released in 1905, the company’s first hotel guides were published in 1917, and their safety school program began in 1920. One of their separate entities, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, was created in 1947 to conduct studies regarding motorist safety. Members of the American Automobile Association belong to individual AAA clubs across the country such as AAA Mid-Atlantic, AAA Northwest Ohio, and AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah. The American Automobile Association also has arrangements with affiliates throughout the world, including the Automobile Association of the United Kingdom, the Canadian Automobile Association, and the ADAC in Germany.

The AAA automotive services offered by the company are wide ranging. They include tire changing, towing, jump starting a dead battery, delivery of gas and much more. Members of AAA will need to prove that they are members when calling for emergency roadside assistance by reading the operator their member identification number on the front of their member card. Being a member of AAA will also help you get discounts in a lot of places including restaurants, book stores, clubs, car service shops and much more.

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Oregon Tourist Attractions

There are varied Oregon tourist attractions; the most popular vacation destinations here are Mt. Hood, Greater Portland and the Oregon Coast. You can just spend your entire day in such lovely places. It is said that Oregonians are adventurous, inquisitive and wild in nature, you can explore the place all on your own, it has so much to offer for people who love food and adventure. You can have a great meal, enjoying the powdery sloppy mountains, town lighthouse views and salmon running over the place. While you are this lovely place, we advise you to become one like Oregonians enjoying good sense of humor and love for adventure. There are some of the best things you can do here while on a vacation here as the place has some greater things to offer. The famous and most visited Oregon tourist attractions includes Oregon’s regions of Eugene, Bend, Grants, Klamth Falls, Pendleton, Portland, Salem, Sunriver, Medford, Pass, Sunriver and much of other places. The most popular list of things to do and visit are Oregon Zoo, Crater Lake National Park and Train mountain railroad museum.

Abacela – Abacela is a famous winery and vineyards where you can enjoy the taste of different and finest wineries of the world. The place is located at sunny south sloping rocky hills that grows fruits like Syrah, Malbec, Grenache, Merlot, Tempranillo and other varieties in unique microclimate. The fruits are handpicked that are of finest quality and optimally ripen, they are gently fermented and processed in gravity flow that preserves the quality. The main objective is to produce the finest quality wines that give the pleasure of a grape variety and its terroir.

Crater Lake National Park – The National Park is famous for its intense blue color giving greater view, visitor visits during the place especially during summers – you can take a walk around the Rim Drive lake. Here you can enjoy your time in the boat tours, camping at Mazama village, visiting and staying at the historic Crater lake Lodge and enjoy the hiking adventures.

John Day Fossil beds national Monument – It is a world renowned site famous for heavily eroded volcanic deposits that gives the beauty to the place across the scenic river basin with well preserved fossil records of plants and animals. The records of these animals dates back to more than 40 years of the total 65 million years of the Cenozoic Era. Cenozoic Era is termed as the age of mammals and Flowering plants. The monument is spread over 14,000 acre park that is divided in three wide units including the Clarno unit, painted hills unit and the sheep rock unit. The headquarters of the monument are located at Cant Ranch visitor center.

King of the Rogue Outfitters – the Rogue outfitters provides you with the highest and finest experiences of the southern Oregon and Northern California. You can enjoy the activities of mild whitewater rafting and also enjoying the fishing trips of Salmo, smallmouth bass and steeelhead.

Oregon Zoo – Oregon zoo is one of the most popular Oregon tourist attractions that takes you down the trip enjoying the animals in all its natural habitat looking over the birds, monkeys and crocodiles. The Savanna takes you down to the journey to visit zebras, giraffes and rhinos graze.

Fort Rock Homestead Museum – It was one of the last regions of the continental USA that is open for homesteading. It possesses the collections of original buildings that starts from the early 1990s that are arranged in the village setting. The place includes land office, church, homes, schools and log cabins, they are all furnished with tools and sundry objects used in olden era.

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Medford Oregon – A Great Place for Entertainment in the Rogue River Valley

Medford Oregon is well known as being the professional, retail and touring center of southern Oregon and northern California. The many cultural, business and recreational opportunities make it one of the most popular places for visitors in the Northwest. In addition to its natural scenery and diverse landscape, there is a myriad of entertaining activities available.

Located in the heart of the Rogue River Valley, Medford has all the conveniences of any large metropolitan area in a setting that also allows access to vast natural landscapes. The wide diversity makes it a memorable destination for anyone who enjoys a blend of urban and outdoor activities.

Of course, the main attractions lie among the vast forests, mountain wilderness and natural beauty of this spectacular region. People flock from all around the world to take advantage of the parks, campgrounds and nature trails. Biking, hiking, hunting and fishing facilities are available in great abundance throughout the region.

The crowning glory of the landscape is the Rogue River. As the river winds gracefully through the valley, it is surrounded by some of the most magnificent and diverse terrain in the world. Known for its salmon runs, whitewater rafting, and rugged scenery, it was one of the original eight rivers named in the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968.

There are spots where the waters are calm for boating and fishing enthusiasts. Canoes and kayaks are welcome and the river provides miles of pleasurable, leisurely paddling. Trout are plentiful and fishing is a major pastime for anglers who venture to the more secluded spots along the river.

For those who are a bit more adventurous, white water rapids here are a big attraction along the more rugged portions of the waterway. White water rafting tours are available most of the year, with equipment and experienced guides for a safe and fun experience. These trip packages range from a few hour day trip to four day adventures.

Northeast of Medford you can find the deepest lake in the United States, which is also the ninth deepest in the world, at the Crater Lake National Park. Most any outdoor activity imaginable is offered here. Backpacking, rock climbing and hiking draw many people, with plenty of room for everyone to enjoy the wide open spaces.

Crater Lake became a national park in 1902 and has all the modern amenities you might expect, while maintaining its pristine beauty. Accommodations are easy to reserve with a number of options to suit most any traveler. Hotels, motels and lodges can be found near the park, with camping available inside the park itself.

Just down the road from Medford, you’ll find the historic town of Jacksonville. Located in Jacksonville is the world famous, non-profit organization called the Britt Festivals. This is a premiere summer performing arts festival presenting lively summer concerts. It features many musical genres including blues, folk and pop, among others, in a naturally formed outdoor amphitheater.

Fine courses cater to golfers and networks of trails fulfill the needs of horseback riders. Music, shopping and a variety of entertainment are always readily accessible. Whatever your tastes, Medford Oregon has something around every corner.

Cultism And Immorality: An America Envisioned By Secret Societies

I hate to be one of the Nay Sayers who predict doom and gloom for our glorious nation. I believe in our system of government and have great respect for the members of the military that daily lay down their lives for the pursuit of freedom. However, fear has entered my soul. It’s a fear brought on by the knowledge that many of our leaders have lost their love for liberty and sold their souls for wealth and status.

Abraham Lincoln has said:

”What constitutes the bulwark of our liberty and independence? It is not our frowning battlements, our bristling seacoasts – these are not our reliance against tyranny. Our reliance is in the love of liberty, which God has planted in our bosom. Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own door.”

I first heard those powerful words in 1964 after visiting the New York World’s Fair with my parents. I was just eight years old when we entered the Illinois Pavilion at the fair and experienced “Great Moments with Mister Lincoln.” The exhibit was created by Walt Disney and featured animatronics in the form of a robotic President Lincoln that spoke, stood up and moved around like a living human. Those that visit the Hall of Presidents at various Disney Parks can enjoy an expanded version.

The Lincoln presentation was powerful and inspiring. My parents purchased a packet for me that contained a book and record of the presentation. I enjoyed listening to spoken word and speech recordings and had a decent collection of them. I listened to the Lincoln presentation over and over again. I knew the words were important and wanted to comprehend what they meant.

After a discussion about the speech with my father, I suddenly understood the message that Lincoln was passing on to the ages. The spirit of Liberty is not a fragile thing, but it requires people that believe in and act on the principle to keep it strong. Acting on the principle sometimes means helping others to obtain the freedom that we have. However, it doesn’t using freedom as a come on or a gimmick to further some other agenda.

It has become painfully obvious to me that many of the leaders of this nation and our world have sold their souls to a dark power that does not love and, in fact, loathes freedom. They have betrayed the American People and the very concept of liberty. That betrayal takes the form of membership in cult-like secret societies like the Bilderburgers and the Bohemian Grove group.

My knowledge of and concern about secret societies and their influence over government officials began with my introduction to the John Birch Society years ago. As a member, I took part in a number of campaigns to help reduce big government and the influence of outside agencies, groups, other governments and secret societies on America. I attended meetings and heard a number of lectures at yearly gatherings including two by the late Robert Welch, a founding member.

One reason that I eventually left the JBS was because it was simply hard for me to believe that the entire power structure of our government had been taken over by cultists and members of various secret societies. I guess I was just too young to believe that betrayal on such a massive scale could exist in what seemed like a free society.

My opinion on these issues changed in the late 1980s. I was booked as a guest on a talk radio program in Austin, Texas, where I was presenting a seminar. Two members of the U.S. House of Representatives from opposite sides of the aisle were in-studio guests just before me. They were in town for some big political event and seemed roundly annoyed with each other during the program.

As their segment ended the two seemed thoroughly disgusted with each other’s point of view, or so it appeared. Once the microphones were turned off, they settled down and retreated to the lobby. Taking a bathroom break just before my segment, I went out to the lobby to find a restroom and saw the two politicians talking with each other and laughing. It bothered me. That same situation repeated itself several more times in different places as I observed politicians with opposing views leaving radio or television studios congratulating each other on a job well done. A job well done for WHO or WHAT?

It eventually sunk into my head that I was nothing more than a pawn for powerful people to play with and that my vote was a joke. No matter who I voted for, the winner would be someone that belonged to some horrendous cult. My realization explained many things including why politicians from both major parties wanted the few remaining freedoms I had to vanish. They were creating the perfect Orwellian Society of people enslaved to unnatural standards and false values.

I recently viewed a copy of a DVD produced by Alex Jones entitled, Dark Secrets: Inside Bohemian Grove. The presentation sickened me. Like most people that hear about various secret societies, I just assumed that the ceremonies involved were harmless and even a bit silly. In fact, I became very upset with a fellow JBS member years ago when he gave a speech that claimed influential members of the Masonic Lodge (including U.S. Presidents) were actually worshipping the devil and various demons. I may owe him an apology.

I believe in freedom of religion, however, my tolerance does not extend to accepting the fact that elected male politicians are running around ancient California redwood trees worshipping a demon called Moloch and taking part in nothing less than immoral acts that mock the very idea of marriage or commitment to a monogamous relationship of any kind.

You cannot love liberty and commit to its principles while serving a group or entity that teaches physical, emotional and spiritual slavery. I urge all freedom-loving people to investigate these matters and draw their own conclusions. I urge you to stop by http://conspiracy.canyoustandthetruth.com/ and learn more about these matters.

This is a video tour of room 4 at the Turtle Rocks Oceanfront Inn in Trinidad, CA. Please see our website at www.turtlerocksinn.com for more information.

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The Most Famous Oregon Tourist Attractions

There are varied Oregon tourist attractions; the most popular vacation destinations here are Mt. Hood, Greater Portland and the Oregon Coast. You can just spend your entire day in such lovely places. It is said that Oregonians are adventurous, inquisitive and wild in nature, you can explore the place all on your own, it has so much to offer for people who love food and adventure. You can have a great meal, enjoying the powdery sloppy mountains, town lighthouse views and salmon running over the place. While you are this lovely place, we advise you to become one like Oregonians enjoying good sense of humor and love for adventure. There are some of the best things you can do here while on a vacation here as the place has some greater things to offer. The famous and most visited Oregon tourist attractions includes Oregon’s regions of Eugene, Bend, Grants, Klamth Falls, Pendleton, Portland, Salem, Sunriver, Medford, Pass, Sunriver and much of other places. The most popular list of things to do and visit are Oregon Zoo, Crater Lake National Park and Train mountain railroad museum.

Abacela – Abacela is a famous winery and vineyards where you can enjoy the taste of different and finest wineries of the world. The place is located at sunny south sloping rocky hills that grows fruits like Syrah, Malbec, Grenache, Merlot, Tempranillo and other varieties in unique microclimate. The fruits are handpicked that are of finest quality and optimally ripen, they are gently fermented and processed in gravity flow that preserves the quality. The main objective is to produce the finest quality wines that give the pleasure of a grape variety and its terroir.

Crater Lake National Park – The National Park is famous for its intense blue color giving greater view, visitor visits during the place especially during summers – you can take a walk around the Rim Drive lake. Here you can enjoy your time in the boat tours, camping at Mazama village, visiting and staying at the historic Crater lake Lodge and enjoy the hiking adventures.

John Day Fossil beds national Monument – It is a world renowned site famous for heavily eroded volcanic deposits that gives the beauty to the place across the scenic river basin with well preserved fossil records of plants and animals. The records of these animals dates back to more than 40 years of the total 65 million years of the Cenozoic Era. Cenozoic Era is termed as the age of mammals and Flowering plants. The monument is spread over 14,000 acre park that is divided in three wide units including the Clarno unit, painted hills unit and the sheep rock unit. The headquarters of the monument are located at Cant Ranch visitor center.

King of the Rogue Outfitters – the Rogue outfitters provides you with the highest and finest experiences of the southern Oregon and Northern California. You can enjoy the activities of mild whitewater rafting and also enjoying the fishing trips of Salmo, smallmouth bass and steeelhead.

Oregon Zoo – Oregon zoo is one of the most popular Oregon tourist attractions that takes you down the trip enjoying the animals in all its natural habitat looking over the birds, monkeys and crocodiles. The Savanna takes you down to the journey to visit zebras, giraffes and rhinos graze.

Fort Rock Homestead Museum – It was one of the last regions of the continental USA that is open for homesteading. It possesses the collections of original buildings that starts from the early 1990s that are arranged in the village setting. The place includes land office, church, homes, schools and log cabins, they are all furnished with tools and sundry objects used in olden era.

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