Happy Halloween From Ginger & Crew

Taken from Google Images

Despite trying desperatly to find some proof of the celebration of this aged holiday, it appears that the custom came from Ireland, and was more popular in that part of the world.  Known also as All Hallow's Eve or even the "Day of the Dead," it only makes sense that thing such as the civil war and unrest with Indians would keep the pioneers inside.  Image, if your nearest neighbor was miles and miles away, where would you trick or treat?

I copied this direction from Wikipedia (sans the footnotes) to share with you.  You'll see nothing mentioned about Cowboys and Indians.  :(

Halloween, or Hallowe'en (/ˌhæləˈwiːn, -oʊˈiːn, ˌhɑːl-/; a contraction of "All Hallows’ Evening"),also known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eveis a yearly celebration observed in a number of countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It begins the three-day observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, includingsaints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed believers.

According to many scholars, All Hallows' Eve is a Christianized feast influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, with possible pagan roots, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain^[ Other scholars maintain that it originated independently of Samhain and has solely Christian roots.

Typical contemporary festive Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related "guising"), attendingcostume parties, decorating, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing anddivination games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories and watching horror films. In many parts of the world, the Christian religious observances of All Hallows' Eve, including attendingchurch services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead, remain popular, although in other locations, these solemn customs are less pronounced in favor of a more commercial and secular celebration. Because many Western Christian denominations encourage, although most no longer require, abstinence from meat on All Hallows' Eve,the tradition of eating certain vegetarian foods for this vigil day developed, including the consumption of apples, colcannon, cider, potato pancakes, and soul cakes.

So...light up those Pumpkins and celebrate...or be like me and turn off all the lights and pretend you aren't home.  :)

Bullying & Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse
Tašúŋke Witkó

Tašúŋke Witkó

I, Ginger Simpson, love the history channel, and of course when a recent presentation dealt with the history of Crazy Horse of the Sioux, I was glued to the screen.  I'm sharing portions of that program with you to demonstrate that bullying has been around for ages, and no matter what we do, it's highly unlikely we'll every be able to stop it.

Back in the 1840s, the waving grasses, flowing streams, and distant hills of the Dakota plains were considered sacred.  Only those children of the red man's Great Spirit wandered them without fear.  They lived simply until conflict with the white man began, but until then, the peaceful and harmonious ways of the Sioux tribe were the custom during the time Crazy Horse was born to become a great leader of his people..

Near Rapid Creek, South Dakota, the Sioux dominated the plains, consisting of several bands, with Crazy Horse being from the Ogalala Lakota.Their size and strength gave them control of the largest territory, protecting their lands from the neighboring Crow, Irikara, Araphoe and Shoshone.  Over the years, by driving back these intruders as a reminder to whom the land belonged,  the Sioux eventually became the most powerful and numerous band along the northern plains.

It's reported that during his vision quest, Crazy Horse received instruction that led to the way in which he lived his life.  For four days he fasted in solitude to open his mind and body to the Great Spirit's word. The young warrior was shown a future in which he would avoid adornment, seek simplicity and go into battle without fear. The arms of his people would protect him.  Although he rode closest to the soldiers, he was never wounded.  His people assumed he possessed special characteristics and spiritual medicine that protected him.

Despite his mysterious aura and self-imposed separation from people, he soon became the second most powerful leader; the first being Sitting Bull.  Although there is very little documenting the life of Crazy Horse, oral history from his ancestors tell how he stood out at a very early age. More fair-skinned than his brotherhood, and having curly brown hair, his black eyes hardly maintained eye contact. He seemed shy and withdrawn, but never remiss in defending his homeland.  His story has been long a legend among the people but other information about him was written by the whites and showed prejudice rather than recognition as a truly talented and admired warrior. Despite the abundance of photographs taken of other chiefs and tribal members, either through an aversion to photography or his shyness, no pictures of this legendary warrior exist. The drawing above was done in 1934 by a Mormon missionary who interviewed the sister of Crazy Horse.

White American Society began moving onto the Sioux land in the 1850s, and shortly after, life changed. With interest drawn by the abundant herds of animals moving along the impinging trails, the occasional pilfering of a cow or horse resulted in complaints being lodged with the armies who occupied the many forts built along the traveled paths to protect the white settlers. The Sioux assumed the infantry would disregard the infrequent theft reports and engaged in trade with some of the whites. These types of offenses were handled by Indian Agents with great success.  Although the practice of interacting with the whites introduced the Sioux to many new things, it also brought to them diseases previously unknown to them, making them wary of these intruders to their land.  The Sioux were also wrong in their assumptions about the army and their treaties..

The first dispute along the Great Platte Road resulted because of one lone cow  It was 1854, and the sick and lame animal wandered from a Mormon wagon train into Conquering Bear's camp at a time when Crazy Horse was there.  Approximately 4,000 Brule and Ogalala Sioux camped peacefully, according to their treaty of 1851, when Lt. Hugh Fleming and a small garrison consulted with the chief about the return of the animal.  The owner demanded $25.00 instead of a replacement cow or horse taken from the Chief's own personal herd.  Lt. Fleming demanded the brave who killed the cow be delivered to the fort, but the Chief refused.  The slayer of the animal was a visiting Miniconjou, and the Chief did not want to appear inhospitable..

Upon the reports of the refusal of cooperation, Second Lt. John Grattan led a detachment into the Indian camp.  As a recent graduate of West Point and inexperienced with dealing with the Sioux's ability, Grattan's determination to carry out his job led to Chief Conquering Bear being shot in the back, whereupon the Sioux dispensed with the twenty-nine men who started the fracas.  At the time, the Indian Agent was in the process of returning to the area with the required re-compensation.

It was this ridiculous argument that resulted in General William S. Harney, leading a garrison of 600 men to teach the Lakota a lesson.  He found the Indians peacefully camped and unaware of the pending attack, slaughtering over eighty men, women and children.  During this time, Crazy Horse was away from camp, training a pony, and upon his return once again witnessed the brutality of the paleface he now considered enemy.

So, could things have played out differently?  I think so, but we'll never know because there are always going to be those who need to flex their muscles and prove something to the world.. General William Harney was known to have a mean streak, and his actions later earned him the title of "The Butcher."  His saying "By God, I'm for battle, no peace," proved his intentions.  I'm ashamed to say he was from Tennessee.  We can be like the Sioux an continue to fight for what we believe is right, but will we be anymore successful?

*********

Note:  Because of the event on Facebook today, I'm resharing this post from two years ago that I think is very interesting.  Hope you do as well. :)

The History of Privies

 Defecation in ancient times is thought to have been done indiscriminately. Prehistoric men released human waste anywhere in the forest. But soon, as the idea of privacy was beginning to take shape in their minds, they began to do it in isolation in caves. This was the crudest form of an outhouse by the first latrine maker or makers. Some studies estimate this to have happened about the same time when man learned to dress up.
But the problem of available space in the latrine caves soon started troubling them. Thus, probably for convenience sake, they started digging holes for the purpose and partly refilling it with earth to make it reusable by others. Then, as refilling reached the level of the ground, they dug another site.

Privy in Scottish Castle

As they advanced in living standards, people started living in constructed shelters of wood and thick canvas, and much later, wood and stone. The idea of communities also began to propagate. About that time, caves were too isolated and dangerous to continue serving the defecation needs of the people. The person or persons who invented the outhouse came up with the idea at this time.

The earliest record of a water closet system was in China. A stone toilet bowl with a water system was found to have been used in 206 B.C. Thus, the first latrine maker and the person who invented the outhouse could well have been a Chinese who lived around this time.

Urinal in Scottish Castle

Some experts estimate that the first outhouse in Europe was used some 500 years ago. In fact, they also assert that the man who invented the outhouse was a European. Fifteenth and sixteenth century Europeans started enjoying the convenience of outhouses then instead of doing the human urge in remote places where digging and refilling were done countless times through the year. Latrines were yet unhygienic to keep inside houses as long as the U-trap and water closet were not yet invented.

Privy System, Welsh Castle

When people back then had the urge to relieve themselves of human waste, they went to a roofed cubicle about 50 to 100 yards away from their houses. It was about 3 by 5 feet in area and stood some 7 feet tall. It had no windows and light. On the center of the floor was a hole and inside it was a tin bowl for catching waste. Each morning, the tin bowl was replaced. The person or people who invented the outhouse had to assign someone for the daily and messy chore. 


Did the Outhouse Help the South in the Civil War?


In the early part of the 20^th century, millionaire John D. Rockefeller set out to profit from southern industry, but was stymied by the lack of productivity from an unenergetic workforce. Rockefeller funded studies that discovered the cause: a microscopic hookworm which could travel up to 4 feet in soil from a site of defecation. The “germ of laziness,” as they called it, infected a new host through their bare feet and migrated to the intestine, resulting in anemia, malnutrition and poor worker performance.

 
Rockefeller spearheaded a public health campaign in the South to “unhook the hookworm,” which included the widespread installation of outhouses that buried waste well past 4 feet. Treatment and health education were also major components of the campaign. The educational video below was produced by the International Health Division of the Rockefeller Foundation in 1920.

Anyone who goes camping these days is familiar with outhouses. Eww, yuk. I hate them. I remember going to visit my grandmother when I was a child and having to use theirs. Often, I would walk the 2-3 blocks back to our motel (one of those old fashioned ones where the bathroom was a communal one) to use the one there rather than use Grandmother's. There were spiders in there. Eek. I suppose there are members of the younger generation might not be familiar with outhouses. If not, they're missing out on a lot of memorable fun--not because of outhouses, but because it means they aren't getting out into the mountains and enjoying nature. Frankly, I think someone should start a crusade to preserve what few outhouses are left; they are a vanishing species. Anybody with me?

in the early part of the 20^th century, millionaire John D. Rockefeller set out to profit from southern industry, but was stymied by the lack of productivity from an unenergetic workforce. Rockefeller funded studies that discovered the cause: a microscopic hookworm which could travel up to 4 feet in soil from a site of defecation. The “germ of laziness,” as they called it, infected a new host through their bare feet and migrated to the intestine, resulting in anemia, malnutrition and poor worker performance.
Rockefeller spearheaded a public health campaign in the South to “unhook the hookworm,” which included the widespread installation of outhouses that buried waste well past 4 feet. Treatment and health education were also major components of the campaign. The educational video below was produced by the International Health Division of the Rockefeller Foundation in 1920.
- See more at: http://endtheneglect.org/2012/01/how-the-outhouse-helped-save-the-south-and-what-it-can-do-for-the-worlds-bottom-billion/#sthash.buiDPHo3.dpuf

in the early part of the 20^th century, millionaire John D. Rockefeller set out to profit from southern industry, but was stymied by the lack of productivity from an unenergetic workforce. Rockefeller funded studies that discovered the cause: a microscopic hookworm which could travel up to 4 feet in soil from a site of defecation. The “germ of laziness,” as they called it, infected a new host through their bare feet and migrated to the intestine, resulting in anemia, malnutrition and poor worker performance.
Rockefeller spearheaded a public health campaign in the South to “unhook the hookworm,” which included the widespread installation of outhouses that buried waste well past 4 feet. Treatment and health education were also major components of the campaign. The educational video below was produced by the International Health Division of the Rockefeller Foundation in 1920.
- See more at: Http://endtheneglect.org/2012/01/how-the-outhouse-helped-save-the-south-and-what-it-can-do-for-the-worlds-bottom-billion/#sthash.buiDPHo3.dpuf

Someone wanted some pictures of classy outhouses. How about these? I think they are sort of classy...for outhouses.

Your formal Invitation

YOU ARE FORMALLY INVITED TO OUR AUTUMN ROUNDUP ON

OCTOBER 28, 2015

AND I'M USING CENTRAL TIME FOR ME!

Questions of Mystery - Susan Horsnell

Unsolved mysteries of the Wild West

Did Sheriff Pat Garrett Really Kill Billy the Kid in 1881?



Sheriff Pat Garrett

'Billy the Kid'

After William H. Bonney escaped from Lincoln County Jail in New Mexico while awaiting hanging for the murder of Sheriff William Brady, the record will tell you that Sheriff Pat Garrett tracked the outlaw, better known as Billy the Kid (above, right), to a residence in Fort Sumner where he shot and killed him. Questions abound, however, as to Garrett’s trustworthiness and the reasons for the prompt disposal of the victim’s body. Even one of his deputies present for the shooting said that the man Garrett shot was not the fugitive they had been looking for.

When a man going by the name Brushy Bill Roberts (above, left) surfaced in Texas in 1950 seeking pardon for the crimes of Billy the Kid, the media took notice. His case was eventually thrown out by the governor of New Mexico, who agreed to meet with him. The Governor did not believe Roberts was Billy the Kid. Roberts died a short time later, reportedly ashamed by the media circus that followed his confession.


Brushy Bill Roberts

Jameson, however, is one of many convinced that Roberts was the real deal. “We started out trying to prove Roberts was lying,” he says of his investigation. One by one, though, all of Roberts’ claims were eventually verified. A statistical facial recognition analysis comparing Roberts to known images of The Kid suggested that the two men were actually one and the same. Jameson says that he’s challenged the so-called “traditionalist academics” that hold to Garrett’s official account of The Kid’s death to debate him on the subject, but none have accepted thus far.

Did Butch Cassidy Return to the United States?

'Butch Cassidy'

It has been said that Butch Cassidy and his accomplice Henry Alonzo Longabaugh ("the Sundance Kid") were the only outlaws who lived to see themselves portrayed on film. Though the record states—and Hollywood would have you believe—that the famous bank robbers were killed in a gunfight with the Bolivian military after fleeing the U.S., many of Cassidy’s friends and family members report that he actually visited them several times after he was said to have been killed.

'The Sundance Kid'

To complicate matters, the man responsible for identifying the two victims of the shootout in South America was a loyal friend of Cassidy’s—perhaps loyal enough to bolster Cassidy’s odds of a successful escape by falsifying the ID. Another of Cassidy’s friends was asked to look at photographs of the bodies in question and confirmed the death of Longabaugh, but said the body previously identified as Cassidy was someone else entirely.



 

Did Outlaw Bill Longley Elude Execution?

 

 

Bloody Bill Longley had more than 30 killings to his name before he was hanged at the age of 27, suggesting that Longley was one of the most prolific and psychopathic gunslingers in the Wild West. But was he successfully executed and buried in Texas?

Longley’s acquaintances held that Bloody Bill escaped from prison before being hanged and lived out the remainder of his days as a Louisiana cotton farmer under the name John Calhoun Brown. Longley had escaped prison twice before his recorded execution in 1878. Did a third escape keep this notorious killer from the gallows indefinitely?

Although Smithsonian anthropologist Douglas Owsley claims to have proven through DNA analysis that the body buried in Giddings, Texas did in fact belong to the notorious outlaw, Jameson says “all that (DNA) proves is that (the body) was a Longley relative.” Skeptics are quick to point out that a number of Longley relatives are buried in the same cemetery and that poor records make accurate identification of the body in question difficult.

I hope you have enjoyed this look at just a snippet of Mysteries.

Until next time - stay safe.

Sue

Susan Horsnell 

Western Romance Writer  

Website:    http://horsnells.wix.com/susan--1  

Blog:          http://susanhorsnell.com   

Twitter:     @susanhorsnell 

 

Owner/Operator of Easychair Bookshop: http://theeasychairbookshopblog.com

Three...count 'em, Three New Releases from Books We Love

Just filling in a slot to let you know that I have three new historical western romances available now.  All of these were previously released; two by another publisher and the sales were dismal on one in particular because of the reviews trolls left behind.  The other received 5 5-star, but I thought it needed more exposure.  The third, I self-published when I was in a pity-potty and sold zip, so all the successes that self-pubbing authors are having totally escaped me even though I promoted the book.

Anyhow...here are the covers, and you can find more about them on my Books We Love Page.  Just find the cover of your liking and click on it and you'll be taken to the book page.  Voila!!!

Photo Journal: Dry Grasses

Welcome to my introductory post for Cowboy Kisses. I’m the new girl on the blog. Unfortunately, my first opportunity to post came at a time I have been extremely busy doing what writers do. On top of that, I spent this past weekend at the Women Writing the West conference in Redmond, Oregon. It was a powerfully inspiring experience to me as a writer of the West. Unfortunately, it was so hectic getting ready to go, I did not get this post organized before I left. On the way home from the conference, as I looked through some of the photographs I took on the trip, I decided what I want to share.

My thanks to one of our speakers, Rebecca Lawton, a scientist whose work for many years involved the study of climate and hydrology.  Her duties included monitoring the Stanislaus River watershed, a river with which I am more familiar than many after having lived for years in Stanislaus County, California. I drove over this river many times and rafted down it several times—not whitewater rafting like you will find higher in the mountains, but on the tamer stretches just east of Oakdale. She spoke on climate and water in the West. Her comments about the New Melones Dam struck a chord with me because I have driven over this dam several times just in the past year. And, yes, the water level is discouragingly low.

Reservoir behind New Melones Dam in January 2015

While I stood on the side of the road near the New Melones Dam in January of 2015 which is the height of our rainy season, I took this photo of the reservoir. By noting where the waterline has been in the past you can see how low it was last year. Perhaps you can imagine how much lower the water level is by now after a summer of triple-digit heat and water released for irrigation in the San Joaquin Valley.

In spite of efforts to effectively preserve and manage water in the West, sometimes the climate and rain cycles have the final word on how much water is available. I recently wrote another post in which I discussed the water level of the Bagby Reservoir along the Merced River to the south of the Stanislaus River. The water level is so low the reservoir is but a memory. It is back to being the Merced River.

Rebecca’s talk reinforced one of the essential elements

Courtesy of High Desert Museum, Bend, OR

for writing authentically about the West. The North American West is for the most part a dry land. California and much of the West have experienced five years of drought. Even when there is not a drought, there is not an excess of water. Yes, there is rain and snow—too much at times, but not enough to naturally sustain a lush, green landscape all year. 

Outside of California and the Pacific coastal regions, much of the West makes up the High Desert, also known as the Great Basin. Compared to many parts of the world, the West is dry, dusty and perpetually short on water. In other words, it is an arid land.

This past year I wrote about the Eastern Sierra-Nevada region that typically has quite a bit of cool weather and months of snow. Yet, between the stands of evergreens and aspens it is a dry, high desert region. During my research trip in May I noticed the meadows had not greened up, but were still dry. On the windward side of these same mountains, there is more rain, but still the landscape is dry most of the year. Except for a few short months in winter and early spring when there is enough moisture to sprout a season of grass, the grasslands of the West are carpeted with the gold of dry grasses.

Near Bend, OR

On my trip north to Redmond, Oregon through parts of Siskiyou and Cascade mountains, I noticed the same trait.

To love the West, writers and their readers must embrace aridity. Along with the mountains, deserts and rivers, it is a part of the setting. For the balance of this post I decided to share a photo collection of dry grasses and weeds. I am not a botanist, so I have no intention of trying to identify their popular or scientific names. Instead, I encourage all of us to look for and find the beauty in a part of nature many of us often overlook and esteem as insignificant. It is not. In the West, beneath the majestic Ponderosa and Juniper trees, skirting the Piñon pines, the Manzanita and the bitterbrush, bordering the dried streams and ponds, this is what you will often find.

For most people, these humble plants are not as awe-inspiring as great mountains, lofty evergreens or rock formations. But, by focusing on the microcosm of their natural setting, there is a beauty in their dryness that can help us understand and appreciate the West. 
 

Mono County near Mono Lake, February 2015

 

Behind rest area, Hwy 97, northern CA

Rest area, Hwy 97, northern CA

Scenic Overlook, west of Mt. Shasta

Roadside, south of Dorris, CA

Dried creek bed off Road 782, feeds Crooked River, OR

On bank of dried creek bed, Road 782, OR

Top of cliff-Smith Rock State Park, OR

Smith Rock State Park, OR

Smith Rock State Park, OR

Smith Rock State Park, OR

Peter Skene Ogden Crooked River Overlook Park, OR

Smith Rock State Park, OR

Peter Skene Ogden Crooked River Overlook Park, OR

Smith Rock State Park, OR

Peter Skene Ogden Crooked River Overlook Park, OR

Hwy 97 Bridge & Peter Skene Ogden Crooked River Overlook Park, OR

Peter Skene Ogden Crooked River Overlook Park, OR

Crooked River canyon & Peter Skene Ogden Crooked River Overlook Park, OR

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

 Zina Abbott is the pen name used by Robyn Echols for her historical novels. Her novel, Family Secrets, was published by Fire Star Press in October 2014 and her novelette, A Christmas Promise, was published by Prairie Rose Publications in November 2014. The first two novellas in the Eastern Sierra Brides 1884 series, Big Meadows Valentine and A Resurrected Heart, are now available.

The author is a member of Women Writing the West, American Night Writers Association, and Modesto Writers Meet Up. She currently lives with her husband in California near the “Gateway to Yosemite.” She enjoys any kind of history including family history. When she is not piecing together novel plots, she pieces together quilt blocks.

Please visit and follow the Zina Abbott’s Amazon Author Page by clicking HERE.

Zina Abbott Author Links:

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