Gone Gonzo

Sometimes a man's mind goes blank
and his thoughts go to gonzo
wandering. In Medora
I asked, "Do you have cowboys
in Turkey?" and a wry smile
with "No" came back as we stood
in a line. The prairie dogs
barked when Ike stepped from the car
straining at his leash, wanting
to chase the pesky buggers.
The ladies dug crocodile
teeth from the earth which prompted
the man to say, "Hey, good one!"
I roamed the aisles of the best
bookstore this side of New York
and swapped lies with owner Doug
who dressed resplendent in togs
right out of the latest look
in old-time western vestments.
And dig deep we did to eat
in the cafes of that town
making me swear to haul fuel
in my trunk next time we came.
Teddy Roosevelt's legend
still lives on while lots of loot
gets made on his name out here.
There sat the wife of the man
who restored the town, Sheila,
who liked my poem and sent
me the book about the horse,
my hero, Tipperary.
So, my gonzo wandering
comes to an end while I get
back to writing my story
mixed with fact and fiction and
I've forgotten which is which.

A Celebration & A Book

Yesterday we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Mary's brother and his wife, Mike and Sharon, ate lots of good food, and took a few pictures. Here is the happy couple who still live on the ranch south of Raleigh.


Being that all of Mike's sisters were present I thought this would make a good picture grouping for them to get behind Mike and Sharon for this photo. For the life of me I don't know what caused this reaction, but it looks to me as if my wife said something naughty. She will not confess so it is up to our imaginations to guess what it could have been. After they settled down, I was able to take a better one.



The couple still look young, and I told them we are making plans to celebrate their 100th.



I just finished reading a book, a book that I wished would not have ended because I enjoyed it so much - Monte Walsh. by Jack Schaefer. Schaefer also wrote another great story - Shane. A popular movie was based on Shane, but two movies followed Monte Walsh, one with Lee Marvin in the 70's and the other a made for TV movie starring Tom Selleck. I found portions of them on YouTube and enjoyed them; for some reason I never saw either one previously.

Walsh was a real rounder, a cowboy who worked hard but played even harder. As the story progressed through the years his close friend and partner on the range changed with the years, married, and became a successful businessman. Monte would have none of the modern life and rejected inventions such as the motor car that started appearing. The ranch for which he worked so loyally for many years became fenced, his friends began dying or drifting away, and at the end it was just Monte and his horse. Even though the general theme was one of sadness as it followed the character's life, there were some places where I laughed the hardest that I have for a long time.

The Long Count

I read reference to an old sporting event that interested me, the Tunney-Dempsey heavyweight championship boxing match of September, 1927. It was the second meeting of these two boxers, Tunney having won the first bout. The key to this being a historic bout had to do with a new rule instituted just previously to this match: after a knock down, the standing fighter had to retreat to a neutral corner. Dempsey hit Tunney with a flurry of punches to the chin in the seventh round and knocked him down, but then he stood there. The referee did not start his count until he went to the corner, a length of five seconds. Whether or not Tunney needed the extra count is not known, but he waited for the full count before he got up and then went on to win the fight. Some thought Dempsey got cheated, but years later Dempsey said, "I didn't know what I was doing, I guess I was punchy. I didn't get to my corner. Besides Tunney wasn't hurt that bad." I searched YouTube by typing in Tunney-Dempsey and a film of the bout came up. I think I agree with Dempsey, Tunney didn't look hurt.

Some of the "jock strap" writers couldn't quite deal with Tunney without making fun of his love of literature. But he was a legitimate poetry quoting intellectual. After the Dempsey fight he spoke to a Yale Shakespeare class for an hour without notes about Troilus and Cressida. He counted writers like George Bernard Shaw, Thornton Wilder, M. Somerset Maugham, and Ernest Hemingway as friends.

After the fight Tunney and Dempsey became very good friends and Tunney would take his wife to Dempsey's restaurant to dine. To me one of the reasons I like this story is that this athlete didn't get his brains scrambled and become punch drunk. He went on to have a successful business career. Of course, it didn't hurt that he married an heiress to the Andrew Carnegie fortune.

Digging Bones

We took a weekend trip to Medora with our son Brandon and his wife Lindsey. The purpose of the trip was for the ladies to participate in a paleontological dig they had registered for which was sponsored by the State Paleontologist's Office. They both looked forward to getting out there and were just as excited when they came back saying, "We're going to do it again next year."


I thought this was a chance to get a bit artistic. They had climbed down a bit into the canyon to get a view and when I saw them coming up I thought this quirky shot would be interesting.

While the ladies were getting their hands dirty at the dig site Brandon and I went exploring south of town past the Bully Pulpit golf course. In camera class we learned that the elements of near, medium, and far work well in composition so I tried my hand with this one.


Mary took a camera along to the site which was located just a few miles east of Medora. Here she talked someone in to snapping this shot. Three paleontologists accompanied the group so there was a lot of professional help and guidance for these amateurs.

























Lindsey found the prize of the day, a large intact crocodile tooth. The pro told her it showed wear and was one that the croc shed naturally and would have grown a new one to take its place. The group found a variety of teeth, vertebra, scales, and feces, none of which they could keep. It was all official property of the state and was to be taken back to the laboratory at the state heritage center. I know the gals enjoyed their experience because the first thing they said upon returning was, "We're going to do it again next year."

A Teamster Story

A few days ago I set out to delete a long list of emails, but one jumped out at me that I had forgotten about. It was from Mike Knudson of Bismarck who recently published the book Ransom County's Loyal Defenders, compilation of short biographies of World War I veterans which, by the way, includes my Grandpa Sandvig. He knew of my interest in early teamster freighting in my home area and so wrote to alert me to one of the veterans, Herbert Fremont Hickey, the son of John T. Hickey who is the subject of this weblog. I asked Mr. Knudson for the reference he used in gaining knowledge of Hickey wherein his email steered me to The Sheldon Progress dated April 12, 1923. On the front page a large obituary wore this headline: "J. T. Hickey, Reno's Freighter, Died Suddenly Last Friday."


The following paragraph in that obit interested me, "Deceased was one of the old timers in the state, coming to Dakota Territory fifty-two years ago at the age of seventeen. Coming from the east, he was out for adventures and in 1871 entered the employment of the government and freighted with ox teams between Winnipeg, Fargo and Fort Abercrombie. He was a freighter with Major Reno's command at the time of the Custer massacre and often related with much vividness the stirring times of encounters with the savage Indian tribes that roamed over the state. He passed through this section when scarcely any settler was here with the train of government supplies from Fort Abercrombie to Fort Ransom and then on to Fort Lincoln where the troops were quartered."

Hickey started working on the freight trails a few years later than those men who stalled in a three day blizzard near Lisbon, the subject of the story I'm now working on, so Hickey will not be introduced as a character in that drama. But, if he kept Major Reno supplied, that will be the seed for another story. Reno is the controversial commander who did not ride to Custer's aid during the famous battle, but, instead retreated to a defensive position on a hilltop. After the battle he was placed in command of Fort Abercrombie but was called to a court-martial and charged with cowardice at the Little Big Horn. Found not guilty after a long trial, he got into further trouble at Fort Abercrombie for drunkenness, among other things.

Our man Hickey bore witness to much of the happenings in this period which I found to be very interesting. After his freighting career ended he moved to Sheldon, farmed awhile, and then purchased and ran the Sheldon Livery Stable for several years. He is buried in the Sheldon cemetery.

An interesting sidelight is the middle picture of ox shoes. Note they are in two pieces because of the cloven hooves of the bovines.

Hard of Hearing?

It is fun to pester the wife occasionally. Today as we rode along I tickled her bare arm a time or two just to hear her tell me to stop and that I never listen to her when she says quit. She always says that, that I'm not listening. I never heard her say it. She may have, I don't know.

Ole was telling Sven, "I just bought a new hearing aid. It cost me four tousand dollars, but it's state of the art. It's perfect." "Really?" answered Sven, "What kind is it?" Ole replied, "Twelve-turdy."

Then there's the elderly gentleman with serious hearing problems who goes to the doctor who fits him with hearing aids that allow him to hear at 100% for the first time in many years. The elderly man goes back in a month for a check-up. The doctor says, "Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again." To which the gentleman replies, "Oh, I haven't told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I've changed my will three times."

At the Bohemian Hall

Anyone looking for us on Saturday night would have found us at the Bohemian Hall ten miles south of Mandan. Years back a community of Czech settlers formed in that area and a meeting hall still stands bearing their identity. I don't know what the letters stand for; I'm quite sure they are initials for unpronounceable Czech words, but I do know they represent a Czech fraternal organization.


One of the people keeping the building in use is Chuck Suchy, a local singer and song writing farmer, who lives in the area and celebrates his own Czech heritage with an annual outdoor concert on the site. We have attended five or six times and each time the crowd grows in size.

Saturday night featured a full moon in a clear sky where a few clouds in the west gave beautiful colors as the sun set. Suchy, who holds the official title of State Troubadour, invites others to come each year to perform including his musical family. A singing daughter couldn't be there because she was touring with Garrison Keillor's summer show.



A little camera picture doesn't do justice to the size of the crowd in attendance but a couple of pictures show parts of the crowd. That the attendance was larger than expected was proven when the food ran out. We were early enough to get our piece of juneberry pie, though, and it was a treat.

Attendees are mostly a middle-age crowd so wild concert antics never are a problem. I'm sure we will attend in the future.

No Matter How Tough Times Are...

The pictures are from a trip to Russia that Mary made in 1997, fourteen years ago. I have always remembered this one and how interesting it was to me to see this man using his little car to haul hay. It does not show well but the back seat is packed full, too. The door closed on some of it and stems hang below.


Here a man forks hay off his rack into a ditch where he spreads it spread to dry and later stack in his back yard for winter feed. It would not surprise me if the "horse apples" there on the roadway were gathered, dried, and used for fuel to heat.

Mary came back with other pictures and lots of stories of how primitive certain parts of the culture remained. It could probably be said everything from a hog was used except the squeal.

For some reason all the sniping on the political scene with wild ups and downs in the economy reminded me of these pictures. The latest edition of Newsweek magazine carried several thought-provoking articles; it's the one with the controversial cover picture of Michele Bachmann which some of her supporters say makes her look daffy or spaced out. Hell, I don't see how she looks any different than she ever does.

Alan K. Simpson, retired senator from Wyoming, a man whom I happen to have liked when he was in the Senate, was asked in this issue if he recalled a fiscal battle anything like this one during his time in the Senate? He said, "No, it breaks your heart. It's almost akin to disgust, but it's more than that. It's heartbreaking." (I've never forgotten the time when Senator Simpson invited me and a couple others into his office for a friendly chat.)

Somehow the China thing got away on us before we realized what was happening. Another Newsweek article said that 60 % of China's income comes from exports, while America's export share is just 25 %. Later, it stated that "if - as predicted - India, China, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, Turkey, South Korea, Indonesia, and Russia, which today buy just 15% of U. S. exports, account for 70% of future global growth, then no American company can afford to stay home."

But there's a huge quandary here stated in another article. About 42,000 factories have closed in the U. S. which furnished 1/3 of all our manufacturing jobs. This article written by a past governor of Michigan said "Here is the tragedy: by insisting on a small-government, tax-cut-only solution to produce jobs, we are living by an outdated map of the economic world. Indeed, we may be accelerating the job losses as our competitors take advantage of our passivity."

On the lighter side I enjoyed an article and paintings of an artist named Lucian Freud who painted some nudes. There in a two-page spread sprawled a nude fat lady on a couch which I told the wife reminded me of her, after which she threw a book at me. With that, I must go.

On This Day

Several historical occurrences of note took place on this day, August 9:

- In 1945 a United States B-29 bomber dropped an atomic bomb nicknamed "Fat Man" on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.

- In 1936 the American track star Jesse Owens won his 4th Olympic gold medal in Berlin.

- In 1974 Richard Nixon's resignation became effective at noon and Vice President Gerald Ford was sworn in as the nation's 38th chief executive.

Some local happenings in the old home town were found to be newsworthy in the "The Progress" 100 years ago:

- Sheldon is a banner auto town with one automobile to every fifteen men, women, and children and we believe there is not another town in the state that can show such a large percentage of buzz wagons.

- A South Dakota farmer and his wife were making a trip from their drought stricken area to their former residence in this state by auto. He had placed his movables on two wheels of a wagon and fastened the contraption to the rear of his automobile as a trailer and were sailing along in great style, quite a novel sight.

- For over fifteen years the presses at "The Progress" printery have been operated by hand. A new gas engine was installed yesterday and this is the first issue in the history of the institution that has not been literally gotten out by the sweat of the brow.

On the Bottom Step

I found some interesting articles in the pages of my hometown paper of 100 years ago. One of them carried this headline: Boes Pilfer Oswald Ihme Farm Residence - The residence of Oswald Ihme on the banks of the Sheyenne River six miles south of Sheldon was entered by hoboes some time Thursday and a quantity of provisions stolen...Their invasion was chiefly to procure the necessities of life that satisfy the wants of the inner man, and everything was untouched with the exception of several quarts of canned fruit. Upon leaving the house they adjourned to the outer buildings where they confiscated several eggs, milked the cows, and dug potatoes from the garden. They carried their plunder to their camp under the railroad bridge and prepared a good meal. The banks of the Sheyenne have been a rendezvous for this class of bums for the past month. ... Another one stated Again Saturday night some hoboes, presumably the same bunch, attempted to purloin some of Roy Helsel's feathery tribe, they were unsuccessful as Mr. Helsel heard the squawking of the chickens and immediately ran out of the house with his gun and fired several shots at the men as they retreated through the bushes. ... And one more said Thieves entered the chicken coop of J. H. Burke about one o'clock last Sunday evening and made a futile attempt to carry off some of the judge's prized cockerels. The judge took an inventory of the flock Sunday morning and found one missing, a bunch of feathers pulled out of one of the old biddies, and an infant chick killed by being stepped on. In the meantime the boes were enjoying a Sunday dinner of chicken at Mr. Burke's expense.

Times were tough for unemployed people back then. If they were going to eat they resorted to the tactics reported on in the paper. Of course, and by right, they were called thieves and would have been thought of as the low class. This line from an article in the New York Times today has little to do with chicken stealing, but here it is anyway, "I did not become a vegetarian for my health, I did it for the health of my chickens."

I guess talking about hoboes and their hard times can be spoken of in the same light as speaking about unemployed people of today. News reports often feature highly capable people looking for work, but there just isn't anywork out there for them. The one thing above all that gripes me in the recent settlement of the debt ceiling question is that the richest of the rich went untouched in getting taxed. The argument, weak as it is, is that the rich are the engines of the economy. I have never bought that argument since they have proven that they take their money to other countries where they can find low priced labor. Furthermore, the argument goes that government should be smaller, but with that will go many of the social programs that support the unfortunate and keep us from having an army of hoboes going about stealing for their living.

Buggies and Blues, # 2

Maybe a bumper sticker or two would fit into a further Buggies and Blues blog entry: If I could have dinner with anyone, alive or dead, I would choose alive.

There were so many nice cars at Sunday's event on main street Mandan that I need to show a few more. This one happens to be owned by the man who lives across the street from my father-in-law so I see it occasionally in the driveway getting polished up. If I remember correctly this model gave lots of trouble because of so many electric motors and joints that went into making this top open or close. I don't think any other car maker tried to make one, either.

Studebakers, there were a few running around in the old days. They always had nice styling, but must have been ahead of their time because it didn't stick around. It is one car I would like to see again.
This Cadillac exudes class. Lots of fun got made of finny styling, but they sure seem desirable as a collectible classic. This one really looked pretty!
Some farm tractors sat on display, too. This one The General intrigued me so I went to the internet to find some information. I believe this model was the one listed as having a 17 horsepower Hercules engine, manufactured by the Cleveland Tractor Company and was distributed by Massey-Harris from 1939-41. World War II obviously interfered with further production and they probably converted over to making tanks or jeeps or something.

Bumper Sticker: Without men civilization would last until the oil needed changing.