Mountain Man Badger Puthoff
Approximately 3,000 mountain men roamed the Rocky Mountains between 1820 and 1840, the peak beaver-harvesting period. While many were free trappers, most mountain men were employed by major fur companies. Mountain men lived aux aliments du pays, French for “nourishment of the land”, surviving by using the provisions of nature. Eating bull cheese (buffalo jerky) and galette, a basic flour and water bread made into flat, round...
The ballads collector of Lake Champlain
Journalist Marjorie Porter watched the old woman’s wrinkled hands spinning yarn and listened to the tune she was quietly humming as she worked. A cool breeze from across Lake George was stirring the humidity in the shade. It was 1941, and Porter, 32, had spent many summers with her family at the lake. Today, this exhibit of pioneer life in the Adirondack Mountains brought her to the spinning wheel of Lily Delorme. “Mrs. Delorme, I’m...
Cowboy rhymes with thyme
Cowboys driving cattle after the Civil War cooked on hot, smoky coals and recited homemade poetry. They flavored their beans with molasses and stories. The chuckwagon was the kitchen cabinet. Poems were the entertainment. Mix in some rain and dust, add a heavy dose of lonesome, and a pinch of Irish storytelling, Scottish seafaring, Mexican horsemanship and African improvisation and you have the original recipe. John...
Shikata ga nai
It appears there is nothing left of Amache except a small cemetery with gravestones and other memorials. The swirling wind doesn’t remember. The prairie grass twitches indifferently. The concrete barracks foundations are motionless. But buried below this forlorn landscape are pieces of ceramic tea cups, Go game tokens, hair barrettes, eggshells, rounded stones from the nearby Arkansas River and residual pollen from plants grown on...
No medals for kindness
Vietnam 1965 – Capt. Gordon Rozanski flew into Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley on the supply helicopter. He was the supply officer for the 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry Regiment of the 1stCavalry Division (Airmobile). It was the first full-scale battle between American and North Vietnamese troops. As the chopper landed he jumped off and started unloading supplies as bullets ripped into the side of the aircraft. He picked up...
Preserving the family store
Their great grandfather Henry Kneisel used to sell Dr. Hamers High Altitude and Dry Climate Home Cures. Today they feature Colorado-made products including jams, syrups, sauces and gift foods. Dr. LeGear’s Heave and Cough Remedy for horses was a modest seller, after Emil Anderson became partners with Kneisel, along with Scandinavian cheeses for the miners most of whom came from Norway, Denmark and Sweden. The demand for Heave...