Friday

                     Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Sometimes I guess there is just not enough rocks.”

             Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks)

Many years ago I was a dedicated Dallas Cowboys fan...then I suddenly switched to the Houston Oilers and a friend asked me why. I told him that running back Calvin Hill and wide receiver Lance Rentzel were retiring. The year before the Cowboys had played the Redskins twice and running back John Riggins had ran roughshod over the Cowboys both times. After the second game Riggins said that this was the last year on his contract and next year he would be a free agent and would love to be a Cowboy. Not only that all star wide receiver Preston Pearson of the Steelers was becoming a free agent and had expressed an interest in becoming a Cowboy also. Head coach Tom Landry said that he would not take either one because HE did not believe in free agency. It did not matter what a great contribution these players could make to the team, all that mattered was his personal opinion. So I went over to the Oilers where Bum Phillips was head coach and he would take anyone he could get...not only that he had Earl Campbell, one of my all time favorite running backs. Earl would rather run you over than around you. Earl had 30” thighs. I saw a defensive back that was asked how you tackle Earl and he said “You don't dare tackle him low, you grab him around the neck and wait for help.”

This Date in History November 25

1783 On this date nearly 3 months after the signing of the Treaty of Paris ending the American Revolutionary War, the final contingent of British soldiers leaves New York City. New York had been continuously occupied by the British since 1776. As soon as the British withdrew the Patriot army led by George Washington marches triumphantly into the city amid a jubilant crowd. Soon thereafter New York was declared the capitol of the United States and that is where George Washington received his first inauguration as President. New York was the capitol until 1790 and then the capitol was moved to Philadelphia. As you might suspect, the Americans that remained loyal to England during the war were between a rock and a hard place after the British left, the victorious Patriots had confiscated their lands and property. But England did not disappoint and gave lands in Ontario and Nova Scotia to the Loyalists. This event seriously changed the demographics and changed eastern Canada from a New France to a majority of English speaking Protestants.

1863 On this day US General Ulysses Grant broke the siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee. A substantial number of Union troops were trapped in a semi-circle in the city of Chattanooga and had been there for several weeks with no apparent way out. When Grant arrived on the scene he changed the strategy of defense to one of aggressive offense. After opening a supply line by driving the Confederates away from the Tennessee River in mid October, he planned a breakout to begin of November 23. The attack was in three parts with US General William T. Sherman on the left flank and US General Joseph Hooker on the right. Both on these attacks failed but the attack on the center led by US General George Thomas succeeded. The success came primarily because of confusion in the orders on both sides. Eventually, the Union troops pushed the Confederates out of their poorly prepared rifle pits and then on to the top of the ridge they were defending. This battle was know afterward as the Battle of Missionary Ridge and went a long way toward driving the Confederates out of Tennessee. After this debacle the overall Confederate commander, CSA General Braxton Bragg, blamed everyone but himself for the loss. But CSA President Jefferson Davis was not fooled and pressed for Bragg to resign which he did by having lost the confidence of his troops. His replacement was CSA General Joseph E. Johnston.

1950 The so-called “Storm of the Century” or the “Appalachian Storm” gets underway. A low pressure system over North Carolina gets some rotation and forms into a major storm and heads northeast. This monster dumped massive amounts of snow on West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The snow depth prevented travel in many areas for a week, and then it gathers some steam and heads into New England. It wasn’t just the snow it was the wind also. New York City recorded wind speeds of 94 MPH and on Bear Mountain north of New York there was a gust of 140 MPH recorded. The temperature on Mount Mitchell, North Carolina fell to 26 degrees below zero that night. The strange thing was that in Buffalo, New York the wind reached a speed of 50 MPH but the temperature never got below 50 degrees. The US weather service reported that this storm had the greatest difference in weather ever recorded in America. Over 160 people died in this storm.

1876 On this date the US Cavalry launches a retaliatory raid against the Cheyenne for the Little Big Horn massacre of Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and his 7^th Cavalry. After news of this event reached the east coast a public outcry was raised to intensify the “Indian War”. So the US Cavalry called up US General Ranald McKenzie from the Texas area to lead an expedition to find and punish the Cheyenne. McKenzie had good results fighting the Comanche and Kiowa tribes in Texas. He gathered 1,000 troopers and 400 Indian guides and headed out. He tracked down the Powder River and finally found a Cheyenne village under the leadership of chief Dull Knife. Then the troopers did the honorable thing. They got into position before daylight and opened fired on the sleeping village at dawn. Many Indians were killed instantly but many escaped into the nearby woods and had to watch many more being slaughtered and their winter food supplies and clothing being burned. The troopers were not done yet. They cut the throats of all of the Cheyenne ponies. After the troopers left the survivors began an 11 day journey to the village of Sioux chief Crazy Horse who took them in but many very young and elderly did not survive the walk. The next year Dull Knife talked his people into surrendering and they were sent to the “Indian Nation” in what is now the state of Oklahoma.

Born today:

1835 Scottish-US industrialist Andrew Carnegie. He said “The first man gets the oyster and the second one gets the shell.” I love them.

1846 US temperance leader Carrie Nation. When speaking about cigarette smokers she said “I want all those hellions to quit puffing that hell fume into God’s clean air”. Hell yes Carrie, give me a good old fashioned coal fired power plant any time.

1915 Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. He said “I am not a dictator I just have a grumpy face.” I addition to the ugly face, he has the blood of thousands on his hands that were tortured and killed under his administration.

            Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow