How The States Got Their Shapes

There's a new show on the History Channel that's quickly become
one of my favorites. It's called "How The States Got Their Shapes"
and it's based on the book by Mark Stein that I read a few years ago.
It lets me get my geek out on some of my favorite subjects of
Cartography, History and Geography...all wrapped up into one!
It's pretty amazing how so little is known about our nation's history
and how things came to be. If X wasn't added to Y, Z would have
never happend. What makes this show really interesting is that, at
least in my opinion, things in political geography aren't static. They
are ever changing. For example, there has been renewed talk of
Puerto Rico becoming the 51st State. I'm not even sure if this topic
will be brought up on the show or not, but it could certainly make at
least an interesting segment. It isn't just our country where geography
changes. Soon, all our world maps will be wrong. The new nation of
South Sudan will be formed. Geography is fascinating because it
changes. Always new and always interesting. Just like this show.

The Grassy Knoll

On November 22, 1963, at 12:30 PM, President John F. Kennedy was
assassinated while his motorcade was passing by Dealey Plaza in
downtown Dallas. Although Lee Harvey Oswald fired shots from the
Texas Book Depository, it is thought by some that other shots were
fired from the grassy knoll of Dealey Plaza. There were quite a few
people milling about, as it is a sort of tourist attraction, but there are
only a couple of plaques in the area commemorating the event and
an "X" on the street where it occurred.


It would be almost two years until I was born when the President was
assassinated, but it was an important even in Lynn's childhood and
it was the first time she had visited here as well. She said that it looked
very similar to news reports she remembered. It's an important historic
place to America and I'm glad it appears as it did back in 1963.

The Great War

Today, the last Veteran of The Great War (or World War I as it is now called)
passed away. He was 110. His name was Claude Choules and he joined the
Royal Navy when he was 14 and was present for the surrender of the German
Fleet. Now that Claude has passed, this war is as relevant to anyone currently
living as the American Civil War or the ancient Peloponnesian War. Just
footnotes in history. Someday, not too long from now, the last World War II
vet will pass away. Let's hope that we don't forget these horrible wars too
easily. Otherwise, we will be doomed to repeat them.

We Few, We Happy Few...

Today is St. Crispin's Day.


On this day in 1415, the English and King Henry V
defeated the French at Agincourt.
Henry V is also one of my favorite movies.

King Tut

After driving to Denver yesterday, we visited the "Tutankhamun: The
Golden King and the Great Pharaohs" exhibit at the Denver Art Museum.
We weren't allowed to take any photos of the exhibition, so I don't have
any to show here, but it was really really interesting. It gave us a good
taste of what we can expect on our planned trip to Egypt next spring.

The Oregon Trail

Between 1841 and 1869, an estimated 400,000 pioneers followed the

Oregon Trail from Missouri to Oregon. A small park near Guernsey,

Wyoming contains a spot where so many wagons travelled, they cut

a four foot deep trench into solid rock. These are considered the best

preserved ruts anywhere along the trail. Here, it's quite easy to put

yourself into the shoes of those early pioneers crossing the west since

you can actually "see" and "feel" where they tread.

Fort Laramie

Just west of the Wyoming/Nebraska state line is one of my favorite
parks: Fort Laramie National Historic Site. It was a primary stopping
point for pioneers heading west. The original fort was built in the
1830's, and the current version was decommisioned in 1890. The
original Treaty of Fort Laramie was signed there in 1851 and was to
ensure that the Native Americans in the area would keep their land
in perpetuity. As you can probably guess, this treaty was later violated
by the government.
The grounds of the park are really interesting and a visitor has access
to all of the buildings in various levels of refurbishment. Like most of
the countryside around the fort, the park has a very wide-open feel to
it, and even though there were probably 200 people there, it felt like we
had the place to ourselves. I enjoy historical sites like this that involve
the visitor, while not being too commercial.

Scotts Bluff

Just five short miles from Brown Sheep is Scotts Bluff National Monument.
We've visited Scotts Bluff several times in the past few years, so we didn't
have a prolonged visit, but it's definitely a good place to pause and reflect.
Many of the pioneers headed west passed right through here and Scotts
Bluff was a landmark to them and a sign that the crossing of the prairies
was almost over and the Rockies lay ahead.


This is a rather cliched view of Scotts Bluff, but I still enjoy it, and the
weather and conditions were perfect enough for me to get a good photo.

George Rogers Clark

While growing up in Indiana, we took "Indiana History" in
elementary school. One of my heroes was George Rogers
Clark. Besides being the older brother of the more famous
William Clark (of Lewis and Clark fame), he led Colonial
Militiamen to capture Vincennes (Fort Sackville) and secure
the west for the Americans during the Revolutionary War.
This eventually led to the land that would later become
Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and part of
Minnesota to be ceded to the newly formed United States
(The Northwest Territory) at the end of the war. In later

years, he founded the City of Louisville, Kentucky.


What I didn't know until today, (and am ashamed as a
native Hoosier and Vexillologist) is that his expedition had
a flag. His troops carried it on their campaign to capture
Vincennes. Why I didn't know this, I have no idea!

According to Wikipedia: "... the 13-striped, red and green
banner is the only banner historically documented, and
was one of the first “American Flags” flown in the modern
State of Indiana. The pattern has been flown by Indiana
National Guard units deployed in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
A red and green flag is still flown at the George Rogers
Clark National Historic Park".

I know...unless you're from Indiana, a Vexillologist, or a
student of the Revolutionary War, none of this really matters
to you, but I think that more less-known historic figures like
George Rogers Clark should get more attention.

Flight 191

31 years ago today, I had just come home from school..
(For some reason, we went to school later in the month
back then) On television, came the news that an American
Airlines jet carrying 271 passengers and crew had crashed
after takeoff, killing all persons on board and two people
on the ground. An engine fell off the wing at takeoff and
the plane was never able to recover. For days, that's all we
saw on the television and in the newspapers. Way before the
days of digital cameras and camera phones, a person in the
parking lot snapped a quick, now famous, photo of the
plane just before the crash that is really haunting. I did
some research and there have been four commercial flights
in history with the designation Flight 191 that have crashed,
all with major losses of life. Probably just a coincidence, but
it would make me have second thoughts about catching a
flight listed as Flight 191. Every May 25th I still think of
the passengers, their families and friends. May they rest
in peace.

National Train Day

Today was proclaimed National Train Day by the federal
government and in conjunction with this, the Friends of the
Grand Junction Union Depot held an open house at the old
train station. They're in the process of trying to restore the
station, which was built in 1906. They have a lot of work to
do, but I hope they're successful. It certainly has a lot of
history, as it opened the same day as the San Francisco
Earthquake. It's first customers weren't travelers, but
instead refugees from the quake. It also hosted Harry
Truman's whistle stop Presidential campaign in 1948.


The building was judged as sound and able to be restored. As we
looked at the exterior, there are definitely a lot of positive
attributes.


As you can see, the interior is not quite a well kept as the exterior.


There is serious potential though.


My favorite part of the station is this stained glass window that looks
as good as the day it was installed.


There are a lot of features on the exterior that are unique and
interesting


The original brick is all in place, as well as the original trim and
artwork.


The station is located right next door to the current Amtrak station and
the area has a huge amount of freight car traffic as well. We can hear
the train whistles from our house, about a mile away and there is a
Amtrak passenger train that stops twice a day. One headed west to
Salt Lake City and San Francisco and another headed east to Denver
and Chicago.


All of this is located only a few short blocks from downtown and
is in a visually interesting area. There are drawings and plans that
would connect the station to the downtown area and revitalize this
area of town as well. I hope they succeed.

Happy Birthday Hubble!

Today is the 20th Anniversary of the launch of
the Hubble Telescope! We can see so many things
in deep space today thanks to the Hubble. It
won't be in use twenty years from now, but it's
certainly paved the way for even bigger and
better telescopes!

The True Story of Smokey Bear

When I was in Elementary School, we were given this cool comic
book about Smokey Bear. When we were getting maps the other
day at the local National Forest Office, they had the EXACT comic
book available for free! Every page was exactly the same as the
copy I received in the early 70's!

Cups Coffee House

This morning, we visited the Cups Coffee House, here in
Grand Junction on 12th Street. It's located in the historic
Miller Homestead, which was built in 1889. Operated by the
Hospice & Palliative Care of Western Colorado, all proceeds
from Cups directly support the Hospice Child & Teen Center.
They've done a great job of restoring the inside of the house,
and it was a comfortable place to enjoy our Americanos.

The Dome is Done

Built back in 1975, the Dome at the South Pole
finally came down this summer. It was no
longer needed since the new station has been
built. A whole crew dedicated just to this
project spent most of the summer dismantling
it.


After it was taken apart, it left a huge hole
in the "ground". I'm told that this hole is
being filled in. All of the surrounding snow
has built up over the years and was actually
at the same level as the base when it was built.


I was lucky enough to see the dome in person
twice. Once in 2007 and in 2009. Even half
buried in snow, it was still impressive. It's
too bad it couldn't (or wouldn't) be saved.