Wild Bill Hickok - Did General Custer Miss Him?

The following post was written by Gary Swanson.
 

When George Armstrong Custer died at the Little Big Horn, our country lost one of its greatest heroes.

 Just over a month later, James Butler (Wild Bill) Hickok was murdered in Deadwood, South Dakota.

He was shot in the back by Jack McCall, and the poker cards he held would forever be known as the "Deadman's Hand."  His fingers held two black aces, two black eights, and history still argues about the fifth card.

 "Wild Bill" Hickok lies in the Mt. Moriah Cemetery overlooking the town of Deadwood.

On his gravestone it is engraved:

"J.B. HICKOK

DIED Aug 2, 1876

AGED 39 years

CUSTER

WAS LONELY

WITHOUT HIM"

Mt. Moriah Cemetery is authorized by the United States Congress to fly the American flag in perpetuity.  Our country's flag is never lowered here, 

and it watches over the peaceful graves of our western history players.

History is Bunk?

 The Chicago Tribune published an interview with Henry Ford in May of 1916 in which he was quoted as saying, "I don’t know much about history, and I wouldn’t give a nickel for all the history in the world. It means nothing to me. History is more or less bunk. It's tradition. We don't want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker's damn is the history we make today."

 

Mr. Ford, today your historic production line methods are taught in university classes that cover production and inventory management, and are put in practice at many manufacturing companies.

Henry Ford must have had a change of heart later on, for in the 1920's he created Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan; this was a themed historic village that still exists today, and is advertised as a family attraction and travel destination.

 During this same period, he also began collecting items for a practical technology museum, which opened in 1929 as the Edison Institute which also still exists today.

Memorial Day Tribute by John Wayne and Robert Mitchum

I've posted this before, but in honor of Memorial Day and John Wayne's birthday, it thought it was appropriate.

The following post was written by Gary Swanson. Thanks Gary!

I cannot think of a more fitting tribute to those honored dead whom we remember on this day.

 I recalled finding this wonderful remembrance that was sponsored in the past by the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. The following narrative was written by John Mitchum, and eloquently recited by  John Wayne!


 
"Lest We Forget"

President's Day - A Photo Tribute

The following is a series of photos of life-size bronze statues of our Presidents.

The are located in downtown Rapid City, South Dakota.  They were created by five South Dakota artists.

George Washington

1789 - 1797

Thomas Jefferson

1801 - 1809

 

James Madison

1809 - 1817

James Monroe

1817 - 1825

John Quincy Adams

1825 - 1829

 Andrew Jackson

1829 - 1837

Martin Van Buren

1837 - 1841

William Henry Harrison

1841 - 1841

John Tyler

1841 - 1845

James Polk

1845 - 1849

Zachary Taylor

1849 - 1850

Millard Fillmore

1850 - 1853

Franklin Pierce

1853 - 1857

James Buchanan

1857 - 1861

Abraham Lincoln

1861 - 1865

Andrew Johnson

1865 - 1869

Hyrum Ulysses Grant

1869 - 1877

Rutherford B. Hayes

1877 -1881

James Garfield

1881 - 1881

Chester Arthur

1881 - 1885

 

Grover Cleveland

1885 - 1889

Benjamin Harrison

1889 - 1893

 

Grover Cleveland

1893 - 1897

 

William McKinley

1897 - 1901

 Theodore Roosevelt

1901 - 1909

William Taft

1909 - 1913

Warren G. Harding

1921 - 1923

Calvin Coolidge

1923 - 1929

Herbert Hoover

1929 - 1933

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

1933 - 1945

Harry S. Truman

1945 - 1953

Dwight David Eisenhower

1953 - 1961

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

1961 - 1963

Lyndon B. Johnson

1963 - 1969

Richard Millhouse Nixon

1969 - 1974

Ronald Reagan

1981 - 1989

George Herbert Walker Bush

1989 - 1993

William Jefferson Clinton

1993 - 2001

George W. Bush

2001 - 2009

I apologize to:

John Adams
1797 - 1801

Woodrow Wilson
1913 - 1921

Gerald Ford
1974 - 1977

Jimmy Carter
1977 - 1981

 for missing their statues.


If you find yourself in South Dakota, I highly recommend a visit to the "City of Presidents" in downtown Rapid City.