Summer of 1965. I drove this truck down to southern Kansas the summer after I’d completed my first year of teaching. It was a rickety old truck with a Gleaner combine and fourteen foot header loaded on the bed. For me it was mostly white knuckle driving. When we arrived in Medicine Lodge, Kansas and parked in a large lot behind a truck stop I noticed a sign very near in front of an adjacent house that proclaimed “Home of Carry Nation.”
Who is Carry Nation? I suppose we’d read about her in our U. S. History class, but it must have passed over me without any retention. Since that time I’ve learned that she viewed liquor with an evil eye and set out to demolish as much of it as she could. In 1890 she used rocks, a sledgehammer, even a billiard ball to smash bottles in five saloons. A bit later she chose as a weapon of choice the hatchet that became her trademark and destroyed a Wichita, Kansas saloon.
Even though hard to stop once she started wreaking havoc, the law caught up to her and jailed her many times. To fund her efforts and pay her fines she gave lectures and sold souvenir hatchets. Her influence helped pass the 18th Amendment in 1919 which prohibited the sale of liquor.
Regarding the combine, an older gentleman from Lake City, KS came looking for an outfit to harvest his wheat crop. He’d been having trouble hiring one because an adjacent river flooded and flattened his wheat. To add to his woes, a good deal of drift wood cluttered the field. We went in setting the headers as low to the ground as possible and started grinding away. We salvaged a great crop and made him a happy man.
A favorite poet of mine, Ted Kooser from Nebraska, writes in a conversational, easy to understand manner that makes for enjoyable reading. Look him up on the internet and find a smattering of this past poet laureate’s work. He recently posted a poem titled “Valentine” containing a line that made me take especial notice. It’s about an old dog that is “looking for something slow he can chase.” Of course it’s about himself, a man in his upper 80s, a place in time that I am nearing. Thankfully some of us old dogs with pens in paw still find time to learn and produce a few things.
Over 55 years ago I drove up the AlCan Highway in my Chevy Impala with the general intention of going to Alaska, and the specific reason of making my fortune there. The folly of that soon revealed itself. I’d been watching John Wayne in the “North to Alaska” movie a few too many times. With winter approaching I made a hasty retreat to the lower 48. Rather than drive back I bought the ticket for me and my Impala to ride on a freight ship of the inland ferry system.
The ship wore the name SS Wickersham on her bow, something meaningless to me at the time. I remember asking about him, only to be met with a shrug of shoulders or a dismissive reply about his being some kind of judge. About 10 years ago I started looking into this man’s history and came away with an interesting story connected to a North Dakotan who had been committing illegal deeds in Alaska.
Alexander Mackenzie had been a mover and a shaker in Dakota Territory politics and succeeded through underhanded tactics to get the capital moved from Yankton to Bismarck. Of course that’s all forgotten now because we achieved statehood and divided into two states each going their own way. In Alaska he’d successfully been fleecing miners out of their gold claims until the law caught up with him in the shape of Judge James Wickersham.
The story was one that I wrote a few articles about several years ago in the Independent and have no desire to revisit it. The point is that it awakened a desire to start digging deeper into state history where one name begged me to learn about him - General T.E.G. Ransom for whom the county is named.
Biographical sketches of Ransom proved to be quite scarce and it took some digging to find facts of the man our forefathers thought worthy of honoring for our county’s name. His military superiors honored him by naming the fort for him. His presence in the midst of battles earned him respect. Wounded on four different occasions, the fourth one killed him, but not immediately, and he chose to stay in the battle. His last words preserved his spirit, “I am not afraid to die. I have met death too often to be afraid of it now.” Death occurred on October 29, 1864. The Office of Official Records of the Civil War recorded that General Grant wept upon hearing of his death.
Since the railroads stamped their strong mark here and elsewhere, I began looking into the early and local history of that. The railroad reached Sheldon in 1882. I had never given much thought to the amount of wood that tracks required. Using an estimated mileage of 52 miles from Fargo to Lisbon a rather startling number of 195,000 ties were cut and laid. Old growth forests yielded mightily to furnish demand. Add other wood necessary for engine fuel, bridges, water tanks, freight and passenger cars, depots, and growth of towns along the tracks. Progress came at a cost.
My interest in local and county history grew as I uncovered more of it. The county had hosted a gold rush right after the railroad arrived. Exciting news of it spread quickly and widely and soon the railroad cars arrived filled with people wanting to get rich. In the end, gold fever cooled in the county after they realized the cost of processing the gold far exceeded its value.
The first deep research I did , however, dug into the use of horses in World War I. After gathering information and writing a narrative about the topic, I thought, what the heck, I’ll send this to the Independent. It happened that the editor pasted it across the front page with its headline, “Local Horses Bought for War.” Yes, the death of horses on the battlefields of Europe resulted in a shortage of replacements which forced them to send buyers here to the states to buy replacements. French buyers came to the county to purchase horses, paying $150 per head. One of the buyers scheduled a railroad car to ship horses from Enderlin. When loaded the train took them directly to Chicago where government agents took possession of them.
I loved doing the stories based in Owego township that centered on a spot called Pigeon Point. It had been established mainly as a way station for travelers between Fort Abercrombie and Fort Ransom. That distance too great for a day trip, an overnight stop developed. There resided a favorite character named Nancy McClure who will still get attention from me in the future because of her rich story.
The name Pigeon Point led to another search for curiosity’s sake. What about pigeons? I wondered. Old time accounts tells us that they would roost so thick in the trees that a person well armed with a broom could bat them down. The story goes they would be cooked up into tasty dishes after being salted down, placed in barrels, and shipped out east for sale to consumers.
Of late I keep preaching that people should read history, get a handle on where we’ve been, and maybe formulate an explanation why we make the decisions we do. My journey into that history has uncovered a good deal of interesting material. When I add them up, I’ve published several hundred articles published here and in other publications. If no one else reads them, at least I’ve benefited. Now I think I’ll go off and find something slow to chase.
This is a piece I wrote in 2020. I found it in 'memories' and am posting it here again.
I went in to buy a dozen roses
but came out with just this one
the price was astronomical
and since I’m economical
I thought that had no merit
the clerk said this one word: tariff.
When we visited an agriculture museum in Georgia a few years back, I came upon this piece of machinery called a "Road Patrol" which was simply a road grader. In the spring washboard roads developed on the township roads and the best way to smooth them out was to do it yourself. Greene Township in Ransom County had one and sometimes Dad would search it out from somebody's trees where it had been parked. I would drive the tractor pulling it and he stood on the rear platform operating the depth controls of the blade. Memories.
This was a post I'd placed on Facebook 9 years ago. It must be repeated, again and again.
“It ain’t over until we say it’s over” a quote by an Epstein survivor after efforts to quiet the matter … A note in the Sheldon Enterprise, 1885: Our side tracks are full of freight cars, some of which contain large stocks of goods for Sheldon’s enterprising merchants … When did the word “weaponize” become a word? … 25 years ago the hottest movie was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, followed closely by The Fellowship of the Ring … Babe Ruth was born on this day in 1895 … I pick the Seahawks to win the Super Bowl by a touchdown … I’m ready to hear meadowlarks in the sandhills again … Everyone is entitled to their own opinions but not their own facts … There was a time I did a lot of carving …
Teams in this year’s Super Bowl have been selected, the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. NDSU speaks with pride over two of its recent players who have found a place on the Seahawks roster. It promises to be a good game along with all the hoopla that accompanies it, such as the half time entertainment and the advertising. Bad Bunny will entertain. I’d not heard of him before. As for commercials, my all-time favorite was the “Cat Herders” in 2000.
Some features of football are taken for granted, like the fact that each team consists of an offense and a defense. But that hasn’t always been so. In the early days of football, strict substitution rules meant team members played both offense and defense for the entire game. If taken out of the game a player could not return. Not until 1950 did free substitution become legal to open the way to specialty squads. Some other historical facts are fun to look at. The forward pass became legal in 1906; a field goal dropped from 4 points to 3 in 1909; a touchdown increased from 5 points to 5 in 1913; and in 1950, the 2 point option after a touchdown became approved.
Like baseball, we can dig up statistics and regulation minutiae all day long if we want. It’s the people, though, that interests me the most. Football players can be very entertaining. For instance, take one named John Riggins who joined the Washington Redskins as a free agent and achieved legendary status when named MVP of Super Bowl XVII.
Riggins apparently overindulged occasionally, like the time during a Washington Press Club dinner in 1985. Seated at the same table as Sandra Day O’Connor, the first lady Supreme Court Justice, he fell asleep during George H. W. Bush’s speech. Ending up falling from his chair he rolled under the table. Upon waking, he blurted out in his drunken haze, “Loosen up, Sandy, baby. You’re too tight.” They escorted him from the room. A few years later Justice O’Connor demonstrated that she held nothing against Riggins by presenting him with a dozen roses.
In 1969, a brash young quarterback named Joe Namath predicted his underdog team, the New York Jets, would beat the Baltimore Colts. Be darned if they didn’t, by a score of 16-7, marking one of the big upsets in sports history. The win was the first in the Super Bowl for the AFL, which merged with the NFL for the 1970 season. Namath suffered alcoholism, struggled after his football career, embarrassed himself, and sought treatment.
The Manning family produced some impressive football athletes. The father of the clan, Archie, came out of Ole Miss where he was an All-American quarterback and jointed the New Orleans Saints in 1971. His success earned him an invitation for two years to the pro bowl along with numerous other awards. We’re just getting started with the Mannings.
Archie and his wife had three sons, and two of them went on to football fame. Cooper, the oldest, had a physical disability called spinal stenosis for which doctors advised him not to play for fear of paralysis. Peyton played 18 seasons and led two different teams, Colts and Broncos, to Super Bowl wins. The other brother, Eli, led the New York Giants to two Super Bowl victories.
Big things are expected from a third generation Manning, Arch, son of Cooper, who plays quarterback for the Texas Longhorns. He had two fine examples to follow with his uncles’ careers. Only time will tell if he matches up.
Kurt Warner started his career as an undrafted free agent and became the only undrafted player named NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP and the only undrafted quarterback to lead his team to a Super Bowl victory. Now that is quite a story, and it might not be finished since he has two sons that play.
A pair of running backs caught my attention in their heyday. Jim Kiick and Larry Csonka played on the Miami Dolphins undefeated 17 win team in 1972. A sportswriter for the Miami Herald learned of their wild, fun-loving ways together and nicknamed them “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” The name stuck. Add in one more name of Mercury Morris that rounded off that superb Dolphin backfield.
Statistically and by consensus, Tom Brady tops the list of best quarterback ever where he leads in key categories of passing yards, touchdowns, and wins, plus holding records for Super Bowl wins and MVPs. His statistics might stand for a long time. At present he is trying to make a broadcaster out of himself. He’s stumbled a bit, but given his competitiveness, he will likely overcome any deficits.
Brady’s coach, Bill Belichick, the eight-time Super Bowl-winning coach, is not a first-ballot Football Hall of Famer. In voting earlier this month, Belichick fell short of the 40 out of 50 votes needed for induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame during his first year of eligibility. Of course, some have called for the identity of the no voters. We can guess why.
We will conclude this article by mentioning the story of what is called the biggest comeback game in history. On December 17, 2022, The New York Times posted this headline: Minnesota Vikings Beat Colts for Biggest Comeback in NFL history. The Vikings were down by 33 points, but scored five touchdowns in the second half to force overtime. One of the players reported that coach Kevin O’Connell told the team at halftime, “All we need is five touchdowns.” Somehow they found them and went on to win 39-36 in overtime.
We walked down the slope to the river where the crossing is located. For the historically oriented person, it brings contemplation and ghosts of wagon trains passing from Fort Abercrombie through Pigeon Point, then on to Fort Ransom.
We can still find pleasant topics to fill our thoughts in the winter doldrums brought on in part by the constant barrage of disconcerting news. Read any books lately? Seen any movies? Attended a basketball game? Played in the snow? These activities can occupy us, but we can also talk about baseball, even here in the heart of football playoff season. The one topic that I’ve written about that has brought some feedback are those times baseball has been the topic.
Shohei Ohtani has a fabulous career going while still a young player. At least the Dodgers think so since they are paying him $700 million over a 10 year period. Really. Are players worth that much? Juan Soto’s 15 year contract will yield him $765 million, although 15 years is a long time to play. Stars like these two usually make a bundle from advertisements and endorsements, too. The starting pay for players isn’t too bad since the MLB’s minimum starting salary is $760,000.
Baseball likes personality stories. When Randy Johnson, sometimes called “The Big Unit,” played for the Arizona Diamondbacks, his team and the San Diego Padres became involved in a bench-clearing scuffle for some reason. Johnson stands 6’10” tall and could be seen head above the rest. In the excitement his Diamondback hat fell to the ground. Finally he reached down to retrieve it, but without looking picked up a Padre’s cap and put it on. There he stood towering over the rest and looking rather silly. It must not have felt quite right. After a few seconds he took it off, looked at it, and found the right one. The announcers in the booth had a good laugh over it, as did I.
Johnson earned the reputation of a menacing pitcher and never shirked from throwing brushbacks very close to batters. Over 22 years while playing for six different teams, he won 5 Cy Young Awards, a World Series in 2001, a World Series MVP, a Pitching Triple Crown in 2002, 10 All-Star selections, and induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. And he will probably always be remembered for hitting with a 100 mph fastball a pigeon that exploded in a cloud of feathers. On first viewing, I thought it was a fake video.
Remember Frank “Sweet Music” Viola? It was a real treat watching him in the 1987 World Series where he was named the MVP. That night we let the kids stay up late enough to watch the whole game. The Cy Young winner pitched 15 years, seven of them with the Minnesota Twins.
Best known for his change-up pitch, he also had a good fastball and curve all of which he put to good use in winning 176 games.
Nolan Ryan stands at the top of my list of outstanding pitchers. A bit of sarcasm from one commentator says quite a lot about ability and longevity: Nolan Ryan’s arm was so damaged by the first 5000 innings of his career that he was only able to strike out 16 Blue Jays when he no-hit them at age 44. Huh? Pitchers are usually taken out of the game after 90 some pitches, right? Check this stat out. Ryan threw 235 pitches in a 13-inning game in 1974, struck out 19 batters, earned no-decision, even though his Angels won in the 15th inning.
Nicknamed “The Nolan Express,” he holds 51 MLB records, one being his 5,714 career strikeouts. Our above mentioned friend Randy Johnson came in second with 4,875. Sandy Koufax was an excellent player who pitched 4 no-hitters, but Nolan Ryan pitched 7 no-hitters. The list of records gets parsed and analyzed to much more than we’ll list here, but baseball’s Hall of Fame adds the following narrative.
By 1979, Ryan was baseball’s strikeout king and the game’s most intimidating pitcher. Ryan’s fastball – officially clocked at 100.9 miles per hour by the Guinness Book of World Records in 1974 – at times traveled so fast that it was tough for batters to see it, let alone predict where it was going. “I’ve never been afraid at the plate but Mr. Ryan makes me uncomfortable,” Hall of Fame slugger Reggie Jackson once said. “He’s the only pitcher who’s ever made me consider wearing a helmet with an ear flap.”
The 26 year old Robin Ventura took issue with a pitch coming too close for his comfort and charged the mound where the 46 year old Ryan stood. Videos look to me as if Ryan got the best of the younger player.
Sandy Koufax who some called “The Left Arm of God” must be mentioned. He retired after only 12 seasons in the National League for the reason of severe arthritis and pain in his pitching elbow. This youngest inductee in the Hall of Fame counted 2396 strikeouts in his tally.
It’s a fun trip going through the statistics and reminiscing over a few of these great baseball pitchers. Of course, pitching isn’t the only facet of a team, and sometime it will be fun to consider the greats playing in other positions . But there’s still a few pitchers of interest to include today.
The 1920s of a hundred years ago produced some names that are still recognizable today. Take Grover Cleveland Alexander, for example. In three seasons he won at least 21 games. He retired in 1929 after winning his career total 373 games. Walter “The Big Train” Johnson won 416 games, and “Lefty” Grove won an even 300.
I used to enjoy listening to the humorous “Dizzy” Dean holding forth on his radio broadcasts, but his fastball and curve while a pitcher earned him respect. An unfortunate line drive struck him in the toe and one thing led to another that ended his active career. Bob Feller’s debut in 1936 drew attention when he struck out 15 batters in his first game. Four years in the service robbed him of a chunk of career statistics, but he was one of the great ones. But for now, let’s get back to football.
The poster for the 40th Annual Dakota Cowboy Poetry Gathering arrived, and this is how it looks. It's a fun time that we've attended...
