The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Last Stand of Crazy Horse (1876-1877) - May, 18th, 2005

Wild West Magazine | December 2002 | Kenneth W. Hayden

[SAMWolf]

On January 7, Miles' scouts, led by Luther "Yellowstone" Kelly, captured nine Northern Cheyenne women and children who were trying to reach Crazy Horse's village. Miles now knew that Crazy Horse was close. But a Northern Cheyenne warrior, Big Horse, had seen the soldiers seize the others, and he immediately went off to warn Crazy Horse that the troops were coming. Instead of waiting for Miles' attack, the Oglala leader would go on the offensive. Half of the warriors would strike from south of the soldiers' camp, and the other half, under Crazy Horse, would attack from the west. Things did not work out as planned because the element of surprise was lost when the decoy party, fearing the nine captives might be killed by the soldiers, sprang the ambush early. Instead of waiting for the main war party to arrive, 40 or 50 warriors attacked Yellowstone Kelly's scouting party. The gunfire brought a company of Miles' foot soldiers and mounted infantry to the scene. By the time these bluecoats arrived, more than 100 Indians were in the fight. Small-arms fire was exchanged for more than an hour before the soldiers opened up with an artillery piece that forced the warriors to retreat into the rocky hills to the south.


Luther "Yellowstone" Kelly,

Miles' camp was in a fairly good defensive position in a grove of trees on the south bank of the Tongue River. The camp was east of the Wolf Mountains, some 115 miles south of Tongue River Cantonment. To the northwest and southeast of camp rose rugged hills, and about a half mile to the south was a high, cone-shaped butte that came to be called Battle Butte.

Crazy Horse and some 400 warriors arrived on the scene early on the morning of January 8, unaware of the decoy party's attack the night before and still expecting to spring an ambush. In the falling snow, they maneuvered their way to the hills northwest of the camp. At about 7 a.m., Indians showed themselves on the northwest heights. Some of them yelled that the soldiers would "eat no more fat meats." With piercing war cries, Lakota and Northern Cheyenne warriors charged on foot down the hills toward a company-strong line of infantry under Lieutenant Carter, whom Miles had ordered to the north side of the Tongue River. The attackers were driven back by rifle fire and a few well-placed rounds of artillery. The Indians regrouped and charged again and again, but each time they were repulsed. Despite the intensity of fire, nobody was killed on either side.


Sioux Prisoners from the Battle of Slim Buttes

While the gunfire continued in the valley west of Miles' camp, Crazy Horse led some of his men across the river to the bluffs southeast of the camp. They provided cover for warriors under Northern Cheyenne leader Medicine Bear, who crossed the river southwest of the camp and headed to the hills south of Battle Butte. Another group of Northern Cheyennes, under medicine man Big Crow, and warriors from the decoy party came up from the south and took positions on three ridges between Crazy Horse and Medicine Bear. Seeing this threat, Miles ordered Company A, 5th Infantry, under Captain James Casey, to advance through the deep snow toward the ridges. Before long, the company took fire from Medicine Bear's warriors, but nobody was hit. Casey proceeded to capture the first, and lowest, of the ridges. When he tried to move to the higher ridges, Indian resistance stiffened and his attack stalled.

Miles then sent Company D, under Lieutenant Robert McDonald, to help out. After crossing the valley in Company A's tracks, McDonald's men managed to climb up the second ridge and push the Indians back. Meanwhile, Big Crow tried to inspire his warriors by dancing along the summit of the third ridge, daring anyone to shoot him. His dancing and taunting went on for some time as bullets whizzed past him from 100 soldiers in the valley below. Finally, two soldiers from Company D, firing from the second ridge, dropped the daring Big Crow. His death discouraged some of the Northern Cheyennes, but other kinsmen fought on, as did the Lakotas.


Colonel Nelson A. Miles

Blowing on an eagle-bone whistle, Crazy Horse led a charge of some 300 warriors on foot from the third hill toward the commands of Casey and McDonald. They closed to within 50 yards of the soldiers, but the firing by both sides—perhaps because of the falling snow, poor visibility and intense cold—was inaccurate. Fearing the other two companies would be overrun, Miles sent a third company, Company C under Captain Edmund Butler, into the fight. Butler and his men charged up the hill at Crazy Horse, who fell back at first but then took up a strong defensive position behind rocks and fallen trees near the top of the third ridge.

Miles needed more help, so he called in the field artillery, and the shells fired from the valley forced Crazy Horse and his men to abandon their positions. They did not flee in panic, however. As they fell back, they continued to fire at the soldiers, who pursued them for nearly a mile, until the snow fell too heavily to continue. The blizzard also covered the retreat of the warriors who had remained to fight from the hills northwest of the Tongue River. The five-hour Battle of Wolf Mountains (also known as the Battle Butte Fight) was over. Amazingly enough, the soldiers had suffered only a few casualties, one dead and eight wounded. One of the wounded would die the next day. The Indians' losses were apparently also light—three killed, including the daring Big Crow—though Miles reported seeing pools of blood on the snow where the Indians had fought. Crazy Horse obviously still had enough healthy bodies to fight on, but he had used up most of his ammunition, which could not be replaced. He led his people back up the Tongue and then over to the Little Powder.


A rare picture believed to be Crazy Horse
From the Book "To Kill an Eagle"
by Edward & Mabell Kadlecek
Johnson Books' 1881 publication

On January 9, Miles began his march back to his post at the mouth of the Tongue River. Although the battle had been a draw, the colonel had demonstrated to the nonagency Lakotas and Cheyennes that the soldiers could find them and fight them any time, anywhere. Talk of surrender resurfaced. It didn't help that Hunkpapa leader Sitting Bull showed up in camp and announced that he was taking his people to safety across the Canadian border. Crazy Horse declined to join him; he knew it was even colder in Canada. But further resistance did seem futile to many of Crazy Horse's followers. Colonel Miles and General Crook sent messengers to Crazy Horse's camp with food and tobacco and promises of fair treatment. Each commander wanted to get credit for the great Oglala warrior's surrender.

In early February 1877, Crook persuaded Spotted Tail, an uncle of Crazy Horse's and the designated (by Crook) chief of all agency Lakotas, to march for peace. He was to go to Crazy Horse with 250 Brulés and a pack train of gifts and promise him his own agency in the Powder River country if he would surrender to Crook. Spotted Tail left his agency near Camp Sheridan in western Nebraska on February 13 and eventually found Crazy Horse's camp on the Powder River. Crazy Horse was out on a solo hunt, but Spotted Tail told those present that unless they surrendered, Crook would attack them with the help of not only Crow and Shoshone scouts but also other Lakotas and Cheyennes. Negotiations began without Crazy Horse participating. The elusive Oglala did send word through his father, Worm, that he would soon bring his camp of Oglalas and Northern Cheyennes, about 400 lodges, to the Red Cloud Agency. Red Cloud had once been chief of all the agency Lakotas, but Crook had stripped him of the title and given it to Spotted Tail. On April 5 at Camp Sheridan, Spotted Tail reported the news of Crazy Horse's imminent surrender, and the general naturally was delighted. Still smarting from his failure to defeat Crazy Horse at the Rosebud and jealous of Colonel Miles, Crook agreed when Red Cloud volunteered to go out and hurry the Oglala leader along. Red Cloud was allowed to take cattle and other provisions so that Crazy Horse and his followers would not have to stop to hunt on their way to the agency in western Nebraska.


Gen. George Crook

Red Cloud found Crazy Horse on the trail to the Red Cloud Agency on April 27. "All is well, have no fear," Red Cloud told him. "Come on in." Without hesitation, Crazy Horse laid out his blanket for Red Cloud to sit on and gave the older man his shirt as a symbol of surrender to him. Turning himself in, though, must have been agonizingly difficult for Crazy Horse, who had always lived as a free man in the traditional Lakota manner. Now, he would have to take handouts and obey the white man. But he was determined to do what was best for his people.

On May 6, 1877, Crazy Horse and 889 other Oglalas appeared outside Camp Robinson, near the Red Cloud Agency. They were the last major group of Lakota holdouts on American soil to surrender. The Great Sioux War was finally over, and Crazy Horse told his escort, Lieutenant William Philo Clark of the 2nd Infantry: "Friend, I shake with this hand, because my heart is on this side....I want this peace to last forever." As a token of surrender, Crazy Horse's longtime friend He Dog gave Clark his war bonnet and shirt. Crazy Horse gave nothing, saying, "I have given all I have to Red Cloud."

[SAMWolf]

Crazy Horse carried a Winchester rifle across his saddle as he rode to the fort. He wore a single hawk's feather in his hair. His braids, wrapped in fur, fell across his buckskin shirt. He Dog and another old friend, Little Big Man, rode on either side of him. The procession stretched for two miles. Crazy Horse's loyal followers and the agency Indians alike began singing and cheering for Crazy Horse. "By God," said an Army officer who witnessed the event, "this is a triumphal march, not a surrender." The reception was a clear sign that Crazy Horse was a hero, even among many agency Indians who had not spent time with him in years.


Gen. Crook's headquarters in the field, near Whitewood, S.D., 1876. Photo by Stanley J. Morrow.

Lieutenant Clark informed Crazy Horse that he could be chief of all the Lakotas if he visited President Rutherford B. Hayes in Washington, D.C. But Crazy Horse wasn't interested, even after Clark made him a noncommissioned officer in the U.S. Indian Scouts on May 15. Crazy Horse did say he wanted the agency that had been promised him. He wanted it to be at a grassy spot on Beaver Creek where he had camped many times (in what is now northeast Wyoming). Clark and Crazy Horse soon came to an impasse. Crazy Horse wouldn't be going to Washington, but he wouldn't be getting his own agency (or become the big chief), either. Crazy Horse was also worried that the U.S. government would relocate all the Lakotas along the Missouri River. Just as Crazy Horse was suspicious of the Army and government, Clark and many others were suspicious of the popular new prisoner. Clark later described the Oglala as "remarkably brave, generous and reticent, a pillar of strength for good or evil."

Crazy Horse was apparently not suspicious of scout-interpreter Frank Grouard, but he should have been. Grouard had lived with the Lakotas for a time, and Crazy Horse regarded him as a friend. Back in March 1876, however, Grouard had guided Colonel Joseph Reynolds when Reynolds attacked a Cheyenne village that Grouard believed was Crazy Horse's camp. Grouard greeted Crazy Horse at Camp Robinson like a long-lost buddy, but he no doubt feared that the Oglala would learn the truth. As interpreter Louis Bordeaux later noted, Grouard had reason for wanting to get rid of Crazy Horse.


A group of Oglala warriors.

Not all the Lakotas supported Crazy Horse, either. Red Cloud and Spotted Tail, whose agencies were about 40 miles apart, were jealous of the young hero. They and their cohorts began spreading rumors that Crazy Horse intended to break out and renew his fight against the whites. Eventually, Crazy Horse softened his stance on the Washington trip. In July, he decided he would go. At a council on July 27, Lieutenant Clark read a message from Crook that said 18 of the best and strongest Lakotas, including Crazy Horse, would make the trip to the nation's capital. The general also promised that the Lakotas could go on a buffalo hunt. Crazy Horse was all for it, but Red Cloud was not, fearing that such a hunt would add to Crazy Horse's stature. At the close of the council, Young Man Afraid of His Horses suggested that the customary council feast be held at Crazy Horse's camp. Red Cloud and his followers promptly left the council in protest, and that night warned Indian agents Benjamin Shopp and James Irwin that Crazy Horse could not be trusted. To Crazy Horse's chagrin, the sale of ammunition to the Lakotas was halted on August 4, and the next day the buffalo hunt was postponed. Furthermore, Red Cloud had his friends tell Crazy Horse that the trip to Washington was a ruse, and that if he went along he would be shipped off to prison in the Dry Tortugas, off the coast of Florida, where the worst Indians were put. Crazy Horse listened to the talk and, over the objections of He Dog, told the Army authorities he would not be going to Washington after all.



When Chief Joseph and other Nez Perces left their reservation in Idaho Territory and fled into Montana Territory in August 1877, Crook wanted to use Lakota warriors to subdue them. Crazy Horse refused, even though Clark offered him a horse, a uniform and a new repeating rifle. "I came here in peace," Crazy Horse told the lieutenant. "No matter if my own relatives pointed a gun at my head and ordered me to change that word, I would not change it."

Clark persisted. On August 30, Crazy Horse said, with exasperation, that despite his promise to the Great Spirit to fight no more, he would go north with the soldiers and fight until there wasn't a Nez Perce left. Interpreter Grouard, seizing the moment, translated it as "go north and fight until not a white man is left." Bordeaux caught the willful misinterpretation, and the Minneconjou leader Touch the Clouds later accused Grouard of lying. But many white authorities at Camp Robinson and elsewhere seemed to want to believe Grouard's lie. Crook was fast losing faith in Crazy Horse, but he didn't want to make a mistake on the matter. On September 2, he left the Red Cloud Agency for a council on White Clay Creek with Crazy Horse and other Lakota leaders; he planned to discuss the fight with the Nez Perces. On the trail to the council, Crook's party was met by Woman's Dress, a nephew of Red Cloud, who told Crook that Crazy Horse intended to kill him at the council. Crook took the rumor seriously and turned back, sending orders for the agency chiefs to report to him at Camp Robinson.



On September 3, the friendly Lakota leaders all came, including Red Cloud, Spotted Tail and No Water, who had once shot Crazy Horse in a dispute over Black Buffalo Woman (see "Western Lore," P. 70). Crook told them that he wanted Crazy Horse arrested. Red Cloud and the others said that Crazy Horse was a desperate man and would fight if anyone tried to arrest him. It would be better, they said, to kill him. Crook said he could not condone murder, but he wanted Crazy Horse arrested and would provide cavalry to assist their warriors. After the Lakota leaders left, Crook gave orders to Colonel Luther Bradley, commander of Camp Robinson, to arrest Crazy Horse and put him on a train to Omaha. From there he would be taken to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas.

The next morning, September 4, the chiefs rode out of Camp Robinson with 400 agency warriors and eight companies of the 3rd Cavalry to arrest Crazy Horse. When they reached his camp, about six miles away, they found he had fled, along with his wife Black Shawl, who was suffering from tuberculosis, to the Spotted Tail Agency in the hopes of finding a more peaceful existence. At the Spotted Tail Agency, he was met by Touch the Clouds and other friendly warriors. They escorted him to Camp Sheridan, where he intended to tell the authorities about his move. Spotted Tail appeared with a crowd of his warriors and told Crazy Horse that he must listen to and obey him. Crazy Horse, Spotted Tail and Touch the Clouds then all went to the office of Captain Daniel Burke, commander of Camp Sheridan. According to Lieutenant Jesse M. Lee, acting Indian agent at the Spotted Tail Agency, Crazy Horse looked like a frightened animal as he explained that he never intended to go north and kill whites or to murder Crook. He had come to the Spotted Tail Agency, he said, because of all the bad talk at the Red Cloud Agency. He asked Lee to go to Camp Robinson with him to help explain the situation. Burke and Lee promised Crazy Horse that the Army did not wish to harm him and would listen to his side of the story.

On the morning of September 5, Crazy Horse took the trail toward Camp Robinson, along with Lee, Bordeaux, Touch the Clouds and other Indians—some of whom were friends of Crazy Horse and some of whom Lee found trustworthy. After traveling about 15 miles, the party was joined by a group of Spotted Tail's warriors. At that point Crazy Horse, according to Lee's account, realized that he was practically a prisoner. Still, he retained his spirit. Later on, he raced his horse ahead over a hill, where he met a Lakota family. When Spotted Tail's warriors caught up with him, Crazy Horse told them he had gone ahead to water his horse. Lee, though, thought the family had given him a knife. Crazy Horse was ordered to ride at the rear of Lee's ambulance the rest of the way.



When the party reached Camp Robinson at dusk, thousands of Lakotas were waiting to see Crazy Horse. Not all were friendly, but they parted to allow him to pass through. He Dog rode up, shook his hand and said: "Look out—watch your step. You are going into a dangerous place." Little Big Man, now an Indian policeman, came up to Crazy Horse as he dismounted and stayed close to him as his old friend walked across the parade ground. When a warrior shouted that he was a coward, Crazy Horse lunged at him, but Little Big Man held Crazy Horse back.

Lee immediately went to the office of Colonel Bradley but had little luck smoothing things over. Bradley told him that his orders could not be changed; he was shipping Crazy Horse off to prison in the morning and there was no point discussing the matter. Before leaving, Lee asked if Bradley was willing to listen to Crazy Horse in the morning. Bradley hesitated, and then replied, "Tell him to go with the officer of the day, and not a hair on his head should be harmed." Informed of what Bradley had said, Crazy Horse apparently believed he would be allowed to meet with the commander in the morning. The Oglala warrior expressed his joy and shook the hand of the officer of the day, Captain James Kennington.

Kennington, with two soldiers and Little Big Man, then took Crazy Horse to the nearby guardhouse. It was Little Big Man who stepped up and led Crazy Horse inside. Perhaps this turn of events was a surprise to Crazy Horse, and he suddenly realized he was going to be locked up. Or perhaps he knew where he was going, but the sight of the cells and the men inside wearing balls and chains set something off inside him. In any case, he moved fast, wrenching his arm free of Little Big Man, pulling a knife and springing for the door. Little Big Man reacted quickly, too, grabbing Crazy Horse's arms. "Let me go, let me go; you won't allow me to hurt anyone!" Crazy Horse said as he dragged Little Big Man outside. Crazy Horse freed a hand just enough to slash Little Big Man's wrist. At that point, Kennington yelled "Stab the son of a bitch! Stab the son of a bitch!" or something similar. Guardhouse sentry William Gentles followed orders. He lunged with his bayonet, stabbing Crazy Horse in the back, near the left kidney. "He has killed me now," Crazy Horse announced as he fell to the ground. The wounded Little Big Man and some soldiers tried to grab his arms again, but he told them: "Let me go, my friends. You have got me hurt enough."


V. T. McGillycuddy, 1874
Crazy Horse, Tasunka Witko, was killed at Fort Robinson, a matter which even this day is subject of dispute. Dr. McGillycuddy was the assistant post surgeon at Fort Robinson at the time of the death of Crazy Horse.

Kennington wanted to carry the mortally wounded Crazy Horse to the guardhouse, but Touch the Clouds said, "He was a great chief and cannot be put in a prison." Other Indians on the scene agreed. Camp doctor Valentine T. McGillycuddy went to Bradley and convinced him that there would be more killing if Kennington went ahead and put Crazy Horse in a cell. Instead, Touch the Clouds carried his friend into the adjutant's office. There, Crazy Horse refused to be put on a bed, saying he wanted to lie on the floor, closer to the earth.

Touch the Clouds was still there at just before midnight when Crazy Horse died. Also on hand was Crazy Horse's father, Worm; Captain Kennington; Lieutenant Henry R. Lemley, officer of the guard; interpreter John Provost; and McGillycuddy. What Crazy Horse's last words were is not known. At some point he reportedly told Worm: "ah, my father, I am hurt bad. Tell the people it is no use to depend on me any more."

In the morning, Crazy Horse's parents took his body, wrapped in a red blanket, on a travois to the Spotted Tail Agency. About half a mile from Camp Sheridan, they placed the body on a small scaffold. Eventually a coffin was built and placed on the scaffold, and a crude fence was constructed to keep the cattle out. His parents mourned there for days. Worm finally buried his son somewhere in the Pine Ridge country of Dakota territory. A cousin of Crazy Horse named Chips said in 1910 that the location was near the head of the creek called Wounded Knee, but that he himself had reburied the remains several times after that, the last time in 1883. Crazy Horse's final resting place is not known.

Additional Sources:

www.brainyquote.com
www.michaelgentry.net
www.lakotatour.itgo.com
www.vonsworks.com
www.csulb.edu
www.indianwars.org
www.folgergallery.com
www.wolfsto.de
www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com
visitmt.com
americanhistory.si.edu
www.axel-jacob.de

[SAMWolf]

'My lands are where my dead lie buried. '

Crazy Horse

The bayoneting of Crazy Horse by Indian Police is still a matter of dispute; that is, whether it was murder or was Crazy Horse attempting to escape when he realized that he was to be a prisoner. McGillycuddy also served as the head of the Pine Ridge Agency in Dakota Territory where he came into comflict with Red Cloud particularly with regard to his attempts to starve the Indians into submission to his plan of sending the children off to boarding school at Carlisle to become white men and women.

Of greater controversy today, is the issue of whether there are any photographs of Crazy Horse. It is popularly assumed that there are no known photos of the chief. The above photo was identified by E. A. Brininstool as the only known photo. The following photo has also been identified as the only known photo. The bottom photograph supposedly belonged to the scout Baptiste "Little Bat" Garnier. It has variously been attributed to have been taken at Ft. Laramie in 1870 or 1872 or at Ft. Robinson in 1877. Authentication has been based on statements made by Little Bat Garnier, a man noted for his honesty, and the presence of a scar next to the subject's mouth. it has been noted that Crazy Horse had visited the Ft. Laramie area at the time attributed to the photo and that a photographer was present during that period.



In contrast, others have contended that Crazy Horse never in his life permitted a photograph to be taken, not even on his death bed. It has been noted, that if the photo was taken at Ft. Laramie, Little Bat would have been a mere teenager, not one with whom the great Lakota war chief would have associated, let alone done a favor for by permitting a photograph to be taken. Most versions of the above photo have been cropped so as not to show that it is a full studio tin type. The writer's personal opinion is that if a photograph were to have been taken of Crazy Horse it would not have been a full studio photograph conplete with chair, potted plants and backdrop, all of which, however, are typical of the period.

Following Crazy Horse's death, his parents took his body. It was ultimately buried in an unknown location possibly near the head of a creek known as Wounded Knee.

[SAMWolf]

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

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We here at Blue Stars For A Safe Return are working hard to honor all of our military, past and present, and their families. Inlcuding the veterans, and POW/MIA's. I feel that not enough is done to recognize the past efforts of the veterans, and remember those who have never been found.

I realized that our Veterans have no "official" seal, so we created one as part of that recognition. To see what it looks like and the Star that we have dedicated to you, the Veteran, please check out our site.

Veterans Wall of Honor

Blue Stars for a Safe Return

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UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004



The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul

Click on Hagar for
"The FReeper Foxhole Compiled List of Daily Threads"

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LINK TO FOXHOLE THREADS INDEXED by PAR35

[snippy_about_it]

"FALL IN" to the FReeper Foxhole!



Good Wednesday Morning Everyone.

If you want to be added to our ping list, let us know.

If you'd like to drop us a note you can write to:

Wild Bird Center
19721 Hwy 213
Oregon City, OR 97045

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Snippy.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.

[GailA]

Good morning...from my email this morning.

Memorial Weekend

Here is something great to do:

Support our Troops Bar-B-Q at Side Care Cafe (Next to Bumpus Harley Davidson, Whitton Rd) at noon Sat. May 28th. Prizes and give-aways at Bumpus all afternoon. Then a great concert by TRICK PONY at Show Place Arena Memphis. Tickets for the concert are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. ALL proceeds to the non-profit organization "Operation Troop Aid, Inc."

Check out their website: Operation Troop Aid

[The Mayor]

May 18, 2005

Recovery

Read:
Jeremiah 33:1-9

I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. -Jeremiah 33:6

Bible In One Year: Psalm 112-114

Twenty-five years ago, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted in one of the greatest natural disasters of modern times. The top of the mountain was blown into the atmosphere and became a dark plume of pulverized rock 11 miles high. At the same time, avalanches of rock, mud, and ice swept down the mountain-destroying everything in their path, clogging rivers, and stopping ships.

During the past quarter of a century, the US government has spent over $1 billion on Mount St. Helens' recovery and long-term improvements of the area. Much of the engineering and construction work done by the US Army Corps of Engineers is unseen because "it takes the form of floods that will not happen, homes and communities that will not be destroyed, [and] river traffic that will flow smoothly."

In this process of recovery, I see a picture of God's forgiveness and healing for the disastrous results of our disobedience. When God allowed His people to be taken captive by the Chaldeans, He promised: "I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth" (Jeremiah 33:6).

True spiritual recovery often takes time. But as we allow the Lord to clean up our lives, He can safeguard us against future failures. -David McCasland

Events may sometimes touch our lives
With change and dire destruction,
But God by grace can heal, restore,
And bring us reconstruction. -Hess

Christ's cleansing power can remove the most stubborn stain of sin.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
Transformed Lives
The Way Back

[alfa6]

An interesting read Bump for the Hump Day Foxhole

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on May 18:
1692 Joseph Butler Wantage Berkshire, theologian
1744 Joseph Beer Bohemia clarinetist/composer (5th clarinet flap)
1788 Hugh Clapperton Annan Scotland, African explorer
1798 Ethan Allen Hitchcock Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1870
1815 Thomas Stanhope Bocock representative (Confederacy), died in 1891
1817 James William Denver Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1892
1836 Wilhelm Steinitz Austria, world chess champion (1866-94)
1850 Oliver Heaviside physicist predicted existence of ionosphere
1868 Nicholas II Aleksandrovitsj last tsar of Russia (1894-1917)
1872 Bertrand Russell England, mathematician/philosopher (Nobel 1950)
1883 Walter Gropius Berlin Germany, architect (founded Bauhaus school of design)
1891 Rudolf Carnap philosopher (German Logical Positivist)
1897 Frank Capra Palermo Sicily Italy, movie director (It's a Wonderful Life, Arsenic & Old Lace)
1901 Vincent du Vigneaud US biochemist
1902 [Robert] Meredith Willson Mason City IA, composer (Music Man)
1903 George E Stone Lodz Poland, actor (Viva Villa, Last Mile)
1904 Jacob K Javits (Senator-R-NY)
1911 Big Joe Turner Kansas City MO, blues singer (Corrine Corrina, Shake Rattle & Roll)
1912 Georg von Opel German auto manufacturer
1912 Perry [Pierino] Como Canonsburg PA, singer/TV host (Perry Como Show)
1912 Richard Brooks Philadelphia PA, director (Blackboard Jungle, In Cold Blood)
1917 James Donald Aberdeen Scotland, actor (Bridge on River Kwai, Vikings)

1918 Pope John Paul II [Karol Wojtyla] 264th Roman Catholic pope (1978-2005)

1919 Dame Margot Fonteyn Surrey England, ballerina (Giselle/partner of Nureyev)
1924 Jack Whitaker Philadelphia PA, sportscaster (ABC, CBS)
1928 Pernell Roberts Waycross GA, actor (Adam Cartwright-Bonanza, Trapper John MD)
1930 Don Leslie Lind Midvale UT, astronaut (STS 51-B)
1930 Fred[erick Thomas] Saberhagen US, sci-fi author (Berseker series)
1934 Dwayne Hickman Los Angeles CA, actor (Dobie Gillis, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini)
1937 Brooks Robinson Baltimore Oriole 3rd baseman (1955-77)
1939 Glen Hardin Texas, rocker (Crickets)
1941 Diane McBain Cleveland OH, actress (Surfside Six, Spinout, Donner Pass)
1946 Reggie Jackson "Mr October" baseball rightfielder (Yankees, A's)
1948 Joe Bonsall Philadelphia PA, country singer (Oak Ridge Boys-Elvira)
1949 Rick Wakeman rock keyboardist (Yes-Fish Out of Water)
1952 George Strait Pearsall TX, country singer (All My Ex's Live in Texas, Beyond the Blue Neon)
1978 Jennifer Streblow Oshkosh WI, Miss America-Wisconsin (1997)

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Deaths which occurred on May 18:
0323 Alexander III the Great king of Macedonia/conqueror, dies at 32
0526 John I Pope (523-26), dies
1625 Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas Spanish marquis of Denia, dies
1808 Jacob Albright [Albrecht] German/US preacher, dies at 49
1862 William H Keim US Union Brigadier-General, dies in battle at 48
1864 James Byron Gordon Confederate Brigadier-General, dies at 41
1884 Heinrich R Göppert German paleo-botanist, dies
1911 Gustav Mahler Austrian composer (Children's Death Songs), dies at 50
1949 James T Adams US historian (Pulitzer 1921)
1965 Eduard J Dijksterhuis mathematician (Archimedes), dies at 72
1967 Andy Clyde (Hopalong Cassidy's sidekick), dies at 75
1973 Jeannette Rankin 1st Congresswoman (1917-19, 41-43), dies at 92
1974 Daniel R Topping US owner (New York Yankees), dies at 61
1981 Arthur O'Connell actor (Mr Peepers, Second Hundred Years), dies at 73
1981 William Saroyan US stagewriter (Time of your life), dies at 72
1986 John Bubbles Sublett tap dancer (Black & Bubbles), dies at 84
1987 Wilbur J Cohen 1st employee of Social Security System, dies at 73
1988 Daws Butler cartoon voice (Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound), dies at 71
1990 Jill Ireland actress (Carry on Nurse, Family), dies of cancer at 54
1991 Edwina Booth actress (Trader Horn), dies of heart failure at 86
1992 Lawrence Welk bandleader (L Welk Show), dies of pneumonia at 89
1995 Alexander Gudonov Russian dancer/actor (Witness), dies at 45
1995 Elisha Cook Jr actor (Maltese Falcon, Shane), dies at 91
1995 Elizabeth Montgomery actress (Bewitched), dies of cancer at 62

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GWOT Casualties

Iraq
18-May-2003 2 | US: 2 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Corporal Douglas Jose Marencoreyes Samawah (near) Non-hostile - vehicle accident
US Specialist Rasheed Sahib Balad Non-hostile - weapon discharge (accid.)

18-May-2004 4 | US: 4 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Private 1st Class Michael M. Carey Al Anbar Province Non-hostile - drowning
US Staff Sergeant Joseph P. Garyantes Muqdadiyah (near) Hostile - hostile fire - sniper
US Specialist Marcos O. Nolasco Bayji (near) Non-hostile - electrocution
US Staff Sergeant William D. Chaney Landstuhl Reg. Med. Ctr. Non-hostile - illness


Afghanistan
A Good Day

http://icasualties.org/oif/
Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White

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On this day...
0526 St John I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1096 Crusaders massacre Jews of Worm
1291 Sultan of Egypt & his son take last Christian stronghold of Acre
1619 Hugo the Great sentenced to life in prison
1631 English colony Massachusetts Bay grants puritarian voting right
1631 John Winthrop is elected 1st governor of Massachusetts
1642 Montréal Canada founded
1652 Rhode Island enacts 1st law declaring slavery illegal
1756 England declares war on France
1803 Britain declares war on France after General Napoleon Bonaparte continues interfering in Italy & Switzerland
1804 Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed Emperor of France
1830 Edwin Budding of England signs an agreement for manufacture of his invention, the lawn mower - Saturdays are destroyed forever
1843 United Free Church of Scotland forms
1846 US troops attack Rio Grande occupying Matamoros
1852 Massachusetts rules all school-age children must attend school
1860 Republican Party nominates Abraham Lincoln for president
1861 Battle of Sewall's Point VA-1st Federal offense against South
1863 Siege of Vicksburg MS
1864 Battle of Yellow Bayou LA (Bayou de Glaize, Old Oaks)
1897 Irish Music Festival 1st held (Dublin)
1897 New York Giant William Joyce sets record of 4 triples in 1 game
1904 American Ion Perdicaris kidnapped in Morocco ("This government wants Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead,")
1910 Passage of Earth through tail of Halley's Comet causes near-panic
1911 President/dictator José Porfirio Diaz of México term ends
1916 US pilot Kiffin Rockwell shoots down German aircraft
1918 TNT explosion in chemical factory in Oakdale PA kills 200
1926 Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson vanished in Venice CA; She showed up a month later & said she had been kidnapped (THE BALLAD OF AIMEE McPHERSON)
1927 Grauman's Chinese Theater opens in Hollywood CA
1933 Tennessee Valley Act (TVA) Act signed by FDR, to build dams
1934 Congress approves "Lindbergh Act", makes kidnapping a capital offense
1934 Jimmie Foxx hits 1st homerun in Comiskey Park center field bleachers
1941 Jewish veterans honor their dead
1944 Expulsion of more than 200,000 Tartars from Crimea by Soviet Union begins, they are accused of collaborating with the Germans
1944 Polish 2nd Army corps captures convent of Monte Cassino Italy
1947 A's catcher Warren Rosar catches his 147th game without an error
1948 Arab Legion captures fort on Mount Scopus
1948 Saudi Arabia joins invasion of Israel
1952 Professor WF Libby said Stonehedge dates back to 1848 BC
1953 1st woman to break the sound barrier (Jacqueline Cochrane, USA)
1956 Mickey Mantle hits homerun from both sides of plate for record 3rd time
1963 "If You Wanna Be Happy" by Jimmy Soul hits #1
1964 Supreme Court rules unconstitutional to deprive naturalized citizens of citizenship if they return to home country for more than 3 years
1965 Gene Roddenberry suggests 16 names including Kirk for Star Trek Captain
1967 Tennessee Governor Ellington repeals "Monkey Law", upheld in 1925 Scopes Trial
1968 Al Kaline hits his 307th homerun, surpassing Hank Greenberg as a Tiger
1971 President Nixon rejects the 60 demands of Congressional Black Caucus
1972 "Me & The Chimp" last airs on CBS-TV (Oh the humanity!)
1972 John Sebastian makes 63 consecutive free throws while blindfolded
1974 "The Streak" by Ray Stevens hits #1.
1977 Menachem Begin becomes Israel's Prime Minister
1978 Italy legalizes abortion
1978 Russian dissident Yuri Orlov exiled to compulsory work
1980 Mount St Helens blows its top in Washington State, 60 die
1982 Unification Church founder Reverend Sun Myung Moon convicted of tax evasion
1983 Senate revises immigration laws, gives millions of illegal aliens legal status under an amnesty program (Well that worked out real well.)
1986 Chung Kwung Ying does 2,750 "atomic" hand-stand push-ups
1990 Cubs Ryne Sandberg ends 2nd baseman record 123 errorless game streak
1990 East and West Germany sign a monetary union treaty
1990 Judy Carne arrested at JFK airport on an 11 year old drug warrant
1991 USSR launches 2 cosmonauts to MIR space station
1992 Supreme Court rules states could not force mentally unstable criminal defendants to take anti-psychotic drugs
1993 Italian police arrest Mafia boss Benedetto "Nitto" Santapaola
1994 Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip (again)
1997 Tiger Woods wins Byron Nelson Golf Classic
1998 The US Customs Service end a 3-year sting operation, Operation Casablanca, with the indictment of 3 Mexican banks and 107 people on charges of laundering millions of dollars for drug-smuggling cartels
2004 Randy Johnson (40) pitches a perfect game (Arizona Diamondbacks 2 Atlanta Braves 0.)

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Haiti : Flag Day/University Day
Uruguay : Battle of Las Piedras (1828)
Canada : Victoria Day (1819) (Monday)
National Bike to Work Day
International Pickle Week (Day 3)
Blow Your Top Day
US : Don't Do Dishes Day
US : Visit Your Relatives Day
National Hair Color Month!

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Religious Observances
Christian : St Eric of Sweden
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Venantius, bishop, martyr
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St John I, pope & martyr (523-526)
Lutheran : Commemoration of Erik, King of Sweden, martyr

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Religious History
1291 Acre, the last territory in Palestine taken by the first Crusaders, fell to invading Moslem armies. It signalled the end of a Christian "military presence" in the Near East. (Afterwards, friars sought to spread the gospel by preaching instead.)
1631 The General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony decreed that 'no man shall be admitted to the body politic but such as are members of some of the churches within the limits' of the colony. (Separation of church and state was an unthinkable concept in early American colonialism.)
1766 The Church of the United Brethren in Christ was organized in Lancaster, PA, under the leadership of Martin Boehm, 41, and Philip William Otterbein, 39. (It became a branch of the Evangelical United Brethren in 1946.)
1814 In Philadelphia, the General Missionary Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States of America for Foreign Missions was established -- the first national organization of Baptists in the U.S. It was later called the Triennial Convention because it met every three years.
1925 Popular evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, 34, disappeared while on a beach outing. Turning up five weeks later, she claimed to have been kidnapped and held prisoner, before escaping from her abductors.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"God gives us dreams a size too big so that we can grow in them."

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone.

[PzLdr]

Crazy Horse was believed to have been born in Nebraska. His name was originally his father's, but his father bestowed it on him, and took the name Worm. Crazy Horse (Tshunka Witko) was described, as a youth of having almost brown, slightly wavy hair, but their is no evidence of any White ancestry. He was a member of the Oglala Lakota.

Crazy Horse led the decoy force at the Fetterman massacre, and seems to have grasped the need for concentration of force at critical points during battle. (See the Battle of the Rosebud, and Crazy Horse's movement at the Little Bighorn). He didn't wear a headdress, and was modest in his adornment. One of the first four "Shirtwearers" of the Lakota, he was stripped of the honor after the Black water affair. His young daughter died of disease before the 1876 campaign.

Leaving aside my volumes on the Custer campaign (available if you're interested), suggested readings are:"Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas",Mari Sandoz; "Crazy Horse and Custer", Stephen B. Ambrose;"Red Cloud", Robert W. Larson; "The Lance and the Shield"[Bio of Sitting Bull], Robert M. Utley; "Crimsoned Prairie",S.L.A Marshall; "Scalp Dance:Indian Warfare on the High Plains 1865-1879", Thomas Goodrich; "A Good Year to Die", Charles M. Robinson III; The Great Sioux War 1876-1877, Paul L. Hedren, ed.; "Lakota and Cheyenne: Indian Views of the Great Sioux War, 1876-1877", Jerome A. Greene, ed.; "Battles and Skirmishes of the Great Sioux War 1876-1877: The Military View", Jerome A. Greene, ed.; "The Fetterman Massacre", Dee Brown.

[Professional Engineer]

Good morning ladies. Flag-o-Gram.

[Soaring Feather]

Morning, PE!!

Great Flag-o-gram! Thanks.

[SAMWolf]

Morning everyone.

Off to the Chamber meeting.

[stand watie]

GM, snippy, et.al.

Crazy Horse was a MIGHTY warrior.

free dixie,sw

[Professional Engineer]

1980 Mount St Helens blows its top in Washington State, 60 die

I demand an apology!

[Professional Engineer]

Hi miss Feather

[Grzegorz 246]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/vetscor/1405800/posts?page=1