From the looks of this card, Hallowe’en not only had an apostrophe,
100 years ago it does not look near as SCARY either!
Tag Archives: Old Photos
ANTIQUE POSTCARDS ~ Taft for President!
How much has the political landscape changed in 100 years? Just some, that’s all. In fact, Taft represented the elite (1%), while his opponent claimed the common folks (the 99%). Taft was a Unitarian who never believed that Christ was divine, but apparently then politics was all money without religious pandering. The fact that Taft represented BIG MONEY would today almost assure his election, since NOW CORPORATIONS ARE PEOPLE TOO.
This is just one of the hundreds of postcards I have. Many are older than this 1908 card. ~ sekanblogger
From Wikipedia: The United States presidential election of 1908 was held on November 3, 1908. Popular incumbent PresidentTheodore Roosevelt, honoring a promise not to seek a third term, persuaded the Republican Party to nominate William Howard Taft, his close friend and Secretary of War, to become his successor. Having badly lost the 1904 election with aconservative candidate, the Democratic Party turned to two-time nominee William Jennings Bryan, who had been defeated in 1896 and 1900 by Republican William McKinley. Despite his two previous defeats, Bryan remained extremely popular among the more liberal and populist elements of the Democratic Party. Despite running a vigorous campaign against the nation’s business elite, Bryan suffered the worst loss in his three presidential campaigns, and Taft won by a comfortable margin.
William H. Taft (15-Sep-1857 to 8-Mar-1930) 27th US President, 1909-13
Birthplace: Cincinnati, OH Location of death: Washington, DC
Remains: Buried, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA Religion: Unitarian
James S. Sherman (James Schoolcraft Sherman: 24-Oct-1855 to 30-Oct-1912) US Vice President 1909-1912.
Birthplace: Utica, NY Location of death: Utica, NY
Remains: Buried, Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica, NY Religion: Protestant
Related articles
- Quote For The Day II (andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com)
- Which President Said “I Do Not Believe In The Divinity Of Christ”? (outsidethebeltway.com)
Chief Black Dog – The Builder
Chief Black Dog-II with Wife
Although there have been many Osage Chiefs over the history of the people, I will probably continue to return to Chief Black Dog and his band of Osage, as he was paramount to the local history in this area where Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma meet.
Black Dog was a huge man, even by today’s standards. He stood 7 feet tall and was well over 300 pounds by all accounts. I will not attempt to go into a personal history of the Chief at this time. Native American history can be confusing at best. Each person may have been known by several names, for instance, an ‘honor name’ which is something to be earned in battle or hunting. (War and hunting were practically the same for their purposes). Besides having multiple names, there are generations carrying the same name. At this time I am speaking of Black Dog I and his accomplishments in primitive civil engineering. There are 3 main feats to mention.
THE BLACK DOG TRAIL:
Although Black Dog’s Band lived in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma, the Black Dog Trail extended across southern Kansas. It went from Baxter Springs to Cedar Vale, to Hooser, up to Dexter, to Silver Creek, near Winfield and across to the Arkansas River north of Oxford. An 1895 map supports this account and today’s US highway 166 runs on the same route in many places. This major trail also had many alternate routes, as do all of the ancient Osage trails. The main trail was completely cleared of rocks and plants. One account says that in most places the trail was “eight horses wide”. Black Dog I is correctly credited with creating the very first improved roads in both Kansas and Oklahoma.
Although Black Dog’s Band lived in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma, the Black Dog Trail extended across southern Kansas. It went from Baxter Springs to Cedar Vale, to Hooser, up to Dexter, to Silver Creek, near Winfield and across to the Arkansas River north of Oxford. An 1895 map supports this account and today’s US highway 166 runs on the same route in many places. This major trail also had many alternate routes, as do all of the ancient Osage trails. The main trail was completely cleared of rocks and plants. One account says that in most places the trail was “eight horses wide”. Black Dog I is correctly credited with creating the very first improved roads in both Kansas and Oklahoma.
THE CLAREMORE RACETRACK:
Black Dog’s band were sometimes mistaken for Cheif Claremore’s band. One large Black Dog camp was at Claremore’s village, the present Claremore Oklahoma. The Black Dog camp was actually located at the site of today’s Woodlawn Cemetery at Claremore. Black Dog was notoriously shy of whites, and authority of any kind. As such, accounts of this racecourse are rare. Please mention any accounts you may find!
THE CLAREMORE CAVE:
At Claremore (Oklahoma), Black Dog had constructed a completely concealed cave. It was not just a place for a Chief to hide, but was built large enough to hold the almost 500 members of his band, along with an entire year’s supply of food. This cave proved to be the Black Dog Band’s saviour.
In 1817, a group of white men, along with bands of Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Comanche, Delaware, Kowasati and Tonkawa fell upon the Claremore village. The village was empty of all the able warriors, who were on a buffalo hunt at the time. They subsequently killed or captured all of the Osage they found. This became known as the ‘Battle of Claremore mound.” None of Black Dog’s people were harmed, as any that were present hid out in the cave, but their empty village was looted and burned.
In all fairness, I must mention at this point, that this Osage band was not innocent themselves. It was Scouts from this band that led a raid by Custer’s soldiers on a helpless village at the Washita river. The same scene is now immortalized in the movie “Little Big Man”.
Filed under AMERICANA, History, Kansas, Native American, Oklahoma, Southeast Kansas, The Four States
Visit Unstranger
Okay, here’s the deal. When I first started this blog, Unstranger was one of the first to stumble in here. I don’t remember what he was commenting on. He is from Limerick Ireland (please don’t post bawdy poems here), and takes lots of great photos from there and all over Europe. He also does some good commentary about politics over there. Good luck with some of the Irish slang though.
I don’t often tout other’s blogs, and I keep a very small blogroll. No particular reason, except I’m lazy and short on time.
I subscribe to quite a number of blogs, usually wordpress, and have some great blogger friends from all over the world. If I’m subscribed to your blog, I DO READ YOUR POSTS! I may not always comment, but once again, I’m just to busy to have a real life.
I’ve just been loving the series of photos that I’ve seen there lately.
Somewhere in Ireland
NASHVILLE BLUES
Proprietor’s NOTE; The list of country and bluegrass LEGENDS on this album is unbelievable. A TRUE AMERICAN TREASURE….
Filed under AMERICANA, Bluegrass, Bluegrass Music, Blues Music, Music
Not BIGGER in Texas – BIG BRUTUS
The “Four-States”area, made up of Southeast Kansas, Southwest Missouri, Northwest Arkansas and Northeast Oklahoma, has a long history of mining. Many different types of mining were done all over the Four-States, both surface mining and deep mining.
The BIGGEST and most memorable bit of history has to be Big Brutus. With statistics like these you can see why! 
Brutus at work.
Dubbed “Big Brutus,” the enormous power shovel took a year to assemble on site in Cherokee County Kansas. Completed in June 1963; Big Brutus was an electric shovel, and actually had a giant ‘extension cord’ supplying it’s power.
Designed to mine coal for at least 25 years, the giant shovel worked for only a decade due to a combination of environmental problems and falling coal prices. By 1973 Big Brutus was obsolete. Deeming the shovel too big to move and too expensive to dismantle, its owners stripped Brutus of its electrical and auxiliary equipment, leaving it to rust, a dinosaur of the technological age.
Today, much of the area that Brutus worked in Southeast Kansas is still left as it was, with miles and miles of unreclaimed land. This landscape is known locally as “The Strip Pits”, as there are mounds of over-burden seperated by deep long pits, filled with water. Some of this land has been reclaimed, basically the topsoil has been pushed back into the pits it was removed from. This leaves a nice ‘rolling’ landscape, not quite flat like the land was before. Much of the areas that are not reclaimed have now become the Mined Land Wildlife Area, providing hunting and fishing, as well as refuge for game. 
Big Brutus’ past legacy has proved to be a good one. That same thing may not be said of the mining industry’s impact on Picher Oklahoma. Polluted to the point of “Superfund” status and then flattened by a tornado, the town has actually CLOSED. The school, post office, town hall, everything. – more about Picher here Continue reading
Filed under AMERICANA, Kansas, The Four States
Antique Postcards ~ Broadway Street, Parsons Kansas 1924
Be sure to visit KATY DAYS for more area history.
Filed under AMERICANA, History, Kansas, Labette County, Postcards, Southeast Kansas, Trains
Antique Postcards ~ The Wichita Boys
This old postcard is being posted in honor of my blogger friends from Wichita; fnord, Prariepond, and the whole bunch! Have a great day today in Wichita.
By the way, I have dozens of old postcards depicting Wichita 100 years ago. Hard to believe how beautiful the Arkansas river, and the parks along the river were back then.
Antique Postcards ~ John Brown’s Cabin
To see more antique postcards, choose POSTCARDS from the from the SEGREGATIONS (category) on the right hand column.
To read articles related to John Brown, try these:
KANSAS MEDIOCRITY 