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Necessities for a Nomadic Life
It was time to move. The young woman took down their tepee and secured the poles to the horses, building the travois’ that would carry the rest of their home and other worldly possessions.
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The Wandering Man
This love affair lasted a lifetime; whether consuming, creating, or collecting, the written word permeated his life. He bragged that between 1928 and 1942 he read more than 150 books a year. He built a personal library of over 10,000 books, journals, and periodicals; a varied collection that surprised and delighted visitors. He was one of the world’s most prolific authors writing poetry, over 400 short stories, screenplays and more than 100 books. Sitting in his sick bed, Louis L’Amour was editing his final book the day he died in 1988. Some discounted his writing as just simple westerns, but his stories perfectly expressed the romance and authenticities of Western…
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The Battle at Guilford Courthouse
On a recent trip to North Carolina I visited the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park with my sister and niece. There is a great deal I don’t know about this time in our nation’s history! So much of our revolutionary war education centers on the north, yet the battles in the south were of tremendous importance. Somewhere in the fight for Independence two centuries ago are two ancestors of mine, Moses Hill and John Gould who was an ancestor of my Grandmother Martell (Lila Vanderhoof). There is also a Morgan on Don’s side who may very well have been in one of these battles since the Morgan’s at that time…
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Straight to the Horse’s Mouth
At first glance, especially to those unfamiliar with all that is involved in horse care, the new exhibit at the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame might look like medieval tools of torture. No need to worry, these old malicious looking implements are just a set of equine dentistry tools from 1904, donated to the hall by the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation. It is believed that equine dentistry practices began about 2000 years ago on the steppes of northeastern Asia and Mongolia by ancient nomads. The horse has the distinction of being the most significant domesticated animal of the past 5000 years, playing a critical role in the development, growth…
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Charles Franklin Martell: Pre-1940’s Ranching Division nominee 2019
In 1908 a young man left his family dairy farm in New York going west to fulfill his dream in western North Dakota. Charles Martell arrived with nothing, worked for his uncles and was on his own by 1914. He established a ranch headquarters known as “Horse Camp”, running several hundred head of horses and cattle. Martell learned to identify and purchase strong breeding stock and expertly break horses. The 1920’s saw local horse markets declining, but Martell found new profitable markets for local horses in New York. As farming practices became more mechanized the horse market again declined, so he shifted his focus to cattle. Martell’s ranch grew to…
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In Good Company
The North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame shares its mission, and more than a few of its honorees, with the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Chester Reynolds had a dream. He was a Kansas City native who rose from sales manager to president of Lee Jeans. He had a creative mind and came up with the idea of Buddy Lee, a doll who “modeled” miniature samples of his company’s clothing line. But Chester’s greatest dream was to find a way to enshrine the cowboy and his era. He worried our great western heritage was being lost in the modern world. The idea for a national museum first came to…
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Just One More Ride
Across the prairies they are galloping as fast as old Sandy can go. The tall grass and trees are a blur, the wind is stinging the young cowboy’s face. There is no time to be timid; the outlaws are in close pursuit and he has got to get away. He knows he’s got a loyal friend with him. Sandy is sure footed and wily. All of a sudden Sandy lurches to a stop…and Mom is there saying its time to go. It seems so long ago now, the world of grocery store rides. Young cowboys and cowgirls begging for a quarter for just one more ride! The moms and dads…
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A Century Since the Great War; Family Ties
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11 11th month. It’s been 100 years since the first Armistice ( Veterans ) Day. A century, such a long time, yet when I was born the “Great War” had only been over for a little less than 40 years and many veterans of this war were alive and strong. One of them, Alfred V. Taylor lied about his age and joined the Navy when the war started. He became a pharmacists mate, ( a pharmacists mate performed a variety of medical duties), and was assigned duty on an hospital ship spending the war near the coast of France. He was…
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Who was Benjamin Henry?
Who was Benjamin Henry? Historians and those knowledgeable of guns would be familiar with his name, but for most his significance is unknown. Conversely, the name Winchester sparks immediate recognition. Yet in one of history’s many ironies, it was Henry who was directly responsible for the Winchester rifle and Oliver Winchester’s place in American history. As a young man Henry worked as a gunsmith apprentice and rose to foreman of a small arms company in Vermont. He worked with Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson who went on to form the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company. Oliver Winchester, a clothing manufacturer, was one of their main investors. Winchester was able to take over…
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War Bonnet!
The old steamer trunk has been in the family attic for generations. The treasure it holds comes out from time to time to be admired and pondered. Who wore it? What moments in history did the wearer see and experience? What stories are hidden in this honorary headdress? Over one hundred years ago the US government opened up a strip of land to homesteaders between the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. There were over 100,000 applicants but only 2500 families won a claim. One of these families was that of Henry and Margaret Lutgen, who established their farm along the path the local Native Americans…
