Albert Haunstine's Hanging In Custer County, Nebraska 1891

Below is a story sent to me by a reader who thought other readers might find it interesting. The story is about murder and facing the consequences of one's actions. 

Here's the story.

What were a clock and parts of a wooden bench worth in 1888? Three men’s lives. That’s right; William Ashley, Hiram Roten, and Albert E. Haunstine. All three lived in the hills and valleys southwest of Callaway, Nebraska. Good friendships and overnight stays passed among them, until one fateful day in early winter.

On November ninth [some sources state this date as the sixth], 1888, Roten and Ashley traveled to the sod schoolhouse of which they were board members. It had been designated their duty to keep up the building throughout the season when it was empty. 

When they arrived, they noticed the small (but only) clock the building owned and some lumber (probably from a bench) missing. They also found fresh buggy and horse tracks outside and decided to see who had visited the school. After notifying their families, Hiram and Roten headed off in the direction of the tracks, knowing not where they were headed to.

They were surprised to end up at the house of Albert E. Haunstine — a good friend, involved community member, and the teacher at the sod schoolhouse. After questioning him about the stolen property, Haunstine quickly gave it back to the men, but as they turned to leave, the teacher shot them in the back. 

Haunstine claims differently. For his side of the story, read the letter he wrote two days before his death. He took their watches and about 40 dollars cash from the both of them and proceeded to drag the bodies near the barn and throw some hay on top of them.

Haunstine, 25, and his wife, 17, prepared their team of horses and traveled to Arnold, Nebraska. After changing teams there, they drove south along the South Loup River until they were near Madison, NE, where Albert Haunstine stayed to work to get some money while his wife went by train to stay in Columbus, NE, for a few days. She had asked someone to go and pick him up because she couldn’t the day he was supposed to arrive by train.

Meanwhile, the families of Roten and Ashley had become concerned and began a search for them. Some friends and family members headed off toward Callaway, two or three went east to Mud Creek, and a group went to the school teacher’s (Haunstine’s) house. 

They found the place a mess, with animals running loose and items missing which clued in a hurried departure. Someone noticed a strange-looking stack of hay with hogs gathered tightly about it, and when upturned, proved to be pieces of Roten’s and Ashley’s bodies left — what the pigs had not devoured.

The authorities were notified immediately.

When the young man at the train station was asked by Mrs. Haunstine to meet her husband for her, he recognized the description. It exactly matched the wanted notice which promised 900 dollars for Haunstine’s body — dead or alive. Five hundred dollars of the total was from the state and the other four hundred from Custer County. The young man quickly got the attention of the police, and someone was on their way.

They found Haunstine in the smoker car, with one of Hiram or Roten's rifles across his lap. It is said that he gave up without struggle, mainly because he was grateful it was authorities and not a bounty hunter.

A few months later, in March of 1889, Haunstine was tried in Broken Bow, Nebraska. The county attorney H. M. Sullivan and the sheriff Jim Jones were both good friends of Haunstine. After Sullivan doubted his fairness as county prosecutor, Judge Wall of Loup City replaced him as public prosecutor. 

The trial didn’t last too long, and Haunstine was sentenced to hang six months later in September of 1889. However, Haunstine’s lawyers made an appeal to the Supreme Court because Haunstine had pled insanity. Doctors and more experts were brought in to reach a verdict of whether Haunstine was sane or not. 

When a decision was finally reached long after the September hanging date, Albert Haunstine was again found guilty and sentenced to hang on April 17, 1891.

However, Governor Boyd had heard of the case and sent a reprieval of thirty days, which meant Haunstine could not be hanged until May 17. This created many hard feelings and disappointment toward Sheriff Jones because families had come from hundreds of miles away to watch that man hang in April, and had to go home for another month before they could see that happen.

Finally, Haunstine’s execution date arrived, but even as the crowds gathered around the courthouse, Sheriff Jones spoke to them. He told them a hanging would not occur that day, and mobs led by the family and friends of Roten and Ashley attacked the courthouse. They pushed the authorities inside and demanded the keys to Haunstine’s cell. 

Only after Judge Wall, a big, burly man, held back the crowd long enough for more authorities to help out did the crowd get forced back outside for another speech. A promise that a hanging would take place soon was made, and the impatient crowd again went away for a few days.

On May 23, 1891, crowds gathered for the final time at the Broken Bow courthouse for the hanging of Haunstine. The gallows were hidden from view of the public by boards, but at about 12:30, Roten’s brother, Eli, threw a chip of wood over the boards. On his signal, a huge group of kin and friends of the murdered men tore down the wood so that all could see Haunstine hang.

Soon after, Sheriff Jones brought the prisoner from the jail cell and up the 13 steps to the top of the gallows. After Haunstine gave a short confession and requested forgiveness from all that he had effected, the noose was slipped around his neck, and the trap door was sprung. As Haunstine fell, the rope snapped upward—it had broken! Some sources strongly state that a person had cut halfway through the rope. 

Eli Roten was heard saying, "Since Haunstine killed two men, he should be hung twice!" 

Again Haunstine climbed the 13 steps, again a rope was placed around his neck, and again he dropped through the trap door. This time, though, the rope was secure, and a few minutes later Haunstine was pronounced dead by the local doctor.

Haunstine’s brother was given the body, and buried it on a hill near their homestead. About 90 meters from this grave stands a tree. After Haunstine’s execution, a rope was placed on a branch of the tree by an anonymous person to remind everyone of Haunstine’s actions and consequences. 

The rope fell off years ago due to wind and weather, but for those who know the story, the tree still stands as a symbol of what happened. Albert E. Haunstine had stolen a clock and some lumber, and had died for it.

Below is a letter written by Albert E. Haunstine two days before his May 23, 1891 execution. It does create curiosity to know which side of the story is true. (Errors found in the letter were in the original article.)

STATEMENT OF A. E. HAUNSTINE:

Since the general public has felt a great interest concerning my sad fate and is desirous to learn the real facts as to whether I malicously shot and killed Hiram Roten and William Ashely without provocation, I hereby state, for the good of all concerned and myself in particular, that I have not been and am not the vicious man my fellowmen think I am. My life and my actions since Governor Boyd's reprieve, speak for themselves.

I cannot but feel thankful for the prolongation of my life. Mr earnest prayer is that God may bless him and prolong his life for many days. The facts of my troubles are as follows:

Two weeks previous to the shooting of the above named men, I was accused of petty thieving, the murdered men with others, annoyed, provoked and threatened me with bodily injury. When they were carrying their threats too far, I came to Broken Bow, consulted a lawyer concerning the whole affair.

The advice was to protect myself. During the two weeks previous to the shooting I was still annoyed by these men. At one time, someone maliciously poisoned water that I had hauled in a barrel from my neighbors. Evidence of poison was shown after I had watered one of my horses. After the horse drank the water, it took sick and showed symptoms of poisoning.

On the fatal day, Hiram Roten and William Ashley came to my house without authority, to search for a few things which had been taken from the district school house. I was sitting in the door of my house when Hiram Roten and William Ashley advanced. Mr. Roten carried a Winchester across his arm when he advanced.

I invited them into my house and invited them to dinner. They would not partake of any dinner. An altercation of words took place, and so exasperated my temper that for a few minutes I was beside myself and in the heat of passion, shot one. To protect myself, I shot the other, who was attempting to draw a pistol from his pocket.

These are the facts concerning my whole trouble. It is well known that when Mr. Roten was leaving his house, he took a pistol and Winchester rifle with him. His own wife can state that, after arming himself with a pistol he returned to the house and said he believed he would take his rifle. 'I hear that Albert is a bad boy of late. If I don't need it, I will leave it in the buggy.' This is the substance of his words.

My trouble has not come without cause. Had these men not provoked me, I would never have shot them. I thought too much of them to do them any harm but when they came to search my house without a warrant, armed with pistol and rifles, it provoked and angered me to desperation. All that had taken place rushed to my mind and in an instance I did as I was told, protected myself.

I am about to suffer the penalty of the law for a crime to which I was driven. However, I am sorry for my rash act and beg forgiveness of the families of the dead men and all whom I have injured. I am also sorry for all the trouble I have been to my fellow citizens, hoping that they will forgive me, and that nothing shall remain in your minds, other than the sad consequence of following bad advice.

Signed Albert E. Haunstine, in presence of Chas. M. Parkhurst and Rev. Tomas P. Haley." As written in The Merna Record (exact date of newspaper is unavailable).

The deteriorating hanging tree is supposedly still there. It's located about 100 yards from Albert Haunstine's grave. 

-- end of the story sent to me. 

So now, to me, this story should give folks a lot of questions. First, with the evidence that has been presented to you, including a statement from the man who was about to be hanged, what do you believe happened? Who do you believe, the known story of what took place or Albert Haunstine's version of what happened? 

The official report said both men were shot in the back and their bodies were hidden. It's known that Albert Haunstine did in fact murder both men. That's not in dispute, but why didn't Haunstine address shooting the men in the back or why he hid their bodies and fled?  

What do you think of his final statement about what took place? Do you think he was telling the truth? Do you think he lied? Knowing he was about to be hanged, why wouldn't he tell the truth? 

If he was telling the truth, and armed men did go to his home and decided to search it without a warrant, do you think he was right in killing them? Was Albert Haunstine provoked after the men entered his home wanting to search it? Of course, there's the question, why did he flee if, as he later claimed, it was a case of self-defense against two armed men? 

While he said he shot one and then the other as he was drawing a pistol, which sounds like self-defense, did he flee because in actuality he shot both men in the back? Back-shooting tells most people on a jury that the two weren't a threat at the moment that he shot them. Shooting men in the back would in most cases get a man hanged in the Old West. 

But doing that, then making an effort to hide their bodies, before fleeing is not what innocent men do. Provoked or not, it's not what innocent men do. And frankly, his actions don't agree nor make sense with his statement explaining his reasons for killing both men. Of course, who knows what someone might say just before being hanged. 

Tom Correa

Cattle Stampedes

Cattle Stampede by Artist William Henry Dethlef Koerner 

Story by Terry McGahey 

As a working cowboy, I never experienced a true stampede. I once experienced a minor stampede in which we had to ride ahead of the cattle and turn them into a mill before they ran headlong into the fences. Turning cattle into a mill, simply put, means to turn the leaders into a circle until the leaders run into the back of the rest of the herd shutting them down.

We were only moving about one hundred head from one pasture to another when a lightning strike to a tree during the monsoon season caused the cattle to run. Believe me, this small run pales in comparison to what the drovers on the old cattle drives had to deal with. And not only that, it was daylight and not as dark as three feet down a cow's throat which the drovers of that time also had to deal with. A run at night could quickly put you in your grave.

One other time I was pushing about sixty head or so of mostly wild longhorn cattle by myself up to the working pens. When they reached the wing we built to funnel them into the pen they pulled up, turned, and on a dead run was headed directly at me and my horse. 

All I could do was to get my horse behind a tree and let them go. If I would have tried to turn them it could have been the end of me and my horse. Below I have given the quotes by the old-time drovers when it comes to stampedes.

Charles Goodnight of the Goodnight/Loving Trail said it this way, "In the excitement of a stampede a man was not himself, and his horse was not the horse of yesterday. Man and horse were one, and the combination accomplished feats that would be utterly impossible under ordinary circumstances.

A drover by the name of Andy Adams wrote, "A stampede is the natural result of fear, and at night or in uncertain light, this timidity might be imparted to an entire herd by a flash of lightning or a pearl of thunder, while the stumbling of a night horse, or the scent of some wild animal, would in a moment's time, from frightening a few head, so infest a herd as to throw them into the wildest panic.  

Amongst the thousands of herds like ours that were driven over the trail during its brief existence, none ever made the trip without encountering more or less trouble from runs. Frequently a herd became so spoiled in this manner that it grew into a mania with them, so that they would stampede on the slightest provocation, or no provocation at all."

E.C. Abbott (Teddy Blue) wrote, "If a storm and the cattle started running you’d hear that low rumbling noise along the ground and the men on herd wouldn’t need to come in and tell you, you’d know, then you’d jump for your horse and get out there on the lead, trying to head them and get them into a mill before they scattered to hell and gone. 

It was riding at a dead run in the dark, with cut banks and prairie dog holes all around you, not knowing if the next jump would land you in a shallow grave. I helped to bury three of them in very shallow graves."

If you ever get the chance, read Teddy Blue’s book called We Pointed Them North. It’s a very good read that gives the true nature of what it was like to live and be a drover during that time period.

Terry McGahey
Associate Writer/ Old West Historian

Terry has been a working cowboy, writer, and historian. He is best known for his fight against the City of Tombstone and their historic City Ordinance Number 9. 

He was instrumental in getting the famous Tombstone City Ordinance Number 9 repealed while at the same time forcing the City of Tombstone to fall in line and comply with the laws of the State of Arizona. 

If you care to read how he fought Tombstone's City Hall and won, check out:

The Last Gun Fight -- The Death of Ordinance Number 9 (Chapter One)

Trump Declared His "America First" Policy At The United Nations In 2017

Lately, on some Democrat Party-controlled Mainstream Media programs, there are television commentators who appear bewildered at the support that President Trump receives from his supporters. Those talking heads for the Democrat Party are absolutely mystified when it comes to what draws Americans to President Trump. 

To help Democrats, I want to give this example of why Americans see Donald Trump as the right man for the job of President of the United States. I want to give this example of how his loyalty to Americans of all backgrounds has inspired Americans to return that loyalty.  

In the following speech to the United Nations, there was one thing that President Trump said that angered Democrats more than anything else. What made them so angry? They became angry when President Trump reminded the leaders assembled there that America's first responsibility is to our citizens. 

President Trump said, "Our government’s first duty is to its people, to our citizens — to serve their needs, to ensure their safety, to preserve their rights, and to defend their values. As President of the United States, I will always put America first, just like you, as the leaders of your countries will always, and should always, put your countries first."

Please understand that Joe Biden and the Democrat Party do not believe in this. This is not how Democrats see the role of the United States government. To them, the government needs to be controlling. While Democrats talk a lot about "preserving Democracy," they really mean they want to "preserve their Oligarchy." 

An Oligarchy is a form of government in which a small group of people hold all of the political power. Democrats see themselves as that small group of people who have to control the United States.

While President Trump's statement was met with great applause at the United Nations, Democrats took to the airwaves and in concert called him a "xenophobe." They called President Trump a "xenophobe" which is defined as "a person having a dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries."  They attacked President Trump because he said what Americans need to know and want, that "their government cares about them before anyone else."  And for that, as sad as it is, Democrats attacked him. 

If Democrats want to understand why so many Americans are loyal to President Trump? Why we support President Trump, why we want him to be elected as America's 47th President, and why we want Joe Biden out of the White House, is because unlike Biden and anyone that the Democrats have who wants to be President, no one will put the needs, the safety, and promise to preserve the rights of Americans like President Donald Trump will. And do it. 

When President Trump says he puts "America First," he means it. If Democrats would do this, then maybe they wouldn't have people leaving the Democrat Party to such an extent that Democrats now have to bring in Illegal Aliens to vote for them.

Below is the speech given by President Donald Trump to the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017. 

President Trump's speech was seen as both a reminder to the United Nations and the nations assembled there that the United States is a sovereign nation, while also reminding others of the importance for leaders of nations to put the needs of their people first. Then he explained why his priority is the American people. He explained why his job is to meet the needs of American citizens.

President Trump's speech: 

Mr. Secretary General, Mr. President, world leaders, and distinguished delegates: Welcome to New York. It is a profound honor to stand here in my home city, as a representative of the American people, to address the people of the world.

As millions of our citizens continue to suffer the effects of the devastating hurricanes that have struck our country, I want to begin by expressing my appreciation to every leader in this room who has offered assistance and aid. The American people are strong and resilient, and they will emerge from these hardships more determined than ever before.

Fortunately, the United States has done very well since Election Day last November 8th. The stock market is at an all-time high — a record. Unemployment is at its lowest level in 16 years, and because of our regulatory and other reforms, we have more people working in the United States today than ever before. Companies are moving back, creating job growth the likes of which our country has not seen in a very long time. And it has just been announced that we will be spending almost $700 billion on our military and defense.

Our military will soon be the strongest it has ever been. For more than 70 years, in times of war and peace, the leaders of nations, movements, and religions have stood before this assembly. Like them, I intend to address some of the very serious threats before us today but also the enormous potential waiting to be unleashed.

We live in a time of extraordinary opportunity. Breakthroughs in science, technology, and medicine are curing illnesses and solving problems that prior generations thought impossible to solve.

But each day also brings news of growing dangers that threaten everything we cherish and value. Terrorists and extremists have gathered strength and spread to every region of the planet. Rogue regimes represented in this body not only support terrorists but threaten other nations and their own people with the most destructive weapons known to humanity.

Authority and authoritarian powers seek to collapse the values, the systems, and alliances that prevented conflict and tilted the world toward freedom since World War II.

International criminal networks traffic drugs, weapons, people; force dislocation and mass migration; threaten our borders; and new forms of aggression exploit technology to menace our citizens.

To put it simply, we meet at a time of both of immense promise and great peril. It is entirely up to us whether we lift the world to new heights, or let it fall into a valley of disrepair.

We have it in our power, should we so choose, to lift millions from poverty, to help our citizens realize their dreams, and to ensure that new generations of children are raised free from violence, hatred, and fear.

This institution was founded in the aftermath of two world wars to help shape this better future. It was based on the vision that diverse nations could cooperate to protect their sovereignty, preserve their security, and promote their prosperity.

It was in the same period, exactly 70 years ago, that the United States developed the Marshall Plan to help restore Europe. Those three beautiful pillars — they’re pillars of peace, sovereignty, security, and prosperity.

The Marshall Plan was built on the noble idea that the whole world is safer when nations are strong, independent, and free. As President Truman said in his message to Congress at that time, “Our support of European recovery is in full accord with our support of the United Nations. The success of the United Nations depends upon the independent strength of its members.”

To overcome the perils of the present and to achieve the promise of the future, we must begin with the wisdom of the past. Our success depends on a coalition of strong and independent nations that embrace their sovereignty to promote security, prosperity, and peace for themselves and for the world.

We do not expect diverse countries to share the same cultures, traditions, or even systems of government. But we do expect all nations to uphold these two core sovereign duties: to respect the interests of their own people and the rights of every other sovereign nation. This is the beautiful vision of this institution, and this is the foundation for cooperation and success.

Strong, sovereign nations let diverse countries with different values, different cultures, and different dreams not just coexist, but work side by side on the basis of mutual respect.

Strong, sovereign nations let their people take ownership of the future and control their own destiny. And strong, sovereign nations allow individuals to flourish in the fullness of the life intended by God.

In America, we do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to watch. This week gives our country a special reason to take pride in that example. We are celebrating the 230th anniversary of our beloved Constitution — the oldest constitution still in use in the world today.

This timeless document has been the foundation of peace, prosperity, and freedom for the Americans and for countless millions around the globe whose own countries have found inspiration in its respect for human nature, human dignity, and the rule of law.

The greatest in the United States Constitution is its first three beautiful words. They are: “We the people.”

Generations of Americans have sacrificed to maintain the promise of those words, the promise of our country, and of our great history. In America, the people govern, the people rule, and the people are sovereign. I was elected not to take power, but to give power to the American people, where it belongs.

In foreign affairs, we are renewing this founding principle of sovereignty. Our government’s first duty is to its people, to our citizens — to serve their needs, to ensure their safety, to preserve their rights, and to defend their values.

As President of the United States, I will always put America first, just like you, as the leaders of your countries will always, and should always, put your countries first. (Applause.)

All responsible leaders have an obligation to serve their own citizens, and the nation-state remains the best vehicle for elevating the human condition.

But making a better life for our people also requires us to work together in close harmony and unity to create a more safe and peaceful future for all people.

The United States will forever be a great friend to the world, and especially to its allies. But we can no longer be taken advantage of, or enter into a one-sided deal where the United States gets nothing in return. As long as I hold this office, I will defend America’s interests above all else.

But in fulfilling our obligations to our own nations, we also realize that it’s in everyone’s interest to seek a future where all nations can be sovereign, prosperous, and secure.

America does more than speak for the values expressed in the United Nations Charter. Our citizens have paid the ultimate price to defend our freedom and the freedom of many nations represented in this great hall. America’s devotion is measured on the battlefields where our young men and women have fought and sacrificed alongside of our allies, from the beaches of Europe to the deserts of the Middle East to the jungles of Asia.

It is an eternal credit to the American character that even after we and our allies emerged victorious from the bloodiest war in history, we did not seek territorial expansion, or attempt to oppose and impose our way of life on others. Instead, we helped build institutions such as this one to defend the sovereignty, security, and prosperity for all.

For the diverse nations of the world, this is our hope. We want harmony and friendship, not conflict and strife. We are guided by outcomes, not ideology. We have a policy of principled realism, rooted in shared goals, interests, and values.

That realism forces us to confront a question facing every leader and nation in this room. It is a question we cannot escape or avoid. We will slide down the path of complacency, numb to the challenges, threats, and even wars that we face. Or do we have enough strength and pride to confront those dangers today, so that our citizens can enjoy peace and prosperity tomorrow?

If we desire to lift up our citizens, if we aspire to the approval of history, then we must fulfill our sovereign duties to the people we faithfully represent. We must protect our nations, their interests, and their futures. We must reject threats to sovereignty, from the Ukraine to the South China Sea. We must uphold respect for law, respect for borders, and respect for culture, and the peaceful engagement these allow. And just as the founders of this body intended, we must work together and confront together those who threaten us with chaos, turmoil, and terror.

The scourge of our planet today is a small group of rogue regimes that violate every principle on which the United Nations is based. They respect neither their own citizens nor the sovereign rights of their countries.

If the righteous many do not confront the wicked few, then evil will triumph. When decent people and nations become bystanders to history, the forces of destruction only gather power and strength.

No one has shown more contempt for other nations and for the well-being of their own people than the depraved regime in North Korea. It is responsible for the starvation deaths of millions of North Koreans, and for the imprisonment, torture, killing, and oppression of countless more.

We were all witness to the regime’s deadly abuse when an innocent American college student, Otto Warmbier, was returned to America only to die a few days later. We saw it in the assassination of the dictator’s brother using banned nerve agents in an international airport. We know it kidnapped a sweet 13-year-old Japanese girl from a beach in her own country to enslave her as a language tutor for North Korea’s spies.

If this is not twisted enough, now North Korea’s reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles threatens the entire world with unthinkable loss of human life.

It is an outrage that some nations would not only trade with such a regime, but would arm, supply, and financially support a country that imperils the world with nuclear conflict. No nation on earth has an interest in seeing this band of criminals arm itself with nuclear weapons and missiles.

The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea. Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime. The United States is ready, willing, and able, but hopefully, this will not be necessary. That’s what the United Nations is all about; that’s what the United Nations is for. Let’s see how they do.

It is time for North Korea to realize that the denuclearization is its only acceptable future. The United Nations Security Council recently held two unanimous 15-0 votes adopting hard-hitting resolutions against North Korea, and I want to thank China and Russia for joining the vote to impose sanctions, along with all of the other members of the Security Council. Thank you to all involved.

But we must do much more. It is time for all nations to work together to isolate the Kim regime until it ceases its hostile behavior.

We face this decision not only in North Korea. It is far past time for the nations of the world to confront another reckless regime — one that speaks openly of mass murder, vowing death to America, destruction to Israel, and ruin for many leaders and nations in this room.

The Iranian government masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy. It has turned a wealthy country with a rich history and culture into an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed, and chaos. The longest-suffering victims of Iran’s leaders are, in fact, its own people.

Rather than use its resources to improve Iranian lives, its oil profits go to fund Hezbollah and other terrorists that kill innocent Muslims and attack their peaceful Arab and Israeli neighbors. This wealth, which rightly belongs to Iran’s people, also goes to shore up Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship, fuel Yemen’s civil war, and undermine peace throughout the entire Middle East.

We cannot let a murderous regime continue these destabilizing activities while building dangerous missiles, and we cannot abide by an agreement if it provides cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear program. (Applause.) The Iran Deal was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into. Frankly, that deal is an embarrassment to the United States, and I don’t think you’ve heard the last of it — believe me.

It is time for the entire world to join us in demanding that Iran’s government end its pursuit of death and destruction. It is time for the regime to free all Americans and citizens of other nations that they have unjustly detained. And above all, Iran’s government must stop supporting terrorists, begin serving its own people, and respect the sovereign rights of its neighbors.

The entire world understands that the good people of Iran want change, and, other than the vast military power of the United States, that Iran’s people are what their leaders fear the most. This is what causes the regime to restrict Internet access, tear down satellite dishes, shoot unarmed student protestors, and imprison political reformers.

Oppressive regimes cannot endure forever, and the day will come when the Iranian people will face a choice. Will they continue down the path of poverty, bloodshed, and terror? Or will the Iranian people return to the nation’s proud roots as a center of civilization, culture, and wealth where their people can be happy and prosperous once again?

The Iranian regime’s support for terror is in stark contrast to the recent commitments of many of its neighbors to fight terrorism and halt its financing.

In Saudi Arabia early last year, I was greatly honored to address the leaders of more than 50 Arab and Muslim nations. We agreed that all responsible nations must work together to confront terrorists and the Islamist extremism that inspires them.

We will stop radical Islamic terrorism because we cannot allow it to tear up our nation, and indeed to tear up the entire world.

We must deny the terrorists safe haven, transit, funding, and any form of support for their vile and sinister ideology. We must drive them out of our nations. It is time to expose and hold responsible those countries who support and finance terror groups like al Qaeda, Hezbollah, the Taliban and others that slaughter innocent people.

The United States and our allies are working together throughout the Middle East to crush the loser terrorists and stop the reemergence of safe havens they use to launch attacks on all of our people.

Last month, I announced a new strategy for victory in the fight against this evil in Afghanistan. From now on, our security interests will dictate the length and scope of military operations, not arbitrary benchmarks and timetables set up by politicians.

I have also totally changed the rules of engagement in our fight against the Taliban and other terrorist groups. In Syria and Iraq, we have made big gains toward the lasting defeat of ISIS. In fact, our country has achieved more against ISIS in the last eight months than it has in many, many years combined.

We seek the de-escalation of the Syrian conflict, and a political solution that honors the will of the Syrian people. The actions of the criminal regime of Bashar al-Assad, including the use of chemical weapons against his own citizens — even innocent children — shock the conscience of every decent person. No society can be safe if banned chemical weapons are allowed to spread. That is why the United States carried out a missile strike on the airbase that launched the attack.

We appreciate the efforts of United Nations agencies that are providing vital humanitarian assistance in areas liberated from ISIS, and we especially thank Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon for their role in hosting refugees from the Syrian conflict.

The United States is a compassionate nation and has spent billions and billions of dollars in helping to support this effort. We seek an approach to refugee resettlement that is designed to help these horribly treated people, and which enables their eventual return to their home countries, to be part of the rebuilding process.

For the cost of resettling one refugee in the United States, we can assist more than 10 in their home region. Out of the goodness of our hearts, we offer financial assistance to hosting countries in the region, and we support recent agreements of the G20 nations that will seek to host refugees as close to their home countries as possible. This is the safe, responsible, and humanitarian approach.

For decades, the United States has dealt with migration challenges here in the Western Hemisphere. We have learned that, over the long term, uncontrolled migration is deeply unfair to both the sending and the receiving countries.

For the sending countries, it reduces domestic pressure to pursue needed political and economic reform, and drains them of the human capital necessary to motivate and implement those reforms.

For the receiving countries, the substantial costs of uncontrolled migration are borne overwhelmingly by low-income citizens whose concerns are often ignored by both the media and the government.

I want to salute the work of the United Nations in seeking to address the problems that cause people to flee from their homes. The United Nations and African Union led peacekeeping missions to have invaluable contributions in stabilizing conflicts in Africa. The United States continues to lead the world in humanitarian assistance, including famine prevention and relief in South Sudan, Somalia, and northern Nigeria and Yemen.

We have invested in better health and opportunity all over the world through programs like PEPFAR, which funds AIDS relief; the President’s Malaria Initiative; the Global Health Security Agenda; the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery; and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, part of our commitment to empowering women all across the globe.

We also thank — (applause) — we also thank the Secretary General for recognizing that the United Nations must reform if it is to be an effective partner in confronting threats to sovereignty, security, and prosperity. Too often the focus of this organization has not been on results, but on bureaucracy and process.

In some cases, states that seek to subvert this institution’s noble aims have hijacked the very systems that are supposed to advance them. For example, it is a massive source of embarrassment to the United Nations that some governments with egregious human rights records sit on the U.N. Human Rights Council.

The United States is one out of 193 countries in the United Nations, and yet we pay 22 percent of the entire budget and more. In fact, we pay far more than anybody realizes. The United States bears an unfair cost burden, but, to be fair, if it could actually accomplish all of its stated goals, especially the goal of peace, this investment would easily be well worth it.

Major portions of the world are in conflict and some, in fact, are going to hell. But the powerful people in this room, under the guidance and auspices of the United Nations, can solve many of these vicious and complex problems.

The American people hope that one day soon the United Nations can be a much more accountable and effective advocate for human dignity and freedom around the world. In the meantime, we believe that no nation should have to bear a disproportionate share of the burden, militarily or financially. Nations of the world must take a greater role in promoting secure and prosperous societies in their own regions.

That is why in the Western Hemisphere, the United States has stood against the corrupt and destabilizing regime in Cuba and embraced the enduring dream of the Cuban people to live in freedom. My administration recently announced that we will not lift sanctions on the Cuban government until it makes fundamental reforms.

We have also imposed tough, calibrated sanctions on the socialist Maduro regime in Venezuela, which has brought a once thriving nation to the brink of total collapse.

The socialist dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro has inflicted terrible pain and suffering on the good people of that country. This corrupt regime destroyed a prosperous nation by imposing a failed ideology that has produced poverty and misery everywhere it has been tried. To make matters worse, Maduro has defied his own people, stealing power from their elected representatives to preserve his disastrous rule.

The Venezuelan people are starving and their country is collapsing. Their democratic institutions are being destroyed. This situation is completely unacceptable and we cannot stand by and watch.

As a responsible neighbor and friend, we and all others have a goal. That goal is to help them regain their freedom, recover their country, and restore their democracy. I would like to thank leaders in this room for condemning the regime and providing vital support to the Venezuelan people.

The United States has taken important steps to hold the regime accountable. We are prepared to take further action if the government of Venezuela persists on its path to impose authoritarian rule on the Venezuelan people.

We are fortunate to have incredibly strong and healthy trade relationships with many of the Latin American countries gathered here today. Our economic bond forms a critical foundation for advancing peace and prosperity for all of our people and all of our neighbors.

I ask every country represented here today to be prepared to do more to address this very real crisis. We call for the full restoration of democracy and political freedoms in Venezuela. (Applause.)

The problem in Venezuela is not that socialism has been poorly implemented, but that socialism has been faithfully implemented. (Applause.) From the Soviet Union to Cuba to Venezuela, wherever true socialism or communism has been adopted, it has delivered anguish and devastation and failure. Those who preach the tenets of these discredited ideologies only contribute to the continued suffering of the people who live under these cruel systems.

America stands with every person living under a brutal regime. Our respect for sovereignty is also a call for action. All people deserve a government that cares for their safety, their interests, and their wellbeing, including their prosperity.

In America, we seek stronger ties of business and trade with all nations of good will, but this trade must be fair and it must be reciprocal.

For too long, the American people were told that mammoth multinational trade deals, unaccountable international tribunals, and powerful global bureaucracies were the best way to promote their success. But as those promises flowed, millions of jobs vanished and thousands of factories disappeared. Others gamed the system and broke the rules. And our great middle class, once the bedrock of American prosperity, was forgotten and left behind, but they are forgotten no more and they will never be forgotten again.

While America will pursue cooperation and commerce with other nations, we are renewing our commitment to the first duty of every government: the duty of our citizens. This bond is the source of America’s strength and that of every responsible nation represented here today.

If this organization is to have any hope of successfully confronting the challenges before us, it will depend, as President Truman said some 70 years ago, on the “independent strength of its members.” If we are to embrace the opportunities of the future and overcome the present dangers together, there can be no substitute for strong, sovereign, and independent nations — nations that are rooted in their histories and invested in their destinies; nations that seek allies to befriend, not enemies to conquer; and most important of all, nations that are home to patriots, to men and women who are willing to sacrifice for their countries, their fellow citizens, and for all that is best in the human spirit.

In remembering the great victory that led to this body’s founding, we must never forget that those heroes who fought against evil also fought for the nations that they loved.

Patriotism led the Poles to die to save Poland, the French to fight for a free France, and the Brits to stand strong for Britain.

Today, if we do not invest ourselves, our hearts, and our minds in our nations, if we will not build strong families, safe communities, and healthy societies for ourselves, no one can do it for us.

We cannot wait for someone else, for faraway countries or far-off bureaucrats — we can’t do it. We must solve our problems, to build our prosperity, to secure our futures, or we will be vulnerable to decay, domination, and defeat.

The true question for the United Nations today, for people all over the world who hope for better lives for themselves and their children, is a basic one: Are we still patriots? Do we love our nations enough to protect their sovereignty and to take ownership of their futures? Do we revere them enough to defend their interests, preserve their cultures, and ensure a peaceful world for their citizens?

One of the greatest American patriots, John Adams, wrote that the American Revolution was “effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people.”

That was the moment when America awoke, when we looked around and understood that we were a nation. We realized who we were, what we valued, and what we would give our lives to defend. From its very first moments, the American story is the story of what is possible when people take ownership of their future.

The United States of America has been among the greatest forces for good in the history of the world, and the greatest defenders of sovereignty, security, and prosperity for all.

Now we are calling for a great reawakening of nations, for the revival of their spirits, their pride, their people, and their patriotism.

History is asking us whether we are up to the task. Our answer will be a renewal of will, a rediscovery of resolve, and a rebirth of devotion. We need to defeat the enemies of humanity and unlock the potential of life itself.

Our hope is a word and — world of proud, independent nations that embrace their duties, seek friendship, respect others, and make common cause in the greatest shared interest of all: a future of dignity and peace for the people of this wonderful Earth.

This is the true vision of the United Nations, the ancient wish of every people, and the deepest yearning that lives inside every sacred soul.

So let this be our mission, and let this be our message to the world: We will fight together, sacrifice together, and stand together for peace, for freedom, for justice, for family, for humanity, and for the almighty God who made us all.

Thank you. God bless you. God bless the nations of the world. And God bless the United States of America. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

END of the speech given by President Donald Trump at the United Nations on September 19, 2017.

If you read this a few times as I have, you can see why the Democrats fear Donald Trump will return power to the American people. Democrats don't like this, and they are fighting first to keep Donald Trump from entering the White House, and two to strip Americans of our rights to fight them. 

Tom Correa

Democrat Lies, Lies, Lies!

Story by Terry McGahey

With every yes or no question asked to the members of the so-called Democrat Party, all you get is stonewalling and out-and-out lies. The Democrat Party is so far gone that the only way it can be changed is by the party itself with members who actually believe in our great Constitution. The problem with this statement is that the Democrat party has been hijacked by the Socialists and Communists who only want to regulate and control our country with an iron fist. All they care about is control, power, money, and tearing down our laws and Constitution for their own benefit.

This party has even turned its back on Robert F Kennedy Jr. who does believe in our Constitution and country. Reason why? Kennedy does not fall within the Socialist Agenda of the far left. Kennedy was a true Democrat of the time when the party was not controlled by the Socialists. Yes, there have always been Socialists within that party but the party was not fully controlled by that faction as it is now.

I am not suggesting that we as Republicans vote for Kennedy, but I am suggesting that the only way the true Democrats of that party can bring that party back to what it was many Years ago is to make the voting Democrats understand just how far that party has sunk into the Socialist septic tank of politics.

Years ago the two parties always had policy differences, but I remember a time when you could actually talk to a Liberal and agree or disagree on different subjects without screaming, hollering, and actually hating each other. We did that by respecting each other's opinions, no matter if you believed in their opinion or not. There is no respect or decency among the Democrat Party as it is today.

What I find hard to believe is that people who are from my generation who remember this country before this takeover by the far left can not see how this party has turned against the rule of law and truly against the people of our great nation.

Illegal immigration, trying to de-fund police, and destroying our economy along with many other outright disgusting rulings made by appointed far-left judges. For some time now we have allowed our education facilities such as colleges and even grade school all the way through high school to be hijacked by Ssocialist teachers, school boards, and college professors.

In my opinion, these people should be fired and never allowed to teach again their Socialist values to our young people. The only way to change the Socialist Party of America (Far Left Dems) is for the voting Democrats of our country to wake up to the far-left agenda and start voting for a better class of politicians within that party -- people who truly care about our country and laws as well as what’s best for our people. The Socialist faction that is running the Democrat Party will never change unless the voting public makes that change.

Rapping up this article it’s my opinion that many members of the Socialist Party of America, which is today's Democrat Party, should be tried for treason and publicly hung, just as our forefathers probably would have done.

Terry McGahey
Associate Writer/ Old West Historian

Terry has been a working cowboy, writer, and historian. He is best known for the fight that he waged against the City of Tombstone and their historic City Ordinance Number 9. He was instrumental in getting the famous Tombstone City Ordinance Number 9 repealed while at the same time forcing the City of Tombstone to fall in line and comply with the laws of the State of Arizona.


If you care to read how he fought Tombstone's City Hall and won, check out:

The Last Gun Fight -- The Death of Ordinance Number 9 (Chapter One)

Democrats Consciously Planned The Border Crisis

A scam is a scam, and con artists are everywhere these days. Some call on the phone, others use emails, and so on and so on with all sorts of confidence tricks meant to defraud us. Defraud means to illegally obtain money or some specific thing of value from someone by deception. Stay with me here, and you'll understand my point about how this applies to what's taking place on our Southern Border.

To defraud someone, scammers, swindlers, and con artists, all by any other name are the same, they have to do one important thing first: They need to gain your trust first. Once that happens, then and only then can a confidence game be successfully played on the victim.

How? By using a combination of the victim's credulity, naïveté, confidence, irresponsibility, vanity, greed, and compassion. Confidence games, scams, and swindles are intended to appear "mutually beneficial." But in reality, scams, con games, swindles, and other such trickery only "benefit" the con artist at the expense of their victims.

About now, you've started to wonder where I'm going with this. And it's no wonder because you, like myself, know full well that we're being scammed by the Biden Administration when it comes to the security of the border.

First, let's look at the language of the scam. Remember, a con artist has to first win over your trust. So how does he start that? By changing the language to make it more acceptable to your senses while appealing to your compassion as a human being.

For what's going on at the border, instead of calling a spade "a spade" and using the legal designation of someone who enters our country illegally as an "Illegal Alien" -- the con artist instead appeals to your compassion by relabeling the Alien as an "Immigrant."

According to our federal law, 8 U.S. Code § 1325 states the following:

Improper Entry By Alien: Any alien is someone who (1) enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers, or (2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers, or (3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact.

Knowing that's the definition of an "Illegal Alien," why would the Democrat Party, specifically the Biden Administration and its surrogates in the Mainstream Media, try to misrepresent people breaking the law, criminals, not as lawbreakers but instead as "Immigrants" who are simply people who come to live permanently in a country other than the one they are from? 

It's because calling "Illegal Aliens" merely "Illegal Immigrants" is softer and gets rid of the pesky fact that the person is breaking the law and is subsequently a criminal. He tried to do that on the very first day that he was in office on January 20, 2021, when he submitted his The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 to Congress. Among many other things such as Joe Biden promising Illegals money, government benefits, protection, and citizenship, the bill states:

• The bill further recognizes America as a nation of immigrants by changing the word “alien” to “noncitizen” in our immigration laws.

By changing the language from "Alien" to "Noncitizen," a con artist plays on one's tendency to be too ready to believe that something is real or true while also appealing to one's sense of compassion. The con artist knows that no "freedom-loving American" would really be against someone immigrating to the United States and wanting to become an American. After all, most of our Great-Grandparents did the same thing. This is meant to fool Americans into thinking that Illegals coming here are simply a part of the "Immigration Process" when they are not.

The con artist wants to turn the focus on that, and away from the fact that the person we're talking about is not going through the Immigration Process the way our Great-Grandparents did. That's because the con artist wants you to accept the lie. They want you to think that accepting "Illegal Aliens" into the United States as "Illegal Immigrants" is "mutually beneficial." But in reality, as with all scams, con games, swindles, and other such trickery, this only "benefits" the con artist at the expense of their victims.

Selling the scam to Americans gets tough to do when we all see the Invasion taking place on our South Border. And that's when the con game changes tactics!

Instead of making it palatable and easy to swallow while they try to shove it down our throats, they change tact and attempt to lie to appeal to your sense of naïveté of the facts as to why this is happening.

And then we have the lies. First, Biden, his administration, and the Democrat Party who control the Mainstream Media said for over 3 years "The border is secure." Of course, what Americans are seeing for ourselves tells us that that's a lie. When that wasn't working, the con changed and Biden tried to shift the blame to Republicans in Congress by saying that "it is an Immigration Problem and the Republicans aren't doing their job." But frankly, Americans weren't paying that either.

The latest lie in the con game came out recently when Joe Biden said, "I've done all that I can do to stop the crisis." Of course, to help him sell this is the idea that he's just an old man too senile and inept to do anything to fix the problem. But the border problem is the creation of him and the Democrat Party. 

And yes, I believe he and the Democrat Party created this situation for a reason. That reason is that it benefits them to allow all of the 8 Million Illegals into our country. And frankly, it doesn't benefit anyone else but them. It may even result in innocent Americans being killed in the process of the Democrats succeeding with their plan, but that doesn't matter to them. And before you write me to say that that's harsh, let's remember that this is the same political party that sees nothing wrong with killing the unborn or targeting Trump supporters.

Of course, the biggest problem for such con artists is when their victims, those they call "Suckers," aren't accepting their scam or any of their lies. In fact, Americans knowing the truth is the last thing a con artist like Joe Biden wants. Educated Americans who are enlightened about the truth of what's really going on is a threat to them.

What's the truth? Upon entering office, Americans know full well that Joe Biden did the following:

• He stopped construction of the border wall which I think should be called what it is, "A security barrier." 
• He ended President Trump's "Wait in Mexico" policy. 
• Biden ended President Trump's Title 42 pandemic-era policy that allows Border Patrol agents to expel Illegal Aliens immediately. 
• Biden Indefinitely ordered that deportations be stopped. 
• He then narrowed the categories that Illegal Aliens can be deported. 
• He made it a lot more difficult to deport Illegals, no matter if the Border Patrol learns that they are terrorists, murderers, rapists, or known Drug Cartel members. 
• He revised restrictions about giving Public Benefits to Illegals making it into our country. 
• Then to add insult to injury, Biden authorized even more government benefits to be granted to Illegals getting here, criminals or not, it didn't matter.

We know he has done these things and has lied about doing all that he can do. We know this since he has not tried to reinstate Trump's effective policies, policies he stopped on his first day in office. 

But now the question becomes, how would his allowing 8 Million Illegal Aliens into the United States benefit Joe Biden and the Democrat Party? Remember, a con artist is only concerned about what benefits he and his associates can get out of the scam.

In this case, because more Black Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans are flocking to the Republican Party, Joe Biden and his Democrat Party see the 8 Million Illegals that have recently been allowed to enter the United States as an increase to their voter base. And frankly, it might work for them. 

In recent interviews with Illegals, when asked who they would vote for for President in 2024 if they could vote, they unanimously answered "Biden." Many know that the Democrat Party doesn't care that only "United States Citizens have the right to vote." As for the Illegals, they see their loyalty to Biden as a way to repay him -- especially since they see Joe Biden as the man who invited them, encouraged them to come, and allowed them to enter without being turned back. 

So all in all, even though it's never been an Immigration Problem as Joe Biden and his administration have tried to paint it, all the while knowing that it is a Border Problem of their creation. And thus, Biden and the Democrats have succeeded in getting what they wanted -- the benefit of more voters. Which, as we all know, is something of great value to a political party that Americans know very well is Ultra-Left and pandering to the Climate Change Globalists. 

The fact that the Democrat Party is seen as completely out of touch with Americans. The fact that Democrats have created schools that attempt to confuse children, and increase racial division; the fact that Democrats have created chaos and crime in our street to an extent as never seen before, and that their desire to defund the police has only made things a thousand times worse; the fact that their war on Americans Oil and American Jobs has put Americans in a position of not being able to afford gas and food; the fact that the Biden administration's obsession with Climate Change is, in reality, attacking Americans' standard of living; and that the Democrats are literally inciting World War III with Russia and China; it's no wonder Democrats feel Americans won't vote for them.

Instead of changing their Leftist policies and putting a stop to their open hatred for America, Democrats consciously planned the border crisis that we are experiencing today. If you don't think so, please look at the record.

President Trump pushed some very effective measures to secure the border including tougher border and interior enforcement, restricting asylum, rolling back Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), slashing refugee visas, streamlining immigration courts, and creating his "Remain in Mexico" policy. In 2020, the Democrats made it their mission to reverse course and open the border.

For example, here is a 2020 statement from Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, "What the Trump administration has sought to do is to simply turn off immigration and to do it unilaterally by presidential edict, without the approval of Congress or the consent of the American people. That project should be reversed."

Let's remember that in September of 2020 while still campaigning from his basement, NPR reported that Joe Biden announced that he would implement a wide range of border policy changes including "not another mile of border wall, no more separating families, no more prolonged detentions or deportations of peaceable, hardworking migrants."

NPR, which spews Democrat Party talking points, also stated that Biden "would restore the asylum system and support alternatives to immigrant detention, such as case management, that allow an applicant to live and work in the community while their case works its way through the hearing process. Trump has derisively called this 'catch and release.'"

Again, keep in mind, that in 2020, Joe Biden said during his virtual acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, "If I'm elected president, we're going to immediately end Trump's assault on the dignity of immigrant communities. We're going to restore our moral standing in the world and our historic role as a safe haven for refugees and asylum-seekers." That was all rhetoric for the sake of his audience. Yes, exactly as a con artist would do to make "Suckers" think he's on the level.

Here's another piece of evidence to prove that this invasion of over 8 Million Illegal Aliens has been engineered by Democrats to boost the voting base of the Democrat Party? This piece of evidence has to do with what happened just a few days ago when Democrats in the Senate stopped a Republican move to keep the Democrats from making the invasion of Illegals a part of the census for the purposes of Apportionment for House seats and the Electoral College.

On March 9th, 2024, the following was reported:

"In an effort by Senate Republicans to stop non-citizens, including illegal immigrants, from being counted on the census for the purposes of apportionment for House seats and the Electoral College was shot down later Friday after the measure failed to gain the support of a single Democrat."

Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., moved to include an amendment, attached to the $460 billion spending package, that would require the Census Bureau to include a citizenship question in any future census, and then bar anyone who isn't a U.S. citizen from being counted for purposes of Congressional District and Electoral College apportionment.

While the bill would also exclude legal immigrants on temporary visas and green cards from the census, the move has been undertaken explicitly to stop illegal immigrants from being counted amid millions of new arrivals at the Southern Border. It's similar to a Trump-era effort to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census. Trump's effort sparked widespread criticism and condemnation from Democrats and left-wing immigration groups who argued that a citizenship question was unlawful and was designed to help Republicans in future elections."

Sen. Bill Hagerty said, "Democrats in sanctuary cities and elsewhere are accepting of the effects of the migrant surge because they are hoping to gain greater representation in the House of Representatives and Electoral College by redistricting."

Sen. Bill Hagerty went on to say, "Democrats are seeing people leave their state. They're seeing the potential of the next census to lose congressional districts and electoral votes. I think most people in America are shocked to find out that we count the presence of illegal immigrants in determining the allocation of congressional districts and electoral votes.

But if you think about the motives for the crime that's taking place at our southern border, that is it. That's what the Democrats are trying to do. And it’s a sheer power grab. It's cynical as hell, and it's actually the most straightforward explanation of why they would tolerate this carnage and mayhem. It's in order to retain and gain power."

All of the evidence points to the fact that the border crisis we have in 2024 was created and engineered by Biden and the Democrat Party. They did this willingly while knowing that it would have horrendous effects on America. By their own statements of support to open the border, we know that besides pandering to Leftist immigration organizations, the primary reason for doing this is that Biden and the Democrat Party want to increase their voter base with Illegals Aliens. All of the evidence points that way.

Tom Correa

Texas Wildfire Torches Over A Million Acres – Texas Needs Our Help

With over 1 million acres and more than 500 buildings torched, Texas needs our help. On Tuesday, what's been designated as "The Smokehouse Creek Fire" exploded in size after a sudden shift of wind direction. As of yesterday, Thursday, 2/29/2024, this cataclysmic is only 3% contained. That's why I've included some links below to help the folks in Texas.

Rancher Navy - Central Texas Fire Relief - Farm and Ranch Briefing

Rancher Navy - Central Texas Fire Relief - Farm and Ranch Briefing

The Smokehouse Creek Fire has now torched more than 1 million acres in Texas alone, making it the largest fire on record in the state. Of course, the blaze had also reached out and destroyed about 35,000 acres in Oklahoma.

 

One example of how much destruction the fire has had is what's happened to the Turkey Track Ranch. The ranch has a 120-year history and has had about 80% of its nearly 80,000 acres burned. The Turkey Track Ranch, which is also known as "the Prize of the Panhandle," is also the site of the Battles of Adobe Walls of 1864 and 1874. 

"The loss of livestock, crops, and wildlife, … as well as other ranches and homes across the region is, we believe, unparalleled in our history,” the Turkey Track Ranch Family Group said in a statement.

As in many towns and cities, the Amarillo National Bank has started a Panhandle Disaster Relief Fund for wildfire victims with a $1 million donation, according to a release from the financial institution.

The Smokehouse Creek Fire has connected up with several other fires going on in that region to now cover over 2,000 square miles. That makes it the largest wildfire in Texas History.  Of course, besides the more than 10,000 cattle that have been killed and the over 500 buildings that have been destroyed, it's horrible that there have also been two people killed because of this fire.

Friends, from what I can determine, no one knows exactly how this started. The fact is that the cause of the fire is unknown. Since the Smokehouse Creek Fire is one of three fires burning in the Texas Panhandle, all with no end in sight, some folks are wondering if these fires were arson. Some have said that it may have been an act of terrorism or the fault of illegal aliens letting a campfire get out of control. A couple of readers have written to tell me that the fires are an effort to shift the already stretched resources of the State of Texas from its efforts on the Border Crisis to fighting a massive fire. 

While this sort of speculation is going on, some are saying that the Smokehouse Creek Fire may be the fault of someone who maybe threw a lit cigarette out of a car. Maybe she has a point? After all, authorities believe it started one mile north of Stinnett, Texas, near the traffic intersection of County Road 11 and County Road O. But other than that, your guess is as good as anyone's.   

Of course, even though no one knows how it started, that did not stop President Biden from blaming the wildfire on "Climate Change" when he visited Texas on Thursday. Instead of waiting to find out how it started, Biden connected the fire to Climate Change and called the millions of Americans who do not believe in Climate Change or the Global Warming Hoax his "Neanderthal friends." 

I guess anyone who thinks this fire could have started from a lit cigarette being tossed out of a car at a traffic intersection must be a "Climate Change Denier and Neanderthal."  

While Biden was calling people names, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott authorized additional state resources to fight the blazes, including 94 firefighting personnel, 33 fire engines, and six air tankers. Gov. Abbott has also voiced his appreciation to everyone fighting this fire and supporting the efforts as much as they can.

Now it's up to us to do what we can to help[.

Thank you, and God Bless you.

Tom Correa