William H. Ashley & Hugh Glass

A good friend recently asked me to post what I knew about Hugh Glass. Since many out there have heard the story about how Glass was a mountain man who was mauled by a female grizzly bear and was thought near dead but miraculously lived, I thought I'd start out by telling you how his story started.

So now, since this is way too long, grab a cup of coffee and try not to let the kids hear you cussing me out as you read the story of William H. Ashley, Hugh Glass and others of Ashley's Hundred.

First, to tell the story about Hugh Glass, we have to first talk about William Henry Ashley. We have to talk about how Glass and others answered an advertisement that Ashley placed in a St. Louis newspaper looking for 100 men for a two to three year expedition up the Missouri River.

Who was William Henry Ashley you ask? He was born in 1778 in Virginia. He would pass away on March 26th, 1838, in Boonville, Missouri. He was a pioneer in the American fur trade. And though he was from Virginia originally, Ashley was already living in an area that was part the Louisanna Purchase when it took place in 1803.

The area that he lived in became known as Missouri. Ashley was living in St. Louis by 1808 and there he became a Brigadier General in the Missouri Militia during the War of 1812. Prior to the British invasion, Ashley was a real estate speculator and manufactured gunpowder. He was elected as Missouri's first Lieutenant Governor in 1820 when Missouri was admitted to the Union. He served as that state's Lieutenant Governor until 1824.

In 1822, just two years after becoming Lieutenant Governor, he became business partners with Andrew Henry who was a Major in the Missouri Militia during the War of 1812. Henry was a bullet maker by trade and their gunpowder and bullet business was a huge success. Always looking for new opportunities, Ashley and Henry soon formed the Rocky Mountain Fur Company to get in on the fur trade.

Now as for the ad that Ashley placed in a St. Louis newspaper in 1822. Well, on February 13th, 1822, Ashley ran his advertisement in the St. Louis Missouri Republican seeking one hundred men. As it states, "To Enterprising young men . . . to ascend the river Missouri to its source, there to be employed for one, two, or three years." Those men would became known as "Ashley's Hundred."

The ad was meant to recruit men for the first of several fur trapping expeditions to the Rocky Mountains. All financed and organized by William Henry Ashley and Andrew Henry. Of course his ad was helped along on September 17th, 1822, when the St. Louis Intelligencer newspaper ran a story detailing how young men were working in the fur trade "increased their capital and extended their enterprises." The article also reported that "a thousand men" were at the time trapping the upper reaches of the Missouri while another five hundred trappers were working on the Mississippi.

To say that the advertisement worked is pretty much an understatement. Because the fur trade was booming, and a large number of young men wanted to cash in on the goings on, it's said Ashley was inundated with young men all seeking such adventure. Among those of Ashley's Hundred who would later become famous in American History was Jim Bridger, Jedediah Smith, Jim Beckwourth, Mike Fink, David Jackson, John Fitzgerald, Tom Fitzpatrick, William Sublette, and of course Hugh Glass. As for Glass, he didn't actually join Ashley's expedition until the second year. So no, he wasn't part of the original 100. And frankly, since he was supposedly born in 1783, that means he was already 40 years old at the time. That's important since Ashley is said to have hired only young men when he started Ashley's Hundred.

What did Ashley's Hundred accomplish? 

Ashley's expeditions started out in trouble. For example, though three expeditions were ordered, with the last being led by Ashley himself, those expeditions were a failure financially. One was a huge loss. That was during the expedition led by a Daniel Moore who lost one of his keelboats when it capsized. When that happened, Moore lost all of its expedition's cargo. The cost of that loss was said to be about a $10,000 loss. 

As for as encounters with Indians, it's said Blackfeet Indian attacks resulted in the death of four men during that first outing. During the next year, Arikara Indians attacked the group and Ashley lost twenty-four men in that attack. The survivors are said to have retreated down river and actually hid in shelters where they stayed for more than a month. 

While some would have seen the loss of a quarter of your expedition as a sign to stop, Ashley didn't. Instead, he used his power as Lieutenant Governor to call Colonel Henry Leavenworth who commanded the 6th Infantry to handle the situation with a force of 230 soldiers. Soon after that his partner Andrew Henry’s men came downriver. He was accompanied by Joshua Pilcher’s men from the Missouri River Fur Company. They were allied with 750 Sioux Indians. Henry's 50 men and Ashley's remaining 20 trappers, Pilcher's men, and the 750 Sioux, along with the 230 soldiers of the 6th Infantry were all under the command of Lt Col. Leavenworth at Fort Atkinson in what is today Nebraska.

 All were gathered to take on the Arikara Indians. Then on August 9th, 1823, their combined force of more than 1,000 men attacked Arikara villages along the Missouri River in what is today South Dakota. The incident would later become known as the Arikara War. After just a few days of fighting, the Arikara Indians were allowed to leave their villages.

While their defeat diminished their threat, the attacks had a serious impacted how Ashley and his partner Henry conducted things. For example, feeling that the risks from Indians in Montana was way too great, they instead focused on the Bear, Green, Snake, and Wind Rivers. Then in a move that changed everything, they allowed the men under their employ to roam the country as they saw fit.

Ever wonder who started the first "Rendezvous" for trappers and such? Well, it was William Henry Ashley who came up with the whole rendezvous system where mountain men, trappers, Indians, and traders would all meet annually. The time and place was all predetermined to sell and exchange furs, buy goods, make money, and replenish supplies. It's said that his innovations, which included rendezvouses, made him a great deal of money and garnered him a great deal of recognition and respect in the fur trade.

From what I can tell, Ashley himself led only 4 expeditions. And though that's true, his rendezvous system is said to have "ushered in the golden age of Rocky Mountain fur trading." His rendezvous strategy was an arrangement where mountain men received a fixed sum for their furs, which of course those same trappers spent on supplies, powder, bullets, and liquor which Ashley furnished.

Ashley and his men would help open the West to American expansion. For example, between 1822 and 1825, they actually accomplished a number of large scale fur trapping expeditions. In fact, Ashley's men are officially credited with the discovery of South Pass in the winter of 1824. That same year, Ashley lost reelection as Missouri's Lieutenant Governor. Not having to deal with anything else, Ashley had more time to focus on the fur trade. His partner Andrew Henry decided to leave the expeditions and soon afterwards sold out his half of the company to Ashley.

During the spring of 1826, Ashley himself led an expedition into the Salt Lake Valley. Then he headed south of the Great Salt Lake, and he's actually credited with discovering Utah Lake which he originally named Lake Ashley.

It was there that he established Fort Ashley in order to trade with the Indians there. And over the next three years, Fort Ashely is said to have collected over $180,000 worth of furs. Friends, $180,000 back 189 years ago in the year 1829 is equivalent in purchasing power to $4,652,153.33 in 2018.

He made so much money from this arrangement that he was able to completely retired by 1826. So in 1826, Ashley sold the Rocky Mountain Fur Company to Jedediah Smith. The sale of his company didn't stop his men from exploring what is today northern Colorado. In fact, it's said they went from the South Platte River to the base of the Front Range, and then ascended the Cache la Poudre River into the Laramie Plains and advanced to the Green River. That was in 1828.

As for Ashley? He got back into politics and was elected to the House of Representatives in 1831 after Spencer Pettis was killed in a duel that same year. He was reelected in 1832 and 1834. But by 1836, Ashley didn't want to run for a fourth term in Congress and instead ran for Governor of Missouri.

He lost that election and returned to private business where he made a great deal of money when he returned to dealing in real estate. Sadly, Ashley’s heath had started to decline after he left Congress. He became ill and bedridden. He died of pneumonia on March 26th, 1838. While some sources say he was 54 when he died, others say he was 60 years old at the time of his passing.

William H. Ashley is buried atop an American Indian burial mound in Cooper County, Missouri. It's said that he overlooks the Missouri River.

So now, you're saying what about Hugh Glass? 

Well, he is believed to have been born around 1783 in Pennsylvania to Scots-Irish parents. But frankly, that's anyone's guess if that's true or not because his early life is more myth and mystery. For example, Glass was supposedly born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and his parents were supposedly from what is today Northern Ireland. But, I can't find anything to confirm that.

There is a great tale about how he had been captured by pirates off the coast of Texas in 1816. Supposedly, after being captured, he was forced to become a pirate for a few years but then escaped by jumping ship and landing in what is now Galveston, Texas. Of course, after that he was captured by the Pawnee who made him a member or their tribe. Then, after living as a Pawnee for a number years, he waved goodbye and left for St. Louis, Missouri in 1821. Another story says that since he was the only English speaking captive, he taught the Pawnee Chiefs to speak English so that they could negotiate a peace treaty and end a war with the Americans. But really, that doesn't make sense since the Pawnee were never at war with the United States and in fact had a treaty with the United States in 1818 while the Pawnee were still living in Nebraska. 

He was among the men who were Ashley's expedition of 1823. We know that when he is mentioned in Ashley and Henry's private papers, they usually make him out as an employee that lacked discipline and was hard to handle. Though that may have been the case, Glass did in fact take part in the Arikara War and was said to have been among the fortunate ones who survived that engagement even after being shot in the leg. 

While the Arikara War was the first conflict with Indians in the West, and is considered a victory for the United States, the war with the Arikara Indians did inflict a great number of casualties on Ashley's men, the 6th Infantry, and the Sioux who were allied at the time.

Of course, Hugh Glass is best known for his story of survival after being left for dead during that expedition in 1823. And please understand that there are no known direct eyewitness accounts of the bear attack or what happened afterwards.

We do know that the story was first published in The Port Folio in 1825 in Philadelphia.  The story's author was James Hall who was brother of the editor of The Port Folio. The story was supposedly picked up by newspapers and from there became well known. The writer, James Hall, is an interesting character in that he was a judge and lawyer who worked very hard as a writer. In fact, he is considered a "literary pioneer of the Midwestern United States" while also practicing law as a lawyer. He is known to have worked as an editor with the Illinois Gazette. And later while still practicing law, and later a judge and politician, he was an editor with the Illinois Intelligencer. He also later became editor of the Western Souvenir, the Illinois Monthly Magazine, and the Western Monthly Magazine. So yes, he was quite the storyteller. Some say quite the fiction writer.

As for Hugh Glass himself was unlike Jim Bridger who couldn't read or write. Glass is said to have been very literate. But while that's true, no one can find where Glass himself wrote anything down that would corroborate James Hall's story of what has become a legend.

So what does that mean to us? For me, it tells me that we can only got with the few facts that we know and the legend which I'm sure has been embellished over the years. And since there's no real way of knowing how embellished it has become over the years, who knows the truth of what took place after he was attacked by a female grizzly?

We know that Glass didn't join Ashley's Hundred until the second year. He was part of those who retreated downstream as a result of their fight with the Arikara Indians. He and the rest of the Ashley's men eventually returned to Fort Kiowa. Andrew Henry had joined the group there soon after that. Then with Henry in the lead, they all set out overland to the Yellowstone River to join up with

Glass was only with Ashley's Hundred for five months when he was attacked. He was actually part of a hunting party our looking for game for the expedition. They were near what is today Shadehill, South Dakota. It was there that Glass was surprised by a mother grizzly bear. For me, I think he was attacked because she saw him as a predator since she had her two cubs to protect.

Many years ago, I became fascinated by bear attacks after meeting an old man who said that he survived such an attack by a mother black bear. He described a bear attack as horrendous. He said the ordeal was ferocious, absolutely savage, the most violent thing he'd ever experienced.

My fascination with such things stems from the fact that such encounters exemplify the human spirit fighting with all one has to stay alive and not just roll over a die. Over the years, I've had two encounters with bears. One was very close with a very angry black bear who screamed into my face that was just a couple feet away from his. While that's a story for another day, from my own first hand experience with bears, I've found that a bear's first reaction when meeting up with people or hearing shots fired is to run away as far as fast as possible. In my case, a few shots fired turned that big cinnamon bear around and set him running. Lucky for me.

While a bear's first reaction is to turn and run, that's not the case when they're surprised or when protecting their young. From what I can tell, almost all bear attacks result from somebody surprising the bear. Hunters, even today, are the most at risk because hunters aren't making very much noise because they won't scare the game away. This means that while hunters try to be silent to get the game they're after, a bear will feel threatened and immediately go in attack mode instinctively if the hunter suddenly appears out of nowhere and is seen as a threat. This instinctive reaction to attack is heightened when it's a mother bear thinking she has to protect her young.

Female bears are very defensive of their young. Fact is she bears do not need the participation of a male bear to take care of her young. Male bears don't matter as a female bear spends her life devoted to raising their cubs. Yes, the term "mama bear" is a reference to the extremely instinctive reactive and protective nature of women who take care of their children in the same way.

So while bears will usually run away if alone, a mother bear protecting her cubs is mostly likely to attack any sudden threat. In fact, research agrees with that saying that the vast majority of bear attacks take place when a mother bear senses danger is approaching her cubs.

As for a bear attack, aside from deep lacerations, fractures, broken bones, dislocation, and other traumatic wounds, the fact that bears eat carrion for protein means that a bear's mouth full of infectious bacteria. Modern day recovery from bear attacks are said to depend on the extent of the injuries and in most cases involves long-term medical treatment. That's today world of modern medicines.

In the case of Hugh Glass, the last thing that he wanted to do that day was meet up with a mother grizzly. She charged him and is said to have literally picked him up when she bit into his head. Her three-inch claws opened huge lacerations in Glass. And when she was done with him, it's said she literally threw him to the ground at one point.

The rest of the hunting party is said to have heard his screams and the bear in rage. Soon they arrived and found Glass with a knife in his hand fighting for his life. I read where those mountain men fired a number of shots into the angry she bear before finally killing her.

Glass was said to be slashed open from her claws, punctured in the head and neck by her teeth, one of his legs were broken, and he was basically cut up from head to toe. She had made a mess of him. And to aggravate matters, while the others were trying to tend to his wounds the best they could, soon infection and fever set in. He loss consciousness and fell into what we know today was a coma.

Remember, that was 1823 in the wilderness of what would become South Dakota. There were no doctors, no medical emergency services, no calling in help, nothing that we have today. These were mountain men with basic medical skills when it came to tending to wounds. They did everything they could for him even though they were convinced Glass would not survive from what he went through.

While Hollywood has depicted this taking place in the freezing cold of winter, with Glass having to kill an elk and then crawl into it's carcass for warmth, it actually took place in the middle of summer. And while movies show his party simply leaving him to die, in truth they carried Glass on a litter for two days hoping he'd waken from his coma.

I can understand how Andrew Henry saw their efforts to save Glass as definitely slowing down the rate that their travel, especially since they were needed to link up with another party led by Jedediah Smith in the Blackfoot territory. They were support for others in a hostile land.

It's said at one point Henry asked for two volunteers to stay with Glass to give him a Christian burial when he dies. John S. Fitzgerald and a young Jim Bridger stepped forward to stay behind and make sure he was buried. They were so sure Glass was going to die, that Fitzgerald and Bridger immediately started digging a grave while the rest of the party started to moved out.

So now, we have a group of mountain men who fought the Arikara Indians, loss a number of their own men there, and now have one of their own mauled by a she bear. He looked like he was dead but he was still breathing. He was unconscious and had a fever as infections set in. The leader of the group believed he would not live very long so he asked for volunteers. Two of the men stepped forward to volunteer to stay with their dying companion. Their job was to wait for him to die. Yes, just so they could give him a Christian burial.

It is believed that after two days of watching over him, Fitzgerald started to worry about their odds of catching up with their party. It's speculated that he actually convinced the younger Bridger to bury Glass and head out to reconnect up with their party for safety reasons.

There's another story about how when Fitzgerald and Bridger caught up with Henry's main party, that Fitzgerald reported how the two came under attack as they were burying Glass who had died. Supposedly Fitzgerald claimed that he and Bridger came under attack by Arikara Indians, so they slipped Glass into the shallow grave before grabbing up Glass's rifle and other gear and retreating from the area. Frankly, who knows what took place? I don't think anyone really does.

I don't think neither of them expected for Glass to regain consciousness and live. But he did, even though his injuries were immense. Of course when he did wake from his coma, he found himself in a shallow grave left for dead. And worse, he found himself without his rifle, powder, or any of his gear. No, not even a knife.

As for his infected wounds, his broken leg, the deep cuts and punctures? Legend says that he prevented gangrene by allowing maggots to eat the dead flesh in his wounds. As for his leg, since his comrades applied a splint to his broken leg when they initially treated him after the attack, he kept the splint in place during his whole ordeal.

Then even though gravely injured, he somehow summoned the will to drag himself until he found water. After taking in water, legend says that he crawled for six weeks surviving mostly on wild berries and roots while trying to make it back to Fort Kiowa. And while there is the great story about how Glass supposedly killed and ate a rattlesnake during his journey, or that he was woken from sleep by a grizzly bear licking the maggots off his wounds, those sound like tale tales at best.

Glass is said to have crawled to the Cheyenne River where he put together a raft and then floated downstream to Fort Kiowa. The entire journey is said to have taken him six weeks. And depending on the source, some say that he may have crawled over 200 miles to Fort Kiowa on the Missouri River without using the river to get him there.

While a number of people, especially those in Hollywood, have repeated the story that what kept Hugh Glass alive was his anger and desire for revenge and retaliation on Fitzgerald and Bridger. Bu how could that be true? Since he was already in a coma when Fitzgerald and Bridger volunteers to stay behind and give him a Christian burial, how did he know it was them who left him?

What that means is there was no way of him knowing who put him in that grave and left, or when or why they left, or anything? There was no way for him to know about anything that took place until he was back in Fort Kiowa. He would only be able to know who to be angry with when he found the rest of party. It would only be then that he would find out what happened after that she bear came close to killing him and he became unconscious.

So really, when we consider the fact that he was unconscious and had absolutely no knowledge of what took place that resulted in him being placed in a shallow grave, how can anyone surmise that he wanted revenge against anyone since there was no way for him to know how or why he was left there, by who, or for what reason?

Frankly my friends, that's why I don't think it was rage or revenge that kept him alive. I think his sense of survival came out of his overwhelming desire to live and not die. Sorry if it doesn't sound dramatic enough, but I really believe he made his journey back because his desire to live pushed him onward.

As for wreaking violent revenge on those who left him, besides his not knowing who that were, how would Fitzgerald and Bridger have known that Glass would've simply awoke? Or survive another day or another month? How long were those two supposed to wait in the middle of the wilderness for a comrade to die while infection and gangrene ate away at him? And that's another thing, no where in the story of what took place do we know how long it was before Glass regained consciousness? Was it an hour after Fitzgerald and Bridger left? Was it a day? Two days? Was it almost a week later? Was it more than a week before he awoke for his coma and crawled to water?

I've read 5 days in one source and 7 days in another source, but I can't find anywhere that confirmed either number. After two days of waiting for Glass to die, Fitzgerald and Bridger trailed after Henry's main party in an effort to catch up with them. I can't find anywhere that explains why Glass didn't trail after Fitzgerald and Bridger, or if he did and when did he start out? Since Ashley's Hundred was always on foot and din't have horses, one would think they were easy enough to follow.

As for "showing mercy to Fitzgerald and Bridger"? Legend says Hugh Glass found Jim Bridger and forgave him because of his youth. There's the story that he found Fitzgerald had joined the U.S. Army and later found him. Glass supposedly got his rifle back but warned Fitzgerald that he'd one day kill him.

Glass is said to have "re-enlisted" with Ashley's Hundred. Later he was employed as a hunter for the U.S. Army at Fort Union in North Dakota. It was during that time that Glass and two others were killed in early 1833 on the Yellowstone River in an attack by the Arikara. Glass was either 49 or 50 years old when he died. That was pretty old for those days.

It might be interesting to note that the famous mountain man Jedediah Smith was also attacked by a grizzly in 1823. Yes, the man who is considered the first American to enter what is today California was actually attacked by a grizzly that was supposedly stalking his party around the same time that Hugh Glass was attacked.

Along the Cheyenne River, near what is Buffalo Gap and Beaver Creek in South Dakota, a grizzly surprised Smith and attacked him violently. The bear is said to have thrown Smith to the ground, cracking his ribs while ripping off Smith's  scalp. The bear actually had Jed Smith's head in his mouth and supposedly chewed off Smith's right ear. But believe it or not, Smith survived. 

Smith's scalp was hanging on to his head only by an ear. In the case of his being attacked, Jed Smith recorded what happened in his journal. He states how when his men found him in such a bloody and horrible way that they were horrified. He states how he calmed them down and instructed Jim Clyman to sew his hanging flesh back on. And yes, fellow mountain man Jim Clyman actually stitched his scalp back to his head while Smith is said to have repeated the 23rd Psalm over and over and over again.

Doing the best that he could, at one point Clyman stopped and said that there was nothing that he could do for Smith's severed ear. Smith wrote in his journal how he insisted that Clyman try. Jim Clyman wrote in his journal, "I put my needle sticking it through and through and over and over laying the lacerated parts together as nice as I could with my hands.” Imagine that.

Besides being part of Ashley's Hundred, fighting in the Arikara War, being mountain men, and both surviving beating attacked by grizzly bears, Hugh Glass and Jedediah Smith had something else in common. I'm sure it wasn't something either of them wanted to have in common.

In 1831, two years before Glass was killed by Arikara Indians, Jedediah Smith was himself killed by Comanche Indians. It's said that Smith wanted to retire from exploring the West. He was on his last trip along the Old Santa Fe Trail when he was killed. He was 32 years old, and is truly one of America's great explorers. 

Today there's a marker on the spot where he was killed by Comanche Indians. It's where he reached the river after days without water. And just as what would happen to Hugh Glass two years later, Jedediah Smith's body was never found after being murdered. Only parts of it. 

Tom Correa

America's Southern Border Problem

Dear Friends,

On April 27th, 2002, Ronald da Silva was standing in his driveway in the Southern California town of El Monte when he was shot and killed. His killer was Luis Gonzales who was an illegal alien from Mexico. Gonzales had been previously deported.who had been previously deported but found his way back.

And before we go on, let's get something straight, there is no such thing as an "illegal immigrant." The law is very clear on that as it states that those here in our country unlawfully without the status of a citizen are in fact "illegal aliens."

The illegal alien that killed Ronald da Silva was sentenced to 21 years in prison but will be released in 2020. The victim's mother Agnes Gibboney has stated publicly, "The guy that killed my son has a determinate sentence in prison, but I have a lifetime sentence of grief and pain."

on March 30, 2007 Tessa Tranchant, 16, was killed in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Tessa and her friend, Ali Kunhardt, were sitting at a stoplight when Alfredo Ramos, an illegal alien from Mexico who was intoxicated and speeding, rear-ended their car. Ramos had a history of prior convictions, but due to Virginia Beach’s sanctuary policies, he was never detained. He was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 40 years in prison.

On January 31, 2016, Sarah Root, 21, from Omaha, Nebraska was killed. Her SUV was rear-ended by Eswin Mejia, an illegal alien from Honduras, who was street racing. Sarah had just graduated from Bellevue University with a 4.0 GPA the day before she passed away.

Omaha is in Douglas County, Nebraska which has sanctuary policies that impede local law enforcement’s ability to cooperate with ICE officers. Mejia was charged with motor vehicular homicide but posted bond to get out of jail and was released. He is still on the run.

On January 22, 2015, Apolinar Altamirano, an illegal alien from Mexico, murdered Grant Ronnebeck in Mesa, Arizona. Ronnebeck was shot over a pack of cigarettes while he was working his shift at a convenience store. Altamirano was out on bond from a previous conviction while ICE determined whether he should be deported when he killed Ronnebeck.

"My son's death was completely preventable. Obama's immigration policies cost my son his life," said Steve Ronnebeck, Grant's father

As most know, a young woman by the name of Kate Steinle was murdered by an illegal alien. On July 1st, 2015, Kate Steinle, who was 32 years-old at the time, was walking with her father and a friend along Pier 14 in San Francisco, when she was shot and killed by illegal alien Jose Inez Garcia Zarate. He first said that he was shooting at a sea lion.

Later, after talking to a lawyer, he said that he fired the handgun accidentally. Then in court, it was said that the gun magically went off by itself as if it had a mind of it's own. And believe it or not, the people of San Francisco believed that line of bull and didn't even take into consideration that he was already a criminal as he was in the United States illegally. 

On November 30th, 2017, after five days of deliberations, a San Francisco jury acquitted Zarate of all murder charges. They didn't even convict him of manslaughter charges which is usually the case in an "accidental" homicide. Instead, the jury convicted him of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Yes, that's it.

The trial of the illegal alien who killed Kate Steinle was a farce. Instead of trying the individual on the facts of the case, the City of San Francisco was interested in supporting its policies as a so-called "Sanctuary City" and subsequently waving murder charges against the Illegal. All in all, the trial became a side show pitting the ultra-Left City of San Francisco against the federal government's right to deport Illegal Aliens, criminal or otherwise.

President Obama refused to secure the border. Many believed that something huge had to take place before Obama got off his backside, turned off ESPN which he said he watched until Noon each day, and actually did something about the border.

How huge? No one will ever since that inept individual is now thankfully out of office. The murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Wilson wasn't enough. The murder of hundreds, by some account thousands of Americans, each year wasn't enough to get him off his ass and do something to help America.

How huge did it have to be to get Democrats to help Americans stay secure in our own nation? Imagine this for a moment, in 2009 there were 3,484 total inmates incarcerated in Arizona state prisons for homicide and related offenses of first degree murder, second degree murder, murder, manslaughter, and negligent homicide. That's just Arizona in the year that Obama took office. we know it's gone up while Obama was in office. 

We know that between 25 and 30 American citizens are killed everyday by Illegal Aliens. But besides the criminal element that comes across the border to attack our citizens, a few years ago it was estimated that there have been more than 500 armed Mexican military and law enforcement personnel crossings into the U.S. border without permission of the federal government over the past 10 years. In Obama's last 4 years in office, we know of 300 of such acts.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske reported that roughly 525 armed Mexican soldiers and police jumped the border since 2004, in 152 separate incidents. "Foreign military incursions are infrequent but can involve officer safety and other concerns," he wrote.

According to CBP, some of the Mexican personnel who improperly crossed the border were detained, though it's unclear for how long. The agency reported that 131 subjects were detained. And while CBP suggests the Mexican military and law enforcement who cross over typically are pursuing suspects or otherwise trying to enforce their own laws, no one knows if that's just an excuse to poke the bear up north.

When encounters with unarmed Mexican personnel are included, the number of total crossings is considerably larger. According to the agency, a total of 300 border incursions were documented since 2004.

"There is a clear lack of consistency among DHS in handling these incidents, especially in cases of unauthorized incursions with armed authorities," Hunter said.

The details from the CBP follow congressional concerns voiced earlier in the year by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. In a January of 2014 letter, Coburn revealed an incident where individuals in Mexican military uniforms apparently drew their guns on a U.S. border agent after crossing the border into Arizona. This was all reported in June of 2014. The CBP acknowledge the incident saying that two soldiers from the Mexican military walked across the U.S. border near Sasabe, Arizona. There they ran into U.S. Border Patrol agents about 50 yards north of the border.

It's true, two armed Mexican soldiers crossed into the Arizona and drew their guns during a concerning stand off with Border Patrol agents back in January of 2014, the Mexican government and U.S. officials have confirmed. The confrontation ended only after the Mexican soldiers retreated back to Mexico when Border Patrol drew their weapons and called for backup. They misidentifying themselves to Border Patrol, then a 35 minute armed confrontation took place. Thankfully no shots were fired. According to the report at the time, U.S. Border officials characterized the standoff as one of the most serious border incursions in years.

There is a point to be made here, these incursions involving Mexican military and police personnel involves confrontations with American law enforcement. But how about when the incursions are no met with armed American law enforcement officers? How about when it's just an American citizen who can't call for back-up?

As citizens of the United States, we are all taught that this is supposed to be sovereign soil. But for years it's a no man's land along the border where ranchers and farmers are having to protect themselves and their families and not expect help from law enforcement.

One report had a farmer saying that he was advised by a Federal law enforcement agent to buy a bulletproof vest to use while working in his fields. He was told by Federal authorities that they cannot protect him or his family. He was told that whenever he goes out to survey his agricultural operations, he should always tell someone where he's going so that they can retrieve his body later in case he doesn't return.

The part that's so aggravating about this is that all Americans know real well that one of the basic duties of the Federal government is to protect the people of this nation. Yes, to secure the border. Yet the Federal government under President Obama refused to do that.

While the Obama administration and the Department of Homeland Security had said the U.S.-Mexican border was safer than ever and that reports of violence on the American side are wildly exaggerated, no one believed them because of all of the lies and dishonesty that was coming out of the Obama White House as well as his Federal agencies.

Yes, the IRS, Homeland Security, the EPA, the Department of Justice scandals had an effect on the credibility of the United States government. Today most Americans see them as corrupt, dishonest, untrustworthy, and criminal in their actions.

And to make it worse, under Obama the Federal Government told Americans to move if they felt threatened because that administration was not going to help them.

A report from 2011 by the Texas commissioner of agriculture said cross-border violence was escalating. "Fear and anxiety levels among Texas farmers and ranchers have grown enormously during the past two years," the report said, adding that some "have even abandoned their livelihoods to move their families to safer ground."

Retired U.S. Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who served as the U.S. drug czar during the Clinton administration was a co-author of the report. During an interview, McCaffrey said that while major cities along the Texas border are "pretty safe," the rural areas between towns are "largely unprotected, and across those areas the Mexican cartels are conducting massive movements of illegal drugs and other criminal activity."

That was in 2011, then in the last years of the Obama administration law enforcement was seeing more aggressive efforts such as using military weaponry by Mexican traffickers on this side of the border.

It's effect on Americans on this side of the border are the same as Mexicans on the other side of the border. People are scared and feel completely at the mercy of the criminal element. The cartels and the violence they bring has intimidated U.S. citizen who don't believe they're safe on their own land, in their own homes, or running a business, in their own country.

In 2011, it was reported that Veterinarian and rancher Mike Vickers headeds the Texas Border Volunteers, a group of about 300 landowners and supporters who worked closely with law enforcement officials to track drug and immigrant smugglers entering the U.S. from Mexico and crossing private land. His primary concern, he said, was the safety of farmers and ranchers who have been confronted by armed traffickers.

"A lot of them have been threatened not to call the Border Patrol or law enforcement if they see smuggling going on their property, otherwise they'll be killed or their family members may be killed," he said at the time.

That was in 2011, and according to information from the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office, automatic rifles, grenades, and .50-caliber weapons were used by battling Mexican drug factions early one morning in January 2014 in the Mexican border town of Agua Prieta, just south of Douglas, Arizona.

Reports indicate that between 8 and 13 individuals were killed during the battle which was proof that violence in the United States from Mexico continues to creep northward. But perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the battle in Agua Prieta, Arizona, is the unwillingness of local law enforcement to become involved at all.

It was reported that during the gun battle, both law enforcement and medical first responders refused to go into the area. Their reasoning was that law enforcement might have been outnumbered and that the violence was too intense even for trained law enforcement professionals.

As one report put it at the time, "this is not a police problem, it is an invasion. The solution is something millions of Americans support, but is something that Obama and the Federal government refused to do which was to secure the border with whatever it takes.

American ranchers and farmers, homeowners and business along the border all complain about living in fear of Mexican traffickers smuggling drugs and Illegal aliens. From ranchers and farmers who worry about Illegals crossing their land, to homeowners and businesses who see a rise in crime from Mexicans coming across the border illegally, Americans down there are in fear of losing their lives and are due protection.

Their safety and that of their families didn't seem to matter to Obama who occupied the White House from 2009 to 2017, or as a matter of fact to Bush who should have secured the border after 9-11 when he secured the airports and shipping ports. Well, that's not the case today with President Trump. He definitely sees a problem with American citizens getting robbed, beaten, raped, and killed.

President Trump signed a proclamation to send the National Guard to the southern border immediately in response to what the administration described as an "unacceptable" flow of drugs, criminal activity and illegal immigrants.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said at a Trump White House press briefing that the signing would be done in conjunction with governors and that the administration hoped the deployment would begin "immediately."

"Despite a number of steps this administration has taken...we continue to see unacceptable levels of illegal drugs, dangerous gang activity transnational criminal organizations and illegal immigration flow across our border. The president has directed that the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security work together with our governors to deploy our National Guard to our southwest border to assist the border patrol," she said.

President Trump stated, "Our Border Laws are very weak while those of Mexico & Canada are very strong. Congress must change these Obama era, and other, laws NOW! The Democrats stand in our way - they want people to pour into our country unchecked....CRIME! We will be taking strong action today."

Homeland Security Secretary Nielsen pointed to what she described as increasing fraud and exploited loopholes among arrivals on the southern border, saying traffickers have been advertising that if migrants have children with them, then they are more likely to be released into the U.S. She also said that almost 50 percent of arriving aliens are from Central America.

"Traffickers and smugglers know that these individuals cannot under U.S. law be easily removed in an expeditious way back to their country of origin and so they exploit the loophole," she said, adding that the ability to game the system acts as a magnet for more migrants.

She said that the administration has drafted legislation and will ask Congress to provide legal authority and resources to address the problem, saying, "We will not allow illegal immigration levels to become the norm. More than 1,000 people a day, 300,000 a year violating our sovereignty as a nation will never be acceptable to this president."

Arguing that the U.S. border laws “are very weak” compared to Mexico and Canada, President Trump accused Democrats of wanting immigrants “to pour into our country unchecked.”

Since they have no problem with the deaths of Americans, the growth of Mexican Cartels in our country, with their violating our laws, I agree with President Trump. I believe Democrat politicians simply don't care! And frankly, I really believe that those politicians don't represent all Democrats because many write me to tell me that they themselves want out border secured, and they don't agree with those in their party who are for Open Borders.

We have a problem on our Southern Border. Whether Democrats care or not should not stop us from protecting Americans.

Tom Correa

Cathay Williams -- A Buffalo Soldier's Secret

William Cathay enlisted in the United States Army on November 15th, 1866, in St. Louis, Missouri. Cathay signed up for a three-year engagement and was assigned to the 38th United States Infantry Regiment after passing a medical examination.

Shortly after enlisting, Cathay contracted smallpox and was hospitalized. When rejoining the 38th Infantry stationed in New Mexico, Cathay was having problems due to the lingering effects of smallpox complicated by the New Mexico heat.

Of course, as anyone in the infantry can attest to, marching in the heat takes a toll on a person. Coupled with the effects of smallpox, Cathay was hospitalized more often than not. 

It was during one of the stays at the post hospital that doctors finally discovered that William Cathay was actually a woman. Soon the 38th Infantry Regiment Commander was notified of the situation and she was almost arrested if it weren't for her being ill. Once well enough to leave, her commanding officer Capt. Charles E. Clarke officially discharged her from the U.S. Army on October 14th, 1868.

It is believed that two others knew about the deception. One was her cousin and the other a friend. Both of them were also serving as soldiers in the 38th Infantry Regiment.

So who was William Cathay? Well, first of all, while some say she also went by John Williams, the name William Cathay was the name she falsely used to enlist in the Army. Her real name Cathay Williams and she was born a slave in September of 1844 in Independence, Missouri.

During her teen years, she worked as a house slave on a plantation near Jefferson City, Missouri. Then in 1861, after Union troops began their occupation of Jefferson City, she was considered Union contraband. Fact is, during the Civil War, captured slaves were officially designated by the Union as "contraband." 

Many of those "freed slaves" were forced into support roles as cooks, livestock tenders, working doing laundry and other cleaning, to serve the Union Army in ways that would free up troops for battle. The more labor the Union got out of the freed slaves the less the Army needed support personnel. 

It's said that at 17 years of age, Williams was pressed into service in a support role with Col. William Plummer Benton's 8th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment. During that time, Cathay Williams was part of the 8th Indiana. She traveled with that unit, including moving with them on their marches through Arkansas, Louisiana, and Georgia. 

Fact is, she was there at the Battle of Pea Ridge and there during the Red River Campaign. Then she was transferred to Little Rock, Arkansas. After that, she was served in a support role with General Philip Sheridan's command in Washington, D.C.. After the Civil War, she was working at Jefferson Barracks for a time before coming up with the idea to enlist as a man.

At the time, women were forbidden from serving in the military. So when Cathay Williams enlisted in the United States Regular Army under the false name of William Cathay, that was a first for the history books.

After she was discovered and was discharged, life went from bad to worse for her. Right after leaving the Army, she became a cook at Fort Union in New Mexico. She then moved to Pueblo, Colorado, where she met someone and was married. Sadly, the marriage is said to have ended when her husband decided to steal all of her money and their horses. While the marriage was ended, it said she sort of got even by having him arrested. 

In Trinidad, Colorado, she made a living as a seamstress and it's believed that she owned a boarding house for a while. It was about then that the story of her enlisting in the Army as a man and serving as such first surfaced. 

It's believed that a young St. Louis reporter heard stories going around about a woman former-slave who had actually enlisted and served in the United States Regular Army. He located Cathay Williams and she was more than happy to tell him what took place. After the interview, her life story regarding her military service was published in The St. Louis Daily Times. That was January 2nd, 1876.

By the late 1889's, it's said that she entered a local hospital where she stayed for a long time. Some say it was the horrible effects of smallpox. To help pay for her medical needs, she applied for a disability pension based on her military service. That was in June of 1891. A little of two years later on September of 1893, she was examined by a doctor with the U.S. Pension Bureau.

These days when a veteran applies for disability benefits, it's an uphill battle. They say almost everyone submitting for a rating gets denied at first despite the evidence submitted. Well, this is all nothing new. 

Despite the fact that there were records of Cathay Williams contracting smallpox and being in the hospital frequently, and despite the fact that she suffered from neuralgia and diabetes, and that she had to have all her toes amputated, and that she couldn't walk without the use of a crutch, the examining doctor said that she did not qualify for disability payments. The examining doctor said that the nature of her illness and disability were unknown. So yes, her application was denied.

It is believed that Cathay Williams died shortly after being denied a pension in 1893. Sadly, the exact date of her death is unknown as is her grave marker. Some say she was probably buried in some Potter's Field where her maker would have been made of wood. So of course, most like her marker deteriorated long ago. And because of that, Cathay Williams' final resting place is unknown.

While she was the first Black American woman to enlist in the U.S. Army, and the only documented woman to ever serve in the Army posing as a man, here's what needs to be remembered about Cathay Williams: She lied to become an American soldier. She served from 1866 to 1868. She was an Infantry Private in the 38th Infantry Regiment. She was the only known active duty woman to serve as a Buffalo soldier. 

As for the picture of her above? That is a painting of Cathay Williams by William Jennings from the U.S. Army Profiles of Bravery. While it's a wonderful picture, I really believe it's anyone's guess if she really looked like that since there are no pictures of her when she was young and in the Army.

Tom Correa

Canada's Battle of Belly River

Dear Friends,

A reader in Canada has written to ask me if I can write something about Canada during the Old West. He suggested I look into an Indian battle that took place on the Belly River. Well, I did. And yes, this is what I found.

The Battle of the Belly River took place on October 25th, 1870, in what is present day Lethbridge, Canada, located in Alberta about a 105 miles north of Montana. The battle is considered the last major battle between Indian tribes in Canada. It's also considered the last major conflict between the Iron Confederacy of the Cree and the Blackfoot Confederacy.

The Blackfoot and the Cree were waging war over the control of the Cypress Hills. The Battle of Belly River was the culmination of years of warfare between two people who had nothing in common other than their dislike for each other.

Before Europeans settled in the Canadian West, the prairies were inhabited by two Native Indian alliances. One was the Blackfoot Confederacy. They're said to have been very warlike. They consisted of the northern Blackfoot also known as the Siksika, the Blood Indians also known as the Kainai, the southern Peigan which are also as the Blackfeet, the northern Peigan who are also known as the Piikani and Pikuni Indians, and later to join that Confederacy was the Sarcee who are also known as the Tsuu Tina Indians and the Gros Venture Indians.

With the exceptions of the Sarcee and the Gros Venture tribes, who were the only two unrelated tribes in the Blackfoot Confederacy, all of the other tribes were bound by blood ties and spoke a common language which was Blackfoot. As for their lands, the Blackfoot Confederacy had controlled an area that stretched from west of the Rocky Mountains of Alberta to the east of the Great Sandhills of Saskatchewan, and from the north of the North Saskatchewan River of Alberta all the way south to the Yellowstone River of Montana. They had controlled that huge area for centuries.

The Iron Confederacy was an alliance made up of Plains Cree Indians, Salteaux Indians also known as Plains Ojibwa, Stoney who are also known as the Nakoda, the Assiniboine also known as the Stone Sioux, and it's said that occasionally the Metis Indians were part of the alliance as well. The Iron Conderacy was said to be heavily involved as a sort of middlemen in the fur trade in the 1700s. The Cree were suppliers of pemmican.

Pemmican is defined as "a paste of dried and pounded meat mixed with melted fat and other ingredients." It's actually a concentrated mixture of fat and protein used that was pounded into a paste as a food source. The word comes from the Cree Indian word "pimîhkân" which itself is derived from the word "pimî" which means "fat" or "grease". 

The Cree was the largest tribe in the Iron Confederacy. They moved into western Canada with the Hudson Bay Company in the early-mid 1700's. Even though the Iron Confederacy encroached on Blackfoot lands, since the western Canada plains were traditional Blackfoot territory, surprisingly things started out easy enough with the Iron Confederacy being initially seen as trading partners. Soon the Iron Confederacy was seen as a possible military ally. That didn't work out and when troubles intensified, the two alliances soon became bitter enemies.  

It is said that "mutual antagonism existed between the Blackfoot and Iron Confederacies beginning around 1790 after the Gros Ventures left the Iron Confederacy and joined the Blackfoot Confederacy." This mutual antagonism resulted in a large number of skirmishes. There were also a number of pitched battles between the two on the Canadian plains.

The last of their battles took place along what is today known as the Oldman River on October 25th, 1870. Yes, what was the Belly River is now the Oldman River. As I said before, the battle is known as the Battle of Belly River.

It's said that in 1869 and 1870, there was a massive smallpox outbreak that tore into the Blackfoot. Sadly, that smallpox outbreak reportedly wiped out nearly half of them.

One observer at the time said, "The epidemic left in its wake entire camps of Blackfoot dead lodges." Dead lodges were teepees used as to house their dead. Dr. Kennedy reported that the dead lodges were found all over the Canadian plains.

Chiefs Piapot, Little Mountain, Big Bear and Little Pine of the Iron Confederacy saw the plight of the Blackfoot as the perfect opportunity to wipe them out and expand their territory into the Cypress Hills. Those chiefs saw the Blackfoot as no different than a wound prey. So immediately they raised a war party of about 800 braves. The war party was made up of Cree, Salteaux Indians, and Young Dogs Indians which is said to be a Cree-Assiniboine mix. The war party was armed with bows and arrows, and close combat weapons such as tomahawks and knives. They did have some muskets from their association with the Hudson Bay Company. But seriously, for 1870, they were poorly armed.

When they left camp, they went southeast into Blackfoot territory. They followed the South Saskatchewan River until they had reached about 15 miles northeast of present-day Lethbridge.

There is a legend that says, while reroute to the battle, the Iron Confederacy war party stopped for the night. During the night, elderly Cree Chief Piapot had a dream that predicted the Cree defeat. Supposedly, in his dream, there was a buffalo bull with iron horns that attacked the Cree warriors. Unable to kill the buffalo, the Cree warriors were gored and then trampled to death. It's said that Piapot decided that his dream was an omen of an impending disaster for the Cree.

So in the morning, he told the other Chiefs about his dream, and how that was the reason that he would not have his warriors take part in the battle. Some of the Cree were said to be "troubled" by Piapot's "vision" and in fact decided to return home. In fact, I read where some actually accompanied Chief Piapot back home.

Other Cree saw the Chief's dream as only a dream. They saw the Blackfoot as perfect targets considering how weakened they were because of the smallpox outbreak. Those warriors would not be stopped by what they saw as simply an old man's nightmare.

Once they were in what's known as Coyote Flats about 20 miles northeast of Fort Whoop-Up, the Iron Confederacy war party decided that was the place where to launch their attack on the Blackfoot. The Blackfoot camp was at the Little Bow River, but the Cree Chiefs knew that the Blackfoot hung around Fort Whoop-Up. Fort Hamilton which was built in 1869 was commonly called "Fort Whoop-Up" because the post served as a trading post which included illegal whiskey sales to Indians among others.

Knowing the Blackfoot were there at Fort Whoop-Up, the Cree sent out a scouting party to check things out. When the scouts returned, they reported that a Blood Indian camp was about three miles north of Fort Whoop-Up on the Belly River. While out the scouts stole a few of the Blood's horses.

The Cree Indian scouts failed to report the rest of what was there. Probably because the scouts were too busy stealing horses, but they completely missed the fact that the Blood Indian camp was just a small part of a much larger winter camp of Blackfoot. That winter camp extended for almost 20 miles in every direction. That was one big camp. Sounds like a city.

Besides the small camp, a larger camp of Blood Indians led by Button Chief and Buffalo Back Fat were camped in the same area. Also camped along the river was a small band of well-armed Blackfeet who were armed with repeating rifles, a few needle guns, and revolvers that they picked up from Fort Whoop-Up. Those Blackfoot were led by Mountain Chief, Big Leg and Black Eagle. Some say they obtained those repeating rifles and revolvers before they were driven north into Canada from Montana by American Army Major Eugene Baker and his cavalry.

Also unknown to the Cree was smaller bands of southern Peigan Indians which were led by Chief Crow Eagle. His band was camped with the Blackfoot. So all in all, the combined forces of the Blackfoot, Bloods, and both northern and southern Peigan Indians, matched or exceeded the number of warriors in the Cree, Salteaux, and Young Dogs Indian war party. Also, the Blackfoot were better armed.

On the night of October 24th, the entire Cree, Salteaux, and Young Dogs war party left camp to ambush the Blood Indian camp.

According to one source, "the Crees, on their way to ambush the Blood camp, happened upon two isolated Blood teepees pitched at the base of Temple Hill. The teepees belonged to two Blood families who were travelling to join a different band of Bloods camped along the St. Mary River. Due to exhaustion, the families had decided to camp at the base of the hill rather than complete the journey that night. The Cree killed everyone inside the teepees except for a small boy. After the warriors had left, the boy ended up crawling out of the teepee and making his way to the St. Mary River, where he warned the Bloods of the Cree presence. Sometime that night, the Cree war party arrived at the Blackfoot encampment. A handful of enterprising braves ran into the camp, screaming 'We are here!' They slit the teepees of the sleeping Bloods and slaughtered the residents therein. In the foray, the Cree braves killed a brother of Red Crow who was a great Blood chief who was absent from the river valley at the time, a number of squaws, and- according to Mountain Horse, the son of Mountain Chief who was in a nearby Blackfeet camp at the time of the attack, also several children."

A few Blackfoot women swim across the Belly River towards the main Blood camp in order to sound the alarm. During this, it's said that a Blood Indian woman armed only with a tomahawk killed a couple of Cree warriors. It's also said that the women, and the sounds of gunfire alerts the Blackfoot.

As western artist Charles Marion Russell depicted in his painting above, it was reported that "by daybreak, the river valley was swarming with warriors."

At dawn, the first to arrive was the southern Peigan Indians who came in from the south. Their arrival is said to have had the Iron Confederacy war party making a slow retreat. Soon the Cree neared the Belly River. It was there that they took up a position in a deep ravine. That ravine ran from the river up and onto the prairie.

The formidable Blackfeet force led by Mountain Chief soon secured an opposing position south of the Cree. Then a large number of Bloods, Blackfoot, and northern Peigan, arrived to occupy positions on the northwest and the north side of the prairie. Soon fighting broke out between the Cree and the southern Peigan. Then the Blackfoot and Cree started fighting from dueling ravine positions.

The Cree and south Peigan took positions in two revines that are said to have ran parallel to each other about a 100 yards or more. The ridges of those ravines were separated by a distance that ranged from as close to 30 feet apart to as far as 200 feet away. It's said that the warriors on both sides took up positions at the tops of the ravines after making sure their horses were out of the range of gunfire.

After that, for four hours the battle waged as the tribes exchanged fire. And while rifles were used, they also exchanged arrows, and one report said that some even threw rocks believe it or not. It's said at one point, two southern Peigans on horseback galloped along the ridge to see how many of the Cree enemy were there. One of the warriors was shot and killed. The other is said to have had his horse shot from under him.

During this time the Blackfeet, Blood Indians, and the Peigan from the north, steadily made progress and moved more and more forward until they worked their way around to the south where they could better engage the enemy. When that happened, the rifle fire from the Blackfoot is said to have been too much to endure and the Cree decided to slowly retreat. In fact, the Cree is said to have actually slipped down into the ravine behind their pursuers and head toward the river. All very quietly.

About that time, the Cree were discovered retreating. The story goes that Jerry Potts, who was a Scot-Peigan Indian scout, was scouting around the banks of the southern ridge during the Cree's stealthy retreat. He saw them retreating. Potts is the man credited with signaling to the north Peigan to take action and not let the Cree get away. Legend says that if it weren’t for Jerry Potts that battle might have turned out very different.

The north Peigans did attack the retreating Cree. Close behind them were the Blackfeet and Bloods who did as well.

Soon hundreds of Blackfoot, Blood and Peigan warriors on horseback and even on foot go over the ridge and into the ravine after the Cree. The Cree were cut down and for those who made it out of their position, they were forced up a hill to the north. The Cree with their horses tumbled over the other side in a desperate break for the river. The battle then moved to the western shore of the Belly River at the base of that hill. Blackfoot warrior Mountain Horse later said, "Stabbing and drowning was the order of the day."

Eye-witness accounts describe how Bloods Chief Calf Shirt had arrows in his neck and arm, yet he was still able to kill two Cree warriors with his Bowie knife. While some of the Cree warriors fought and died on the banks of the Belly River, it's said that most actually tried to swim across the river. The Cree that tried to were shot dead by Blackfeet on shore.

There were so many retreating Cree moving across the river that it's said that they look like a solid mass in the river. Subsequently, they were easy targets for Blackfoot who fired from the riverbank and the hill. Jerry Potts is quoted as saying, "You could fire with your eyes shut and be sure to kill a Cree."

It's also said, "the air was thick with gunsmoke while the Belly River ran red with blood."

As for the few Cree warriors that reached the east side of the river alive, close behind were the Blackfoot and the Blood Indians. When the Cree was found on the open prairie, it's said the Blackfoot overtook them and cut them down. The Cree that did try making a last stand on the open prairie east of the river lost 50 of their warriors.

It was after that that a few Cree made it into a strand of trees, they were completely surrounded. Fortunate for Cree warriors, the Blackfeet decided that it was over and simply returned to their camps. Yes, allowing the Cree survivors to return home and tell others what happened there.

The Battle of Belly River was one of the bloodiest Indian battles ever recorded in Canadian history. The Blackfoot Confederacy lost about 40 warriors and had about that many wounded. For the Iron Confederacy and the Cree, it was devastating as the lost between about 300 warriors.

It is said that in 1871, about a year later, the Iron Confederacy sent a peace offering of tobacco to the Blackfeet. Then in the fall of that same year, the Chiefs of the two Confederacies met to make peace. Of course, from what I've read, that didn't stop the small skirmishes or the horse stealing.

Tom Correa

It's a Very Small World

Dear Friends,

Here's a short story about something that happened to me recently. It's something that I have told a number of people about because I still can't completely believe it happened.

We've all heard the term, "It's a small world." The term is commonly used when you're surprised when you meet someone you know at an unexpected place. It also applies when you find out that you share a friend or an acquaintance. That personal connection is a surprise. After all, it's not everyday that we encounter the same people or situation in an unexpected place, or that you have discovered that someone knows a person who you also know.

For example, many years ago, I was working in Washington state when I decided to take a ferry from Bremerton to Seattle. I had been working at the Navy Base in Bremerton and wanted to check out an event in Seattle before heading back home to the San Francisco Bay Area. After leaving my car, I was looking for a trash can to throw away an empty paper coffee cup when I bumped into a friend who owned a restaurant in San Jose, California. Talk about a small world, come to find out, he was on the ferry headed to Seattle to attend the same event that I was.

So where am I going with this? Well, about two months ago, I received a phone call from someone who asked, "Is this Tom Correa who was stationed on the USS Hancock in '74 and '75?" 

Come to find out, it was an old friend who I served with in the Marine Corps over 40 years ago. The last time that I saw him was in 1981. We talked for a while and it was great to hear from him. We caught up a little, but mostly I was curious about how he found me and got my number? 

I was flattered when he said that he and another mutual friend who I also served with were looking for me for a while. I was a little surprised when he said that he found me, my phone number, my address, and had even seen a satellite view of my home and property on Google maps. 

We talked about getting together, and about coming up for a visit.  Really, it was great to hear his voice and remember how close we were back in the day. 

We planned on getting together and making that happen in a few weeks since I had responsibilities that I couldn't get out of pertaining to a Chili Cook Off at our American Legion Post up here in beautiful Glencoe. Our post was doing the Cook Off on Saturday because we were boycotting the NFL and subsequently the Super Bowl. 

On the day of our post's Chili Cook Off, beings that I'm our post's 2nd Vice Commander, I'm responsible for events and such, so I had to work behind the bar for a while to get things started until the regular bartender showed up. I was behind the bar telling a story about something or other when in the door walks my two old Marine buddies who I have not seen '81. Yes, almost 40 years ago.

Both friends brought their wives with them. It was great to see them. I had known my one friend's wife as I was actually at their wedding in Half Moon Bay back in 1978, if I recall correctly. I had never met my other friend's wife. 

Soon we started talking about some of the things we did in the old days and how it was amazing that we were still alive. These two men were my best friends when I was 18 years old. We were Marines. We were stationed together and went overseas together. It was as if the years disappeared when we talked and laughed about how it was.

One of the reasons that I started this blog back in 2010 was that I found my memory not as sharp as it was. Talking with my friends, I found that I have sadly forgotten a lot of things that I wish I hadn't. 

So now, as I said before, I've known one of my friend's wives but not the other. Frankly, I didn't know my other friend's wife at all. All I was told on the phone is that he married a great gal who was originally from Hawaii. 

Many years ago I had a very good friend from Texas. Whenever he met another Texan, all of a sudden his Texas drawl got a little deeper. Well, that's the same thing as what happens when I meet people who are also from Hawaii. All of a sudden, I find that I don't have to pay as much attention to speaking proper English and I slip into what is commonly known back home as "Pidgin English."

As with everyone who meets someone who is from the same place where you originated, you ask what town and how long have you been away and other questions to find out if maybe you have more in common. Well, after talking to my friend's wife, I found out that she was from the same island that I was from, and that her grandparents lived near where my grandparents lived.

Hawaii has a lot of people but some of the families have been there forever, or came over on the same boat so to speak. Well, I asked her a little more about her family. She told me what he maiden name was and I found that interesting because it was the same as my paternal grandmother's maiden name. Yes, my dad's mom's maiden name which is not a common Portuguese name in Hawaii.

We talked a little more, but then I got sidetracked with post duties. In between doing this and that for the post, I sat with my old friends and we visited as much as we could. Since they had a long way to drive, before leaving we talked about getting together again soon. Hopefully very soon.

That following week, I called my friends to make sure they knew just how much I appreciated seeing them again. When talking with my friend whose wife is from Hawaii, I hear her in the background say, "Hi Cousin!" 

So I said to him something to the effect of  "Cousins because we're from the same island?"

My friend then tells me that if my grandmother's first name was such and such, and if she had something wrong with her arm, then you two are Second cousins. Fact is, he could probably hear the shock in my voice. I told him that he was correct about my grandmother's first name and that she did in fact have a bad arm from a stroke that she suffered in the 1940's. 

My old friends came back up to Glencoe in early March for a bar-b-q, but sadly my newly found Second Cousin couldn't make it back up because of another commitment. She did sent a note. In the note, she asked if my dad's name was "Clifford" and that he had something wrong with his jaw. If so, it is guaranteed that we are Second Cousins.

Well, my day's name was Herman Clifford Correa. Everyone called him "Clifford". As for his jaw? Beings that there were no tetanus shoots back in 1929, because of tetanus my dad had suffered from lockjaw all of his life. 

So now, let's talk about it being a very small world. It is a fact that my old friend who I haven't seen in almost 40 years has been married for almost 30 years to my Second Cousin. Yes, a Second Cousin who I didn't know I had.  

What's the odds of something like that happening? A friend of mine who I was very close to back in 1974 and 1975 when we served together in the Marine Corps, a man who I haven't seen since 1981, met and married a wonderful gal, and then in 2018 after they have been married for almost 30 years finds out that she's my Second Cousin. I would think the odds are astronomical that anything like that could happen.

But, it has. And now, now I get to know my new cousin and a part of my dad's side of my family that I really didn't know before. While I'm still shocked that this has happened, I feel absolutely blessed. Yes, especially knowing that my old Marine buddy is now really part of my family! Incredible as it is!  

By the way, in the note that she sent me was a picture of her grandfather. Come to find out, her grandfather and my grandmother were brother and sister. Imagine that for a small world.

Tom Correa

Insane Gunmen In The Old West?

Dear Friends,

With all of the talk these days about gunmen who may or may not be insane, a few of my readers have written to ask if there were such killers in the Old West? Well, sadly there were crazies even back in the day.

Of course, gunmen such as John Wesley Hardin and Killer Jim Miller were psychopaths. But they weren't crazy. Psychopathy is considered a personality disorder, but not a mental disorder. Psychopaths are said to be completely detached from emotions such as guilt and empathy. Bottom line is they had no conscience or compunction when it comes to killing. That lack of feelings of guilt or having any sort of moral scruples is what really defines many of hired killers and badmen in the Old West.

The difference between them and someone who is truly insane or "crazy" is that the term insanity usually describes what is termed a "psychotic-like break with reality." Fact is that's not the same as someone suffering some degree of "mental illness" such as for example constant anxiety problems over excessive and often irrational worry about paying the bills or finishing a project on time.

While some folks make the mistake of calling an insane individual "mentally ill," or say he or she suffers from "mental illness," in reality that's no correct at all and they really should not be lumped together. True mental illness in it's many degrees is nothing new to the world, but it's certainly different than having a psychotic-like break with reality and being insane. In actuality some experts believe mental illness, which can include an array of problems including depression or say being able to sleep the whole night, is falsely being lumped together with things that it shouldn't be. It gives people the impression that all "mental illness" is that same when it's not.    

Below is an interesting example of a gunman and killer who was deemed insane. Although, there were those at the time who thought he may have been faking it to avoid being hanged.

The story comes from the archives of The Silver City Enterprise which was a newspaper that was operated in Silver City, New Mexico, from 1882 to 1987. It's publisher was W.A. Leonard & Co. 

A DOUBLE TRAGEDY 

March 6, 1891

A most lamentable double tragedy was en- acted at Bald Knob on the 17th instant. On train No. 53 there was a passenger by the name of John W. Graeter, who had exhibited signs of insanity to such an extent that Pullman conductor E. W. Leach, in whose car Graeter was, spoke about the matter, saying he was afraid that he (Graeter) would harm some one before they would get through. It was not known where he was going, but no harm was done until after the Memphis train had got in and “53” had taken on the passengers for the south and was pulling by the station. 

When not more than ten rods from it, bystanders on the platform saw the brakeman and Pullman conductor run out of the Pullman car, and following them was a man with a pistol in his hand, and to the horror of those in sight they saw the pistol leveled on the conductor and fired. 

It was seen at once that the conductor was shot, for immediately he began to totter and soon fell from the platform. After falling he was dragged 200 yards by the bell rope, which had in some way become wrapped around his arm. When he was reached he was about dead, giving only two or three groans. 

The train was still running, and would not have stopped had not the hostler of the engine that brought in the Memphis train realized the situation and blowed the “down whistle,” upon which the train pulled up. When the crowd reached the train it was found that another man had been shot as he was sitting in his seat. 

When an effort was made to enter the car, Graeter was laying flat in the car with two pistols by his side, and it was some time before he could be taken from the car, as it was supposed he was insane, and no one cared to make an effort for his capture unless the drop could be obtained. For three-quarters of an hour efforts were made to get the advantage of him without success. 

At last a ruse was resorted to and he was told that unless he threw out his pistols the coach would be set on fire. The threat had the desired effect, as he said he would surrender if promised protection. This was assured him, and he threw out his pistols and came out. He was put in the calaboose, and though under a great mental strain, seemed to know what he wanted, having telegraphed for his brother, at Vincennes, Indiana, where he is interested in the street car lines. He also wanted a good lawyer. He is genteely dressed, and has over $200 with him, besides a watch and jewelry. He talks about having to do what he did, as he said Meier and Leach had threatened to kill him. 

There was but four persons in the car at the time, the murderer, John W. Graeter, of Vincennes, Indiana; Mr. Isador Meier, traveling salesman for Foster, Hilson & Co., Thirty ninth street. New York; E. W. Leach, the conductor, and a lady. 

What makes the killing of Meier especially so sad is the fact that he had came in on the Memphis train and had been in the car not over twenty minutes when the fatal shots were fired into his head, and all the while he sat in his seat unconscious, the blood and brains were flowing from his horrible wounds. 

The coroner’s jury is now at work on the case. Excitement, which was high for a time, is now allayed. Isador Meier was taken to Judsonia on the same train on which he was shot, arriving there about 1:30 p.m. He was placed in the hands of skillful company surgeons, but their work was of no avail, as he died at 4:30 p.m., two bullets passing through his head. 

John W. Graeter, the murderer, was taken to Searcy, the county seat of this (White) county by the sheriff this morning. He is a pitiful sight, his every look and movement showing that he was insane. Every person who approaches he calls upon to protect him and begs them to be his friend. There is no doubt but that Graeter will be put in some asylum as soon as he is examined by a physician.

Graeter comes from one of the first families of Indiana, and is estimated to be worth $80,000. The verdict of the coroner was in accordance with the facts as stated in yesterday’s dispatch. The J. W. Graeter above referred to is almost undoubtedly the same man who was a partner of L. D. Miller in this city in 1885.

He came here from Vincennes, Indiana, where his father and sister then resided. He frequently boasted that his business here was only a side issue and that his father was very wealthy. While here he frequently indulged in heavy drinking and gambling sprees, and at such times was cross and quarrelsome. 

While staying at the Broadway hotel he raised a great disturbance one evening while under the influence of liquor. Mr. Durkee, who was a friend of Graeter’s, went into the room where Graeter lay on a bed in the dark and tried to have him keep quiet. 

Without warning of any kind he fired two shots at Mr. Durkee from a revolver, both bullets passing close to his abdomen and lodging in the wall, where the holes may yet be seen. 

Mr. Durkee believes Graeter to have been insane while under the influence of liquor, while others here believe those fits to have been simply an outlet of his pure cussedness, under the guise of drunkenness, and still further believe that his recent murderous freak was of the same nature and from the same cause, insanity only being a dodge to escape punishment.

-- end of article from The Silver City Enterprise, March 6th, 1891.

The last paragraph tells us a lot about how things change yet stay the same. What I'm talking about is how there were those folks even back then who realized that there are bad people who would try to "feign insanity" and use an insanity plea to escape being taken out and hanged. In the case of Silver City in 1891, if a jury decided to place him in an asylum for the criminally insane, that murderer would certainly have escaped a rope.

Tom Correa

Parkland Students Unhappy With Their Security

The same school children who said they wanted something done to save their lives, don't like the beefed up security at their school. The security which includes check points and having to use clear backpacks has the children there very unhappy.

Now the kids say that they feel like they're in prison instead of school. Some are saying that they are being treated worse than livestock because of the metal street barricades. Basically, they are not happy with the results of their protests.

Some of the same leaders of the "March For Our Lives" protest that took place recently showed their lack of maturity by filling their now mandatory clear backpacks with tampons in an effort to say that their privacy is being infringed upon. Of course why a High School boy in Florida would have tampons in his backpack is a question for others to answer, that's not for me to guess about the habits of High School boys in Parkland, Florida.

Never mind that the clear backpacks were made mandatory after knives were found to have been smuggled into the school. Never mind that this is just a step in providing them more security. And as for the irony of these children are now protesting the security there school is providing, never mind that this is what they themselves demanded during their protests.

Many now realize that their demands for security and to live was all a fraud. It's being said that they didn't want to be safe and secure, and that all they really wanted was to get political and ban guns. That they wanted a type of rifle taken away from every American gun owner because they knew what was good for all of us. And frankly, that makes sense to me since I believe that they were told that the problem was the AR-15 rifle that the killer used. Not the killer or his mental state or the lax security, but the AR-15 rifle itself.

Some say those kids drank the Kool-Aid and followed the Liberal Left as if the Democrat Party, George Soros, Nancy Pelosi, and Charles Schumer, were all Pied Pipers. They screamed for gun control under the guise that they were interested in saving lives and being secure. It was all just a lie. Yes, a complete fraud.

They had no interest in being secure. They only wanted gun control, a gun ban, and the repeal of the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution. Bravo to the Liberals who convinced those children that a piece of machinery, a rifle called an AR-15, was the problem instead of focusing on the root cause which was the killer himself. Bravo to those ignorant individuals who influenced children to accept the lie that a tool, a gun, a rifle, specifically an AR-15, somehow grew legs and assaulted that school in February.

Thankfully the idea of being safe and banning a single type of rifle and calling it good is not how it works in life. Thankfully there are adults in Parkland Florida who don't see waiting for a gun ban of a single style of rifle as a sane and practical alternative to keeping children safe.

What those children want will not keep anyone alive and well. The reason is that wanting a ban, which may or may not ever take effect again, will not provide an once of security for them. Whether the children like or not, even if it were possible to take away every one of the millions of AR-15 rifles in the entire world, that in itself would do nothing to ensure that someone does not attempt to harm students in some way with some other weapon.

How do I know that? How am I so sure of that? Since it was authorized for sale to civilians in 1964, there have been a number of school shootings yet only two were committed using AR-15 rifles. All of the rest were done with shotguns, semi-automatic rifles, lever action rifles, bolt action rifles, handguns, knives, etc, and so on. 

Since these students in the Parkland, Florida, school are not mature enough, responsible enough, nor knowledgeable enough to buy a firearm, what makes anyone in their right mind think they are mature enough or experienced enough to know what they need in the way of security measures? What professional training or even experience have they had that says they are now experts on guns or security needs? No, being near where a crime takes place does not make anyone a gun expert nor a security professional. They simply don't know what it takes to stay secure in the way that they demanded they be protected.

The victims of the Parkland shooting are those who were killed and wounded. The victims were not those who were led away safely by wonderful caring teachers. The killer was the man who showed up and did the killing, who did the harm, who did the act. The killer was not the gun he used. Sadly, the children there are not talking about the killer for one reason or another. Some say they don't want to face the fact that they are partly responsible for making Cruz want to come back to that school and do such a horrid thing. Some say it's simply easier to blame a rifle and not the user.

Security doesn't work that way. A good security evaluation cannot pick and choose what it wants to look at and what it doesn't want to look at. In a good security evaluation, everything needs to be examined. Yes, that means access, identification methods, property being brought in and out by way of the kids and the adults, and among other things that means looking at vulnerable areas including the possibility of threats by the students and administrators themselves.

People don't talk about it much for one reason or another, but the fact is that there have been a number of school shootings where adults have entered the school for no apparent reason to shoot people there. And yes, there have also been killers who were part of the school staff here and there.

We tend to think of school shooting as guns doing the killing. But the fact is, most school shooting are kids killing other kids. That's simply more the case. And of course, to keep as many people as safe as possible against the possibility of an attack, measures limiting access and ensuring weapons are not brought on campus need to be taken. We've already talked about how the school discovered knives and other weapons being brought into the schools, so not the are having the kids use clear backpacks. With the metal detectors, check points and barriers, these are all good first steps in providing the kids with good security.

Next, the school may want to limit access to areas formerly open to all. Areas need to be placed off limits or used with a pass system. The schools there need to get Identification Cards and update information as to who is forbidden from entering the school grounds. Access lists need to be updated and measures need to be changed periodically so that returning students have a hard time coming back to reek havoc on those that they have problems with. In the case of the February 14th shooting, the killer was a former student who knew exactly what the security measures were. Subsequently he was able to gain entry and find his targets fairly easily.

The most controversial aspect of securing schools is that the schools may want to have students undergo and clear background checks. Especially right now before returning to school there. High School kids with felonies may not want to be allowed back on campus. And since these days children are routinely being provided with an array of medications that have a number of side-effects including rage and suicidal tendencies, finding out who is on medications and for what reason would be helpful information when looking at students as potential threats. And like it or not, since students are killing other students, they need to be looked at more as a threat than mere children these days.

Since no one knows what is the exact intent of those sick individuals who act out to harm others, precautionary discussions with troublemakers and rebellious students are sometimes carried out. As stated before, to keep all as safe as possible against any attack, measures have to be taken limiting access and ensuring weapons are not brought on campus. So to allow questionable children on campus may be a problem when it comes to limiting access of a potential threat. If maintaining peace and the health and welfare of others there is the objective, then the behavior and history of some students needs to be looked at.

I've read where some inner-city schools actually request psychological examinations of female students who shave their heads, boys who identify themselves as transgender, and gays who appear violent or self-destructive. Besides psychological testing, those individuals are assessed for anger issues and questioned as to whether or not they have violent thoughts toward others. Since not everyone sees a gay youngster as being normal, other kids may have problems with their choice of "self-identifying" as something other than what they are. This can lead to conflicts and should be known to administrators.

Also, students who declare themselves "Leftist" or some sort of extremists who worship and celebrate mass murderers such as Che Guevara by wearing t-shirts with his image and others are at times questioned. Students who agree with the Communist tactics of Stalin and Mao who exterminated millions of their political opponents are talked with. These students may see others who love America and our Capitalist system as enemies. They therefore may see others as potentially future targets. Knowing how violent ANTIFA has been, no one should rule out an ANTIFA member in school. This is especially true if they feel the need to act out their aggression toward anything not in agreement with their ultra-Liberal or Leftist political philosophy.

During any security evaluation, deviant behavior such as glorifying mass murderers such as Che Guevara or the Aurora Colorado theater killer for example may be red flags of violent intentions. Red flags that are no different than finding out that a child spends a great deal of time watching violent videos, has an unhealthy obsession with death, studies how to built bombs, or is consumed with how to use weapons to commit a crime.

As for those who say that these measures are extreme? Let's remember that during their "March For Our Lives," the children protested and demanded that adults do what's needed to save their lives. After all, they said the loss of just one child is too much. I agree and the responsibility for their security sits with the School Districts.

While the Parkland, Florida, children say they would rather remain defenseless against an armed intruder and not arm their administrators, other schools across the nation have ignored the wishes of naive children and did what was needed to confront a threat. The result is that many lives have been saved doing so across the nation. We don't hear about guns in the hands of administrators or a school officer because that would be counter productive to the gun control agenda.

As for the measures that I mention above, schools in the inner city have had many of those measure already instituted for years now. The schools in Parkland, Florida, should do the same to provide the security needed to prevent another mass murder from taking place. While schools in general need to stop being "soft-targets" as a result of lax security, the schools in Parkland need to do what they can simply because they have learned that they cannot depend on their Sheriffs Department to act when needed.

Schools need to act even if it ruffles a few feathers of children who are now feeling indignant about the security that's being provided to them. Whether students are unhappy or not should not be a concern to administrators. The concern school administrators should be to never again have to explain to another parent how they didn't do enough to keep their child safe.

That's just the way I see it.

Tom Correa