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| This site contains the viewpoints,
biases, and philosophies of Clark Crouch, Cowboy Poet, as
influenced by the Great Depression, years of drought, and
experience as a ranch hand in the Sandhills of Nebraska in the
1930's and 40's. Historic perspective is contained his
four books of poetry:
Voices of the Wind (2002),
Reflections (2003),
Where Horses Reign (2004), and
Sun, Sand & Soapweed (2005). The latter two contain western and cowboy poems in traditional ballad format. |
December 2005 Buffalo Bill Cody -
A Christmas gift from my son was a new book, Buffalo Bill's America: William Cody and the Wild West Show (Knopf, 2005), by Louis S. Warren, the W. Turrentine Jackson Professor of Western U.S. History at the University of California, Davis.It's pretty exciting stuff and brings back a lot of memories - tales told to me by my paternal grandfather who played poker with Buffalo Bill quite a bit around the turn of the 20th Century! It not only provides a refreshing view of the career(s) of Buffalo Bill Cody, it also clearly documents the transition from war to partnership between individuals from two conflicting cultures. [Posted: December 30, 2005] Security vs. Liberty -
Old Sam says, "..to pursue national security at the expense of civil liberty is to exchange the threat of foreign terrorism for the reality of domestic terrorism." He adds, "...it's sorta like herding a bunch of real mad Brahma bulls out of the safety of the corral and into the chuckhouse at supper time!"
[Posted: December 29, 2005] Black History Month -
Morgan Freeman, a brilliant and talented actor, has recently advocated the abandonment of February as Black History Month. Now I don't have any credentials to take sides on that specific issue but I do agree with Mr. Freeman that we're all Americans, that we should stop making race an issue, and that racial holidays can be divisive. (Think how divisive it would be for someone to establish a White History Month! Whoeeee, would the stuff hit the fan!!)Related to that, I recall a black neighbor, a blacksmith, back in the 1930's. He did the smithing for our ranch and for most others in that part of Nebraska. He was proud of being who he was: an American, a talented blacksmith, and a good neighbor. He was well-read, voted in every election, and never spoke of race, his own or anyone elses. He expected to be respected and accepted and he was, just as he respected and accepted us! He was self-assured, unpretentious, and a great friend who, I believe, would applaud the position taken by Morgan Freeman. [Posted: December 22, 2005] Political Grasses -
Old Sam says that seeing the legislative process in Congress is sorta like watching grass grow..but maybe a mite slower. He says it seems like political grasses could use a bit of real fertilizer and less of the BS that some politicians like to spread around.
[Posted: December 21, 2005] The Right Thing -
What advice might my grandpa give, from his wisdom of the early 1900's, to a national politician of today? I'm sure he would say, "Go for it, give it your best shot. But remember, it ain't what you've got the right to do, it's what is right to do! And don't forget, you are one of them very same Washington politicians that you might want to blame for the things that seem to be going wrong!"
[Posted: December 19, 2005] Marcus Whitman -
We've visited the Whitman Mission near Walla Walla, Washington several times. An interesting bit of trivia about Marcus Whitman, the mission's founder. He wanted to be an ordained minister and take that ministry to the Native Americans in the Northwest Territory. However, it would have taken six years of education and he didn't want to wait that long so he studied for two years and became a medical doctor instead. Perhaps that was unfortunate because one reason for the Whitman Massacre was Whitman's inability to halt the progress of smallpox among the Natives. They then sought vengeance on the medicine man whose patients had died.
[Posted: December 10, 2005] Twistin' History -
I just read an article which attempts to rewrite history in defense of the current conflict in Iraq. The article kicks off with the allegation that "Abraham Lincoln led...his country to war..." The article goes on to compare Lincoln, in "staying the course" during the Civil War with George Bush, in "staying the course" in Iraq.Whoa up there, cowboy. Rein in those thoughts! Regardless of the rights and the wrongs of either conflict, the heritage of this nation is precious and it just ain't nice to twist history! Lincoln did not lead the country to war, the military action by the Union was in response to a pre-emptive strike! True, the seeds of war had already been planted but, regardless of all of the issues that lead up to it, the Civil War conflict actually started with a demand for the surrender of Fort Sumter, a demand refused by the fort's commander, and at 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Captain George S. James fired the first shot of the war from a Confederate artillery battery. That's what led the nation into the armed conflict. [Posted: December 8, 2005] Pearl Harbor Day -
Tomorrow, December 7, is the 64th anniversary of what President Franklin Roosevelt called "The Day of Infamy," the day Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese. It was a quiet, pleasant winter Sunday at my folk's country store in the Sandhills of Nebraska until our neighbor came riding up and told us to turn on the radio. A while back, when I was mostly writing free form poetry, I wrote the following verse about that day and I reckon it reflects the reality that "War is Hell!" The poem is from my book, Reflections.The Voices of War On December seven, Nineteen forty one, a distant voice of war spoke... of a sun-kissed plane diving for the kill, roaring defiance, laying a perfect pattern of bombs to burst on the docks the voice of war was screaming. Speaking in reply, 20 millimeter guns sought retribution, lighter guns punctuating the demand for payment, together taking their toll. Not for the docks destruction or for the sunken ships was this voice shouting... no, not for physical things but for those now gone, for mothers without their sons, for wives without their husbands, for fatherless families, for generations that would never be and descendants never born for the wasted lives of war the voice of war was crying! [Posted: December 6, 2005 - Rev. 12/7/05] Mathematician -
My Dad didn't have but a third grade education yet, by my standards, he was a well-educated man. Being mostly self-educated, I reckon he'd invented his own method of figuring things out. For example, I never saw anybody who could do math as quick and easy as he did.He'd pace around a stack of hay, then back up a few paces from the stack and hold his pipe up as a measuring stick to determine the stack's height. After that, he'd make a few strange marks on a pad and tell you accurately how many tons of hay was in the stack! The strangest things were those marks on the pad...more like hieroglyphics than computations. Nobody could understand them and Dad couldn't explain them...he just knew! [Posted: December 3, 2005] Peaceable Man -
My Dad was a peaceable man. I don't know that he ever started a fight but he wasn't afraid to defend himself when necessary. 'Course at near six and a half feet tall and 200 pounds, he was big enough that folks just didn't want to challenge him. But there were exceptions.One time Dad was standing beside his team along side the road with a feller who was jumping up and down, yelling and striking out at him. The feller's face was red with rage and Dad was just kinda grinning (which probably made the feller a bit more irritated than he had been). After a bit, Dad had enough of being hit. Still smiling, he pulled back and socked the feller right on the chin, knocking him clean across the road. Dad walked over and helped him up and said, "Now, if you're all calmed down, we can talk about your problem." This was one philosophy that he and Mom shared, no pre-emptive strikes but to speak softly and carry a big stick, as advised by Teddy Roosevelt. [Posted: December 2, 2005] Accident -
Back around 1895 a wagon driven by my paternal grandfather got in an accident with another wagon. Sam, the feller who was in the other wagon, was hurt and he sued my granddad.In court, the judge asked Sam about the injury and Sam said he was hurt so bad he couldn't lift his right arm and he couldn't work any more. "How high can you lift your arm?" the judge asked. Sam, with a great pained expression, slowly lifted his arm to shoulder level. "How high could you lift it before the accident?" the judge queried. Sam responded, "Well, your honor, I could lift it way up here!" and he waved his arm around over his head. The case was dismissed. [Posted: December 1, 2005 - Rev. 12/3/05] |
Current
Index Accident Black History Month Buffalo Bill Cody Marcus Whitman Mathematician Peaceable Man Pearl Harbor Day Political Grasses The Right Thing Security vs. Liberty Twistin' History Archives Archive (2005) Original Journal |
Copyright ©2005 by Clark Crouch.