Snow in Lowgap and Gift Suggestions

Is this not the most inviting scene? This is the creation of my cousin Cindi's two boys, Tim & Logan. The foot of snow that landed in Lowgap, North Carolina, was obviously enjoyed. I'm including some of her other photos, showing their home in the mountains. She commented that in weather like this, a husband with a backhoe is a handy thing. (Eat your heart out, Red Green!)

The view of the mountains (below) from Cindi & Victor's deck is the Blue Ridge in North Carolina and Virginia. Isn't it beautiful? And you can see the pines around their home. . . Lowgap is famous for Christmas greenery.

The young men responsible for the "cool" living room decor lounge to the left. Creativity really does run in my family!

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Christmas Gifts


Got my first Christmas present the other day. Gary bought me The Assassination of Jesse James starring Brad Pitt. I jumped up and down I was so tickled!!! Isn't the image above just awesome? I'm sure my bud Chuck Rabas will weigh in, but honestly, this movie is worth the price just for images such as these.

This leads me to some gift suggestions for those distraught shoppers among you. Let's make it an historic Christmas!!!!

*Oil lamps. Have you heard the weather forecast? Oil lamps can be bought cheaply at Dollar General or more expensively at an antique store, but be sure to include lamp oil.

*Abraham Lincoln: A Life by Michael Burlingame (left). While you're sitting there in the lamplight, you might as well be reading the ultimate biography of a very interesting and inspiring man, written by a very interesting and inspiring man. Okay, I'll level with you: This is a two-volume, two-thousand page tome and the cost is equivalent to our wine budget for the month (okay, the week), but not since William Herndon has there been such a significant work on the 16th president.

*Moon of Bitter Cold by Fred Chiaventone. Today is the anniversary of the Fetterman Massacre, 1866, just outside Fort Phil Kearny, Wyoming. Fred's account of Red Cloud's War is priceless. The historic characters we know and love come to life in this novel--(people like Margaret Carrington and Jim Bridger). There is talk of a mini-series. Gosh, I hope so. While you're at it, buy A Road We Do Not Know...I can scarcely talk about this book without weeping. Absolutely the best account of the Little Bighorn.

*Gatewood and Geronimo and Lt. Charles Gatewood and His Apache Wars Memoir by Louis Kraft. Some folks worth knowing have been gone for a long time. Thank God we have people like Louis to bring them back to us, wholly and warmly. I can't tell you how much I love these two books, how much I love Louis, and how I can't wait to read his work on Ned Wynkoop. Louis can teach the class on how to write a memoir.

*Memberships. We all have enough crap. Let's give an experience--a newsletter that keeps coming, an admission that gets us in again and again. Some of my favorites:
Shawnee County Historical Society, Topeka
Pattee House Museum, St. Joseph, Missouri
Civil War Roundtable of Eastern Kansas, Topeka
Kansas City Civil War Roundtable, Mission, Kansas
The Great Overland Station, Topeka

*Music. I am the newest and most ardent fan of Mike Finnigan. Search youtube.com and get a sample of "Let Me See the Light." In fact, that is my gift to each of you.

*Movies. Everyone knows I'm hooked on old westerns. Anything with Errol Flynn and Olivia DeHavilland. Newer ones, movies with a message--just think about the person and what you want to say. There's a movie that fits and it gives joy again and again.

*Art. Do NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT, buy art from a furniture store or KMart or Walmart, or even Target or Macy's. Go to your local art gallery, tell them how much you can spend and get something original and unique. I know too many artists to offend anyone by mentioning names here, but there is something out there to fit your pocketbook and taste. I PROMISE!!!

Okay? Is your mind moving in a different direction? Are you ready to make Christmas an historic event? I knew you could do it. Let me know if you need more help. I'm here for you.

Bigger-Than-Life Bowie

Of all the Alamo characters, none intrigues me as much as Jim Bowie. Though born in Kentucky, Jim and his brothers moved to Missouri and then to New Orleans seeking their fortunes. Among his other enterprises, Bowie traded in slaves, buying them from the pirate, Jean Lafite. He wasn't much of a home body. He gambled, brawled, caroused, drank--the kind of man a woman falls for but should never marry. Bowie was already a frontier legend when he saw opportunity for wealth and adventure in Texas. The bigger-than-life Bowie was well-suited to the bigger-than-life Texas. (Bigger-than-life also brings to mind Jason Patric (above) who played Bowie in the 2004 movie, The Alamo. Jason is the grandson of Jackie Gleason, who was probably more like Bowie in his excessive zest for life).

In Lone Star Rising, William C. Davis describes Bowie thusly:

For all his penchant for opportunism and a lenient attitude toward the law, he was also a man of unshakable bravery, one who inspired calm and confidence in dangerous moments, a man with a strong sense of fair play, a sense of humor, a fondness even for Methodist hymns. Most of all, he carried with him an aura that attracted men to him, and that infused them with confidence that in a crisis, Bowie's side would win.

The British historian, Thomas Carlyle, said of Bowie (left), "By Hercules! The man was greater than Caesar.... The Texans ought to build him an altar."

I can't think of him without smiling.

Jim Bowie was about 40 years old when he died at the Alamo.

For an excellent essay on his life, visit http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/

or, Jim Bowie reenactor, Jack Edmondson at http://www.texanalivinghistory.org/edmondsonbio.html

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Southern News

Louisiana--It's almost time for the Jonquil Jubilee in Gibsland, a hamlet in Bienville Parrish. More than a quarter of a million bulbs have been planted in the tiny town that has been named, "The Daffodil Capital of Louisiana." Historic homes in the neighborhood will also be open on March 3. Tom and I were in Gibsland a couple of years ago and can vouch for the loveliness of the community, though we were there for more gruesome reasons. There is a monument several miles south to mark the spot where Bonnie and Clyde were killed as well as a museum in town devoted to their story. In other news, Virginia just apologized for slavery and Vermont is trying to secede.

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Your Assignment

I would pay money just to watch Jason Patric peel potatoes. Tune in to the Western Channel or go to your DVD case and take out Geronimo: An American Legend. Watch it for the tenth time. Marvel at Wes Studi (What a face!!!) in the title role and Patric as Charles Gatewood. We have a friend, Ric Reed, a reenactor and wrangler from Osceola, Missouri, who worked on this movie. Apparently, there was a scene where Ric's character is standing with Robert Duvall's character, Al Sieber. They have just buried someone and Ric and Bob sing "Amazing Grace" over the grave. Sadly, that scene was cut, but it's one we would love to see.


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Twisted History

NASA: The Early Years