Maybe This Will Work
By: Stan Jordan
I know Valentine’s Day is here and gone, but if you didn’t shower your wife with the usual flowers and chocolates, how about this treat? Take her for a ride out in the country side.
Now don’t give me this “Aw Pshaw” stuff, just read the rest of this column.
On some nice afternoon, tell your wife you are going for a ride, just as you are. There are a dozen places you can visit right here in the Tri-State area. You can go see all the windmills in Paulding and Van Wert County, they are huge, along with all the deer, there is a lot to see in the Van Wert area. Stay off the main highways, there are a lot of good side roads.
You can go to Defiance and see the old locks on the canal at Independence Park and Dam. From that area, you go on down 424 to Florida, as this is full of eagles nests. You can enjoy all that Defiance has to offer, or swing up on U.S. 6 or U.S. 20, that is all good farming country, maybe swing around through Bryan.
My fine wife was always ready to take a ride. She would always thank me and say “what a nice afternoon” or words to that effect and I bet that you would get the same reaction if you would take your wife for a nice ride.
See ya!
Me And The Needle Program
By: Stan Jordan
I am still undecided about the benefits of this program. I have studied both sides of the report for the program and I read good and bad from both sides.
To me, they can turn in a used needle and get a completely sterilized needle kit and I think that says “just go ahead and shoot up, have a good time.”
I talked to a police chief about this and he was somewhat in favor of it. In his way of thinking, they are going to use drugs anyhow and new needles cut down on the risks of diseases such as HIV, aids and hepatitis. Most needles are free, and some programs require you get that same number of free kits. He says there is some good in the program.
Here in Ohio, medical marijuana is legal, but patients won’t be able to buy it for a year or two. Then they must have a doctor’s note and meet other criteria. And I am in favor of some type of marijuana in the remedy for seizures, it has been known to help some people.
You can bet people will find a way to get legal marijuana, illegally. Ohio has a long way to go on their marijuana program.
If those needle using people would get a job and work and not have so much idle time, all of society would gain from that.
See ya!
Eagles Here In Antwerp
By: Stan Jordan
I have been watching the eagles’ nest here in Antwerp and I would like to report that the nest had been rebuilt and is bigger then before. I must say that those two birds worked long and hard to get as much done as they did.
Now I talked to a number of people and they only tell of the two adults rebuilding the nest. Evidently the last year’s young are not to help with the building, they probably have been kicked out.
Becky Zartman told me about seeing one of the adults at work. She was walking between the park and her house and she saw an eagle dive down low and then back up to the top of a dead tree and he snapped off a small limb and flew back to the nest with it. Then she said she could see the limb at the top of the tree was still waving from the eagle taking the limb.
It looks to me like the nest will be ready for the eagles to start laying their eggs for the hatching season, about 30 days.
See ya!
Sam Rivers, Indian Agent Chapter 21: Buffalo Hunt With The Calamus River Tribe
By: Stan Jordan
We are here at the Calamus River Tribe camp. It is almost 30 miles from Broken Bow, in a north-northeast direction to a settlement called Burwell.
Well, that was a few days ago, when we arrived here. I haven’t written for a few days, as we are too busy and by golly, too tired. We have had good fall weather to work in for a week. These people pray to the sun god for warm weather, and I guess it works.
The lieutenant took part of his men and cut trees to make a cook out area, and for a place to hang their winter meat supply. Then he made a tripod that we could carry in one of our wagons, when we go on the buffalo hunt. That will help us put the buffalo carcass on the wagon.
The soldiers then started to cut trees for logs to make a bridge over the Calamus River, which runs right through the camp. So far, the natives have had to wade through the stream. It was agreed between the mess sergeant and Rapid River, their Shaman, that for meals we would fend for ourselves for the present time.
About the end of the second day, some of the scouts returned to camp and reported that they had spotted a good size herd of buffalo. One of the scouts stayed with the herd, and was to report at daylight just where the herd would be for the hunt.
Callie and I had the tripod in our wagon. The four soldiers with their rifles were mounted on horseback, on Indian ponies, plus some more Indians to drive the herd and help anywhere. A wagon load of squaws was right behind.
They found the herd feeding in a meadow just over the rise and the shooting started, and the noise and pandemonium broke out. The herd ran off to the right and the natives and all four soldiers after them yelling and shooting, and killing some.
This hunt, to me, is no different than the one over at White Elk’s tribe. The noise and the din had died down by the time we got to the first buffalo carcass.
We stopped our wagon and some of the Indian squaws started to remove the hide from the animals. Some of the ladies walked on down to the second buffalo and started skinning.
Like before, they rigged up the tripod and raised the animals, and finished skinning and gutting the buffalo, and cleaning him out. They backed the wagon under the buffalo and loaded him on the wagon. They threw the tripod on top and went to the next animal and the ladies had him ready to raise.
It is just like before on White Elk’s hunting trip. We took our wagon with two buffaloes on it and went to camp and hoisted them up to the holding log.
One of the soldiers had taken our one burner oil stove and made coffee and some natives made a corn cake, with a touch of salt and a little more honey, it was very tasty. Then it was back to the meadow for more hard work.
We returned to the kill area as the other two wagons did, and we got kill numbers seven and eight. The next wagon got nine and ten and the last wagon, an adult buffalo and a yearling.
All the wagons returned with their kill and hung them up. It was about an hour till dark. All the bridge builders were in and washed up. Then they went and brought up all the lanterns and hung them up by the new cook out area.
Everyone had gone down to wash up in the river. The smell of fresh meat sticks around for a while.
I guess there were about 20 squaws and their mates and 14 soldiers and the lieutenant, Soaring Eagle, Rapid River and their squaws. I guess in the area of 60 folks for supper.
The other natives had already had their evening meal and were making their good corn cakes. Corn flat bread, corn dodgers and some were with hot spice, if you liked that kind.
The soldiers had made a number of pots of coffee. The mess sergeant had become a hero again, he had fried up many skillets of deer and buffalo meat. He had plenty of baked potatoes. They put a baked potato in each man’s bowl and told him to cut it up and mash it. Then they poured hot grease and fryin’s over it. The sergeant had enough canned peaches to give some to all of the natives. Yes, the sergeant is a hero again.
See ya!
