By: Stan Jordan
The North American Badger is somewhat similar to the European Badger. He is found in western and central United States, northern Mexico and southwest Canada.
The American Badger ‘s habitat is open grasslands with available prey such as mice, squirrels, ground hogs and small rodents.
The badger’s family includes weasels, otters, ferret and wolverine.
Our badger have a stocky and low-slung body, with short powerful legs. They have huge foreclaws measuring from 2 1/2 inches to 3 1/2 inches. The male is a little large than the female.
Except for the head, the American Badger is covered with grizzled, brown, black and white coat of coarse hair or fur, giving almost a mixed brown-tan appearance. Its face or head has a black and white pattern and a white stripe from the nose to the base of the head.
Badgers are normally solitary animals, except in mating season which is late summer or fall. Young are born in March or early April, the litter runs from one to five young.
See ya!
No. 9
• There were two blondes in a boat and they were going to bury their brother at sea like he requested.
They rowed quite a ways out from the shore, then the one blonde went over the side of the boat, reached back in and took out a shovel.
• Blonde at work:
A brunette and a blonde owned and operated a small cattle ranch just outside of Apache Junction, Arizona.
They raised purebred cattle, but they needed a new bull. So the brunette went into Good Year to look for a young bull.
The blonde told her, “If you find a new bull, just send me a wire to come and get him. But all you can pay is $500.00.”
So the brunette did find a good young bull and the bull was $500.00 but if she paid that much she didn’t have any money left to send a wire.
The man at Western Union said the cost for a wire was a dollar a word. She only had one dollar as the bull owner would not budge lower than $499.00, so the brunette had to do all her talking to the blonde in one word.
So she told the man to send one word: Comfortable!
He asked the brunette, “How in the world will the blonde make a message out of that?” She said her blonde friend was a slow reader and would read: Com 4 de bull.
• Charlie was a little slow but he was kind and well liked by everyone in the area.
He ordered a new pump for his well from Sears & Roebuck, but when it came, there was no pump handle in the box that he could find, so he sat down and wrote a letter to Sears.
I ordered a new pump for my well from you folks and when the pump came, I couldn’t find a handle! I need the handle. What good is a pump without the handle? You folks should know a pump needs a handle. My cows, Bessie and Fredia, need drinking water bad. I might as well send the pump back to you because I don’t have a handle. A cow needs water and so does my wife, but a pump is no good without a handle. Please send a handle.
Dear sir: After writing this letter, I found the handle in the bottom of the box.
Charlie
See ya!
CORRECTION: Last week Sam Rivers was marked as Chapter 43, in actuality it should have been marked as Chapter 41. Everything is as it should have been except for the Chapter number.
Sam Rivers, Indian Agent Chapter 42
By: Stan Jordan
Well, we had a fine Easter celebration here at the fort, after the baptism of the twins in the church. We had a huge carry in dinner right out on Main St. of the post. This is April 1, 1856.
At the celebration we had foot races, horse races, trick riding and some horseman ship displays. We had a horseshoe pitching contest and a couple of ball games, and some quilting displays.
Rooster won all the foot races and did some somersaults and back flips. He is very light on his feet and well coordinated.
Some of the soldiers showed off what their horse could do, and somewhere pretty good. Along about 5:00 p.m. they rang the bell and it was time to eat supper, so the ladies could clean up the area before dark.
Yellow Tulip, the Indian nanny, gave some demonstrations on how the Indians made different colors that was very interesting.
Callie, the twins and I sat with the general and his wife in the warm sunshine. We talked about the summer’s work and some of the nations troubles and cares. A lot of the southern farmers use slave laborers. Some of the northern people want this practice stopped. I can see down the road that this will cause trouble.
He talked about the big train and railroad system in the east. The rails have been laid into St. Louis now.
He said the engine is ran by steam moving big wheels on the side of the engine and the wheels run on two steel rails about four feet apart. In a few years he said the rails will be right here in Fort Kearney. I can see a big change good and bad. Then the conversation turned to “When are we going back to the agency?”
Well, pretty soon, but I’m not sure which day. I have the wagons and animals ready for the trip. I would like to pick a warm sunshiny day- it would be warmer for the boys. This is Sunday, April 1, 1856, I think we will wait until Thursday.
“General, can we use the four soldiers again this summer? They are good workers and they know what has to be done and they go ri
ght ahead and get it done.”
The general agreed and said, “I will have the first sergeant to draw up the orders by Wednesday.”
Rooster will still be the runner or liaison between us. Rooster had left the fort on Thursday and he had a good fire going in our home and the store room, plus a pot of beans cooking out on the cook area. He had brought a bag of biscuits in his saddle bags. Anyhow, that meal was well received because we were all tired from the two-day trip. We were going to rest tomorrow and then start the usual spring work the next day which is Monday.
Well I haven’t written in a while because of everything else that has been going on here. Farmer plowed the whole garden and the pasture area. That part is where we cut the Timothy hay for the animals.
That took all day and into the late afternoon. Pony that Walks, the Shaman, half Moon, The Gardner, and about a half of dozen braves and a couple squaws from Limping Buffalos Tribe arrived at the agency. We spent all the next day planting out garden. Yellow Tulip took care of the twins and Callie worked the garden. She loves planting and watching things grow.
The mess sergeant didn’t come along this trip, so Rooster had a good meal ready for the workers and all. He had bean soup with a big deer bone in it. A couple of prairie chickens and some corn meal cookies. As we were eating and talking, two people on horses were coming into camp from the fort’s direction. One was an officer, and it looked like General Kearney. The other was a young nice looking army officer. I just couldn’t recognize who it was – Holy Moly! It’s Billy Metzger!
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