progressive involvement

Battle of the Saline River

A few miles outside of Ellis, Kansas is Round Mound.  It is, yes, a "round mound" that measures 2300 feet above sea level, but only perhaps 200 feet above the surrounding plain.  There used to be a country school, Round Mound School, at its base.  

The story goes that some railroad workers had been killed by Indians, and were buried on top of Round Mound.  Some years ago, you could (barely) see the outline of crosses on the summit, though these were likely placed later.

I passed this off as legend, but it turns out the story might be true.  In August of 1867, P.S. Ashley and a crew of six were surveying for the railroad when they were attacked by a small band of Cheyenne warriors.  Six were killed.  One, William Gould, survived long enough to get to nearby Fort Hays and tell the story.

Captain Henry Corbin, commander of the post, ordered Captain George Ames and Company F of the Tenth Cavalry after the Cheyenne.  The Tenth Cavalry were also known as the "buffalo soldiers," or "Negro Cavalry."  

Not long after leaving the fort, Armes called for reinforcements.  The 38th Infantry was sent out in support.  They didn't find Ames, but on the north fork of Big Creek, a few miles from present day Hays, they encountered about 50 Cheyenne which they quickly dispersed. 

Meanwhile, Armes and the Tenth Cavalry had continued on to the Saline River about 25 miles northwest of Hays.  They were quickly surrounded by about 400 Cheyenne.  Armes had the men dismount and fight on foot.  He ordered the unit to form a "hollow square" around the horses and march back to Hays, all while under attack.

The battle continued for about six hours, but this manuever, somewhat miraculously, worked.  About 10 miles outside of Hays, the Cheyenne disengaged.  In about thirty hours, the Tenth Cavalry had traveled 113 miles, fifteen of them under attack.  Casualties, surprisingly, were light--six Indians and one cavalryman.  Said Armes:  "It is the greatest wonder in the world that my command escaped being massacred."

The legend of Round Mound might well be true.  Those railroad workers would have been buried somewhere, and Round Mound would be a magnificent and somewhat ironic spot--the Indians used to use it to scout the area.

In any case, General George A. Custer should have read Armes' notes before heading out from Fort Hays to go to Montana.  He might have learned something about proper defensive positioning when faced with overwhelming numbers.

Image:  Officers' quarters at Fort Hays, c. 1867.

 

Rahmian humor

At a December hearing of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, Rahm Emanuel was quizzed for 12 hours on a multitude of subjects.  One person, who went by the name of "Queen Sister," even brought up Emanuel's leather jacket, which she called "the amazing technicolor dreamcoat."

Emanuel explained that the jacket was not really Joseph's coat of many colors, then asked, "What is the proper way to refer to you--as 'Queen" or 'Your Excellency'?"

Lectionary blogging: Matthew 5: 13-20

¹³“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. ¹⁴“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

¹⁷“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. ¹⁸For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.²⁰For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Translation:  You are the salt of the land, but if the salt had lost its taste, in what will it become salty?  It is good for nothing, except to be thrown out to be tread down by human beings.  You are the light of the world.  A city setting upon a mountain is not able to be concealed, neither do they light a candle and set it under the bushel, but upon the candlestick, and it beams brightly to all the ones in the house.  So let your light shine radiantly before the people that they might see your good works and might give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Do not suppose that I came to loosen the law or the prophets.  I have not come to loosen, but to make full.  For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass away from the law until all might be accomplished.  Therefore, if anyone might loosen one of the least of these commandments, and might teach the people so, that one will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.  But whoever might do and teach, that one will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I say to you that if your justice does not abound more than the scribes and pharisees, you may surely not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

 

Pay China, stiff seniors

Sen. Pat Toomey's (R-PA) brilliant plan if the House won't raise the debt ceiling.

Bedfellows, not that strange though

Yesterday on the Sunday talk shows, Secretary of State Clinton made sure to say that military aid to Egypt will continue.  The administration had earlier made mention that the $1.5 billion in military assistance was "under review."

Clinton wanted to satisfy not only Egypt, but also Israel, which had intervened to remind the administration that military aid to Egypt was part of the Egypt-Israel peace accord engineered by President Carter in the late 1970's.  Israel views the Egyptian military as a "stabilizing force" in the region.

150th anniversary of free-state Kansas

Today is the 150th anniversary of Kansas statehood, which came into the union just as the Civil War was starting.  In fact, Kansas statehood was, in some respects, the cause of the struggle.  

The nation was closely divided between slave states and free.  The "slave party" wanted to extend slavery all the way to the west coast.  Otherwise, they feared, they would eventually be out-voted in Congress as new states, if free, would swell the numbers of anti-slavery Congresspersons and Senators.

Both sides fought--literally--to bring Kansas into the union on their side.  "Border ruffians" from Missouri clashed often with "free-staters."  As the death toll mounted, the territory became known as "bleeding Kansas."

In response to the drafting of the Topeka Constitution, which would abolish slavery, the Lecompton Constitution, a pro-slavery document, was drafted and passed by a pro-slavery territorial legislature.  

Though it won the endorsement of Pres. James Buchanan, it was rejected by the leader of the Northern Democrats, Stephen A. Douglas, who sided with the Republicans.  A new vote was scheduled, and the Lecompton Constitution was overwhelmingly rejected by Kansas voters, paving the way for Kansas' entry into the union as a free state on January 29, 1981.  President-elect Abraham Lincoln, who once said, "If I were to go west, I'd go to Kansas," raised the first 34-star flag, as seen in this illustration from Harper's magazine.

Kansas, beloved Mother, today in an alien land, 
Yours is the name I have idly traced with a bit of wood in the

sand,

The name, that, flung from a scornful lip, will make the hot

blood start;

The name that is graven, hard and deep, on the core of my

loyal heart.

O, higher, clearer and stronger yet, than the boom of the savage

sea,

The voice of the prairie calling,

Calling me.  (James A. DeMoss)    

 

 

Bible scholar, Dom Crossan, discusses the meaning of "matrix"

Some people go to jail for this

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is amending his financial disclosure forms.  In the late 1980's, Thomas did not include his wife's income of nearly $700,000 which she made during a five-year period as an employee of the conservative Heritage Foundation--which, incidentally, must be rolling in cash in order to shell out that kind of dough.

Quote of the Day

"There is no theology here...They talk a blue streak without the slightest substantive foundation and with no evidence of any criteria."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, on theology in the United States