The message to the Florida Legislature is clear: Don't mess with our state parks!

I feel nostalgic today. Not sure why although it may be that I have many years to be nostalgic about. To begin, I was reading the Sunday paper after freeing it from its two protective envelopes but first I had to shake off the water from my neighbor's pre-dawn sprinklers (the lawn looks great!). The meaty part of the Daytona News Journal, Sunday edition, is its Outlook section or op-ed. It includes some meaty opinion columns such as Bill Cotterell's exploration of next year's governor's race ("We're in for a fun race" wrote the headline writer with just a smidge of sarcasm) and Ingrid Jacques' "Trump's tariffs might bring back jobs at a price" and that price may be -- in my opinion -- America's democracy. That anyone might believe that the witless White House resident actually has a policy of any kind, well, I guess that's how we got to this dystopian hell in the first place.

My attention was focused in Florida state parks, trails and historic sites. Rick Christie's column featured letters from state park fans. Six weeks ago, Florida opinion journalists of the USA Today network asked residents to send in written and visual memories of state parks in an effort to save our 800,000 wonderful acres of pristine land from greedheads fronted by the State Legislature. Many writers have warned us about the paving instinct of developers. We can go back to Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' writing about Cross Creek and Paynes Prairie among other places. She was friends of some of Florida's early women environmentalists. From Florida Memory at the Florida State Archives: 

In Florida, Marjorie Harris Carr, May Mann Jennings, Jeanne Bellamy, Marjory Stoneman Douglas and Mary Grizzle are just a few of the women who worked to protect Florida's environment.

When I was growing up in Daytona, John D. MacDonald raged in "Condominium" about unbridled development. From afar, I read Miami Herald columns by Carl Hiaasen. I don't know most of Florida's recent environmental history as I was working to save and improve Wyoming state parks through  the arts. But those who never left and those who moved here for the Florida that is rapidly disappearing, you were on the front lines to save this heritage. 

I am a retiree returning to Volusia County. My prime growing-up years (13-27) were spent here in Florida's prime growing-up years (1964-1978). My eight brothers and sisters had their globe-trotting years. My brothers Pat and Dan were in the USAF and my sister Molly spent several years tending to new mothers at a base in Italy. My sister Mary tried out New Hampshire and my sister Eileen joined me in Colorado for awhile. Sister Maureen has lived in Mexico City and Lyon, France. Brothers Tom and Tim tried California. They all returned to Florida. I did not. Their roots were deep. Their memories are of sand dunes and unspoiled beaches, heading to Juniper Springs and Ichnetucknee, fishing for snook. camping in the woods. Mine too. 

So I wrote a letter supporting Florida parks and the legislators trying to protect them with House Bill 209 and SB 80. Mine is not featured in today's Outlook. But you can read it here. I reminisced about my days at Tomoka State Park and the Loop Trail. And the beaches where I surfed and hung out with my friends. Florida is a state park and a historic site for its rich heritage. Some of the latter is being scrubbed from school history books as I write because it involves genocide and slavery which apparently never happened although the park has a nice statue of Chief Tomokie of the Timucuan People based on a legend. There is a Timucuan Heritage Trail at Alexander Springs in Ocala National Forest. For some reason, it is "temporarily closed." I give you one guess as to the reason. 

I love this country!

I learned a lot from reading today's letters. Dana Hunsley of Panacea, a former park ranger and park safety officer at St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, reminded readers that the the Florinda Dep0artment of Environmental Protection (DEP) is better know as the "Department of Environmental Prostitution" for its tendency to favor greed over environmental preservation. Military veteran Tom Wonsiewicz of North Naples celebrated Thanksgiving with his family at Delmore Wiggins Pass State Park. He writes this: "The joyful noise, in many languages, of people enjoying life and each other in beautiful, natural settings is unforgettable." Frank Cover of Cape Coral credits a 2014 visit by boat to Cayo Costa State Park got him hooked on wildlife photography.

The message is loud and clear: Don't f*ck with our state parks. Make sure your legislators hear your pleas. Earth Day is April 22. That's a good day to fire off a letter or e-mail. 

The land of historical fiction is a great place to visit

I belong to the Historical Fiction Book Lovers Facebook group. I spend a lot of time there suggesting books on various topics. I'm surprised by the number of novels that I've read that are based on historical events or eras. One person in the group asked about Native American historical novels and I rattled off some titles: "Mean Spirit" by Chickasaw writer Linda Hogan, "Children of the Lightning" by Kathleen O'Neal Gear, and "Ridgeline" by Michael Punke. Hogan's 1990 book is about the infamous Osage murders in Oklahoma in which tribal members were murdered for their oil rights. If it sounds familiar, it's also the subject of the the non-fiction book, "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI" by David Grann. The book's been transformed into a movie due out in the fall. In it, the newly created FBI plays a role in exposing one of the grisliest conspiracies in U.S. history. While I knew about the Osage murders, I didn't know that the FBI blew the case wide open and that it helped propel it to bigger and stranger and unconstitutional things. But they're the good guys in this story. 

"Children of the Lightning" is an excellent novel by Wyoming writer Gear. The setting is the Central Florida East Coast and the Natives who made it their home in pre-Columbian times. Gear is not Native but she did her homework. I did some of my growing up in this part of Florida in the 1960s and 1970s. As I read the novel, I imagined Florida without the condos, tourist traps, and air conditioning. A slice of paradise but one with panthers and snakes, alligators and sharks. A wonderful read.

I reviewed "Ridgeline" for WyoFile in 2021. It tells the story of the Fetterman Fight (formerly called the Fetterman Massacre) along the Bozeman Trail's route in Wyoming. It's told from the POV of the tribes and cavalry with one particularly poignant view of the event through an officer's wife's secret diary. Punke wrote "The Revenant" in which mountain man Hugh Glass gets mauled by a bear and has to find his way home through the Wyoming wilds. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Glass but it's the imagined bear that steals the main scene. Grisly and scary. In high school, Punke was a history interpreter at Wyoming's Fort Laramie. He's also done his research on Red Cloud's War and has written a terrific novel. 

As I contemplated these books, I thought about books by Sherman Alexie, Debra Magpie Earling, and Joseph Marshall and poetry by Joy Harjo (Muscogee) and Simon Ortiz of the Acoma Pueblo. We're also seeing a revival of Native American series and movies. "Reservation Dogs" is an all-Native production that evokes the present and the past on the rez. Humorous and deadly serious. "Dark Winds" is another series featuring Navajo cops created by Anglo writer Tony Hillerman. In "1883," the bad guys are the killers from the Wyoming Cattlemen's Association and the guy in the white hat is an Indian who doesn't wear a hat. We writers like to see characters who defy stereotypes. We also like to see the times portrayed as what they probably were and not the whitewashed version as seen in old Hollywood westerns. 

I've read a lot of books. I have to mention one I'm reading now. "West with Giraffes" by Lynda Rutledge is a kooky tale of a 17-year-old hobo (Woody Nickel) in 1938 who volunteers to drive two giraffes from the East Coast to the San Diego Zoo. It's told from the POV of Nickel at 100 in a retirement home who writes his memoir and imagines one of the giraffes outside his window. 

I love the imagination writers bring to history. That's what fiction is all about. So many novels I admire were once just novels and now can be described as historical fiction. Every World War II novel including "Catch-22" and "Slaughterhouse-Five." Novels about the Old West, the Great Depression, even the 1960s and Vietnam. What was new is now old and that pretty much describes me too.

In "Ridgeline," a Wyoming tale of Hubris vs. Nemesis

Casting about on the new book releases during the summer, I came across "Ridgeline," a new novel by Michael Punke. He's the author of "The Revenant," an historical novel about Hugh Glass, a bear attack in the wilderness, and Glass's long journey to get revenge to those in his hunting party who left him behind. Leonardo DiCaprio played Glass in the movie which did for grizzly bear attacks what Jaws did for swimming with sharks. Seemed like a realistic depiction of what was the western wilderness in the 1840s. 

In "Ridgeline," Punke tackles what's now called the Fetterman Fight at the foot of Wyoming's Bighorns. On Dec. 21, 1866, a contingent of warriors from Plains tribes, led by Crazy Horse and Red Cloud, lured a U.S. Cavalry contingent from their new fort and ambushed them. Indians died but so did Fetterman and his 81 troopers. Next Tuesday will mark the 155th anniversary of that day. The author depicts the battle so realistically that it's easy to feel the heat of battle on that first day of winter so long ago. Anyone who has visited Fort Phil Kearny, the Wagon Box Fight site, and any of these contested lands in what is now Johnson and Sheridan counties. At the end, I was able to revel in the Indians' victory while still feeling empathy for the soldiers. They were guilty of that classic trait of hubris. They considered the Indians ignorant savages and learned otherwise. Funny how history keeps repeating itself. 

I reviewed the book for WyoFile and you can read it at https://wyofile.com/punkes-new-novel-shines-light-on-fetterman-fight/. Punke is a Wyoming native who grew up in Torrington and served as a living history interpreter at Fort Laramie National Historic Site. He's a UW grad and served as a U.S. trade representative overseas before returning to the West and now lives in Missoula. 

Here's the review's opener:

A good historical novel should be a ripping yarn, one that keeps us turning pages long after bedtime. The writer makes this world so interesting that we want to dash off to the library or the Internet to find out more. The novel’s historical facts should also be solid. Nothing like sloppy research to ruin a good read.

It’s a lot to ask. And into this mix comes the red-hot topic of the year: Which history should we teach our kids? Conservatives wax apoplectic about the New York Times “1619 Project” and its stated goal to tell the real story about slavery. Many prefer the history we learned in fourth grade during simpler times, that America is the greatest nation on earth, by jiminy.

Enter Michael Punke’s new novel, “Ridgeline,” published by Henry Holt and Co. It’s a story about what is known as Red Cloud’s War, which began in 1866 along the Bozeman Trail in Wyoming’s Powder River Country. 

Custer's ghost asks: Where have all the flowers gone?

Last week, the Wyoming Public Media page featured an article by Kamila Kudelska about a new book, Wyoming History in Art, compiled by the Wyoming State Historical Society. The book showcases paintings by Osage, Wyo., native Dave Paulley, who passed away in 2020. The paintings were commissioned in 1989 to celebrate the state's centennial. Historian Jeremy Johnston wrote the narratives that accompany the paintings. To buy a book, send an email to linda@wyshs.org

The WPM feature story showed one of the paintings, "Custer's Troops in Floral Valley, 1874." It shows troopers picking flowers and making bouquets. In the background, a wagon train rolls. At first, I thought it was a fanciful scene. "How interesting. The troopers killed at the Little Bighorn are picking flowers." I thought it might be some metaphor to what was to come two years later in another valley.

I hadn't yet read the book so I didn't know that it was a recreation of an historical scene. The soldiers are some of the 1,000-some that made up Custer's Black Hills Expedition. More than 100 wagons hauled supplies from Fort Abraham Lincoln near present-day Bismarck, N.D., down through northeast Wyoming and into the Black Hills. They encountered a flowered valley along the way. After weeks of barreling through the treeless plains of N.D., they were entranced by the wildflowers and stopped to pick them, make bouquets, and fashion wreaths for their mounts. 

I've lived in Wyoming 30 years and never heard this wonderful story. History is so filled with oddities. We see the echoes of those events down through our times. Custer was charged with exploring the area that hadn't yet been properly mapped by white folks. As an aside, Pres. Grant's staff mentioned that if he finds any gold, be sure to let The Great White Father know before telling anyone else.

Custer found gold among the wildflowers and all hell broke loose. A gold rush commenced and lands sacred to Lakota and other Plains tribes were invaded by rough men with demonic gleams in their eyes. Treaties had insured that the Black Hills wound remain in Indian hands. The Plains War erupted in earnest. It led to the pillaging of the Black Hills and the enmity of the tribes. Some 200 of the flower gatherers followed Custer into an ambush at what Native Americans call the Battle of Greasy Grass. 

It eventually led to the killing and atrocities that culminated at Wounded Knee. And the beat goes on.

The painting deserved a poem. So I wrote one, a prose poem. It was be a prose poem or it may be flash fiction. There doesn't seem to be a clear dividing line and maybe that's a good thing. 

Custer Botanicals

Custer’s Troops in Floral Valley, July 1874. It’s beautiful this painting by David Paulley. Oil on canvas, 24 by 16 inches. Mounted troopers on the Black Hill Expedition pick wildflowers under an azure sky of a Dakota Territory summer. A bearded trooper on a black horse clutches a bouquet of Goldenrod, Blackeyed Susan, blue flax. He looks behind him, over his bedroll, sees his young love back home run to him through Floral Valley. She wears a yellow dress, looks just as she did when her lover left for the West’s Indian Wars. She wants to send him away with a final kiss. She smiles, tears streak her skin. The sun dodges behind a cloud and when it reappears two years on, his love’s shining face is replaced by the paint-streaked dusk of a Lakota Sioux warrior. He wields a stone war club and runs to the fight. A revolver replaces the flowers in the soldier’s hand. The warrior charges. The soldier fires. The warrior falls, face pressed into the field of mashed flowers. The soldier looks up and more Lakota and Cheyenne and Arapaho charge him. They scream. Why are they screaming? Seemed like only moments ago he picked flowers in a valley, surrounded by fellow flower-mad troopers. In the distance, wagons rolled north, loaded with guns and butter, trinkets and liquor to becalm the natives. “It was a strange sight,” Custer reported to Congress in 1875, “my men with beautiful bouquets in their hands, while the head-gear of the horses was decorated with wreaths of flowers fit to crown the queen of May.” In Montana, 2021, Custer’s soldiers lie beneath the prairie, reach out for the roots of tickseed and yarrow, sunflower and beardtongue. Tell us your flower secrets. Tell us what it feels like among the bees and butterflies and sweet summer rain. Let us hold you again, wreathe our horses with you, inhale the blossoms of Floral Valley on this slow march to Valhalla.

History and storytelling in historical fiction

One of the great things about historical fiction is the discovery of familiar names whom I know little or nothing about. This, of course, makes me want to know more.

Dorothea Lange is known for the most famous photo of Depression America. You know the one – the portrait of the poor mother and child taken in a California work camp. The subject wears the gloom of the Depression in her eyes and her slumped shoulders. Something heroic about her, too, something almost mother-and-child Biblical. 

Lange took the photo in 1936 after gathering a lifetime of expertise and a lifetime of hurt, some of that at the hands of her husband, Maynard Dixon. I had heard Dixon’s name mentioned in arts circles and had seen some of his paintings at the Center of the West in Cody and the Denver Art Museum. I know nothing of the man.

Curiosity caused me to pick up the historical novel “The Bohemians” by Jasmin Darznik. It opens in 1918 San Francisco and I am curious about the era in American history because I am writing about it. I picked up the book from the seven-day shelf knowing I could not read it in seven days because I was guiding Florida family members around Wyoming for that week. Then I saw it was dedicated to California poet Rebecca Foust. I knew that if a fine poet such as Rebecca was attached to this book that it was a good one. So who cares about a late fee?

I’m only about two-thirds through the novel but know that Dixon plays a major role in Lange’s life and vice versa. I looked up Dixon to see some of his paintings and recognized several and his famous style. I looked up Lange to reacquaint myself with the famous photo. I didn’t want to read too much since I want to maintain the suspense that Darznik develops. Now I can continue…

How true is historical fiction? I fall back on this phrase: “This book (movie) is based on real events (real people) but is a work of fiction.” The fiction writer reserves the right to merge with their character’s protoplasm to bring them to life. It’s the writer’s view based on what may be years of research. The reader gets to decide if it’s a good and believable story.

“The Bohemians” seems believable. I’ll let you know my final thoughts when I finish.

I will tell you that “The Ridgeline” by Michael Punke is a true and believable story of the events in Wyoming during Red Cloud’s War in 1866. It focused on the characters involved in the Fetterman Fight. We see the Oglala side through Crazy Horse, Red Cloud, and some young warriors. We see the cavalry side from journal entries by a young bride who has accompanied her brash husband to Wyoming. Other “invader” voices include Lt. Crummond, the doomed Capt. Fetterman, the acerbic and aging Jim Bridger, several young soldiers, a camp follower, and an occasional snide look at policy-makers in D.C.

It’s a ripping yarn as I say in a review soon to be published on another online Wyocentric site. It’s cool that it was written by a Wyoming native but not necessary to the story. It’s a good read. Reminded me that the Fetterman Fight site (usually labeled “the Fetterman Massacre”) is preserved by the State of Wyoming as is the Wagon Box Fight and Fort Phil Kearny. Museums in Johnson and Sheridan counties have exhibits about the Indian wars. It’s often told from the conqueror’s POV. But remember: “Custer’s Last Stand” or the “Custer Massacre” used to be the terms for the famous national historic site in southern Montana. It was renamed Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument and was the first NPS entity to hire a Native American superintendent. To the Lakota or Sioux Nation, June 25 is Victory Day in the 1876 Battle of Greasy Grass.

Reading “The Ridgeline” helped me see the Fetterman Fight as a military encounter and a battle between opposing cultures. It’s the most notable event in a long line of battles between U.S. horse soldiers and the native horse soldiers of the Northern Plains. As a kid in the 1950s in the Rocky Mountain West, I was steeped in the glory of Custer’s Last Stand. As an adult, I now get to see the encounter from the POV of all sides. I am a curious adult. Not sure what schoolkids are learning about the Plains Wars. Let’s hope that a bit of reality creeps into schools now being assaulted by right-wing zealots who believe in a whitewashed version of history.

Read my review of Anna North’s alternative historical novel “Outlawed” centered around the Sundance Kid and the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang of Wyoming.

During a bad weekend for equality, I ponder the Catholic Church's social justice traditions

By now, everyone has viewed the video of the Catholic school boys mocking tribal elder Nathan Phillips on the National Mall.

To review, students from the all-boys Covington (Ky.) Catholic High  School are shown mocking Phillips as he beats the drum and chants the American Indian Movement song. Phillips is a member of the Omaha tribe, a Vietnam veteran, and one of the organizers of the Standing Rock oil pipeline protests of 2017. Videos show white school boys wearing MAGA hats. They also chant Trumpisms such as "build the wall." Obnoxious brats, sons of privilege. One wonders where their clueless hatred came from. One need look no further than our clueless hate-filled president, who mocks Native Americans with terms such as "Pocahontas" and references to the Wounded Knee massacre. They heard these things on talk radio or watched them on Fox News. Maybe they heard mockery of ethnic minorities around their house, from parents who shouted similar things at Trump rallies. Some teachers may be to blame, not so much for spouting racism but by failing to nip it in the bud. Certainly social media spreads the hate, although to blame the Internet for these boys' behavior is too convenient. It takes them -- and the rest of us -- off the hook. That's part of the problem.

Some Facebook commenters have urged the school to expel these students. Too easy. This is a teaching moment. Boot the kids from school and they will head off to the local suburban public school where they will remain smug in their ignorance. The Catholic Church has many teaching tools at its disposal. The New Testament, especially the Sermon on the Mount, is a good place to start. WWJD when confronted with a situation where empathy and understanding were called for? Phillips said in an interview that he was trying to insert himself into a brawl. He then tried to escape the melee but the smug-faced teen in the MAGA hat stood in his way. Here was a test to show what true Christianity looks like. Big fail, boys from Covington Catholic High.

The MAGA crowd loves to poke fun of "social justice warriors." Some of us, me included, proudly claim the term. Where did I learn the precepts of social justice? First, at home, then through the Catholic Church during mass and at Father Lopez Catholic High School. The nuns and priests and lay people taught us well. It's fashionable to criticize the church for its many transgressions throughout its 2,000 years. In recent history, we have the scandal of priest sexual abuse. Over he years, Catholic orphanages turned "unwed" mothers into pariahs and treated their young charges like cattle. The church loved its crusades and its bloody Inquisition. Spain and Portugal sent its men to the New World to convert the heathen and kill any who resisted. Nathan Phillips may be a product of one of many Catholic boarding schools, where youngsters were ripped away from their families and bullied into becoming good Catholics. The Catholic Church was a major player in the horror show of history.

It also offers me solace. Not lately, as I quit going to church. I used to find peace in the ritual of the mass. In adulthood, when sinking in the swamp pf depression, I found as much relief in prayer as I did from therapy and meds. I still pray. The main thing that turned me away from the church is what I sometimes refer to as its deal with the devil. The devil is represented by the evangelicals and their handmaidens, the Republican Party. The church decided decades ago that the war against abortion was more important than the spiritual health of its millions of members in the U.S. They allied themselves with the fundamentalists to impose a litmus test on its members. There are only a few questions on the test, I guess you can call it a quiz if you want. You are in the in-crowd if you oppose abortion, birth control, sex outside of marriage, women in leadership roles (including priests), and LGBT rights. This makes you a fellow traveler with the Evangelical Right Wing, a group whose roots are in anti-Catholic bigotry. Of course, Catholics did their own Protestant-bashing. When I was a kid, I was told it was a sin to go to a Protestant church service. I've sinned repeatedly in my adulthood.

So I'm a Cultural Catholic. My roots are in Catholicism but my present is not. I can't ignore memory. My final thoughts may be of a snippet of Latin from the old mass. My Irish grandfather and his rosary beads. Sister Norbert winding up to whack one of us misbehaving boys. Thankfully, I won't be thinking of how I hated Native Americans, Hispanic immigrants, Jews, Liberals, Obama, the transgender kid who just wants to use the bathroom, and all those other people who might look or think differently from me. I won't make others feel small so I can look big. That's a blessing right there.

LATER: Just returned from the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Black Tie Banquet at the Red Lion Inn. Full house. Sat at the Laramie County Democrats' table with Chris and Dem friends. Saw so many people I've met over the years, people I've met through the NAACP, Juneteenth and the arts. All of us were celebrating Dr. King. Guest Speaker was Dr. Olenda E. Johnson, Ph.D., a Cheyenne native who was the first African-American full professor at the U.S. Naval War College. Uplifting speech from an uplifting person. She talked about the late Wyoming State Senator Liz Byrd of Cheyenne who brought up the King holiday in the legislature nine times before it was finally adopted by that body's white majority. Talk about persistence and dedication. Now I'm home and realizing how wonderful it is to get out to meet people who make a difference day by day by day. Another blessing...

Literary Connection Part II: Craig Johnson, from book to screen to novella

For my first Oct. 8 post about the Literary Connection, go to https://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2017/10/we-ask-old-question-why-do-writers-write.html

At Oct. 7's Literary Connection at LCCC, I bought three books by Craig Johnson: "Western Star," the newest Longmire mystery; "The Cold Dish," the first published Longmire novel; and "Wait for Signs: Twelve Longmire Stories," including "Old Indian Trick," winner of the Tony Hillerman award.

I have others on my jam-packed book shelves and undoubtedly in some of the many boxes of books I have stashed around the house. I've read three of the author's Walt Longmire mysteries. They are well-written and exciting, with memorable characters. They are set in the mythical Wyoming burg of Durant in the county of Absaroka. These are stand-ins for Johnson's neighboring village of Buffalo in Johnson County. Johnson is not related to the Johnson of the county name. He is affiliated with Buffalo's Longmire Days celebration which celebrates the books featuring the mythical sheriff. It's a lot of fun -- I attended it during the summer of 2015. Johnson is the master of ceremonies for events. Presenters include a roster of the actors who bring the characters to life on the Netflix series. The writer and actors sign autographs and pose for photos with fans. There's also a street dance and a pancake breakfast. The Johnsons staff a pop-up store on Main Street where they sell Longmire merch. I have several T-shirts and books galore to prove their merchandising skills.

Johnson and his wife Judy live in the town of Ucross, just off the intersection of two state highways. Johnson has written 20-some books st the old homestead. The characters that he dreamed up come to life on the Netflix series. That must be awesome. He's said as much at the various talks and book signings I've attended.

Johnson presented the afternoon talk at LCCC's Literary Connection on Oct. 7. I couldn't stay for it. I had to get home to meet my daughter and go shopping. Family matters come before the matters of writing and everything else.

Netflix airs the sixth and last season of "Longmire" starting in November. The network cited declining viewership as the main reason it cancelled the series. Chris and I are long-time "Longmire" watchers. The Netflix version is edgier than its A&E counterpart. That's the way of Netflix. I have enjoyed the edgy "Ozark," which also features a rural setting -- Lake of the Ozarks in Arkansas. Netflix just cancelled the edgy "Bloodline" set in the Florida Keys. I watched season one and was impressed with the cast and acting and the non-sequential storytelling. Netflix said it was too expensive to produce. Who knows?

What makes a Netflix success? How edgy can you be until that becomes a stereotype? Stories thrive on conflict. You need real characters, too, people that are believable and are a bundle of contradictions too. Just like a great novel.

"Longmire" had something no other show has -- Native American characters or, at least, minorities playing Native Americans on the show. Lou Diamond Philips who plays Henry Standing Bear in part-Cherokee. The mother of Denver native Zahn McLarnon, who plays tribal police chief Mathias, was Hunkpapa Lakota. We have shows with Hispanic characters and African-Americans. With the death of "Longmire," Native Americans disappear from contemporary stories on the screen. A shame. Craig Johnson has gone out of his way to bring Native characters into his fiction and onto the screen. And he does his research.

The show's success has spawned novellas such as "The Highwayman" subtitled "A Longmire Story." The novella's cover prominently promotes the show. So the novels begat the show and the show begat novellas. Kind of interesting how this business works. I knew Johnson back when he was writing his first novel. The encouraging thing is that he's the same good guy he was back then. He rides for the brand, to borrow a phrase from Wyoming's Cowboy Code. Or to quote a line from one of the my favorite movies -- he's bona fide.

For more about Johnson, go to http://www.craigallenjohnson.com/.

What makes Cheyenne Cheyenne?

One of the best things to happen to Wyoming communities in 2014 is a resurgence of downtown redevelopment. Wyoming Main Street gets some credit for that. But the energy to get the job done comes from within the community. That's the way it should be, don't you think?

Rock Springs, Gillette, Rawlins -- all communities that refurbished downtowns in the past year. They rebuilt streets and sidewalks, added new lighting and purchased public art. Rock Springs and Rawlins provided funds for businesses to redo their storefronts. All of these places added business to their central core, the traditional heart of their cities.

What do I-80 travelers think about when they buzz through Rawlins? Who would want to live there -- it's so desolate? Sure, on a bitter January day, Rawlins can look at bit intimidating. Sure, the state's hulking gray prison lurks just behind the bluffs to the south. The rock escarpments that ring the town may look a bit foreboding to coasters. And that 60 mph west wind that strips the enamel from your teeth? Not much to say but keep your mouth shut. I suppose that's good advice anytime.

But there's so much to see and do. The intriguing historic prison is downtown and the site for some entertaining candlelight tours during Halloween season. The old prison even appeared on an episode of "Ghost Adventures" in which Zak & Co. discovered that the exploration of a quirky local home was almost as exciting as the haunted prison. We acknowledge that the show is filled with P.T. Barnum hoopla -- but it also showcases some great historic tidbits. And how many nationally-televised shows get to Rawlins?

Rawlins recently revamped their downtown streetscape and added two beautiful hawk sculptures by Boulder's Joshua Wiener. Next time, get off the interstate and do some exploring -- and maybe some dining and shopping.

It's the people who make the place -- and those creative ventures that people undertake. Art, music, writing, sculpting, cooking, ghost adventuring, etc. You just have to ask yourself: what makes my community tick?

What makes Cheyenne Cheyenne? That's the question we're asking locally. Everyone knows about our Old West heritage. Every July, we stage a big party with that theme at its center. But Cheyenne also is about transportation -- railroads, highways and air travel. That last one may be a bit of a surprise, as our tiny airport is outshone by so many others in the region. But our town has a storied history when it comes to flying. The Carl Spaatz Flying Circus, Eddie Rickenbacker's crack-up, Lindbergh and the Army Airmail Service, the advent of United Airlines, etc. -- you can look it up.

Dinosaurs walked here -- and I'm not just talking about Republican legislators. Native Americans were the first human inhabitants and Cheyenne, as its name suggests, is rich in pre-white-settlement history. Buffalo soldiers? We had them at Fort D.A. Russell.

We are enriched by the arts. An article in Sunday's WTE celebrated a banner year in music for Cheyenne. Arts Cheyenne will engage in an "arts blitz" in 2015 to build interest for a downtown Artspace project that will rehab an old building and turn it into live-work spaces for artists and -- possibly -- offices for arts groups and visual arts and performing spaces. The Children's Museum project is really taking off.

This is what Cheyenne needs -- thinking and acting locally. For too long we have thrown up our hands and ceded arts and culture and music and beer to Fort Collins. For good reason -- FoCo almost invented the craft beer scene in the Rocky Mountain West. It also has a thriving arts scene. But it wasn't always that way. When I was a grad student there in the late 1980s, nobody called it FoCo but they did call it an aggie town or cowtown -- a sleepy place which young people deserted on weekends to go to Denver and Boulder and the mountains. Meanwhile, bored kids from Cheyenne were traveling to Fort Collins because that's where things were happening. Weird.

From the Fort Collins Coloradoan:

Collin Ingram, a musician himself, says he's been in Fort Collins for the past three years and, in that time, has seen the music scene grow and expects that to continue.  

The next big step, however, is the community determining the value it wants to place on the music scene in Fort Collins, Ingram said.  

"We need to decide if the scene is going to be a cool thing that happens here — with bands and a couple festivals every year — or if we're going to kind of move toward the scene being a quintessential part of what makes Fort Collins Fort Collins … the same way beer makes Fort Collins Fort Collins, or the way CSU makes Fort Collins Fort Collins."

What makes Cheyenne Cheyenne? You decide.

And what makes Wyoming Wyoming? Volunteerism and generosity. Neighbors helping neighbors.

News comes about a devastating Dec. 30-31 fire in Dubois that destroyed several historic downtown buildings. Needs of Dubois is handling contributions for relief efforts. Send checks to NOD, PO Box 865, Dubois, WY 82513, and please note "Dubois Fire" in the memo of the check. You can also contribute online at http://www.gofundme.com/duboisfire. Almost $10,000 had been raised by noon on Jan. 2.

Might be time to change that obnoxious county name

The always-interesting Meteor Blades reported Wednesday on Daily Kos some good news that came out of  Tuesday's election. Amongst reports about Berkeley, Calif., passing the first tax on soda pop and voters approving legal pot in Oregon, Alaska and D.C., was this from South Dakota:

It's Oglala Lakota County now: Voters in Shannon County, South Dakota, whose residents are 92 percent Oglala, a division of the Lakota (Sioux) people, voted overwhelmingly to change the name to Oglala Lakota County Tuesday. The vote was 2161 to 526. Shannon was the name of a guy who a lot to do with prying South Dakota land out of Indian hands.

This could be a trend. Wonder if that could ever happen in other counties around the West? Wyoming already has a county named for Chief Washakie of the Shoshone. Washakie is celebrated throughout the state, with a statue in front of the state capitol in Cheyenne and a monumental piece of the chief on horseback in front of the main dining hall at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. Ever wonder how many Native Americans are in Washakie County? Approximately 46 out of 8,289 residents. There was a time, of course, when all of the people in what is now Washakie County were Native Americans.

It's only fitting when a balance comes to Western history. Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana used to be called Custer Battlefield. It's web site now acts to correct some of the history surrounding this place:

This area memorializes the U.S. Army's 7th Cavalry and the Sioux and Cheyenne in one of the Indians last armed efforts to preserve their way of life. Here on June 25 and 26 of 1876, 263 soldiers, including Lt. Col. George A. Custer and attached personnel of the U.S. Army, died fighting several thousand Lakota, and Cheyenne warriors. 

My town of Cheyenne, Wyoming, was first named Crow Creek Crossing by Gen. Grenville Dodge when he platted the place as a future railroad camp in 1857. Some of those who accompanied him on this expedition thought a better name was Cheyenne after the Cheyenne nation that traversed the area. I'm glad Cheyenne stuck, as Crow Creek Crossing sounds like the name for a gated community. Maybe there is one by that name. Not sure what Crow Creek looked like in 1857, but these days it's a quaint little stream that only gets significant during spring flash floods.

Our county is named for Jacques La Ramee, a French-Canadian fur trapper who frequented these parts. His name is attached to a Wyoming county, city, river and peak, among others.  

In Colorado, the name of Col. Chivington has been wiped from the map for his role in leading the Colorado militia that slaughtered Indians, many of them women and children, at the Sand Creek Massacre. The Sand Creek Massacre Trail now criss-crosses Wyoming and Colorado, its path marked by commemorative signs. Here's some info about it from the Miniscule Guide to Cheyenne blog:

The Sand Creek Massacre Trail in Wyoming follows the paths of the Northern Arapaho and Cheyenne in the years after the massacre. It traces them to their supposed wintering on the Wind River Indian Reservation near Riverton in central Wyoming, where the Arapaho remain today. The trail passes through Cheyenne, Laramie, Casper, and Riverton en route to Ethete in Fremont County on the reservation. In recent years, Arapaho youth have taken to running the length of the trail as endurance tests to bring healing to their nation. Alexa Roberts, superintendent of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site, has said that the trail represents a living portion of the history of the two tribes.

The Wind River Reservation butts up against Fremont County, Wyoming, and is named for John C. Fremont, celebrated in history books as "Pathfinder of the Rocky Mountains." He also was incredibly ambitious, passive-aggressive and impulsive. He was the Republican Party's first presidential nominee but lost in a three-way race against the Democrats and the Know Nothing Party, which accused Fremont of being a Catholic. This incited horrors in the Know Nothing's immigrant-hating followers. You see the same reaction in Tea Party members today. When the Civil War erupted, Lincoln appointed Fremont as general of the armies of the West. Lincoln fired Fremont for issuing his own Emancipation Proclamation, although two years later, Lincoln issued a similar one. 

Wyoming's Fremont Peak, Fremont Canyon and Pathfinder Reservoir all are named after John C. Fremont. The Pathfinder's expeditions certainly opened up the West for the exploitation of its native inhabitants. But if we changed all of the places in the West named for impulsive explorers and money-grubbers and Indian traders and Indian killers and land-grabbers, well, we'd have to change a lot of names.

Sherman Alexie at UW on Oct. 15

Sherman Alexie, author of “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” will lecture and sign books Tuesday, Oct. 15, 7 p.m. in the University of Wyoming  College of Arts and Sciences auditorium in Laramie. The event is free and open to the public.

"Listening to Nature" features Navajo poet Sherwin Bitsui & friends

This comes from the fine folks over at the Wyoming Outdoor Council:

Listening to Nature is an annual community event featuring readings and visual artwork by scientists, writers, and artists!

Navajo poet Sherwin Bitsui will join Wyoming presenters to read poems, essays, and other works. The readings will be preceded by a reception.

This year you can catch the event in both Laramie and Riverton.

Receptions for both evenings start at 6:30 p.m., readings at 7 p.m.

Laramie: Friday, October 11
Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center, University of Wyoming campus
Riverton: Friday, October 25
Wind River Room, Intertribal Education and Community Center, Central Wyoming College campus

Both evenings are free and open to the public!

The Wyoming Outdoor Council is co-hosting both events along with the University of Wyoming’s Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, the MFA Program in Creative Writing, the American Indian Studies Program, and Central Wyoming College.

For more information contact: Emilene Ostlind, 307-766-2604, emilene@uwyo.edu

Cowboy culture is important, but don't forget about the vaqueros, Native-Americans, railroads, dinosaurs, and so on

Nifty staff editorial in this morning's Wyoming Tribune-Eagle. It argues that the city's Downtown Development Authority should follow the recommendations of the national Main Street group. Main Street urges Cheyenne: "Do not adopt a theme, like cowboys, for its downtown."

The writers launch the editorial with this quote from the paper's comments section:

"Oh Please! Enough of this stupid cowboy stuff. It's past time for this ... town to grow up!"

Here's another one:

"Cheyenne is Western. It is cowboys ... Most citizens of Cheyenne do not need newbies to make non-Western decisions for the rest of us who love the Western way of life."

Just what is the "Western way of life?" Hard to say. The West's cowboy culture spawned a world of film, TV shows, books, handcrafted saddles, rodeo, storytelling, and song. That's a rich trove of material. It's celebrated in rodeos, such as our own CFD in Cheyenne, and in events such as the annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. Wyoming boasts a number of talented cowboy poets and musicians, many of whom actually spent time working on horseback -- Mike Hurwitz, Jared Rogerson, Andy Nelson.

Celebrate the cowboy but don't forget the Native American. The roots of the Western tribes go back much farther than the cowboy's. The dominant culture has just begun to appreciate this world. Much of what makes up cowboy culture was borrowed from The First Peoples and even The Second Peoples -- Spanish vaqueros predated the Wyoming cowboy by centuries. The term "buckaroo culture" is used by Hal Cannon, founding director of the Western Folklife Center in Elko. Folklorists contend that "buckaroo" is an Americanization of "vaquero."

And what about horse culture? Long before Lakota and U.S. cavalry clashed on horseback, the Mongols, Cossacks and Arabs used horses as weapons. Forget about Hollywood-style cowboys for a second. We should celebrate many centuries of horse culture in the West. It's a shame to carve out a few decades of Western history and declare this the theme for all time. We have a rich and varied history. And I haven't even mentioned railroads, energy booms-and-busts, politics, dinosaurs, weather, geology, immigration, the military and agriculture.

Let's not have one theme to our downtown. We are a complicated people. Let's reflect that in the ways that we revitalize our city.

Other people inhabited Wyoming before the conservative know-it-alls arrived

This Facebook meme comes from my Cheyenne Dem pal David Neil Dibble. It adds a few more talking points to the Rep. Hans Hunt "love it or leave it" debate. See more here and here. 

Henry Real Bird will conduct "Shadow of Home" writing workshop March 3 at the Laramie County Public Library

In conjunction with Wyoming's Poetry Out Loud state competition, guest judge and Native-American poet Henry Real Bird will be facilitating a public workshop on Sunday, March 3, at the Laramie County Library, from 1:30 to 4:00 p.m., in the Cottonwood Room on the main floor.

Henry's theme for the workshop, "Shadow of Home" will "take participants beyond reflection and past the stars, sending our thoughts in search of rhyme, exploring realms of dreaming in sound and tunes of a life." 

This workshop is free and open to the public.

"Captured Justice" textbook cover features "Incarceration" poster designed by Laramie artist Felicia Follum

Laramie artist Felicia Follum shared this news today on her blog:

My poster "Incarceration" was recently used as a textbook cover for a Native American History and Public Law textbook.  I was ecstatic when I received the hard copy in the mail. It looks great!!

The idea for this poster was largely inspired by growing up in Rapid City, South Dakota, and seeing the mistreatment of, and racism toward, Native Americans.  The poster was created as part of a series addressing the conditions on American Indian Reservations (specifically Pine Ridge and Rosebud) after many hours of research.  The photo is an unknown chief from a portrait photography book.

"Captured Justice: Native Nations and Public Law 280″ is by Duane Champagne and Carole Goldberg. You can purchase the book online at Carolina Academic Press or on Amazon.com.

Cheyenne lecture about the Indian Removal Act documents "The Dark Side of American History"

Blame "Old Hickory"

A sordid tale, but one that needs to be told, and will be this week at the Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne:

The Indian Removal Act, an unpopular and controversial part of the settlement of the American West, will be the focus of this month’s Wyoming State Museum lecture series presentation on Tuesday, May 8, at 7 p.m.

Dr. Robert Munkres, of Estes Park, Colo., presents “Indian Removal: The Dark Side of American History.” His presentation discusses the problematic relations between the Anglo population and the tribes native to the regions being settled.

Increasingly, white authority called for the removal of native tribes to the West, culminating in the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

This presentation describes the implementation of the act, together with the terrible cost it imposed upon the Native American population.

For more information about this and other State Museum programs, please call 777-7022. The Wyoming State Museum is located in the Barrett Building, 2301 Central Avenue in Cheyenne.

Smoke and Black Hawks and history in the air over Mount Rushmore

We cruised up to Mount Rushmore National Memorial yesterday afternoon. It's a 27-mile drive from Rapid City past a weird assortment of tourist attractions -- sprawling waterslide parks, Bear Country USA, Reptile Gardens ("See Maniac, America's Giant Crocodile"), Old MacDonald's Farm petting zoo ("Pig races!"), Black Hills Maze, Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns, etc. Most are closed for the season. A few are closed for good.

Anyway, we got to Mount Rushmore. I've been there but my wife Chris has not. I took the kids there 13 years ago when my son was at Boy Scout summer camp near Custer. It's an impressive place. It took 14 years and 400 workers and a million dollars and tons of dynamite to carve the faces of four presidents into Harney Peak Granite. Why bother, you might ask. But therein lies the tale. Local promoters thought it would be a great celebration of American freedom and a terrific tourist attraction. They were right about the latter. The former is still being debated, which seems fitting. The ranger at the visitor center said there was a recent History Channel documentary that called Mt. Rushmore a "testimonial to white privilege." Or maybe that was "testament to white privilege." He seemed upset by the idea. But you have to admit that those are some big white faces up there on a mountain that is still claimed by High Plains Indian tribes. I'm not privy to the current state of white-Indian relations regarding Paha Sapa. But it's always been testy, not to mention bloody.

We took many photos. We walked the Presidential Trail. A beautiful day in the Black Hills. As we made our way from one interpretive placard to another, we heard the sounds of a helicopter. Looked up to see a Black Hawk hovering nearby. We wondered if it was some sort of spring weekend military demonstration. Or maybe a visit by a V.I.P.? A president, perhaps? But we would have heard about that.  

The Black Hawk dipped behind the trees, hovered, and the buzzed off. We forgot about it until we got back to our car in the parking lot and saw a plume of smoke on a nearby ridge. Uh oh. The Rapid City Journal's cover story Saturday morning talked about the extreme fire danger caused by unseasonably warm temps and high winds. On our return to Rapid City, we passed fleets of police cars and firefighting trucks blocking a side road. Smoke was in the air. So was a Black Hawk.

Good news. The authorities jumped on the fire and put it out quickly. The cause appears to be target shooters, as shotgun shells littered the charred ground and targets were affixed to surrounding rocks. Not sure what to say about that. There are many things one can do safely in a tinder-dry forest. Discharging firearms is not one of them. 

Grassroots filmmaking bringing classic novel by Montana's James Welch to the screen

"Winter in the Blood" directors Andrew and Alex Smith answer questions with documentary filmmaker Tracy Rector, left, at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival at the Wilma Theatre Saturday evening in Missoula. Rector's documentary "Visionary Insight" showed the behind-the-scenes story of the Smith brothers grass-roots film. Tribune photo by Michael Beall.

These grass-roots filmmakers in Montana show us how it’s done in the Rocky Mountain West. From a successful $67,000 Kickstarter campaign to donated food to volunteer sweat equity, the Smith Brothers found new and interesting ways to make a home-grown film based on James Welch’s classic novel, “Winter in the Blood.” Read the details in this excellent Great Falls Tribune story by Michael Beall. I read about it first on the 4&20 Blackbirds blog. Thanks for the tip, Lizard! 

More Arizona craziness: Tucson schools ban books by Chicano and Native-American authors

Can you imagine a school district anywhere banning the writing of Sherman Alexie, Leslie Marmon Silko, William Shakespeare, Roberto Rodriguez, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Sandra Cisneros and Henry David Thoreau?

This is what the Unified Tucson School District board did when it ordered the removal of "Rethinking Columbus" and other books from the curriculum. This was in response to the Arizona State Legislature's banning of ethnic studies classes in all public schools.

The Know Nothings in the Arizona Legislature are an international embarrassment. They have the upper hand now, but it won't last forever. The voices of these talented authors will outlast the barking of the bigots. Authors such as Alexie and Silko and Baca and Rodriguez and Cisneros are writers of the West. They write about the struggles that go on every day in Wyoming and Utah and New Mexico and Arizona. Their voices are loud and clear. Too loud and too clear and too popular for close-minded bigots in state legislatures across the West.

Read more here: Tucson schools bans books by Chicano and Native American authors | the narcosphere

P.S.: When the Arizona Legislature was first considering banning ethnic studies classes in May 2010, I penned a modest satire on the subject, "Ethnic Studies 212: The Superiority of the Irish." The post has received thousands of hits in the past 18 months and remains one of the most popular pieces on Hummingbirdminds. Read it at http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2010/05/ethnic-studies-212-superiority-of-irish.html

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day events celebrate diversity & equality across The Equality State

From Dan Neal at the Equality State Policy Center:

State residents will celebrate Martin Luther King Day with in communities across Wyoming including in Riverton where Rez Action, a group working with the Equality State Policy Center, plans a march and speeches by three leaders of the Wind River tribes. 

“We invite all those who want to celebrate equality to march with us to honor the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,” a news release from the organizers says. “We march in celebration of equality and Dr. King’s vision of ‘that all of us will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.’” 

Other events are planned in Laramie and Casper. 

Tribal members Micah Lott and Molly Holt are two of the Rez Action members staging Monday’s “Embrace Equality Celebrate Diversity” event in Riverton. Participants will rendezvous at 1 p.m. at City Park for the march to City Hall. State Rep. Patrick Goggles, the House minority leader who represents HD33, will speak as well as former state representative Scott Ratliff, now an special assistant on Native American issues to U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, Northern Arapaho tribal liaison Gary Collins, and Riverton activist Cody Green. 

For information, please contact Micah Lott at 307-851-1344 or micah.lott93@gmail.com. Rez Action members describe the group as an organization of “dedicated activists who fight social injustice, discrimination, and advocate for a healthy environment.” 

The Casper NAACP will host the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day March and Rally starting at 11 a.m. at Casper’s City Park at Center and 7th streets. Marchers will walk to the United Methodist Church downtown. Eastern Shoshone Tribal elder Ivan Posey will speak. Members of the Wind River Unity Youth Council will participate as dancers with the Scout River Drum Group. Following a soup lunch at the church, the Unity group will conduct a workshop at 1 p.m. In Casper, contact Nurieh Glasgow at 234-3428 or Janet de Vries at 268-2446 for more information. 

A third march is planned on Jan. 16 in Laramie. Marchers will walk from the Albany County Courthouse to the University of Wyoming Student Union starting at 4 p.m. followed by a supper in the union ballroom. As part of its Martin Luther King Jr./Days of Dialogue, actor Hill Harper will speak at 1 pm. Jan 18 at the Wyoming College of Arts and Sciences auditorium. A full schedule of events is available here. 

In Cheyenne, a march is planned at Noon from the old Union Pacific Railroad Depot up Capitol Avenue to the state Capitol. Gov. Matt Mead and Mayor Rick Kaysen will speak along with State Auditor Cynthia Cloud, and State Supt. of Public Instruction Cindy Hill. The march is being organized by the Love and Charity Club. Contact moderator Rita Watson at 307-632-2338 for more information.