Let sleeping dogs lie

Have you ever had a nap that was so good, so absolutely perfect, that when you did wake up you had no clue where you were?  Maybe not even sure what day it was?  Elvis has those naps all the time.  It's pretty obvious when he wakes up.  I guess that's what happens when you're blind - day turns to night and night turns to day and to Elvis, it's all just one long unending night.

It's been 6 months since Elvis totally lost his eyesight and I would say that he, Donna, and I have adjusted pretty well to this new life.  I guess in all honesty, his days aren't too different than any other dog - you sleep all night and most of the day only getting up to eat and go outside to take care of business.  And that explains Elvis' every day.

Elvis does have a remarkable internal alarm clock when it comes to meal time - his appetite is working just fine.  He's usually up in the morning anytime between 5:30 and 7 and is ready for breakfast.  And I mean ready.  He bangs around the kitchen very impatiently as I get his food ready and finally hones in on his dish and attacks it when I set it down.  And at night, you can almost set your watch by his ability to start whining for dinner at 5 PM.

He continues to fight some type of lingering bug or crud - mattery eyes, runny nose, gunky ears, yucky wheezing - you name it, he has it.  The Vet keeps trying different types of antibiotics.  Some work better than others.  Unfortunately, his ailment(s) seem to impact his ability to smell and hear - not a good mix for a dog that can't see. 

Just when I think his life must be miserable, he'll wag his tail when I pet him or call his name.  He still jerks his head around at the sound of something rustling in the backyard trees, and he still carries his stuffed animal (his "Bear") around when he comes out of his kennel if we've been gone.  So I guess Elvis is still happy and content and that makes me glad.

I hope he can remember being the king of his backyard and chasing the rabbits and barking at the squirrels that inhabit his world.  As much as it would drive me nuts when he would bark and bark out back at everything, I do miss it now.  Once in a while he might let out a muffled bark but just like his vision, his voice has faded too.  We miss Elvis doing what Elvis did best - be a terrier.

He still loves to jump up on the couch with Donna at night when we are watching TV and I know Donna loves that too.

I guess in many ways our lives with a sightless dog really haven't changed all that much.  He's still a member of the family and his headstrong personality shines through and we all hope that never changes.  

Deadwood - my kind of town

Rather than go through a long narrative about the city of Deadwood and it's significance in the history of the Black Hills and South Dakota, I am listing out a number of interesting (I think) tidbits about the town, its history, and its story.  Fascinating stuff.

But first, this posting's musical flash-back.....

Gambling was once again legalized in Deadwood in 1989, here's some good music from that same year - go ahead and rock along - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rbm6GXllBiw



1868 -
The Treaty of Laramie was signed by the US Government and the Sioux Indians - no white men will be allowed to occupy the Black Hills

1874 -
Two prospectors accompanying General George Custer and the 7th Cavalry in Custer's exploration of the Black Hills discover gold in a creek near Custer.

Within a year, the illegal settlement of Deadwood swells to over 5,000 residents.

1876 -

Main Street in Deadwood - 1876

The first wagon train of gamblers and prostitutes arrive in Deadwood.  Wild Bill Hickok is also on this wagon train.  The goal was to bolster the existing illegal business trade (gambling, prostitution, opium trade, among others) along with the legal business trade.

Wild Bill Hickok

Shortly after his arrival, Wild Bill is shot in the back while playing poker at Saloon #10 by Jack McCall.  Hickok was holding what is known as the "Dead Man's Hand" of Aces and Eights when he died.

McCall was acquitted of the murder the next day by a hastily convened jury in the mining community.  He left town but was later recaptured and retried in Yankton (capital city of the Dakota Territory at that time).  McCall was found guilty and hanged in Yankton where the current city cemetery is located.  Despite a clear case of "double jeopardy" against a citizen, the first trial was considered invalid since Deadwood was considered an illegal town in Indian territory even though McCall was acquited.

Marker in Yankton Cemetery

Wild Bill Hickok is buried in a Deadwood cemetery.  Calamity Jane, a close friend of Hickok's, is buried next to him years later upon her death.

A small pox epidemic sweeps through Deadwood.

1879 -
A fire in Deadwood destroys more than 300 buildings.  Many residents leave town.

1889 -
South Dakota is admitted to statehood on November 2nd.

1898 - 
Gambling and prostitution become illegal in the state's constitution.  Both remain popular in Deadwood.

1894, 1899, and 1959 - 
Fires again destroys many of Deadwood's buildings.  Each time the city rebuilds.

1980 -
The remaining 4 brothels are finally closed down by State and Federal authorities.

1989 -
Gambling is once again legalized in Deadwood as a way to preserve the historic relevance of the city.

Some years back, HBO had a 3-year running series titled "Deadwood".  It is based on those early days in the town's history and the actors portrayed real people.  Some of the principles were -

• Al Swearengen (actor Ian McShane).  Swearengen was born 45 miles south of Des Moines.  His father later settled in Yankon.  He was the owner of the Gem Theatre - an establishment well known for it's gambling and prostitution.
 

Ian McShane as Al Swearengen

• Seth Bullock (actor Timothy Olyphant).  Bullock opened one of the first hardware stores in Deadwood and later became its sheriff.  He's largely credited with reducing much of the rampant crime in Deadwood.
• Solomon Star (actor John Hawkes).  Sol Star was Bullock's partner in the hardware business and a highly regarded civic leader.
• E.B. Farnum (actor William Sanderson) - Farnum owned the Star Saloon, the chief rival to Swearengen's Gem Theatre.

The series really does a good job of portraying the life and times of Deadwood in the late 1800's. 

Kevin Costner owns the Midnight Star hotel/resort in Deadwood.  He also owns a large acreage outside of town that was to become a gambling/golf resort.  This property is currently for sale.  He bought this land while in South Dakota during the filming of his movie "Dances with Wolves".

So let's plan on spending some time in Deadwood.  Just be careful if you get dealt aces and eights.

Crazy Horse

For today, I'll start out with the musical introduction first instead of the history lesson. 

Before we talk about Crazy Horse the person, let's talk about Crazy Horse the rock band.  This band formed in 1969 and continues to remain active today.  It’s most famous member, Neil Young, played with them from 1990 to 2014.  Here’s a classic hit from Neil Young and Crazy Horse on the Rust Never Sleeps album.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQhEvfeJocM (you need to get past the ad)

I really like Neil Young and he was/is one of the founders of rock music.  In 1966 he co-founded the band Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills and later joined Crosby, Still & Nash (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) in 1969.  Lots of really good music from him through the years.

OK, back to history......

Considered one of the bravest and fiercest warriors of the Oglala Lakota Nation, Crazy Horse is a well-known legend from the American West.  He was born in the early 1840's in northwestern South Dakota to the parents Crazy Horse (Senior?) and Rattling Blanket Woman.  So now I wonder if his name is really Crazy Horse, Jr.?  Do you think he and his dad got their mail mixed up?

A typical teenager, he stole horses from neighboring Crow Indians at the age of 13.
 

Like his father and like other famous Indian chiefs and warriors (Geronimo), Crazy Horse reportedly had visions.  His started these visions as a young man when his father took him to a site near Sylvan Lake in the Black Hills for their “vision quest”.  During these visions, Crazy Horse would see himself as a great and mighty fighter, complete with certain war paint patterns and colors needed to protect him from danger.  He also dreamed of fighting the white soldiers.

In 1864 after the Sand Creek Massacre, Oglala and Minneconjou bands allied together to fight the US Army.  This groups' first battles wereat the Battle of Platte Bridge and the Battle of the Red Buttes.

The next year Crazy Horse led an ambush against Caption William Fetterman and his company of 100 soldiers.  A group of 1,000 Indians killed all members of this company in what was called the Fetterman Massacre or as the Lakota called it, the Battle of the Hundred in the Hand.

Years later, Crazy Horse and his 1,500 men attacked General George Crook’s army of 1,000 cavalry and infantry and 300 Crow and Shoshone Indians in the Battle of Rosebud.  This is the same General Crook that has a historic house/museum in Omaha (it's located in North O on the campus of Metro Community College's north campus).   Crook was considered to be the greatest Indian fighting General of the US Army. 

General George Crook

The interesting point of this battle was the delay it caused for Crook’s army as it was attempting to join up with General George Custer’s 7^th Cavalry during the summer campaign of 1876 to put down the Sioux uprising.  During the Battle of Rosebud, it was reported that Crook’s delay was directly related to his fear of Crazy Horse and his fighting tactics.

George Custer's story is also an interesting one.  He went to West Point in 1858 and later graduated last in his class in 1861.  Due to the demands of the Civil War at that time, Custer was still appointed to the Union Army.  He earned extensive praise for his leadership and fighting qualities in the Civil War and was front and center in forcing Lee's surrender at Appomattox to end the war in 1865.  It was after the Civil War that Custer was then assigned to fight the Indians.

General George C. Custer

Because Crook couldn't join up with Custer’s soldiers as planned, the 7^th Cavalry was deeply undermanned at the Little Bighorn river in southern Montana.

The Cheyenne and Lakota had a 4-mile long encampment along the banks of the Little Bighorn River.  It was a week after the Battle of Rosebud, June 25, 1876,  when the 7^th Cavalry attacked this encampment.  During this attack, Crazy Horse led a flanking attack against Custer.  Despite his West Point education and Civil War experience, it was too late before Custer realized he had been outflanked by Crazy Horse and he and all his men died in battle.  Indian accounts from the fight agree that Crazy Horse was “the greatest fighter in the whole battle”, further adding to his reputation as a warrior.

Map of the Battle of Little Bighorn

There were numerous other battles between Crazy Horse’s tribe and the US Army in the following year.  However, due to continual harassment by the Army and depleted herds of buffalo to feed his tribe, Crazy Horse finally surrendered at Fort Robinson in Nebraska in May, 1877.  Early the next fall Crazy Horse was stabbed by a camp guard’s bayonet when it was thought he was leaving to resume fighting and he died later that night.

It's unknown exactly where he is buried but it’s thought to be somewhere near Wounded Knee South Dakota (southeasts of the Black Hills).

A quote attributed to Crazy Horse - "I was hostile to the white man...we preferred hunting to a life of idleness on our reservations. At times we did not get enough to eat and we were not allowed to hunt. All we wanted was peace and to be left alone. Soldiers came and destroyed our villages. Then Long Hair (Custer) came...They say we massacred him, but he would have done the same to us. Our first impulse was to escape but we were so hemmed in we had to fight."

Much later, a member of the team that worked with sculptor Gutzon Borglum on Mt. Rushmore, began work on the Crazy Horse Monument in 1948.  Korczak Kiolkowski began this work on sacred Thunderhead Mountain 8 miles away from Mt. Rushmore.  Kiolkowski died in 1982 but the work continues under the direction of his wife and the couples’ 10 children.  This work remains funded entirely by donations and private funding despite offers by the US government for financial assistance.

Crazy Horse Memorial

Thanks for reading this chapter.  Only 15 1/2 weeks until our trip!