NOVEMBER 2 — 1734 Happy Birthday Daniel Boone; ELECTIONS: 1832 Old Hickory Wins Again; Dia De Los Muertos ends in San Antonio
NOVEMBER 2
1734 — Happy birthday pioneer, frontiersman, explorer and entrepreneur Daniel Boone one of America’s first folk heroes.
Was a man. Was a biiiiig maaan. Spoiler alert: the TV show that depicted him that ran in the 1960s was exaggerations. First of all, he probably never even wore a coonskin cap. As an entrepreneur I think it’s interesting how he would repeatedly get it all, and then lose it all. American cultural favorite Daniel Boone was born in Berks county PA on this day in 1734, according to the Gregorian calendar.
His parents, who were Quakers, escaped England’s persecutions and landed at Berks County, PA. As a young boy Daniel was natural in the wilderness, and around 1750 the Boon family settled at the Yadkin River Valley area in North Carolina. The Lenapi Indians nearby showed young Daniel how to hunt and trap, and by the time he was 13 Daniel was literally feeding his whole family thanks to the rifle that his pa gave him.
In 1755 when local Indian tribes were threatening local settlements, 20 year old Daniel joined the militia and served in the French and Indian Wars under British Major General Edward Braddock, the same Braddock that ignored a young colonel George Washington’s advice on how to fight the Indians, perished in the Battle of Ft. Necessity. Along the way to Ft. Duquesne, Daniel, who was a Wagoner, met John Findley who had already travelled through Indian villages in the Ohio area, and told Daniel of a land called Ken-toock-ie. .
In 1756 he married Rebecca Ryan, and together they had ten children. He fought with the militia during the Anglo Cherokee War, and later he resumed his hunting and trapping career. Not sure if it’s because he had a bunch of children or not, but he tended to take long, shall we say, business trips. Dressed in his buckskin leggings and hatchet,, hunting knife, rifle and beaver hat instead of the coonskin hat he wore on the TV show, and head deep into the Appalachians, sometimes with friends called long hunters and sometimes buy himself, disappearing for weeks or even months at a time, checking out options for the manifest destiny,, returning with deerskin and otter pelts.
In 1769 he and his some buddies blazed a trail to present day from North Carolina to Kentucky, where he would be captured twice by the Shawnees. The first time he was told to leave and was released and the second time he had to escape. One of the men in his group was killed by natives and all his deerskin was stolen, Boone left but ignored the warnings and came back two years later, this time bringing his entire family with him along with around 50 immigrants, which probably wasn’t the smartest idea considering his past dealing with the Shawnees and Cherokees, but also the British government who had not opened the area to settlement.
They set up a fort at the Kentucky River and eventually six of his men, as well as Boone’s oldest son, were captured by the Cherokee and tortured and slaughtered. Many of the settlers headed back east, but Boon stayed behind, naming the area Boone’s borough. Boone’s Daughter and her friend were kidnapped, and Boone led a scouting mission to retrieve them, which he successfully did unharm.
In 1778 he was captured by the Shawnees again, only this time things were a little jollier as the chief decided to adopt Daniel Boone as his own son since he was so impressed by Boone’s hunting skills. After living with his new family for four months, Boone escaped, and returned to Boonesborough only to find his family split back to North Carolina, thinking he was dead. He got his family to return to Kentucky with even more settlers and created Boonestation but the title to the land saws stolen from him.
He was also a politician, being elected to the Virginia legislation in 1781. After the end of the American Revolution he established a port on what is now Maysville. In 1784 John Filson wrote a book on Boone’s adventures and discoveries, and he became an overnight sensation. He purchased thousands and thousands of acres of land and established a trading post in modern day West Virginia, the post failed and the land lost title to his land again due to debts and mad business mistakes.
The Spanish offered his family a nice place in upper Louisiana, now Easter Missouri, and offering him role of local judge in the town. But the French acquired that area from the Spanish, and the United States got it from the French during the Louisiana Purchase, and Boone was penniless again. On September 26 1840, Daniel Boone passed away at his son Nathan’s house in Defiance, MO, at 5. His legendary status continued to grown with best sellers written about his adventures, and one of his grandsons would establish Boone’s Ferry in Oregon, 1846.
Four of his descendants played in Major League Baseball as well, Ray, Bob, Bret and Aaron. Historian Roger McGrath called him an entrepreneur, a man in the make. He stretched the boundaries of society and law; he accumulated wealth through discovery and adventure and by violent struggle with the Indians. Happy Birthday, Daniel!
1795 – Happy Birthday James K. Polk, #11.
…Polk was born 1795 in Mecklenburg Country, NC in a log cabin. As a teenager, he needed surgery to remove stones in his urinary bladder. This was in the days before pain killers so they used whiskey as a sedative. He graduated from the University of NC in 1818 with honors. As a young lawyer, Polk opened up a law firm, and in 1823 entered politics, becoming elected to the House of Representatives in Tennessee.
He met Sarah Childress in 1821, and two years later they were married. Sarah came from a wealthy family; she was well-educated as well as charming, and would be Young Hickory Polk close confident during his career. Polk was nicknamed Young Hickory, incidentally, due to his close friendship with Andrew Ole Hickory Jackson. Young Hickory Polk was chief lieutenant to Ole Hickory during Jackson’s Bank War, where Jackson dismantled the Bank of the United States to form form a decentralized banking system.
Between 1835 and 1839, Polk served as Speaker, leaving to become Governor of Tennessee. In 1844, Martin Van Buren failed to win the nomination for president the Democratic party, and instead chose Polk, who would become America’s first Dark Horse, or long shot, presidential candidate. He ran against Whig party founder Henry Clay, who was opposed to Texas statehood. During the campaign, Young Hickory Polk favored not only the annexation of Texas but also the acquisition of Oregon. He won the popular vote in the presidential election by a razor-thin margin, but killed the electoral margin 170-105.
Young Hickory would become in a way, the most successful president in U.S. history by fulfilling all of his campaign promises: cutting tariffs, acquiring California from Mexico, settling the Oregon dispute with Great Britain, and establishing a sub-treasury – all in just four years. He shared many American’s views on the manifest destiny, which was to extend the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans.
Before he had a chance to even take office, Congress had already passed a joint resolution that offered annexation to Texas, allowing it to become the 28th state on December 29, 1845. This obviously severed diplomatic ties with Mexico. As far as Oregon was concerned, President Polk escalated tensions with Great Britain, but since neither countries wanted war, Polk used his political savvy and serious hardball maneuvers to gain full control over Oregon. That treaty was signed in 1846. California was a whole different situation. Napoleon of the Stump Polk offered $20M for Cali and New Mexico, plus forgiveness for damages owed to the US by Mexico. Mexico wouldn’t go for it, so he sent in Gen. Zachary Taylor to the disputed region of the Rio Grande, and Mexico considered that an act of aggression, and attacked Taylor’s forces.
After a very close vote, Congress declared war on Mexico, American forces won continuous battles all the way to Mexico City in 1848. Finally Mexico ceded New Mexico, Arizona and California for a payment of $15M USD as well as assuming American claims to damages. Meanwhile, inside the White House, Sarah Polk hosted the first annual Thanksgiving dinner, the first gaslight was turned on, hard liquor and dancing were banned, Iowa and Wisconsin owned the United States, and a bill was signed to create the Smithsonian. The U.S. doubled in size. He was nicknamed the Napoleon of the Stump since he was only 5’8”, and legend has it that Sarah wanted “Hail to the Chief” to be played when he walked into the room, since he was short and people couldn’t see him in large crowds. Keeping yet another campaign promise, he voluntarily only served one term.
Polk worked much more than he slept, and died shortly after leaving office at the not-so-ripe young age of 53. Most likely from exhaustion. The Napoleon of the Stump was buried at Polk’s Place in Nashville TN. Sarah outlived him by 42 years, supposedly wearing black every day after his death. His last words were “I love you Sarah, for all eternity. I love you.” Speaking of great quotes from James Knox Polk, No president who performs his duties faithfully and conscientiously can have any leisure. Happy birthday James!
1898 – The first recorded cheerleading begins at the University Of Minnesota. Guys don’t get excited, the first cheerleaders were dudes. Gopher Johnny Campbell led a crowd in the first Rah Rah sis boom ba. Since then you may be surprised at a list of notable cheerleaders I found. I was surprised, for instance, to find George W. Bush and Dight Eisenhower on the same list as Paula Abdul, Miley Cyrus, and Sally Field. If I were to do a list, I would probably put Snoopy from Peanuts as my favorite cheerleader, and Jan Brady from the Brady bunch as my last.
1832 – Voting begins for the 1832 Presidential Election.
Spoiler alert: Old Hickory wins again, this time beating Clay, Floyd and Wirt.
But this election was much more than Andrew Jackson winning his second term in office as President of the United States. There was a lot going on this year: the Bank Wars, the rise of Martin Van Buren, the Anti-Masonic, the Spoils system, and for the first time ever in American history, national conventions. First point: the 2nd Bank of the United States was nearing the end of its 20 year charter in 1832, and Secretary of State Henry Clay wanted to keep it. Jackson wanted to get rid of it. The keeper of the Bank, Nicholas Biddle, allegedly used the Bank to fund Clay’s presidential campaign. In fact, Bridle would work on “making Jackson pay personally for making the Bank a party question, “Clay would do everything possible to smear Jackson in the press.
The Spoils System was in place, which gave jobs and favors to friends and family who gave their support and contributions to the winner of an election, was now full in effect during Jackson’s administration. The Corrupt Bargain helped JQA to win the 1824 election thanks to the help of Clay, who was appointed Secretary of State after Adam’s won the election. The difference between the Spoils System and the Corrupt Bargain, in that regard, would appear to be four years. But that’s neither here nor there, though it was an interesting point of the 1832 election.
Meanwhile, Vice President John Calhoun from the south, who had also served under President John Quincy Adams, was constantly at odds against Jacksonian policies regarding several issues, but mostly the Bank. Old Hickory would veto the recharger of it, and his friend and New York senator Martin Van Buren would help Jackson dismantle it. Because of this upcoming showdown, for now Calhoun was out, Van Buren was in as Jackson’s vice presidential running mate meanwhile, after the disappearance of former arson William Morgan, conspiracies theories led to foul play since Morgan was an outspoken critic of the Freemasonry and through his ashes raised the Anti-Masonic Party.
This party was legit folks, at least for about 8 or 10 years or so during the 1830s, die by 1840, morphing into the Whigs, and would rise again in the 1870s and 80s. Two American senators were Anti-Masonic, William Palmer of Pennsylvania and Joseph Ritner of Rhode Island, and they were heavy hitters for the 1832 elections. And now for the first time, not only the first time America had a third party from which to choose, but all parties were separately meeting to garner support.
Much of the campaign smear had to do with Jackson’s bank war; notwithstanding, the Democrats win their second victory in a row with nearly 688 thousand popular, and a butt-whooping 219 electoral. Henry Clay of Kentucky, National Republican but not the same Republican Party we have today, wasn’t even close 530 thousand popular, and only 49 electoral. South Carolina independent John Floyd who probably didn’t even realize he was running, managed to come in third 11 electoral, and the Anti-Masonic William Wirt won 7 electoral and a little over a hundred thousand popular, in other words, right on par for a third party in an American presidential election.
The Democrats would enjoy these continuous victories until 1840.
1973 – The Y Bridge in Ohio officially becomes a landmark.
And why not. Famed aviator gone missing Amelia Earhart once quipped that the Y Street Bridge makes Zanesville the most recognizable city in the United States. And here I thought the name would’ve made it it the most recognizable. City. Moses Dillon, 3rd Street designer in Zanesville, says the bridge would run from the point opposite Main St. of Zanesville to an island at the mouth of the oinking River, hence north and south each way across the mouth of Licking Creek. So normally one would cross a bridge to cross a river, but this this configuration you could cross the bridge and still stay on the same side of the river.
Kinda.
It’s weird. The bridge has actually been rebuilt 4 times, the last one in1984, now complete with a stoplight at the Y to help reduce confused drivers. These days, the concept has caught on and there are Y bridges, or multipacks bridges, all over the world including a half dozen here in the US including Missouri, New York, Washington State, Florida and several others. Here in San Diego where I live one cannot leave the island of Coronado into the city without choosing to go north or south so the bridge splits there, not sure if that’s the same thing or not because I’m not an engineer.
dia de los muertos ends I San Antonio.
This tMexican three day event which of course started everywhere on Halloween like it does every year to honor friends and family who have died. Thousands of years ago the Aztecs used to spend the entire month celebrating this holiday, then it morphed into a Spanish Catholic tradition, ending it to this day, All Soul’s Day. Though it’s a historic part of Mexico’s culture it’s celebrated very much here in the U.S. particularly in San Antonio.
Candlelit processions, live music, parades, Mexican food, traditional altars and gritos, or spoken tributes to the dead, makes this the biggest Day of the Dead celebration than any other city in Texas, and for that matter probably the whole country. That said, there are plenty of great celebrations if you don’t live in Texas, here in San Diego CA there are events, in San Francisco Garfield Park has a huge one, with a candlelit procession of over 5,000 participants. Viva la Muertos! Wait that didn’t make any sense, did it?