Fort Defiance....Little Known Fact!

Today I was engaged in a conservation about property lines and state boundaries in NW Ohio. To stimulate conservation I related a little know fact that all property and boundary lines north of Defiance Ohio to Canada are measured off the baseline of the flagstaff located at Fort Defiance. Fort Defiance was built by General Anthony Wayne in August 1794 at the confluence of the Auglaize and Maumee Rivers and played an important role securing lands for a growing nation. Two hundred years later actions taken by our ancestors are affecting everyday life from state boundries, county lines, townships, personal property in NW Ohio to the taxes we pay all because of a flagstaff located at Fort Defiance, Defiance Ohio.

PhotoHunt #78: Curvey

Among the most beautiful and enigmatic of all prehistoric Indian remains is a group of objects which are called slate artifacts or merely slate. Slate artifacts such as the pendants and gorgets have long been the most popular of all prehistoric Indian relics among collectors. The actual function of these slate pendants is not known and only through archaeological investigation can their true purpose be revealed. The three slate pieces pictured above (left to right) Keyhole pendant, Logan County, Ohio; Keyhole pendant, Ashland County, Ohio; Pentagonal pendant, Wood County, Ohio., have convex ends and concave sides making then the perfect fit for this weeks PhotoHunt: curvey

The Gadsden Purchase

While reviewing the industrial sites that my employer monitors in Mexico a friend mentioned the Gadsden Purchase which I had not heard of before. Searching the web for information I found that in 1854, the United States purchased a strip of territory (approximately 30,000 square miles) from Mexico in what is now southwestern New Mexico and southern Arizona. The purchase price was $10 million, which at the time was greatly overpriced for what was essentially desert lands, because this price reflected the public sentiments at the time. Many Americans considered the price of the Gadsden Purchase as "conscience money" or additional compensation for the earlier purchase of vast tracts of land under the 1848 Guadalupe-Hidalgo Treaty (American-Mexicam War of 1848). This is interesting because the acquisition of land in this purchase defined the present boundaries of the continental United States.

Cumberland Gap

Several months ago I stood on the same pinnacle as Daniel Boone and viewed the same landscape, then a wilderness now called Kentucky. It was an awesome view and I can only imagine what Daniel Boone viewed and thought in 1775 when it was a wilderness. I wonder then if he knew the high price he and other settlers would pay with their lives trying to forge a living and expanding the young nation westward.

U.S. Army College Plan

The United States Army plans to offer accredited college credit hours for its training programs with enough offerings that a soldier could retire with a bachelor's degree. The college of the American Soldier program is a recruitment tool as the Army seeks to expand its force. The Army is working with colleges to get its program accredited and hopes to have it running in February 08.
Under the plan, every recruit in basic training will have the option of obtaining a technical certificate in a skill such as welding or a potential 17 hours of college credit in leadership, first aid, and other areas. The idea being by the time your a staff sergent, somewhere between 6 and 10 years in the Army you're going to have your associate's degree. Those who continue in the service and retire as sergent or sergent major could earn a bachelor's degree. Along with the current educational incentives this will be the most educated Army in the world and a outstanding way to help service personal achieve goals that will last a life time.

Presidental Families: George Washington

Fostering was the common practice in the colonial era, of taking in children of relatives who could not care for their offspring, or children who had been left orphans. Because of the unusually high birth and death rates of the period, many children were left with a single parent or no parent at all. In such cases relatives took in the children and raised them as their own, but without a formal adoption process. This custom was embraced in the George Washington and John Adams family.

Show me the Money! The real one....

Well it looks like the United States Mint has changed yet another bill, this time it's the $5 Bill. The United States Mint added, moved and deleted some features of the $5 Bill to make it harder to counterfeit. What they added was the color "purple" and moved the security strip from one location to another. What they removed was the ever popular oval frame that surrounded the President Lincoln and the Lincoln Memorial. I was a bit shocked but not surprised to find out that the 5 dollar bills were bleached and then were reprinted as fake 100 dollar bills. Apparently the features of the $5 and $100 were similar so the counterfeiters didn't have much trouble swapping the two. Well let's see how long it will be until the next face lift.

PhotoHunt # 77 Original

These arrowheads are all original to Ohio and were found within a ten mile radius of my home in Swanton Ohio by me. They represent a diverse history of Northwest Ohio spanning 9,500-500 years of North American history and are my PhotoHunt entry "Original".

Treating Depression!

Someone I love dearly is suffering from depression and I can attest that the treatment of mood disorders is not a simple matter. It is not so simple as diagnosing depression and writing a prescription for Zoloft or Effexor. The individual causes of depression are diverse and poorly understood. The antidepressant medications used to treat it are just as diverse and matching a drug with an individual is not a clear cut decision. Individual symptoms, co-existing illness, tolerance of side-effects, and other medications previously tried are just a few factors that must be considered.

Surprised!

I was very surprised to find "Shadow" our family cat sleeping in my car. He doesn't like cars; at least that is what I thought by his reaction when we take him to the vet.

Smaller is Better!

This story comes to you from Olympia, Washington. A woman who says she doesn't really need anything except for a smaller place has done so by building herself a 84-sq-ft. dream home (roughtly 10' by 20') and relying on solar energy and a propane tank to run her day to day utilities and uses. Dee Williams is quite content with her new home and doesn't see the need to have a larger one. I know a few friends in Ohio and North Carolina that would probably do this just to save some money on expenses as well. Someone making $35-$40 thousand a year can find themselves having a lot of extra money in the bank that can be used on other necessities. As the cliche goes "You Go Girl".

Sad Mystery

I became aware of this mystery when I was in the 6th grade attending Central Middle School in Laurinburg NC. After school, a friend took me to the local funeral home a block away and stowed in the corner of the garage where the Hurst were parked stood a 5 foot by 2 foot wooden box on edge. Opening the lid of that box, I jumped and yelled and needless to say I ran all the way home (about a mile). Inside rested the remains of the man we called Spaghetti. A carnival worker killed in a fight in Laurinburg in 1911. The body was to be claimed but never was and so time passed and he ended up in that corner of that garage. I paid several visits to that wooden box to satisfy my curiosity and to this day have vivid memories of that man. Carefully reading the photo will answer the end of this mystery. If anyone wishes to enquire about the rest of the story then comment and I will respond.

I Feel Patrotic!

I heard on the news today that 10 American Solders died in combat operations in Iraq over the weekend. The human sacrifice for this flag is very high. I pray its not in vain. God Bless This Flag.

A Little Known Fact

Today I was engaged in a conservation about property lines and state boundaries in NW Ohio. To stimulate conservation I related a little know fact that all property and boundary lines north of Defiance Ohio to Canada are measured of the baseline of the flagstaff located at Fort Defiance. Fort Defiance was built by General Anthony Wayne in August 1794 at the confluence of the Auglaize and Maumee Rivers and played an important role securing lands for a growing nation. Two hundred years later actions taken by our ancestors are affecting everyday life from state boundries, county lines, townships, personal property in NW Ohio to the taxes we pay all because of a flagstaff located at Fort Defiance, Defiance Ohio.

Miami-Erie Canal

The Miami-Erie Canal played an important role in the
development of Ohio. It allowed huge amounts of trade to flow through Ohio and allowed Ohio farmers to ship vast amounts of crops.

The building of the canal was an engineering challenge in 1825 and pictured below is Lock 13 of 103 Locks used to connect Cincinnati to Lake Erie via Toledo. Today the canal is being restored in several places by local governments and I will have additionl pictures and information in the future.

Fort Defiance

Few people today recognize the importance of Fort Defiance in American history. It is from this place that General Anthony Wayne lead an army against the Indians and defeated them in a battle called Fallen Timbers in present day Maumee Ohio thus acquiring the territory that is now the states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. I visited Fort Defiance Dec. '06 and took this pictures. There is not much left to see.

I heard on the news today that 10 American Solders died in combat operations in Iraq over the weekend. The human sacrifice for this flag is very high. I pray its not in vain. God Bless This Flag.

Chief Tecumseh Speaks

I am reading about Tecumseh a Shawnee Chief who fought bravely for his people and this is part of a speach that I beleive is true today as it was 200 years ago.

"So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and
Demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life,
Beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and
Its purpose in the service of your people."

If only we.... only I could live by these words wouldn't life be that much greater.