I’ve always been ambivalent about Geronimo. Though he is widely celebrated today as a patriot and the last Apache holdout (not quite), the militant Chiricahua Apache shaman and war-band leader (never a chief) was widely reviled in his own day by his own people. He was truculent, dishonest, and a dangerous drunk. But there’s no question that he was … [Read more...] about Once He Moved Like The Wind

The march of the American Republic from sea to shining sea seems inevitable in hindsight. It’s easy to lose sight of contingency in history; moments when the trail could have turned in a different direction. Had the First Nations people of the Ohio Country acted in concert when the American Revolution broke out in 1775, if the British had … [Read more...] about Pluggy Gets Plugged

The big action for November, as far as I’m concerned is the November 11 airing of The Warrior Tradition on PBS. The Warrior Tradition tells the astonishing, heartbreaking, inspiring, and largely-untold story of Native Americans in the United States military. Why would Indian men and women put their lives on the line for the very government that … [Read more...] about Working The Trap Line — November 2019 — The Warrior Tradition

“From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night, Good Lord deliver us.” — Scottish prayer Halloween is a most Celtic celebration. Ancient pagan Celts marked Samhain (pronounced sow-un) as the divide between the light of summer and the darkness of winter. In their belief, the veil between the … [Read more...] about Ghoulies, Ghosties and Long-Leggedy Beasties

Charles Cottar was the quintessential American Frontiersman: Adventurous, independent, impatient of authority, entrepreneurial, and tougher than leather. In an earlier day, his epic family saga might have played out in the forests and meadows of Kaintuck, or in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains, or out on the Southwest borderlands. But the Cottar … [Read more...] about American Frontiersman — African Dynasty