In the Old West days, several people changed the course of history for the United States. If I could be any of them, I would have wanted to be Frank T. Hopkins. If I were Frank Hopkins, this would be my life.
I was born shortly after the Civil War in a log cabin in Fort Laramie, Wyoming. My father was an army scout and my mother was the daughter of a Sioux chief. Growing up, I often rode with the Indians to capture and break mustangs. In my early teens, I rode dispatch for Generals Miles and Crook. Later, I was a buffalo hunter and worked with Buffalo Jones, Bill Matheson, William Hinrer, and Bill Cody. I was riding mustangs and had developed definite opinions about them. When I was riding as a messenger for General Crook, he mentioned to me, "...if troops can't overtake a band of Indians in two hours, it's better to give up the chase." When I asked him why that was, the general replied that the wiry Indian ponies "...can go 90 miles without food or water. They can wear out all the cavalry horses we have on the frontier." What the General didn't know, was that I was aware of the problem even before General Crook had realized the situation. Besides the phenomenal endurance of the mustang, Frank also rated the mustang as an intelligent and economical horse. You see, you can't beat mustang intelligence in the entire equine race. These animals have had to shift for themselves for generations. They had to work out their own destiny or be destroyed. Those that survived were animals of superior intelligence. The mustang was grass-fed all his life. He picked his own food from the country, could live where even a cow would starve, and knew how to take such good care of himself that he was always ready to go.
My first endurance ride was in the Summer of 1886. It was to be from Galveston, Texas to Rutland, Vermont. Buffalo Jones was as much of a fan of the mustang as I was. Horse for horse, both me and Jones believed that a mustang could beat any other breed or type. We decided to prove our opinion. Jones agreed to finance the ride if would enter the race. Only one horse was allowed for each rider, and a day's journey was not to exceed ten hours.
Professor Thomas Slaughter has provided a most thorough overview of the Whiskey Rebellion, which he asserts had by the time this book was conceived nearly two centuries after the episode transpired, had become a largely forgotten chapter of our nation's history since the time of the Civil War. He cites as direct evidence of this fact the almost complete absence of any mention of the event in many contemporary textbooks of the conservative era of the 1980's, which this reviewer can attest to as well, having been a high school student in the late 1970's, who never heard of the Whiskey Rebellion until years later. Building off of his own dissertation on the topic, the author convincingly shows that the Whiskey Rebellion was in fact an event of tremendous importance for the future of the fledgling United States of America, which was spawned by the head-long collision of a variety of far-reaching forces and factors in the still quite primitive environs of western Pennsylvania that summer and fall. Slaughter contends that one must place the frontier at the center of the great political debates of the era and fully explore the ideological, social, political, and personal contexts surrounding the episode in order to fully understand the importance of its place in American history. In doing so the author has produced a very readable work that may be enjoyed by casual readers, who will likely find the individual vignettes which open each chapter particularly fascinating, and a highly useful basis of further research by future scholars into the importance of the frontier region as it relates to events on a national scale in those early days of the republic.
The image of the cowboy as Jennifer Moskowitz notes in her article “The Cultural Myth of the Cowboy, or, How the West was Won” is “uniquely
James B. McMillan was about 5 when he saw the Ku Klux Klan horsewhip his mother.
James Francis Thorpe accomplished without argument what no other athlete in history has. The Sac and Fox Indian won gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon in the 1912 Olympic games in Sweden and played both professional football and professional baseball. His feats on the football field put him on the 1911 and 1912 All-American football teams. In 1920 he became the first president of the American Professional Football Association (later to become the NFL). In 1951, he was one of the first men to be admitted to the National Football Foundation’s Hall of Fame.
To ensure the fast pace delivery of the mail, the Pony Express purchased 600 broncos, mostly thorough breads, mustangs, and morgans. Still the horses weren’t all needed. They also had to find men who would be able to handle the adverse weather conditions, Indians and be able to ride for 75 miles with out stopping. The riders were generally under 20 years of age and weighed no more than 120 pounds. They had to be excellent horsemen and have experience with guns. The Pony Express was a relay of mail running day and night.
On March 1, 1864 three Kentucky regiments received orders from General Forrest asking them to join his force around Columbus, Mississippi. The Third, Seventh, and Eighth Regiments immediately went up the Tombigbee River and joined Forrest's forces. These Kentucky regiments had been badly damaged in the many hard fought battles they had already experienced. Word that they were going back to their home state of Kentucky came as a great comfort. Upon arriving, some of the men found that they would have to walk because of the lack of mounts; not a complaint could be heard. One may ask why Forrest would want such a worn and tattered regiment. To put it simply, he wanted to advance into West Kentucky and who knew th...
Horse, a thirteen- year old Lakota girl rode her horse through the U.S Army camp
Unfortunately, today the true history of the West has become a nothing more than a myth. History was replaced by fiction, and these falsehoods are perceived by today's society as facts. The true American cowboy, white or black, no longer exists in the minds of Americans. It is only as one delves deeper into the facts that the unperceived truth arises. The success of settling the West can be contributed to men such as Nat Love, but one can certainly not omit the hardworking cowboys who did not live such a glamorous life. The Negro cowboys of this era played a crucial role in facilitating any work on America's new frontier. The Black cowboys were essential to the United States during the late 1800's, in a time when any Negro needed great perseverance against prejudice. For their valiant efforts the Black cowboys should be given great honor and prestige.
The cowboys of the frontier have long captured the imagination of the American public. Americans, faced with the reality of an increasingly industrialized society, love the image of a man living out in the wilderness fending for himself against the dangers of the unknown. By the end of the 19th century there were few renegade Indians left in the country and the vast expanse of open land to the west of the Mississippi was rapidly filling with settlers.
4.)"Rodeo Facts: The Case Against Rodeos." Winning the Case Against Cruelty. Animal Legal Defense Fund, 1979. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. .
“Congress finds and declares that wild free-roaming horses and burros are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West; that they contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people; and that these horses and burros are fast disappearing from the American scene. It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death; and to accomplish this they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands.”
Trueman, C. (2013). The Battle of the Little Big Horn. Retrieved April 30, 2013, from History Learning
... rodeo as cruel and abusive. But the rodeo today is changing with the hope of getting better. The bucking and roping stock are treated as prized animals. They even have their own bucking champions. The solution to any kind of animal abuse is in the continued scrutiny of the sport by the PRCA. As the sport evolves and the animals become more valuable it should cause better care for the animals.
General Custer graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1861; ranking last in his class. He served in the Civil war where he was a fearless cavalry leader, and in 1865 he was awarded a temporary rank of Major General. Many people believed that he shouldn’t even have participated in the Civil War, let alone graduate. Though, many who served with him said they admired his bravery and success but many were jealous of him. His enemies often said that he was a “glory hunter.” He was a glory hunter and looked to make a name for himself. After the Civil War, Custer went on to fight the Indians in the Southwest, Dakota’s and Montana territories. The war against the Indians stretched from the 1820’s all the way until 1890. When settlers started to flood the western part of America, railroads followed. These railroads made it easier for people to come out west and also buffalo hunt. Americans were killing buffalo’s left and right. Soon enough, the bu...
Price Waterhouse should educate its partners and employees about accepted work practices and should institute diversity training in order to educate members that stereotyping is unacceptable. Ann Hopkins should be admitted as partner to the firm and welcomed as a valuable addition to senior management.