Mike's Place: Badlands on Sunday Afternoon

Appropriately, much has been written about Theodore Roosevelt's time spend in North Dakota. However, little effort has been made to research or report on the events surrounding George A. Custers march from Mandan, ND to the Little Bighorn and his famous "Last Stand". Much of the trail is unmarked, and many of the events leading up to the battle are somewhat ignored. In comparsion to Roosevelt, Custer was probably much more significant. Afterall, Roosevelt spend a short (but important) time in ND and actually failed in one of his main ventures (cattle ranching). There is significant controversy about how history has portrayed Custer. Understandably, North Dakota Native history presents Custer as a murderer and bigot. Contemporary European culture has potrayed him through Hollywood and other dramatic sources as a battlefield genius and legendary Indian fighter. In any light one wishes to view Custer, his march and subsequent battle in the Little Bighorn Valley are history. History when portrayed accurately is neither good nor bad, but a presentation of facts. I have attached web addresses to a few online sources below that might shead more light on the entire episode including newspaper accounts, Indian accounts, and accounts from others at the time. The event itself contains characters from both sides that are both heroic and critical in understanding the history of North Dakota and the Great Plains. These include names like Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and Mark Kellogg to list a few.

North Dakota's official flag was adopted in 1911. The flag has a blue field and pictures a bald eagle holding a red ribbon in its bill; the ribbon reads "E PLURIBUS UNUM" (this is the motto of the U.S.A. and means "Out of Many, One" - and refers to the states of the United States being united into one country). The eagle is holding seven arrows and an olive branch (with three red berries) in its talons. The arrows represent the defense of liberty, and the olive branch represents peace. The eagle has a red, whilte and blue shield on its body, with 13 stars (on a blue field) and 13 red and white stripes (representing the USA). Above the eagle are 13 yellow stars (representing the original 13 colonies of the USA) and a yellow fan. Under the eagle is a red scroll reading "NORTH DAKOTA."

Theodore Roosevelt, April 23, 1910

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Mike's Place

Monday, March 24, 2008

Badlands on Sunday Afternoon

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