1849 Mar 3, US Congress created the Minnesota Territory.
(AP, 3/3/99)
1851 In Minnesota Chief Shakopee and the Dakota Indians were pressured into selling 24 million acres for pennies an acre. Food and money from the federal government was to be distributed to the Indians as part of the treaty.
(WSJ, 2/5/98, p.A1,6)
1854 St. Paul, Minn., was founded.
(USAT, 3/5/04, p.9A)
1856 In Minnesota Benedictine monks arrived in St. Cloud and established a priory. In 1865 they moved to the shores of Lake Sagatagan and the following year the priory was raised to the status of Abbey. In 1913 they established St. John’s University.
{Minnesota, USA}
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_John's_Abbey)
1858 May 11, Minnesota became the 32nd state of the Union.
(AP, 5/11/97)
1861 Jun 29, William James Mayo, co-founder of the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, was born.
(HN, 6/29/98)
1862 Aug 8, Minnesota’s 5th Infantry fought the Sioux Indians in Redwood, Minn., and 24 soldiers were killed.
(SFC, 2/7/03, p.A23)
1862 Aug 17, The Sioux Uprising, which resulted in more than 800 white settlers dead and 38 Sioux Indians condemned and hanged, took place in Minnesota. The Sioux, or Minnesota, Uprising began when four young Sioux murdered five white settlers at Acton. The Santee Sioux, who lived on a long, narrow reservation on the south side of the Minnesota River, were reacting to broken government promises and corrupt Indian agents. a military court sentenced 303 Sioux to die, but President Abraham Lincoln reduced the list. The 38 hangings took place on December 26, 1862, in Mankato, Minn.
(HNQ, 1/4/00)
1862 Aug 22, Santee Sioux attacked Fort Ridgely, Minn.
(The above is from Timeline Minnesota: https://timelines.ws/states/MINNESOTA.HTML)
Interesting that soldier and 'white' settler casualties are listed and nothing said about Indian casualty numbers.
Ennaways, I had a dream the other night in which I was standing in line someplace and asked a woman, whom I did not know, if she had any toast in her pocket. She answered she did not.
Funny how those things stick in your/my mind. Now maybe I was hungry or looking for available food in case we went into a ditch or something. There's nothing like being prepared for a disaster like that. Knowing that woman had toast (or not) in her pocket, may make the difference between being in the ditch a happy experience or a not so happy experience, if you know what I'm saying. And too, she may not be willing to share said toast, and when I asked her if she had any at all, she may have immediately become suspect that I might have x-ray vision. People get paranoid like that. I mean, if I had x-ray vision, would I even have to ask if she had toast in her pocket? Get real.
If I had x-ray vision, I'd ask her far more personal things that only she would know--like where did she get that tattoo on her .... well, a hidden away place. Or, you wear what size undergarment? You'd probably be much more comfortable wearing a size or three bigger. Things like that, then she'd know for sure I had x-ray vision. Then again, knowing those things may be a let down about people. Truth only goes so far. For instance, what is more, hmmmm, interesting--never mind, can't go there as this is supposed to be a family-oriented blog, I guess and not merely an adult blog. (Should've known)
And, since we're/I'm discussing truth-isms here, I have to own up that it's true I had nothing at all to write for today's blog. I tried to write yesterday but conditions weren't right. I put pen to paper and nothing leaped from my pen. People were talking around me and the varying tones of voice between grandsons and grammas skewered my thought processes. It seemed I had straight-lined thinking about any one thing in particular. I stared vacantly out on an expanse of Lake Superior ice to an wooded island a mile or so distant and figuratively lost my mind, finally pushing pen and paper away into a pile of miscellaneous plastic bags, paper towels, and note pads laying on the table. Nuts.
I've used the dates on coins in my pocket to jog my imagination. I'll pick up a quarter (in America it's 25 cents) and look at the date so prominent below the profile of George Washington, and think about why that year is important to me or what I know happened in that year, then write a short paragraph or sentence about it, spurring me to go on and on. It usually works. Dollar bills or other coins will work as well. This time, it was the memory of an odd dream that evolved as a story-line. A writer needn't some grandiose story in his/her head to build on, as so much of the time it awaits in your pen point or just beyond the flashing insertion point. In fact, if someone would ask me what I was going to write about--most of the time I couldn't begin to tell you/them. "Writing" for me, is undefinable.
Of course, writing is technically a process, but creative writing, in my experience, is somewhat magical, in as much as it's as though the pen does the writing and all I do is hold on. It's like holding a divining stick when you're looking for water and it bends toward the ground without any help from you. How can you explain it? Naturally, there's more editing that needs to be done with a pen.
(AP, 3/3/99)
1851 In Minnesota Chief Shakopee and the Dakota Indians were pressured into selling 24 million acres for pennies an acre. Food and money from the federal government was to be distributed to the Indians as part of the treaty.
(WSJ, 2/5/98, p.A1,6)
1854 St. Paul, Minn., was founded.
(USAT, 3/5/04, p.9A)
1856 In Minnesota Benedictine monks arrived in St. Cloud and established a priory. In 1865 they moved to the shores of Lake Sagatagan and the following year the priory was raised to the status of Abbey. In 1913 they established St. John’s University.
{Minnesota, USA}
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_John's_Abbey)
1858 May 11, Minnesota became the 32nd state of the Union.
(AP, 5/11/97)
1861 Jun 29, William James Mayo, co-founder of the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, was born.
(HN, 6/29/98)
1862 Aug 8, Minnesota’s 5th Infantry fought the Sioux Indians in Redwood, Minn., and 24 soldiers were killed.
(SFC, 2/7/03, p.A23)
1862 Aug 17, The Sioux Uprising, which resulted in more than 800 white settlers dead and 38 Sioux Indians condemned and hanged, took place in Minnesota. The Sioux, or Minnesota, Uprising began when four young Sioux murdered five white settlers at Acton. The Santee Sioux, who lived on a long, narrow reservation on the south side of the Minnesota River, were reacting to broken government promises and corrupt Indian agents. a military court sentenced 303 Sioux to die, but President Abraham Lincoln reduced the list. The 38 hangings took place on December 26, 1862, in Mankato, Minn.
(HNQ, 1/4/00)
1862 Aug 22, Santee Sioux attacked Fort Ridgely, Minn.
(The above is from Timeline Minnesota: https://timelines.ws/states/MINNESOTA.HTML)
Interesting that soldier and 'white' settler casualties are listed and nothing said about Indian casualty numbers.
Ennaways, I had a dream the other night in which I was standing in line someplace and asked a woman, whom I did not know, if she had any toast in her pocket. She answered she did not.
Funny how those things stick in your/my mind. Now maybe I was hungry or looking for available food in case we went into a ditch or something. There's nothing like being prepared for a disaster like that. Knowing that woman had toast (or not) in her pocket, may make the difference between being in the ditch a happy experience or a not so happy experience, if you know what I'm saying. And too, she may not be willing to share said toast, and when I asked her if she had any at all, she may have immediately become suspect that I might have x-ray vision. People get paranoid like that. I mean, if I had x-ray vision, would I even have to ask if she had toast in her pocket? Get real.
If I had x-ray vision, I'd ask her far more personal things that only she would know--like where did she get that tattoo on her .... well, a hidden away place. Or, you wear what size undergarment? You'd probably be much more comfortable wearing a size or three bigger. Things like that, then she'd know for sure I had x-ray vision. Then again, knowing those things may be a let down about people. Truth only goes so far. For instance, what is more, hmmmm, interesting--never mind, can't go there as this is supposed to be a family-oriented blog, I guess and not merely an adult blog. (Should've known)
And, since we're/I'm discussing truth-isms here, I have to own up that it's true I had nothing at all to write for today's blog. I tried to write yesterday but conditions weren't right. I put pen to paper and nothing leaped from my pen. People were talking around me and the varying tones of voice between grandsons and grammas skewered my thought processes. It seemed I had straight-lined thinking about any one thing in particular. I stared vacantly out on an expanse of Lake Superior ice to an wooded island a mile or so distant and figuratively lost my mind, finally pushing pen and paper away into a pile of miscellaneous plastic bags, paper towels, and note pads laying on the table. Nuts.
I've used the dates on coins in my pocket to jog my imagination. I'll pick up a quarter (in America it's 25 cents) and look at the date so prominent below the profile of George Washington, and think about why that year is important to me or what I know happened in that year, then write a short paragraph or sentence about it, spurring me to go on and on. It usually works. Dollar bills or other coins will work as well. This time, it was the memory of an odd dream that evolved as a story-line. A writer needn't some grandiose story in his/her head to build on, as so much of the time it awaits in your pen point or just beyond the flashing insertion point. In fact, if someone would ask me what I was going to write about--most of the time I couldn't begin to tell you/them. "Writing" for me, is undefinable.
Of course, writing is technically a process, but creative writing, in my experience, is somewhat magical, in as much as it's as though the pen does the writing and all I do is hold on. It's like holding a divining stick when you're looking for water and it bends toward the ground without any help from you. How can you explain it? Naturally, there's more editing that needs to be done with a pen.
Another Wannaskan Almanac Hall of Fame post. I started counting, and I laughed out loud 16 times while reading. Sounds like you conjured something out of less than nothing.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of super powers, which would you pick: invisibility or ability to fly?
Greetings, fellow writer. Your lady with the toast is obviously jammed, as I told the Chairman. Your comment about having/not having x-ray vision was old hat to mt, knowing you as I do; you DO have x-ray vision! As Woe says, "you conjured something out of less than nothing," as you do in most of your posts. This is admirable, as there is nothing more interesting to people than writing that reflects their own everyday lives. I mean, that's what we do, isn't it? Living out our days with patterned routine punctuated by significant events that are over in short order, or can last a lifetime.
ReplyDeleteAs to the distractions you describe and the resultant effects on your poor pen, we have a solution: We built a writers' loft many years ago for the express purpose of offering it to writers who need a very quiet place (in the Forest) to ply their craft. The invitation is perpetually open to you. And heck, it's a short drive. You don't even have to converse with us, based on the purpose of the loft. Actually the invitation is open to all the WA writers, and others.
You say creative writing is "magical," and indefinable. Joe asked me just the other day why I write. My immediate answer was, "I write because I must." For me, writing is akin to breathing. I simply must do it to live at all. Maybe that resonates with you. In any case, love the "something out of less than nothing" post. Please continue with more of the solemn vapors and your x-ray vision insights.