“The Wild Robot” more

Hi everyone! O K rambling friends for several weeks now we have been diving into six different principles how Hitler changed Germany after World War One into a Nazi nation. He employed eight different principles in which we have gone through six. Let me remind you what we have covered so far. Indoctrination of children, taking guns away from good people, censoring the news media, creating a crisis, establishing a hate group and controlling the preachers. This week is going to be explaining Hitler’s ‘cancel culture'. When the Nazis’ came to power they knew the importance of changing the culture was a top priority. For the first months of his dictatorship he banned certain books, statues, literature, control of education for students, religion, entertainment, signs, plays and fine arts and promoted the hatred of Jews. The Nazi party established a party line of doctrine and everyone had to conform or else be arrested and sent off to a concentration camp for torture and death. There were massive book burnings in public places and you were considered a good citizen if you did your part to burn or destroy anything you had that did not comply. In America today we have been purging ourselves of much of our past culture as well. More slowly perhaps than Hitler demanded his citizens to do so but nevertheless it has been taking place. Let’s name just a few. Remaining our military bases that were named after confederate generals. Taking down statues of the civil war. Many schools have banned the Bible however books that teach about the acceptance of LGBT is considered normal. At one time I used to read the school books that grade school children were being taught. I will never forget the first time I read a first graders primary reader that having two moms or two dads was normal. As a child of the 50’s and 60’s and what was taught in school then is like a night and day difference when compared with our education in today's classroom. What is considered good today would have been considered pornography in the fifties culture of our past. One principle in which politicians know too well is the well known principle of telling lies. When they repeat their lies over and over again their lies are accepted as the new truth. Remember when the prime minister of Israel came to America a few weeks ago (Benjamin Netanyahu) to address the joint session of congress that certain Senators and Representatives would not show up? These actions send a powerful message who they support and don’t! Remember last October 7, 2023 when Hamas invaded Israel when 1400 civilians were killed, raped, cut heads off of innocent women and children and dragged hundred of hostages back to Gaza to be brutalized. Today, Hamas still holds many hostages which they will not release. The leaders of Hamas have and did employ all of the principles Hitler used to change his nation into Jew haters. It makes me feel so sad when our colleges are guilty of spreading hate and discord among our college students to take the side of Hamas. Oh by the way the name Hamas means —EVIL! It is so so sad to see our young people blindly holding up signs and proclaiming to be Hamas and Jew haters. How would these students, faculty and staff like for a hate group to do to them what Hamas did to the Jews? Oh I am sure the rules would change very quickly if the shoe were on the other foot. One of my first eye opener wake up calls of how colleges change a conservative student into a liberal was when I used to listen to a college professor on a well known local radio station in the 1970’s. Guess what, he was the professor of religious studies and when asked if the Bible were true he said, “no” it is simply a bunch of legends and stories. Now I will get down to where I am, what I believe. I wondered for a long time how the Bible could be true and not just a bunch of stories handed down like the college professor proclaimed on radio. He made me think for a long time and finally I realized there is one thing no man can do! Prophecy! Predicting the future is impossible for everyone. more

As of Monday, Sept. 30, my daughter Melissa’s mother, DeAnn, has been gone 30 years. The date is an important mile marker for me, my daughter and all who remember Dee, but I let it pass with little notice, just a telephone call to Melissa. more

I actually had high hopes going into “Transformers One.” Not because I’m a big fan of the toys or really anything about the property, but because this movie promised to correct some of the mistakes made by its predecessors. Namely, I was excited that there wouldn’t be any live-action actors. For some reason, this franchise has never shied away from shoving human Shia LeBeouf or Mark Wahlberg characters down our throats when we all know it’s the giant robots that sell tickets. This time, no humans, all robots. Also, animated versions of previously-live-action franchises have been pleasing me lately. Both “Spider-Verse” movies are outstanding, and last year for the first time I found myself liking a “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” movie with “Mutant Mayhem.” Could “Transformers One” turn me around on another property that I had previously dismissed as a series of glorified toy commercials? Sadly, no. more

Hi everyone! This week will be very interesting because we are going to push a few buttons... Let’s have a quick review of the last six weeks for our new readers. We started this series to review how Hitler took over Germany after World War One. We have already had ramblings of indoctrination of children, taking guns away from good citizens, censoring the news media, creating a crisis for political gain, establishing a hate group and last week was controlling the preachers. We did not adequately cover as much ground as wanted to so we are going to continue where we left off last week. We have been comparing America being taken over by the ‘woke’ folks to Hitler’s takeover of Germany by the Nazis. Friends and neighbors elections have consequences and we need to know how our candidates vote on different issues. Since we have a target on preachers this week let’s dive deep into the moral compass of America today. In the past our pastors were the guiding light, torch bearers and the watchmen on the wall to furnish wisdom and instruction for their flocks. They are doing this less and less today in our churches. Most do not want to be criticized and want to just get along with everyone about major issues facing our nation today. Last week two of the issues we listed were the partial birth abortion debate, and the war in Israel. We simply seldom hear preaching on controversial issues. Now let’s switch gears. Have you ever heard of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Law commonly known as RICO? This law was enacted in 1970 to help combat organized crime. There were five organized crime families in New York. They were the Gambino, Lucchese, Genovese, Bonanno, and the Colombo families. Organized crime collected millions of dollars. The longshoremen, teamsters, garbage collectors, fish market, garment industry, construction industries, gambling and other entities were mafia controlled. Each mafia family sent their leader to an all ruling commission in which they would determine how to work out their problems. This was known as organized crime and was very efficient at avoiding criminal prosecution. The problem for decades was the police would arrest a foot soldier of the mafia criminal organization and the crime boss would be isolated. However, under RICO an organization from the bottom all the way up the leader can be charged with different crimes for long extended prison sentences. Friends and neighbors as legal voting members of our community we vote on many issues. Government offices, for our pastors of our churches, our club leaders etc. Our votes are really important! Now partial birth abortion is a hot button subject in some of our churches. We all should know what candidates support and do not support this issue. If you believe aborting an 8 month baby is murder then don’t vote for candidates who will legalize it. If you believe it is O K then vote as you choose to. If you support Israel then vote for candidates who support Israel. Now let’s marry RICO law and preachers together. If you have a Bible believing preacher most would agree not to agree with partial birth abortion or turning your back on Israel in their fight for survival today. When we vote on candidates who approve of partial birth abortion is this murder of a child? When we do not support Israel today in their battles with Islamic terrorists, is this correct according to the Bible? Genesis 12:3 and Psalm 85: 1-2 makes this very clear about Christians supporting Israel. How about late term abortions? Matthew 18:6 makes this very clear about not harming children. Now rambling Roger, what does the RICO law have to do with Israel, babies and preachers? Here goes hang on. When you knowingly vote for a candidate who supports abortion of late term children and you go ahead and vote for them are you not guilty of murder under Ricco laws? Do you deserve to be arrested and tried for murder? How about the candidates who do not support Israel’s battle with Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran? When you vote for candidates who do more

I recently saw a man loading baskets of clothes in his car outside the Buffalo laundromat , and I thought, “How lucky that’s not me.” more

Hi everyone! Well folks let’s get started with a review of the last five weeks. For new readers we have been learning how Hitler fundamentally changed the culture and direction of Germany. In the beginning we compared his plan to adding spark plugs to a high performance engine and each chapter makes his country fire up louder and more powerful. This week is spark plug number 6. We are definitely firing up loud and by the end of this article most of us will be also. Let’s review. Number one, indoctrination of children, number two, taking guns away. Number three, censoring the news media. Number four, establishing a hate group. Number five, using a crisis for political gain. Our nation today is like a frog being slowly boiled and doesn't realize it. This week’s plug is controlling the narrative of the preachers. When Hitler became dictator in 1933 one priority was to deal with the preachers. In 1935 hundreds of pastors unified and had the courage to oppose Hitler from the pulpit. Instantly the German Gestapo (be like our FBI or DOJ) rounded up hundreds of pastors who would oppose Hiter and were sent to death camps. Even after the war started church services continued. Churches that continued in the open were politically correct and the pastors simply preached soft milk toast sermons. Titles such as, Good Feelings. Better Life. Everything will be great. Victorious living. The sermons all referred to Romans 13: 1 and 2. Hitler liked and approved of this verse. One account was about a country church that met every Sunday and the congregation would meet to sing and the politically correct preacher would preach a mushy sermon. They were on the tracks and as the train went by at the same time every Sunday there were moans, groans and wailing of people in human misery seen inside the box cars on their way to the nearby Auchowitz death camp. The preacher being of political correctness simply told his congregation to sing a little louder and ignore the train. (Basically what most churches do today) Even though most people knew where and why the train was going, no one dared say a word. Friends and neighbors this is only a small tidbit of information of how Nazi churches either comply or if you were a true preacher you went underground and risked death yourself. O K now folks do we have political correctness in our churches today? Do our preachers lull many to sleep with carefully selected platitudes that are not controversial? Are we a society being indoctrinated today after ten years of the new ‘Woke’ agenda? Oh my yes!!!! (Myself included.) The other day I was at a restaurant ordering and I said, “I wanted my coffee black.” A little voice said from the side,” that is not politically correct.” I instantly said, “oh I mean coffee without anything in it.” This happened about three months ago and I have put a great deal of thought into what I said and how we (the American People) all are becoming ‘Woke’. About a year ago I was listening to a popular F M religious station and the message was about the declining church population in America today. All denominations are way down and more churches are closing their doors each year than new churches are being started. Why is church membership and attendance going down so fast overall? However our churches of today have many good qualities. First of all I want to commend the pastors of today's churches for having excellent programs. Conducting funerals, weddings, school lunches for needy children and backpacks for kids without food on the weekend. In addition mission trips to foreign countries to help out folks in church starts and provides hope and help to the homeless plus good drug programs and many more. Now folks for the weakness of the church of today and why the overall decline of church membership. It’s not because of good programs and community involvement and nice people. What’s the answer? The watered down, woke, politically correct sermons that talk a lot but do not get our attention. The preacher that I heard a year ago on the F M station noted that 95% of all preachers are politically correct in their sermons. When Jesus was alive—- teaching, informing and preaching the gospel also connected it to the sins of the current government rules and policies that were contrary to his word. The people loved him because he was a strong leader and the government and church leaders hated him because he spoke out against their policies. Today we have the LGBT subject, partial birth abortion, war in Israel, preaching on hell, what is sin to name just a few issues that are seldom mentioned by weak pastors. Next week we continue this rambling on present day woke pastors. more

“Speak No Evil” is a remake of a 2022 Danish movie with a famously vile twist. I went into this film expecting it to have the same twist. That’s not to say that I expected it to have the same “ending,” exactly, as I knew the film might deviate from the source material once it reached a certain point. But there could be no question that it was indeed winding its way to that point. It was no surprise that what came after that point was horror movie shlock, but I was surprised by how captivated I was by what led up to that point. more

I had to take a foreign language for my bachelor of arts degree. more

School is underway again throughout the Ozarks. Just as when I was a boy, hundreds of kids climb on yellow school buses every morning at country crossroads or the ends of their driveways and lanes. more

Hi everyone! Our rambling for the last four weeks has been about the fundamental plan Hitler used to change his nation before and after he came to power. He had a carefully crafted plan that consisted of eight points. His administration was very effective in guiding his country in the direction he wanted his Germany to be. For a quick review of the last four weeks we have covered, Indoctrination of children, taking guns away from our citizens, controlling the narrative of the news media and last week was establishing a hate group. Each chapter in Hitler’s book of deception was a stepping stone to gain iron-fisted control of his nation. This week’s rambling is, using a crisis for political gain. At this time let’s jump back to February 28, 1933 when the German government building called the Reichstag was burned to the ground. The forces of Hitler called the Nazis took full advantage of this event and eventually ended up with full dictator power. On the day of the Reichstag being torched (many believed by the Nazis in order to create a crisis) then president Hindenburg signed the Emergency Decree for the Protection of the German People. This legislation took away freedom of press, right to own property, and the right to trial before imprisonment. Of course the name of this act does not resemble what it really meant. Governments including ours put nice names on decrees, bills, executive actions to fool their people. They want them to think one way and at the same time really mean just the opposite. Remember the old saying, the devil is in the fine print? Before elections took place on March 20, 1933 the Nazis had already opened up their first concentration camp (death camp) Dachau. Hitler’s terror had begun and by election the opponents of Hitler for the most part were either too afraid to vote or had already been killed or imprisoned. Rambling friends, has America ever used crisis for political control? Of course we have! Let’s name a few. Let’s take 9/11. The president at the time created another government agency called Homeland Security. We already know what a fine job they do at our border today. Let’s take another crisis. The conservative Christians are on the hit list to be dealt with because we are the center of hate. New laws will turn conservatives into criminals. Did you know that a previous administration declared we have not two but 72 gender identities? It’s no longer just male and female, it's 70 others we can call ourselves. Not all Americans go along with the new decree therefore laws are being passed and executive orders signed to force everyone to comply or else. For example in Canada if you don’t call someone by their proper pronoun then you can be arrested for a hate crime. If you have a child in public schools and as a parent you protest the forced gender policies that permit boys in girls restrooms and males playing on girl sports teams you can be called a domestic terrorist.The creators of the laws in America today are masters at manipulation to deceive our people. Now let’s take a look at California. What happens on the West coast reaches the midwest in a few more years. Governor Newsom of California recently signed SB 107 into law. I have been aware of his desire to get this bill passed but I really did not believe it was possible. Rambling friends it‘s official! California did it! Let’s just find out what it says and what it means. SB 107 which is now law can reach into all 50 states. Any child can be transported to California and receive horrible surgeries and receive gender reassignment. Parents do not have to be notified. Guess what? Parents in divorce cases can have their parental rights taken away from this new law. Governor Newsom’s legislation can even reach us if we are not careful. Quote, Even if a child has never visited California they could obtain puberty blockers via telemedicine from a doctor in California and the parents denied the information about their own child. In addition I was reading about a California school district suing the state of California for not being able to let parents know about their own children. How about the Covid crisis? Churches were more

Forty years ago I might have been planning another trip to the West about now. more

Nobody is going to mistake cut-rate biopic “Reagan” for a great movie. At best, it’s a pretty standard greatest-hits collection of important moments in the former President’s life. At worst, it’s a laughably underfunded production made by people who, for whatever reason, want to sell America on Ronald Reagan in 2024. But the movie is not always at its worst. It’s a subpar movie that I think some critics are mistaking for a terrible movie. more

Hi everyone! So glad to be back for more rambling. For the last three weeks we have been adding spark plugs to the defeated nation of Germany after World War One. We have been comparing defeated Germany to a blown engine that is being overhauled by Hitler with his eight part plan that he began immediately after he came to power in 1933. Each spark plug being installed gets his war machine firing up with more and more power. The last three weeks we have already installed three of Hitler’s spark plugs of evil to fundamentally change his country. They have been: Indoctrination of children. Number two plug: take guns away from its citizens, and last week’s number three was to control the narrative of the news media. Rambling friends this week’s number four plug is: establish a hate group. Hitler’s hate group was the Jews. Hitler used the Jews as a scapegoat for his country to blame any problem on. Before the war was over the Hitler regime murdered six million Jews. I have studied and researched for many years the results of Hitler’s poor decision. Let me name just a few examples. Did you know that German physicists in the 1930’s were working on how to make nuclear bombs? One of the greatest scientists at the time was a Jewish woman named Lise Meitner; she discovered the radioactive element protactinium and was the author of the phrase nuclear fission. Lise was Jewish so she had to flee Germany because Hitler wanted her killed. There were many other nuclear scientists who were Jews who eventually escaped to America to work on the Manhattan project which eventually produced the atomic bombs that ended the war when dropped on Japan. Three of the most famous Jewish physicists were Einstein, Szilard and Fermi. These brilliant scientists and others could have developed the atomic bomb for Hitler but his hatred for them simply overwhelmed his evil mind of Satan. In addition to nuclear scientists the best of the best business men, engineers, inventors and skilled workforce were killed. In my opinion Hitler could have ruled the world if he had used his Jewish scientist and be the first to develop the atomic bomb before starting world war two. However: what Hitler meant for evil God almighty in his wisdom was using Hitler to pave the road for Israel to become a nation in 1948. Folks, Israel becoming a nation is in Bible prophecy and just one more reason why the Bible is so dangerous to dictators and tyrants. Now let’s get back to establishing a hate group. Hitler’s first concentration camp (death facility) was Dachau. Tens of thousands of Jews, homosexuals, Gypsies, preachers, and anyone else who did not accept Hitler’s ideology were sent there to die. Hitler’s Germany became a nation of snitches and anyone with any information could rise in Hitler’s Germany by turning in a family member or neighbor. Now folks do you think this is happening in our modern world today? Oh my yes! Let’s take China for example. Everyone has a Social Credit Score. Everyone is tracked and listened to and where you go and who you are friends with determines your social score for better jobs and opportunities. A low social score will deny you and your family from school, housing, food and much more. One crime that will get you rounded up and never seen again is having a Bible.The Bible is considered a dangerous book in China and will get you killed. Several years ago I survived a grain bin explosion and my back was broken in 7 places. I truly thought I was going to die. Long story short I woke up in the hospital and for days a long haired hippie type of male nurse took my blood at three o’clock each morning. After 4 days of misery I finally asked him why he was so rough looking? His answer was shocking. He said he had just returned from China disguised as an English teacher. However I was really a smuggler of Bibles to known believers.The government of China is trying to stamp out Christians. Missionaries such as my male nurse who risked their lives are helping to spread the gospel. Looking awful and looking like a hippie made more

Hi everyone! We are back again in the saddle of history of how nations go through fundamental changes in the matter of a few short years. Before we get into this week’s rambling I just want to express my sincere gratitude for all the people who mention their support of the weekly rambling. Please do not forget our wonderful paper and editor that permits free speech to be printed! We are very blessed in our community. I truly hope and pray we do not take these privileges for granted and take a moment to send our editor an email for her to continue to work hard each week to give us a paper. O K friends and neighbors let’s get started! You know I love a series of articles. This third week of this rambling series is how to change a nation. Our example and segway used was adding another spark plug to a high performance engine. The more plugs installed and firing the smoother and more powerful it becomes. Just in case you missed the last two weeks we have already covered the Indoctrination of children and gun control by politicians. Please go back and review the previous two if you missed them. Without further ado let's begin. Number three spark plug is to control the narrative of the news media. Oh wow! This plug will touch everyone because in our climate of instant news we are all (myself included ) are indoctrinated daily. I am simply using the eight steps Hitler used to change his Germany; controlling the news media is simply one of them. Alright now enough background. Hitler came to power on January 30, of 1933. However: he had already laid his groundwork down before getting full power. One of his first steps was to appoint a director of propaganda. He appointed Joseph Goebbels to begin the control of film, radio, theater, arts and the press. He shut down all free newspapers and other forms of communication which did not comply with Hitler’s Ideology. Friends, do we have such acts going on in our nation today? Has our federal government ever been guilty of censoring what news we hear through different means? Oh my! Yes! Yes! Yes! This subject I could write many weeks on this one alone. Let’s just name a few examples. The border crisis. Did you know there are three different ways but only one is usually mentioned. One is by tens of thousands being airlifted. Two a sanctioned suggested area and three all of the rest of border crossings along the southern part of the United States. They are being given apps, free phones, debit cards with money, and many free benefits to go where they choose. Let's take Hollywood, have you noticed our movies and tv promote the new woke agenda. I heard a high up politician a few days ago, ‘everyone needs to be woke and more woke’. Now let’s bring up a controversial subject matter of our recent covid crisis. Personally, I had covid twice.There was a lot of misinformation from our government during that time period. Mainly how they prevented freedom of speech on both sides to help people choose what they felt was best for them. I personally knew of doctors who were threatened with their jobs and even doctors in the military who lost their jobs because they did now go along with the propaganda from our government. Our doctor told us when it came out if your family has a history of blood clots not to take the jab. I personally know one family of 8 kids. Three took the jab and the other 5 five did not. One died from a massive heart attack a few weeks later and another one had a massive heart attack who survived and the third one with no known side effects to date. Now rambling readers you would think there would be journalists that would show on our public tv stations these problems and side effects from the jab. No! Too much money is involved from stations and other media outlets to have any negative advertising. Certain companies poured millions of dollars into the stations and in order to receive the money —--no negative publicity. Now folks, please do not take me wrong. I am all for anyone and everyone taking the jabs. My problem is how we were censored from hearing both sides. There more

Newspaper reporters don’t typically get much respect as writers. more

Hi friends and neighbors of Marshfield Mail Land and beyond. Another tragic stain is on America’s political world. A former president was wounded in an assassination attempt. This makes the fourth time in my life in which a president or candidate has been shot. Wow! What turns human beings into committing such acts of evil? Also: it always amazes me when a horrible shooting happens that the next day the solution is for more gun control. Well folks I have carefully checked into this theory. Cities such as New York, Baltimore, Chicago, St Louis, Houston, Los Angeles and other big cities with the strictest gun control have the worst gun violence. Let’s go back in time to the fifties and sixties. Pickup trucks commonly had gun racks in which good old country boys had access to their weapons at all times. Also: when kids got in trouble in school another whippin when they got home. The ten commandments were on the walls at schools and many teachers had other Bible references in the classroom. ( I had teachers that did.) Thou Shalt Not Kill! Thou Shalt Not Steal! Thou Shalt Honor Thy Father and Mother! We were also reminded of the Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you! My oh my!!! What terrible ideas for the schools to teach and promote today!!! We have two states ( Louisiania and Oklahoma) that have the audacity of requiring their public schools to begin posting the ten commandments and teaching references to the Bible. Why in this climate of everything being racist and bigoted today we can’t let morals be taught to our children! O K friends of the Marshfield Mail Land I am being facetious!! Did you know that these states are already facing legal challenges to prevent posting of the ten commandments? Now rambling readers: let’s give our state of Missouri a pat on the back. Our conservation department promotes fathers and grandfathers to take their six year old and older children to the woods and give them a high powered deer rifle to teach them gun safety and good hunting morals. The program has been tremendously successful with a stellar safety record for the children. Our hunting kids are growing up respecting firearms and they know what a gun is to be used for. Friends: my gun safety lesson back in 1959 was when my dad told me it was time for me to learn about firearms. He said, son it's time you learned where your food comes from. He handed me the gun and I shot the family cow and we butchered it. I will never forget it. I will admit I did cry but the lesson was well taught. In addition: he instructed me how to handle all firearms and always check and recheck a gun and never point it at anyone! Now let’s go to our inner cities controlled by politicians that do not want to promote; morals, principles or gun safety classes to be implemented. They encourage the breakup of families by government welfare programs that take fathers out of homes. No wonder young boys join the gangs to have a family and the gang leader is sometimes their father figure. The decline of America began big time in 1981 when the ten commandments were deemed illegal in all schools. Now this message is for parents and grandparents. How and why can kids be influenced to be turned into killers? I think I have at least one suggestion of why. The date was 1983 and I talked to an Army Beret at a recruiter station at the Missouri state fair. I asked him how does the army turn innocent young men into soldiers to go out and kill? He answered immediately, video games. (I was such a stick in the mud I did not know what a video game was) Let’s fast forward thirty three years. The date is now 2013 and one of my grandsons is pecking on a keyboard and watching a screen. I asked him what he was doing. He replied, “playing video games grandpa”. I said to myself, this is my chance. I watched and what I saw was terrible. A robber comes into a liquor store demanding money. The clerk gets shot and blood is seen gushing out of his head. Soon a police chase takes place and the robber ends up also shooting the policeman in a gun fight and he speeds more

I have often written of my third great-grandfather, Capt. Peter Daly, an Irish-born soldier in the British army during the American Revolution who settled in Canada after the war. I’ve known Captain Daly’s story since childhood, as it was told me in letters from elderly aunts in Ontario, and long been proud of his loyalty to his homeland. more

By the time you read this, another Father's Day will have come and gone, and I have no idea how I spent the holiday, because I’m writing this in late May. more

Hi friends and neighbors of the Marshfield Mail community. We certainly are so very blessed to have plenty of rain this year. After three years of drought I hope I never complain about mud again. O K everyone are we all ready to continue on with our story about how our Native Americans were treated when they were being rounded up for the forced march known as the Trail of Tears? Before we pick up where we left off last week, let me remind everyone about the last eight weeks. During the administrations of President Jackson and Van Buren they both had a joint goal to rid America of the five civilized tribes of Native Americans. Through years of haggling, bogus peace treaties and local hatred from greedy plantation owners and other white settlers our Indian friends stood little chance against the thousands of federal and state troops searching for their capture. Our weekly focus has been on the Cherokees however the other tribes went through similar experiences of torture and brutality. Now let’s bring everyone up to the watering trough of knowledge and remind everyone where we left off last week. General Winfield Scott commissioned Captain Folers with hundreds of federal troops to take over the Valley Flatt Plantation. The soldiers used the Valley Flat as their base of operations to ride up into nearby Cherokee land and bring Indian captives back to keep them incarcerated until the time was ready to begin their forced march to Oklahoma. The Mr Igley Moley of the Valley Flatt wants the rich farmland and slaves of the Cherokees and the army wants to capture the Indians. Idimer Hader is the Valley Flatt’s head henchman and has used a former captured slave of the Cherokees to lead the soldiers to the Cherokees hiding place inside Buzzard Beak Cave. Last week we left off with the soldiers and Idimer surrounding the cave and setting fires inside and outside to smoke the Indians and slaves out for capture. O K my faithful readers one more step. Mount up your favorite history horse to take us back into the past for this week’s sad story. All mounted? Let’s ride! Close your eyes count to three and —------ we made it! We are now in stealth mode invisible to everyone around us below. Let’s listen and watch–oh, over there by the cave entrance, fire is raging while the Indians and slaves are trapped inside. Idimer Hader, “O K men, them Injuns and slaves will be coming out like rats before you know it.(suddenly a 6 year old Indian child comes running out screaming and crying) Idimer Hader, “let me get him. (Idimer spurs his old mule and ropes the kid and dragging him around while he is screaming and hollering in pain. He stops and from a distance begins talking in Cherokee) We have one of your Di-Ni-Yo-TLI. (means children in Cherokee) Come out or else!” Instantly the child’s father comes running out with a rifle and a barrage of gunfire from the awaiting soldiers opens up and he is killed instantly.) O K rambling readers let’s listen inside the cave to what is going on with our trapped Indians and slaves. Chief Rain Frog, Tender Leaf the school teacher, Ezekiel the slave that used to be with the Cherokees until Idimer captured him and others are frantically running around dipping up water to put out the internal fires. Chief Rain Frog, “Everyone come together we must council! We finally got the fires out. Tall Tree has already been shot and killed by the white men trying to rescue his son.” Swift Horse—raising up his spear, “I say we all go out together and charge the white men and destroy them now!” Tender Leaf, “No! Please listen to me. The White Soldiers have many guns waiting for us. We must think of the future of our children and people. We must have faith that we can endure this present trial and persevere for the future of our people. I say we surrender. Otherwise we all perish.” Little Fox, “I will never surrender to them. I would rather die than surrender and be the white man's slave. What do you think Ezekiel? You’ve been the white man's slave for the last three years and our’s since birth.” Ezekiel, “ My family and people here have no choice. We either will die here today or we more

Not too many years ago could be found on many dairy farmers’ calendars the telephone number of their “cow breeder.” more

Hi rambling friends and neighbors of the Marshfield Mail. I’m very glad to be back to share week 7 about the history of the Trail of Tears. We have a lot of ground to cover this week so let’s begin with a review of the last six weeks. At one time our country had Native Americans everywhere. As the white men approached they pushed them off of their land. President Andrew Jackson had as his priority to remove our Native Americans from the United States to take them to the Oklahoma Territory by any means possible. He assigned General Winfield Scott with thousands of federal troops. In addition the locals were asked to join in to help locate and capture Indians that did not go willingly. The most prominent of the Native Americans were the Cherokees since they were considered wealthy and many were educated. In addition they owned over 1500 black slaves and even gold was discovered on their land in northern Georgia. Our priority through the rambling weekly articles has been on the Cherokees. O K folks: are we all ready to ride? Our magical history horses are all saddled and ready to get started. My personal horse ‘Flashback’ is already saddled along with the others. Mount up, close your eyes, count to three. Whoa! We made it. We are now in Northern Georgia overlooking the Valley Flat Plantation. Idimer Hader and the federal troops are getting started to ride out to search and find by any means where the Cherokees are located and bring them back in chains and put them in stockades until the time to begin moving them. Let’s listen in and watch for ourselves what is going on. Idimer Hader, (speaking and pointing at one of his slaves) “hey Mulebone, go get Ezekiel and bring him here. He’s in the cotton barn.” Mulebone, “Yes sir Master Hader.” Mulebone goes over to the cotton barn and sends Ezekiel to Idimer Hader. (O K readers I need to give you a little background about Ezekiel. Originally he was with his family and a slave for the Cherokee Indians and his master was Chief Rain Frog. One day Idimer Hader was going after a runaway slave in Cherokee country when he found Ezekiel picking peaches. Being that Ezekiel was a strong healthy black man he knew he would make a fine slave for the Valley Flat Plantation. He captured him and brought him back. Ever since he has made it known that he wants to return. Once he escaped and Idimer captured him back and gave him a severe whippin’) Idimer Hader, “Ezekiel, how would you like to join up with your family again? Ezekiel, “Master Hader, yes sir I would! Do you really mean it?” Idimer Hader, “Sure do we’re going to Cherokee land now. You find your family members and you will get to be with them. Go saddle Windstorm and ride with us.” Ezekiel, “Yes sir Master Hader.” (In the meantime Captain Folers of the federal troops begins questioning Idimer Hader while Ezekiel is gone saddling up his horse.) Captain Folers, “Idimer, what’s the meaning of taking a slave with us? We don’t need him. I thought you knew where all of the Cherokees lived.) Idimer Hader, Don’t you understand? Ezekiel has lived with the Cherokees for over 30 years; he knows all of their hiding places and everything about them. I am using him to find his family alright but also to find your Cherokees for you. We will both be happy. You get your Injuns and I get their slaves for the Valley Flatt Plantation.) O K rambling friends let’s take a little break and fast forward two weeks. We are now looking down at Chief Rain Frog’s cabin and village where his people used to live. It is very obvious they have left the area and are in hiding. Captain Folers “Idimer—- where are the Indians?” Idimer Hader, “Don’t worry Captain we will find our Indians. Just be patient with me and don’t say anything. Let’s pay a little visit with Ezekiel; he's at the end of the column. (meanwhile Idimer and the Captain ride back to where Ezekiel is) Idimer, “Ezekiel, we made it. It’s just like you told us. I don’t see your family or your old Master Chief Rain Frog. Tell you what I will do. I'll give you two weeks of food and we will turn around and go back to the Valley Flat more

Hi rambling readers. I am so very glad to be back in the saddle for week number five to continue our series about the Trail of Tears. O K–- let me catch everyone up that may have missed a week and for the new readers that need to know where we are in this story. A quick summary is: 190 years when Andrew Jackson was president he pushed congress and our nation to rid our country of all Native Americans. Fraudulent peace treaties, unfair laws and the power of the United States military were very successful in capturing the vast majority of the Indians by any means. We also learned that the Cherokees were very educated and lived in log cabins, owned hundreds of slaves and many had adapted the Christian religion. O K, enough review, let's get started! I already have our history horses saddled for everyone to ride with me in stealth mode into the past. Please mount up and let’s go ride and observe and listen in- first person- present tense. Let’s begin where we left off last week. Close your eyes–count to three. One, two, three–swish we made it! Look below—-friendly reminder: Mr Igley Moley of the Valley Flat Plantation is joining up forces with General Winfield Scott of the United States Army. The army is after the Indians and Mr Moley wants their slaves and land by any means. Let’s all hideout in the clouds above and listen in on Mr Moley and General Scott negotiating terms as they are eating supper. The servants are serving Mr Moley with his family and General Winfield Scott a fabulous meal. Steak, sweet potatoes, gravy and peach pie. Mr Igley Moley, how about it General anything more my servant can serve you? “ General, “I’m fine this has been one fine meal!” Mr Igley Moley, “very well let’s go into my study and join me for one of our cigars that we market and make ourselves. General Scott, “I would be delighted Mr Moley.” (Mr Moley and General Scott get up and go to the study room and sit down and light up cigars.) General Scott, “not bad, this is a great cigar, no wonder your plantation is famous for its cigars.” Mr Moley, “thank you general—- we ship wagon loads of our cigars and tobacco per year up to you yankees. General Winfield Scott, O K Mr Moley let’s get down to business and discuss terms. I have 500 soldiers camped on your land this evening and I appreciate you letting me use your mule barn as a stockade for the captured Cherokees we are holding until we can send them to Oklahoma.” Mr Moley, the Valley Flat joins Cherokee land on our northern border. I believe we can work together.” General Scott, “Mr Moley I am going to be to the point. I want to use your plantation as a staging area for my soldiers and I want to build stockades for the captured Indians. Also: I need the use of your slaves to build stockades for the Indians and to grow enough food for my troops and fodder for our horses. I will keep my troops busy day and night rounding up the Indians.” Mr Moley, “Very well General. You have some high demands however I can do it for the right price. I will need double the income I received last year from my cotton and tobacco acres. General Winfield Scott, “money is no problem Mr Moley. President Jackson wants these Indians captured and removed quickly! Mr Moley, “General you have a deal.” General Winfield Scott, “not quite so fast, Igley Moley there’s one more condition that must be met before we shake hands. I want Idimer Hader as my personal scout and tracker for the duration of rounding up the Indians. His reputation is infamous for his ability to track runaway slaves.” Mr Igley Moley, “now you have gone too far. He’s needed here to keep my slaves in line.” General Scott, “no deal without Idimer Hader and his mule.” Mr Igley Moley, mmmm O K I tell you what I can do. We get all the slaves and land that the Cherokees own when we capture the Cherokees.” General Scott, “It's a deal Mr Igley Moley. You want to shake hands and we start tomorrow?” (The two men shake and finish smoking their cigars) Whoa up rambling friends. Just think about what we have all seen and heard. Mr Moley and General Scott are more

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