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Ezra Meeker

Ezra Morgan Meeker (December 29, 1830 – December 3, 1928) was an American pioneer who traveled the Oregon Trail by ox-drawn wagon as a young man, migrating from Iowa to the Pacific Coast. Later in life he worked to memorialize the Trail, repeatedly retracing the trip of his youth. Once known as the "Hop King of the World", he was the first mayor of Puyallup, Washington.

Meeker was born in Butler County, Ohio, to Jacob and Phoebe Meeker. His family relocated to Indiana when he was a boy. He married Eliza Jane Sumner in 1851; the following year the couple, with their newborn son and Ezra's brother, set out for the Oregon Territory, where land could be claimed and settled on. Although they endured hardships on the Trail in the journey of nearly six months, the entire party survived the trek. Meeker and his family briefly stayed near Portland, then journeyed north to live in the Puget Sound region. They settled at what is now Puyallup in 1862, where Meeker grew hops for use in brewing beer. By 1887, his business had made him wealthy, and his wife built a large mansion for the family. In 1891, an infestation of hop aphids destroyed his crops and took much of his fortune. He later tried his hand at a number of ventures, and made four largely unsuccessful trips to the Klondike, taking groceries and hoping to profit from the gold rush.

Meeker became convinced that the Oregon Trail was being forgotten, and he became determined to bring it publicity so it could be marked and monuments erected. In 1906–1908, while in his late 70s, he retraced his steps along the Oregon Trail by wagon, seeking to build monuments in communities along the way. His trek reached New York City, and in Washington, D.C., he met President Theodore Roosevelt. He traveled the Trail again several times in the final two decades of his life, including by oxcart in 1910–1912 and by airplane in 1924. During another such trip, in 1928, Meeker fell ill but was succored by Henry Ford. On his return to Washington state, Meeker became ill again and died there on December 3, 1928, at the age of 97. Meeker wrote several books; his work has continued through the activities of such groups as the Oregon-California Trails Association.

Early life
Ezra Morgan Meeker was born in Butler County, Ohio, near Huntsville, on December 29, 1830, to Jacob (1804–1869) and Phoebe Meeker ( Baker; 1801–1854). His paternal ancestors had been among the early settlers of Elizabeth, New Jersey, where their ancestral home was located. In the American Revolutionary War, about twenty Meekers fought for the new nation. Ezra was the fourth of the six children Jacob and Phoebe had while together, with older brothers John, Manning (died at age one week) and Oliver, and a younger sister Hannah and brother Clark.

Jacob was a miller and farmer. In 1839, the family moved from Ohio to Indiana, close to Indianapolis—Ezra and his older brother Oliver walked behind the family wagon for 200 mi. Ezra had little formal education; he later estimated a total of six months. Phoebe, seeing that her son's mind was not well adapted to formal learning, allowed him to earn money through odd jobs. He obtained work as printer's devil at the Indianapolis Journal, where his duties involved delivering the newspaper to subscribers, among them local pastor Henry Ward Beecher. In 1845, Phoebe's father, a Cincinnati merchant, gave his daughter $1,000 (about $ in ) enough to buy the family a farm. As both Jacob and Ezra Meeker realized the boy enjoyed the outdoor life more than inside work, Jacob placed Ezra in charge of the farm, allowing the elder Meeker to work as a miller.

Migration to Oregon Territory (1852)
Ezra Meeker married his childhood sweetheart, Eliza Jane Sumner, in May 1851. The Sumners lived about four miles (6 km) from Indianapolis, and like the Meekers were family farmers who did not hire help. When he asked her for her hand, he told her he wanted to farm, which she accepted as long as it was on their own property. In October 1851, the couple set out for Eddyville, Iowa, where they rented a farm. They had heard that land in Eddyville would be free, but this was not the case. Ezra, working in a surveyor's camp, decided that he did not like Iowa's winters—a prejudice shared by his pregnant wife. Reports were circulating through the prairies about the Oregon Territory's free land and mild climate. Also influencing the decision was the urging of Oliver Meeker who, with friends, had outfitted for the trip to Oregon near Indianapolis, and had come to Eddyville to recruit his brother. Ezra and Eliza Jane Meeker vacillated on the decision, and it was not until early April 1852, more than a month after the birth of their son Marion, that they decided to travel the Oregon Trail.

That April, Ezra, Eliza Jane, Oliver, and Marion Meeker set out to journey to Oregon, some 2000 mi in all. With their wagon, they had two yokes of oxen, one of cows and an extra cow. They were accompanied by William Buck, who would remain with them much of the way before separating from them to go to California. Buck outfitted the wagon, Meeker selected the animals, and with his wife carefully prepared food supplies. The wagons of Meeker's grouping traveled together by informal agreement; there was no wagon master in overall charge.

A number of Oliver Meeker's friends from Indianapolis joined the group before the party left Iowa. They crossed the Missouri River at the small Mormon settlement of Kanesville (today Council Bluffs, Iowa). Meeker recounted that, as he stood on the far side of the Missouri, he felt as if he had left the United States. As they journeyed westward along the Platte River in Nebraska Territory, there were such large numbers traveling that they were never out of sight of the tens of thousands of other pioneers journeying west that year. Sometimes several wagons advanced side by side. The Meekers chose a slow, steady pace, unlike many who sought to rush along as quickly as possible. Piles of abandoned possessions lined the way, cast aside to lighten loads. As the party went further west, they passed some of those who had hurried past them, and whose wagons had broken down or whose oxen had died as a result of failure to care for them properly. Disease was an ever-present risk; at the present site of Kearney, Nebraska, Oliver Meeker was stricken with illness. This led to a division of the group when most of Oliver's friends, including later Idaho Territory governor David W. Ballard, refused to wait. Oliver recovered after four days, and was one of the lucky ones—his brother later estimated that one in ten of those who took the Trail perished during the journey. Ezra Meeker remembered meeting one wagon train, slowly moving east against the flow of traffic. That group had made it as far as Fort Laramie (today in Wyoming) before losing the last of its menfolk, and the women and children turned back, hoping to regain their homes in the East. He never learned if they made it. According to local historians Bert and Margie Webber, "all of these deaths made a great impression on the young man".

They encountered Native Americans, who would sometimes demand provisions for passage, but none were given and none of the incidents ended with violence. The travelers' stores were supplemented by shooting bison, which roamed the Great Plains in huge numbers. Despite being a source of food, the bison were a danger as their stampedes could destroy property and kill irreplaceable stock. In southeastern Idaho, the California Trail separated from the Oregon, and Buck and some of the rest of the party split off there; they settled in California and remained friends with Meeker until their deaths.

Meeker found that the final stretch between Fort Boise and The Dalles was the most difficult. The section is filled with mountains and deserts, and there was little chance of supplementing stores. Those who entered this 350 mi segment with exhausted teams or minimal supplies often died along it. Others shed baggage brought across half a continent, saving only provisions. Parties who feared this part of the journey sometimes tried to float down the Snake and Columbia Rivers; many were wrecked in the rapids and died. At The Dalles, where river passage was available to Portland, the Meeker party found a motley crowd of emigrants. With the money earned at the ferry, they booked passage downriver. Oliver Meeker brought the livestock ahead overland, and met Ezra and his family on their arrival in Portland on October 1, 1852, where they slept inside a house for the first time since leaving Iowa. Ezra Meeker had lost 20 lb and possessed $2.75 in cash. All of the party survived, although Jacob Davenport, one of Oliver Meeker's friends from Indiana, became ill on the final part of the trip and died some weeks after reaching Portland. All but one of the livestock completed the trip—a cow was lost while crossing the Missouri River. Ezra Meeker considered his journey over the Oregon Trail to have been the making of him as a man.

Early days
Meeker's first employment in the Pacific Northwest was unloading a ship that had docked at Portland. He moved to the nearby town of St. Helens, where construction of a wharf in competition with Portland's was under way—Oliver rented a house to lodge workers in, and Ezra went to help his brother. By this time, Ezra Meeker and his wife were determined to fulfill their original plan to farm, and when work was abandoned on the wharf, he went to find land which could be cultivated.

Meeker first made a claim in January 1853 about 40 mi downriver from Portland, on the current site of Kalama, Washington. There, he built a log cabin and began his first farm. He did not build close to the water, which proved fortunate as there was a major flood on the Columbia soon after he claimed the land. Instead, he profited from the incident, selling logs the river left on his claim, together with trees he chopped down, for lumber.

In April 1853, Meeker heard that the lands north of the Columbia would become a separate territory (named Washington Territory), with its capital on Puget Sound, an inlet of the Pacific. He decided to travel north with his brother to scout for lands to claim around the waterway. There were as yet only about 500 European-descended inhabitants in the Puget Sound region, of which 100 were in the village of Olympia, which would become the territorial (and later state) capital. Despite there only being a few settlers, there was considerable activity in the area—the lumber of Puget Sound fueled San Francisco's building boom. The Meekers' first view of Puget Sound was unprepossessing; the tide was out, exposing mud flats. Nevertheless, they pressed on, building a skiff to travel by water. They were met by friendly Indians, who sold them clams and taught them how to cook the shellfish. Engaging one of the Native Americans as a guide, they explored the area, looking for good, well-located farmland. At one point, they entered the Puyallup River, in a region where no white settlers lived, and camped on the present site of Puyallup, but were deterred by the large number of huge trees, which would make it difficult to clear land for farming. They decided on tracts on McNeil Island, not far from the thriving town of Steilacoom, where the farm's produce could be sold. Oliver remained on the island to build a cabin while his brother went back to fetch family and possessions, and sell their old claims at Kalama. He returned to a cabin in which they installed a glass window that looked over the water to Steilacoom, with a view of Mount Rainier. The Meeker claim was later the site of McNeil Island Corrections Center.

Later in 1853, Ezra and Oliver Meeker received a three-month-old letter from their father, stating that he and other family members wanted to emigrate, and would do so if Oliver Meeker could return to assist them. They immediately responded that Oliver would return to Indiana by early the following year, and put their plans on hold to prepare for and finance his journey by steamship and rail. In August 1854, Ezra Meeker received word that his relatives were en route, but were delayed and short on provisions. He quickly went to their aid, intending to guide them through the Naches Pass into the Puget Sound area. When he found his family's party close to the first Fort Walla Walla (near Richland, Washington), he learned that his mother and a younger brother had died along the Trail. He guided the survivors through the pass and to his claim on McNeil Island.

Jacob Meeker saw only limited prospects on the island, and the family took claims near Tacoma, where they operated a general store in Steilacoom. On November 5, 1855, Ezra Meeker claimed 325.21 acre of land called Swamp Place, near Fern Hill, southeast of Tacoma. He began to improve the land, planting a garden and an orchard.

Pursuant to the 1854 Treaty of Medicine Creek, settlers purchased lands from the Indians. The agreement, signed under duress, restricted the Native Americans to inadequate reservations, and in 1855, the Puget Sound War broke out, bringing unrest to the region over the following two years. Ezra Meeker had maintained good relations with the Native Americans, and did not fight in the conflict, though he accompanied one expedition to recover possessions captured by the Indians. A controversial aspect of the war was the trials and hanging of Chief Leschi, deemed responsible for killing during the conflict. Meeker sat on the jury in the first trial, which resulted in a hung jury, with Meeker and another man holding out for acquittal on the grounds that Leschi was a combatant in wartime. A second trial convicted Leschi, and he was hanged. Meeker described the execution as wrongful, and in later years wrote of the incident. In 1895, Meeker chartered a special train to bring whites to Leschi's reburial on tribal land, and in 2004 the Washington State Senate passed a resolution that Leschi had been unjustly treated; a special historical tribunal made up of past and present justices of the Washington Supreme Court also exonerated Leschi as both he and the man he was said to have killed were combatants.

"Hop King of the World"
Ezra Meeker's farm at Swamp Place was not a success as the land was too poor to grow crops. The family continued to run the store in Steilacoom. On January 5, 1861, Oliver Meeker drowned while returning from a buying trip to San Francisco, when his ship, the Northerner, sank off the California coast. The Meekers had borrowed to finance the trip, and the losses from this disaster reduced Ezra Meeker to near penury. He secured the squatter's claim of Jerry Stilly on land in the Puyallup Valley, and moved his wife and children there in 1862. While clearing his own holdings, he earned money by helping to clear the land of others. His father and surviving brother, John Meeker, also had claims in the valley. John Meeker had come to Washington Territory by ship in 1859 and had settled in the Puyallup Valley. Ezra Meeker ran for the Washington Territorial Legislature in 1861, but was defeated. In 1869, Meeker ran for Pierce County Surveyor; he was defeated by James Gallagher, 138 votes to 116.

In 1865, Olympia brewer Isaac Wood imported some hop roots from the United Kingdom, hopeful that they would do well in the Pacific Northwest. As hops, used to flavor beer, were not then grown locally, the cost of transport from Britain or New York made his beer expensive, and he hoped Puget Sound-area farmers would grow hops and supply him. He was a friend of Jacob Meeker, and gave him the roots to grow. Jacob passed some of them on to Ezra. The plants grew extremely well, and at the end of the season, the Meekers earned $185 from selling Wood the crop. Such a sum was rarely seen in the Puyallup Valley at that time, and a hop-growing boom promptly began. Ezra Meeker, with his head start, was able to repeatedly expand operations, he eventually had 500 acre of hop-growing lands. He also built one of the first hop-drying kilns in the valley. For years Meeker supplied Portland brewer Henry Weinhard.

The fertile soil and temperate climate of the valley proved ideal for hops. Not only did the plants thrive, farmers were able to obtain four or five times the usual yield. Meeker, never one to miss an opportunity, formed his own hop brokerage business. In 1870, he penned an 80-page pamphlet, Washington Territory West of the Cascades, to promote investment in the region. He took ship for San Francisco, then journeyed east by the new transcontinental railroad, hoping to get the railroads to expand to his region. He met with newspaper editor Horace Greeley (known for his famous advice, "Go West, young man") and with railroad mogul Jay Cooke as part of his promotional blitz. Cooke, who was building the Northern Pacific Railway to cross the northern tier of the country, not only bought up Meeker's pamphlets to give away to potential investors, but hired Meeker to drum up interest in his railroad. While working from a Manhattan office, Meeker dressed like city dwellers, but did not entirely lose his frontier habits, often stirring a lump of butter into his coffee.

In 1877, Meeker filed a plat for a townsite to surround his cabin. He named the town Puyallup, using the local Indian words for generous people, according to Meeker. The local post office had previously been called "Franklin", a common designation in the United States; Meeker, the town's first postmaster, stated that the new name was likely to remain unique. He later admitted that the pronunciation of Puyallup caused confusion when he visited England—it still remains difficult for non-locals.

Meeker strove to improve life in the region, and donated land and money towards town buildings and parks, a theatre and a hotel while defraying the start-up costs of a wood products factory. The Ezra Meeker Historical Society, in their 1972 pamphlet on his life, wrote of his activities:

"During those years, Mr. Meeker became a dynamic force in the community, and had a part in almost everything that happened in the valley. Restless, forceful, a natural leader, he became a prime mover, galvanizing the citizens of Puyallup into action on such vital problems as the building of streets, roads, homes, schools, and businesses and transforming the forest into one of the most progressive small communities in the state. If he was not leading an undertaking, he was sure to be a busy member of some committee working on it."

Hops made many farmers wealthy, including Meeker, who at one point claimed he had earned a half million dollars for his crop. In 1880, he wrote his first book, Hop Culture in the United States, and soon after became known as the "Hop King of the World". By the 1880s, he was the wealthiest man in the territory, and had formed a London branch of his hop brokerage. He served as Washington Territory's representative at the 1885–1886 North Central & South American Exposition in New Orleans; he also took exhibits to London's Colonial and Indian Exposition after the New Orleans fair closed. In 1886, Meeker sought the Republican nomination for territorial delegate to Congress, but was defeated after many ballots at the party convention. He became a supporter of women's suffrage, which was the subject of a long-running political battle in Washington Territory, a dispute which lasted well after statehood in 1889.

Eliza Jane felt that the family should live in a better house than their original cabin, and between 1887 and 1890 built what became known as the Meeker Mansion in Puyallup. The cost was $26,000, a very large sum at the time. An Italian artist lived with the Meekers for a year, painting careful details on the ceilings. The Meekers moved in during 1890, the same year Puyallup was formally incorporated under state law—they donated their old homesite to the town for a park. In 1890, Meeker served as first mayor of Puyallup. He was elected to a second, non-consecutive term for 1892.

Ruin and Klondike
In 1891, a blight of hop aphids struck the hop-growing West Coast from British Columbia to California. Although sprays of various liquids were used in an attempt to defeat the insects, use of such pesticides damaged the hops. In 1892, the crop decreased to half of what it had been before the infestation. Meeker had advanced money to many growers, who were unable to repay him. The problems in the valley were made worse by the Panic of 1893, a severe worldwide depression. Business after business in which Meeker had invested failed, such as the Puyallup Electric Light Company. He was overextended, and lost much of his fortune, and eventually his lands to foreclosure.

Meeker spent part of the winter of 1895–1896 in London, recouping what he could from his interests there. In the 1896 Klondike Gold Rush, gold was discovered both in Alaska and in Canada, and when Meeker returned from the United Kingdom, he found his sons, Marion and Fred, preparing to leave for Cook Inlet, Alaska. They found all the worthwhile claims had already been taken. Nevertheless, the Meeker family saw the finds as a possible road to financial recovery, and founded a company to buy and sell mining claims, though they knew little about the trade. In 1897, Meeker and his sons journeyed to the Kootenay country of southeastern British Columbia, where gold had been found. Despite the fact Meeker was aged 66, he undertook a full share of the labor. Both Meeker sons filed claims in Canada, but the mines required additional investment. Meeker raised money to travel to New York to speak with his old contacts, where he received more promises than cash. On the return leg he failed to raise money in visits in Illinois and Minneapolis and by July 1897, he was back in the Kootenays, working the claim. When the gold discovery in the Klondike in northwestern Canada was publicized that year, Meeker saw that as a better opportunity, and sent his son Fred to investigate. Fred Meeker returned with a report in November; the Meekers sought to finance a mining expedition to the Klondike, but failed to raise adequate money from investors.

Despite his inability to raise funds for mining, Meeker was certain there was a way to make money from the gold rush. He and Eliza Jane spent much of the winter of 1897–1898 drying vegetables, and Ezra Meeker departed for Skagway, Alaska, on March 20, 1898, with 30000 lb of dried produce—Fred Meeker and his wife Clara were already across the border in what would soon be designated as the Yukon Territory. The 67-year-old Meeker, with one business associate, climbed the steep Chilkoot Pass. With thousands of others in boats and on rafts, he floated down the Yukon River once the ice broke up in late May, and sold his vegetables in two weeks in Dawson City. He returned to Puyallup in July, only to set out again with more supplies the following month. This time, he and his son-in-law, Roderick McDonald, opened a store, the Log Cabin Grocery, in Dawson City, and remained through the winter.

Meeker returned to the Yukon twice more, in 1899 and 1900. Most of the money earned through groceries was invested in gold mining, and was lost. When he departed the Klondike for the last time in April 1901, he left behind him the body of his son Fred, dead of pneumonia in Dawson City on January 30, 1901. In his writings, Meeker ascribed his sudden departure from the Yukon in 1901 to mining losses and his upcoming 50th wedding anniversary. Meeker scholar Dennis M. Larsen in his book on the pioneer's Klondike adventure suggests that a more likely reason was attempts by those who had lost money in Meeker's enterprises in the 1890s to gain the family's remaining major asset, the Meeker Mansion. That property was sold by Eliza Jane Meeker to her daughter Caroline and son-in-law Eben Osborne for $10,000 in mid-1901 (about $ in ) and later that year both Ezra and Eliza Jane executed documents stating that the house had been her separate property, paid for with funds not deriving from Ezra. The sale to the Osbornes included provisions that Ezra and Eliza Jane were to have lifetime residence and $50 per month. Ezra Meeker did not live there after his wife's death in 1909, and the Osbornes sold the house in 1915. Eben Osborne died in 1922, survived by his 91-year-old father in law.

Preparation for 1906 trip
Meeker spent the years after the Klondike in Puyallup, where he wrote and served as president of the Washington State Historical Society, which he had helped to found in 1891. The Ezra Meeker Historical Society described their namesake's situation after the Klondike expeditions:

"He was 71 years old. He had been an adventurer, laborer, surveyor, longshoreman, farmer, merchant, community leader, civic builder, richest man in the state, world traveler, miner and writer. He had made and lost millions. He had made money, not so much to hoard, but to do things with—to develop, control forces, build and promote. But his money was gone. It was generally assumed that he had finally come home to stay and live out his days in peace and quiet in his beautiful valley. Not so. He still had dreams."

Meeker had long contemplated the idea of marking the Oregon Trail, over which he had traveled in 1852, with granite monuments. By the early 20th century, he was convinced that the Trail was in danger of being forgotten. Farmers were plowing up the Trail bit by bit, and as towns and cities grew along it, the Trail vanished under streets and buildings. Meeker viewed its preservation as an urgent matter because of this slow disappearance. He wanted the Trail properly marked, and monuments erected to honor the dead.

Meeker came up with a scheme to travel along the Trail again by ox-drawn wagon, raising public awareness for his cause. He believed that public interest would provide enough money both to build markers and maintain himself along the way. Though many hucksters traveled by wagon, selling patent nostrums, Meeker felt that he would stand out, as an authentic pioneer able to tell real stories of the Trail—especially if he used authentic gear. He felt that it was likely that once newspapers got wind of his travels, they would give him ample coverage.

Meeker did not have much money, so he raised it from friends. Ox-drawn wagons were not a common sight in the Puyallup of 1906; Meeker was unable to find an authentic complete wagon, and eventually used metal parts from the remains of three of them. The construction was done by Cline & McCoy of Puyallup. Meeker found a pair of oxen; even though one proved unsuitable, the owner insisted on him purchasing both. The one Meeker kept, named Twist, was lodged at the stockyards in Tacoma as he sought another. Meeker fixed on a herd of steers which had been brought in from Montana. He decided on one which was particularly heavy, which he named Dave. Although Dave gave Meeker much difficulty, beginning with the 8 mi drive home to Puyallup after the purchase, the animal eventually helped pull the wagon over 8000 mi.

Although Meeker had not had a dog in his wagon in 1852, he knew that people liked them, and sought to add one to his crew. Jim, a large, friendly collie who became an expedition member and Meeker's companion for the next six years, had belonged to one of Meeker's neighbors, a Mr. James. Meeker was impressed by the way Jim drove James' chickens out of the area where the family grew berries, by moving slowly. Five dollars to one of James' children secured the purchase. Some of Meeker's friends tried to talk him out of the trip; one local minister warned against this "impracticable project", stating that it was "cruel to let this aged man start on this journey only to perish by exposure in the mountains".

Meeker had taken an ox team and wagon to Portland's Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in 1905; en route he had kept his eyes open for places to set up suitable monuments on the Cowlitz Trail, on which pioneers had journeyed from the Columbia River to Puget Sound. He made arrangements with locals in towns along that trail to raise money to build monuments there. He gave lectures as a fundraiser, but raised little money. He took his team and wagon for daylong shakedown trips, despite the mocking of some who remembered him as Hop King. After several days camped on his lawn as practice for the trip, and then in other nearby locales, Meeker set out from Olympia on February 19, 1906.

Return to the Trail (1906–1908)
According to Larsen in his book on Meeker's journey east,

"It's easy to assume Ezra Meeker's remarkable 1906–08 expedition over the Oregon Trail was a well-oiled machine that worked as planned ... But it wasn't always an easy journey. ... Faith in the whole enterprise, let alone encouragement, was in rather short supply. His own daughter told him that people would laugh at him if he went out on the trail with an old yoke of oxen ..."

The first stop after Olympia for "The Old Oregon Trail Monument Expedition" was Tenino, Washington, where Meeker went ahead by train on February 20, 1906, to make arrangements for the first monument of the trip. He still had no driver, and had his wagon pulled to Tenino by horses, with the oxen trailing behind. He appealed to a local quarry for a suitable stone, which was carved and was dedicated in Tenino at a ceremony on the 21st. He had less success as he journeyed south towards Portland; at none of the remaining Washington stops was a monument erected, and although Meeker placed wooden posts where monuments should go, most of the designated towns did not follow through. The lack of enthusiasm about Meeker's mission continued in Portland, where the Unitarian church elders voted against allowing Meeker the use of the building to give a fundraising lecture, pledging to do nothing to "encourage that old man to go out on the Plains to die".

In Portland, Meeker lost his remaining helpers (one refused to take a pay cut, the others for personal reasons). One stayed on for the boat voyage up the Columbia before leaving at The Dalles, where Meeker hired a driver/cook, William Mardon, at $30 per month. He remained with Meeker for the next three years. Meeker also installed an odometer on his wagon, calling The Dalles "Mile Zero" of his expedition. In The Dalles, Meeker engaged in activities which would set the pattern for his progress along the Trail: He showed off himself, his wagon and animals, to the public, and sold tickets for a lecture (fifty cents for adults, half that for children) he would give about the Oregon Trail, including images shown with a stereopticon. He also met with members of civic committees to raise money for a local monument. Often these monuments were erected after Meeker passed: he would position a post to designate its location. According to reporter James Aldredge in his 1975 article on Meeker's trip, "for a septuagenarian he must have been blessed with remarkable health and endurance ... When the curious procession got underway, not the least impressive part of it was Meeker himself, with his face framed by his flowing white hair and his patriarchal beard." According to reporter Bart Ripp in his 1993 article on Meeker, "the first expedition east in 1906 was supposed to be a speaking tour, but people were more interested in seeing the old coot in a covered wagon. It was the 20th century, and Americans wanted a show."

As he journeyed east from The Dalles, Meeker met with more enthusiasm than in his home state as he slowly passed through Oregon and Idaho. As word began to spread, he sometimes found the townsfolk prepared for him, or with a stone ordered or even ready. The monument in Boise, dedicated by Meeker on April 30, 1906, stands on the grounds of the Idaho State Capitol. On the road, he camped as he had a half century before, but in towns most often took a hotel room, though who paid for this is uncertain. Near Pacific Springs, at South Pass in Wyoming, Meeker had a stone inscribed to mark where the Trail passes through the Continental Divide.

Meeker remembered in a memoir,

"The sight of Sweetwater River, twenty miles [32 km] out from South Pass, revived many pleasant memories and some that were sad. I could remember the sparkling, clear water, the green skirt of undergrowth along the banks, and the restful camps, as we trudged up the stream so many years ago. And now I saw the same channel, the same hills, and apparently the same waters swiftly passing. But where were the camp fires?  Where was the herd of gaunt cattle?  Where the sound of the din of bells?  the hallooing for lost children?  Or the little groups off on the hillside to bury the dead?  All were gone."

Nebraska proved resistant to Meeker's sales pitch, and near Brady, the ox Twist died, possibly after eating a poisonous plant. Meeker had to wire home to supporters for money. He hired teams of horses to pull the wagon on a temporary basis, and an attempt with two cows was not successful. He was able to temporarily yoke Dave with a cow which proved more suitable. At the Omaha Stockyards, Meeker found another ox, which he named Dandy, and broke him in on the way to Indianapolis, near where Meeker had once lived and 2600 mi by road from Puyallup. Beginning in Nebraska, Meeker began to sell postcards from photos taken on the way—there was then a craze for postcards in the United States. He also arranged for the printing of a book about his 1852 trip, much of which he wrote during noontime halts on his 1906 trip. The funds from the sales of these items allowed him to meet expenses on the road. Meeker's exploits were closely followed in newspapers on the West Coast as eastern and midwestern stories about him were reprinted there—when westerners perceived any slights towards Meeker, indignant editorials followed.

After a visit to Eddyville, Iowa, from where he had set out in 1852, Meeker spent several weeks in Indianapolis, leaving on March 1, 1907, when his permit to sell on the streets there expired. With the Oregon Trail run completed, he proceeded east through Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York State, seeking to both raise public awareness and earn some money for himself through sales of his merchandise. He often spent several days in a location, so long as sales of postcards and books flourished. When the expedition reached New York City, Mayor George B. McClellan Jr. was absent but the acting mayor told Meeker that, although he could not grant him a permit, he would instruct the police not to molest him. The message was apparently not well-communicated, as at 161st and Amsterdam Avenue a policeman arrested Meeker's helper, Mardon, for driving cattle upon the streets of New York in violation of a local ordinance. A stalemate followed as Meeker refused to move his oxen and the police had no means of doing so. The situation was resolved when higher authority ordered Mardon's release. Meeker wanted to drive the length of Broadway; it took a month to get the legal problems resolved. It took him six hours to drive the length of Manhattan. He had arranged with the press for photographers, who took shots of him at the New York Stock Exchange and the sub-Treasury building across Wall Street. Later in his stay, he drove across the Brooklyn Bridge.

After a small family reunion at the old Meeker homestead near Elizabeth, New Jersey, Meeker headed south towards Washington, D.C. He had hoped to meet President Theodore Roosevelt at his summer home in Oyster Bay, New York, but Roosevelt's staff declined, offering a meeting in Washington instead. Members of the Washington State congressional delegation cleared the way, and Meeker met Roosevelt on November 29, 1907. The President went outside the White House to view Meeker's wagon and team, and expressed support for Meeker's activities, and for a Meeker proposal for a cross-country highway (there were then none) in honor of the pioneers. After Washington, the tour wound down: Meeker went home to Puyallup from Pittsburgh by train to see his ailing wife. On his return to the East, he arranged for transport by riverboat and train, with a journey across Missouri by wagon. The expedition was offloaded from the train in Portland, and Meeker proceeded north across Washington State (receiving a much warmer reception) on a slow route, finishing in Seattle on July 18, 1908.

Advocate for the Oregon Trail (1909–1925)
Meeker ran a large pioneer exhibit and restaurant at the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle; he later ruefully stated the Exposition had cost him his earnings from the book and card sales during his wagon tour. Later that year, he spent time in California, journeying with his wagon and team. Eliza Jane Meeker died in 1909 in Seattle—she had been in poor health for some years. Ezra Meeker was in San Francisco, peddling his wares, when his wife died—it took three days to locate him, after which he journeyed north for the funeral before returning to his work. On New Year's Day 1910, Meeker and his wagon and team participated in the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena.

In 1910, the Humphrey Bill, to appropriate money for monuments to mark the Trail, passed the House of Representatives and was introduced in the Senate, with a proviso that no money would be spent unless the Secretary of War could certify that the work would not require any further appropriations. Ezra Meeker set out that year on another two-year-long expedition, with the emphasis this time on locating and marking where the Trail had been, rather than on building monuments. Sometimes the ruts in the ground from the emigrants' wagons still existed and made it obvious, but other times he had to rely on the memories of old settlers. He journeyed to Texas, but had no success in interesting people in his project there. His tour was ended in 1912 in Denver when a flood struck the city, resulting in damage to his books. Nevertheless, according to Green, Meeker's two trips resulted in the placement of 150 monuments. A version of the Humphrey Bill passed the Senate in 1913, but died when the House of Representatives took no action. Despite this failure, groups began marking western trails: the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution put up plaques along the Cowlitz Trail in 1916.

Beginning in 1913, Meeker began to plan his role in the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. He had donated his wagon and oxen to a park in Tacoma: when officials there expressed concern about the cost of building a proper pavilion for them, Meeker reclaimed them and set off with them to California. Deeming Dandy unfit for the road, Meeker had him slaughtered in Portland in June 1914 and had the hide shipped back to Tacoma for taxidermy; in November, the same fate met Dave in California. Meeker's wagon was exhibited at the Exposition in San Francisco. His tales of the Oregon Trail became one of the star attractions of the Exposition. Nevertheless, he quarreled with the administrators of the Washington State Building, feeling that it should be open on Sundays, when the largest crowds came to the grounds. On his return, the oxen and wagon were mounted as an exhibit at the Washington State History Museum until it closed for a move to new premises in 1995. The wagon was then deemed too fragile for display.

In 1916, the 85-year-old Meeker made another trip, this time by Pathfinder automobile. The Pathfinder Company, of Indianapolis, lent Meeker a car with a covered-wagon-style top and a driver as a publicity stunt. Meeker also received a small stipend, and journeyed in the vehicle from Washington, D.C. to Olympia. Meeker saw the use of a motor vehicle as publicizing the need for a transcontinental highway. During this trip, he lectured on the need for a national highway; before he left he met with President Woodrow Wilson and discussed the topic with him.

Bernard Sun, whose grandparents were Oregon Trail pioneers in Wyoming, remembered another side of Meeker:

"He'd camp down on Rush Creek with a covered wagon. The old bum was riding a grub line. He'd grub meals from all the ranchers around here. My grandmother hated the sight of him. He'd comb that long hair at the dinner table. Put his [false] teeth in to eat and take them out to talk."

Although World War I distracted public attention from Meeker and his activities, he used the time to plan for the future. On December 29, 1919, his 89th birthday, he began work on another book, Seventy Years of Progress in Washington, which was published to favorable reviews. In association with Dr. Howard R. Driggs, a professor of English education at the University of Utah and later at New York University, he published a revised version of his memoirs, Ox-Team Days on the Oregon Trail. In 1922, he fell ill for one of the few times in his life. Newspapers reported that he refused to stay in bed, and his grandson, a physician, stated that he was going to put Meeker back to bed and "I am going to keep him there—if I can. If I can."

Recovered, the nonagenarian Meeker began making fresh travel plans. With the International Air Races to be held at Dayton, Ohio, in 1924, Meeker tried to get the War Department to allow him to fly there. He was successful, and flew with the Army pilot, Oakley G. Kelly. At a stop in Boise, Meeker quipped they were making better time than with his ox team, and in Dayton met aviation pioneer Orville Wright, to whom he commented, "You'd be surprised at the difference between riding in a Prairie Schooner and in an airplane." The publicity was so favorable that the Army had Kelly fly Meeker the rest of the way to Washington, D.C., where the onetime pioneer met President Calvin Coolidge in October 1924. Meeker returned to Seattle by train. Wanting the government to build a road over Naches Pass, where he had guided his father's party seventy years before, Meeker ran for the Washington House of Representatives in 1924 from the 47th district but was defeated in the Republican primary by 35 votes. In 1925, Meeker drove an ox team for several months while touring in J.C. Miller's Wild West Show.

Meeker reaches the end of the trail (1925–1928)

By 1925, Congress had still not passed an appropriation to mark the Trail. One means of federally sponsored fundraising at that time was to get Congress to authorize a commemorative coin (usually a half dollar) and designate a sponsoring organization to buy the issue at face value from the government and sell it to the public at a premium. Meeker got the idea from a group of Idahoans seeking a coin to further their preservation work at Fort Hall; he arranged a merger of efforts. Beginning in 1925, Meeker pressed for such a half dollar to honor the pioneers and provide money for his efforts, and in April 1926 he appeared before a Senate committee, urging the passage of legislation. Congress obliged, and Coolidge signed the bill on May 17, 1926, at a ceremony which Meeker attended.

Meeker had founded the Old Oregon Trail Association in 1922. In early 1926, it was incorporated in New York as the Oregon Trail Memorial Association (OTMA), and was given office space there by the National Highways Association. The legislation authorizing the new coin designated the OTMA as the organization which could purchase Oregon Trail Memorial half dollars from the government. The piece was designed by Laura Gardin Fraser and her husband, James Earle Fraser (who had designed the Buffalo nickel). Six million coins were authorized, and a beginning was made by the striking of 48,000 for the Association at the Philadelphia Mint; when those ran low, 100,000 more were coined at the San Francisco Mint. Meeker was less successful with the later issue, and many remained unsold. Although the Bureau of the Mint struck more in 1928, these remained impounded until after Meeker's death, with tens of thousands of the earlier issues unsold.

Seattle had been Meeker's home since moving out of the mansion, but in the mid-1920s the citizens of Puyallup sought to honor him by the erection of a statue in Pioneer Park, the site of Meeker's one-time homestead. They also sought to preserve the home site, over which Eliza Jane Meeker had planted ivy a half-century before, building a pergola to support the plant. With the statue and pergola completed, Meeker returned to Puyallup for the dedication ceremony in 1926. The same year, at age 95, Meeker published his first and only novel, Kate Mulhall, a Romance of the Oregon Trail.

Meeker was again advocating better roads, and gained the support of Henry Ford, who built him a Model A car with a covered wagon-style top, dubbed the Oxmobile, to be used in another expedition over the Trail to publicize Meeker's highway proposals. In October 1928, Meeker was hospitalized with pneumonia in Detroit. He returned to Seattle, where he fell ill again. Meeker was taken to a room in the Frye Hotel, where he told his daughter Ella Meeker Templeton, "I can't go. I have not yet finished my work." Ezra Meeker died there on December 3, 1928, just under a month short of his 98th birthday. His body was taken in procession back to Puyallup, where he was interred beside his wife Eliza Jane in Woodbine Cemetery. Under a plaque based on the Oregon Trail Memorial coin Ezra Meeker had inspired, their gravestone, erected by the OTMA in 1939, reads, "They came this way to win and hold the West."

Legacy
Driggs succeeded Meeker as president of the OTMA, and remained in that capacity at the association and its successor, the American Pioneer Trails Association (APTA), until his own death at age 89 in 1963. The year 1930, marking 100 years since both Meeker's birth and the first wagon train leaving St. Louis for the Oregon Country, was proclaimed the Covered Wagon Centennial. The largest event was at one of the landmarks along the Oregon Trail, Wyoming's Independence Rock, on July 3–5, 1930. This event included the dedication of a plaque depicting Meeker, embedded in the rock. For many years, the OTMA made it a practice to go out each summer and dedicate monuments along the Oregon Trail. Although the APTA no longer exists, that mission has been continued by state historical societies and organizations which share its purpose, such as the Oregon-California Trails Association.

The commemorative half dollars were struck in small numbers in most years of the 1930s; after collectors complained about the lengthy series and high prices, Congress forbade further strikings in 1939. The first route across America, the Lincoln Highway, was completed in the 1920s, and others soon followed. Although Meeker's highway along the Trail was not built, U.S. 30 generally parallels the route of the Oregon Trail. A number of sites relating to Meeker remain in Puyallup. In addition to his gravesite, and the Meeker Mansion (now owned by and being restored by the Ezra Meeker Historical Society) there is Pioneer Park, where the ivy-covered pergola and the statue of Meeker may be found.

Local historian Lori Price noted, "Throughout his long life of nearly 98 years, the word for Meeker was action." Historian David Dary, in his book on the Oregon Trail, deems Meeker primarily responsible for re-awakening public interest in it. According to Bert Webber, "There would be no 'Oregon Trail' to enjoy today if Ezra Meeker had not set out, by himself, and without government subsidy, to preserve it." Driggs stated of Meeker after his death:

"So the Oregon Trail was blazed and tramped—traders, trappers, gold-seekers, missionaries, colonists—until the highway stretched from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. Years passed and railroads supplanted the old Oregon Trail; its very location was forgotten; disputes arose. Then an old man, almost eighty, clambered into a prairie schooner, made in part of some in which the pioneers had journeyed westward, and the Oregon Trail was retraced and marked with monuments, that a people and a nation may not forget."

Notes and references
Explanatory notes

Citations

title: Ezra Meeker


text:
Claire Lawrence

Claire Lawrence (born 1939) is a Canadian musician who was a founding member of the Canadian band The Collectors, and remained with the group when it transitioned to Chilliwack in 1970. He performed on keyboards, flute, saxophone, and piano. He left Chilliwack in 1971 after several albums with the band and subsequently produced albums for a number of Canadian artists and groups including Ferron, Susan Jacks, Valdy, Shari Ulrich, Roy Forbes, 1979- (Nancy Nash with Robbie King CBC), UHF and Connie Kaldor.

Early life
Lawrence was born in Elk Point, Alberta. At the age of thirteen he began performing on the saxophone with his father's jazz band in night clubs in Victoria. He attended the University of British Columbia.

Career
While attending university in 1964, Lawrence started a band called The Classics. This group later became The Collectors. When that group changed its name to Chilliwack, Lawrence continued to perform with them for some time before leaving to concentrate on production work.

In the 1970s he produced The Great Canadian Gold Rush for CBC Radio, hosted by Terry David Mulligan. In 1973 he released an album, Leaving You Free, on the Haida label, and toured with Valdy as part of the Hometown Band. In 1977 the Hometown Band, with Lawrence on saxophone and flute and as producer, released an album, The Hometown Band, with Shari Ulrich singing lead vocals.

In the early 1980s he fronted the Claire Lawrence Band, which performed in western Canada. The band released a self-titled album in 1981.

In 1985, Lawrence produced the album Moonlight for Connie Kaldor, and performed with her in support of the album. From 1986 to 1990, he scored the music for the long-running CBC series, The Beachcombers. Between 1991 and 1994 he wrote the theme and incidental music for the CBC teen drama Northwood, shot in North and West Vancouver, BC. In the late 1990s he wrote the theme music used in the first two seasons of the CTV series Cold Squad. From 2000 to 2006 he produced Jazz Beat for CBC Radio.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Claire Lawrence


text:
2005 NFL draft

The 2005 NFL draft, the 70th in league history, took place on April 23 and 24, 2005. The draft was held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City and was televised for the 26th consecutive year, with coverage on ESPN and ESPN2. It was the first to be held at the Javits Center, as Madison Square Garden had been utilized for drafts since 1995.

The draft is perhaps best known for quarterback Aaron Rodgers' slide to the 24th selection despite his projection as one of the top picks. Rodgers believed that he would be taken first overall by the San Francisco 49ers, but after the 49ers selected quarterback Alex Smith, teams with other positional needs drafted other players until he was selected by the Green Bay Packers. The fall has drawn retrospective scrutiny because of Smith's tumultuous time in San Francisco combined with Rodgers' comparatively much more fruitful tenure with Green Bay

Compensatory selections were distributed among 14 teams, with the Philadelphia Eagles and St. Louis Rams garnering the most with four picks each. Three of the first five picks were running backs, an NFL draft first.

The league also held a supplemental draft in 2005 after the regular draft but before the regular season.

The 255 players chosen in the draft were composed of:

Supplemental draft selections
For each player selected in the supplemental draft, the drafting team forfeited its pick in that round in the regular draft of the following season.

Hall of Famers

 * DeMarcus Ware, linebacker from Troy taken 11th overall by the Dallas Cowboys, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023.

Trades
In the explanations below, (PD) indicates trades completed prior to the start of the draft while (D) denotes trades that took place during the draft.

 * Round one

 * Round two

 * Round three

 * Round four

 * Round five

 * Round six

 * Round seven

title: 2005 NFL draft


text:
Live at the Googolplex

Live at the Googolplex is a live album by American rock band Clutch, compiled from various live recordings on the Pure Rock Fury tour. Sources differ on the album's recording dates. According to some sources, it was recorded in Chicago (tracks 1–4, 12 & 13); Montreal (tracks 5, 6, 10 & 11); Kansas City (tracks 7–9) and Columbus, Ohio (tracks 14 & 15) on the tour dates of February 19 & 21, March 1 & 2 in 2002 and in early 2003, on the Pure Rock Fury North American tour; but it could also have been from 2001 and 2002 era recordings.

Personnel

 * Neil Fallon – vocals
 * Tim Sult – guitar
 * Dan Maines – bass
 * Jean-Paul Gaster – drums

 * Production
 * Produced by Clutch
 * Recorded by Lee Britnail
 * Mixed by Greg Clark
 * Mastered by Lawrence Packer

title: Live at the Googolplex


text:
Talk:Dick Durbin

December 2023 suggestion
There should be a section added for his involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2603:9001:6303:2C7:A8EA:E20A:B78F:278C (talk) 21:39, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
 * ❌ Perhaps you are referring to the partisan attacks attempting to associate Durbin with Epstein. Durbin has in fact agreed to work at securing subpoenas for records around Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operations. The English Biographies of living persons policy does not permit us to add allegations based on rumor & innuendo. Any information added to a biographies of living people must be neutral, verified by reliable sources, & not original research. You have not provided no verification from any reliable sources, so it is unclear how you could expect us to proceed with your request. Peaceray (talk) 22:21, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Dick Durbin


text:
Whitehill

Whitehill is a family surname, appearing both in literature and in historical references.

People surnamed Whitehill

 * Cat Whitehill (born 1982), American soccer player
 * Clarence Eugene Whitehill (1871–1932), American opera singer
 * Robert Whitehill (born 1947), American poet
 * Robert Whitehill (Pennsylvania politician) (1738–1813), US Representative from Pennsylvania
 * Walter Muir Whitehill (1905–1978), American author, historian and medievalist

Whitehills in literature
As fictional family, the Whitehills are featured in the short stories of Brazilian writer Rita Maria Felix da Silva.

The first reference to them was Lord Douglas Whitehill in "San Juan Romero". The complete list of Whitehills and where they appeared is listed below: ‹› Lord Douglas Whitehill in "San Juan Romero". ‹› Walter and Edgar Whitehill in "O Tesouro de Omalura" (The Treasure of Omalura) ‹› Adam Whitehill, a vampire in "Adam e Sarah" (Adam and Sarah) ‹› Agnes Whitehill in "Uma Epifania para Agnes" (Epiphany For Agnes) ‹› Quentin Whitehill, a scientists in "Seria Melhor..." (It would be better...) ‹› Peter Whitehill in "O Contrário da Sorte" (Contrary of the Luck) ‹› Lucius Whitehill, a businessman/gangster/collector cited in epilogue of "Khen-Zur" ‹› Kate Whitehill, the rough agent first appeared in "Quando Kate Visitou Debby em Julho" (When Kate Visited Debby in July). Kate and her partner (Ken McSmith)then returned in "Jogo de Facas" (A Game of Knives), "Cacos de Porcelana" (Porcelain Shards) and "O Legado do Demônio de Barro" (The Legacy of the Clay Demon), all three short stories written by Daniel Folador Rossi, a Brazilian writer and a friend of Rita Maria Felix da Silva.

Generally in these tales, the Whitehills are shown involved at substantial problems. There is a tendency of the readers to consider them as an "evil family" while other ones state is just "bad luck".

The fictional Whitehills originated from London.

There is also a reference to a Whitehill (Victoria?) in Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Whitehills in Media
David Whitehill is an Australian TV presenter/producer and ocean conservationist: http://www.davidwhitehill.com/

Another Whitehill in sports history – Earl Whitehill https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/whiteea01.shtml

Whitehills in History
The Whitehills are also a real family originating in the 15th century in Calais and later appearing in Scotland. The Whitehills emigrated to the United States in the mid 18th century. A James Whitehill fought in the Revolutionary war against the British. Camphill, Pennsylvania was originally called Whitehill, but changed its name during the American Civil War in respect to a group of soldiers who had camped there.

title: Whitehill


text:
Love in Vain

"Love in Vain" (originally "Love in Vain Blues") is a blues song written by American musician Robert Johnson. Johnson's performance – vocal accompanied by his finger-style acoustic guitar playing – has been described as "devastatingly bleak". He recorded the song in 1937 during his last recording session and in 1939 it was issued as the last of his original 78 rpm records.

"Love in Vain" has elements of earlier Delta blues songs and for a while it was believed to be in the public domain. In 1969, the Rolling Stones recorded an updated rendition featuring an electric slide guitar solo. The popularity of their adaptation led to a lawsuit over the copyright, which was eventually resolved in favor of Johnson's estate. Various artists have recorded the song.

Background
In the late 1920s, Johnson began playing the guitar along with a rack-mounted harmonica. One of his influences was Leroy Carr, whose "How Long–How Long Blues" (1928) was an early favorite. Johnson later used the melody from Carr's "When the Sun Goes Down" (1935) as the basis for "Love in Vain". Both songs express a yearning and sorrow for the loss of a lover. Johnson also used some lyrics from "Flying Crow Blues" (1932) by the Shreveport Home Wreckers (a duo of Oscar "Buddy" Woods and Ed Schaffer) for the final verse of "Love in Vain". Sonny Boy Williamson II recorded a song with a similar title, "All My Love in Vain", but different lyrics.

Lyrics and composition
AllMusic's Thomas Ward describes the song as "heartbreakingly potent coming from an artist of Johnson's calibre". He adds: "The song's opening verse is worth quoting in full, it's arguably the finest few lines that Johnson ever wrote 'And I followed her to the station/with a suitcase in my hand/Well I followed her to the station/with a suitcase in my hand/Well it's hard to tell, it's hard to tell/When all your love's in vain'. Never has Johnson's guitar been so subtle, so much in the background – the song's success is from the artist's longing vocal, and as such it's devastatingly bleak."

During the final verses, Johnson calls out to his lover, Willie Mae Powell. Years later, when she heard "Love in Vain" for the first time, she was visibly moved upon hearing her name.

Releases
In 1939, Vocalion Records issued "Love in Vain Blues", backed by "Preachin' Blues (Up Jumped the Devil)", on a ten-inch 78 rpm record. It was released after Johnson's death and was the last of his original singles. After the release of Johnson's first compilation album, King of the Delta Blues Singers (1961), bootleg albums containing more of Johnson's 1930s singles were circulated. This was the first appearance of the song since its original release. Columbia Records responded by issuing King of the Delta Blues Singers, Vol. II (1970), which included an alternate take of "Love in Vain". The original single version was finally reissued (along with the alternate) by Columbia on the box set The Complete Recordings (1990). A remastered version of the alternate take is also included on King of the Delta Blues: The Complete Recordings (1996).

Rolling Stones adaptation
The Rolling Stones recorded "Love in Vain" for their 1969 album Let It Bleed. Critic Richie Unterberger describes it as "as close to the roots of acoustic down-home blues as the Stones ever got". Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards recalled: "For a time we thought the songs that were on that first album [King of the Delta Blues] were the only recordings (Robert Johnson had) made, and then suddenly around '67 or '68 up comes this second (bootleg) collection that included 'Love in Vain'. 'Love in Vain' was such a beautiful song. Mick and I both loved it, and at the time I was working and playing around with Gram Parsons, and I started searching around for a different way to present it, because if we were going to record it there was no point in trying to copy the Robert Johnson style or ways and styles. We took it a little bit more country, a little bit more formalized, and Mick felt comfortable with that."

In a 1995 interview with Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone magazine, Mick Jagger commented on the song's arrangement: "We changed the arrangement quite a lot from Robert Johnson's. We put in extra chords that aren't there on the Robert Johnson version. Made it more country. And that's another strange song, because it's very poignant. Robert Johnson was a wonderful lyric writer, and his songs are quite often about love, but they're desolate."

Live performances of the song appear on Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out (1970) and Stripped (1995).

Personnel

 * Mick Jagger - vocals
 * Keith Richards - acoustic and electric slide guitar
 * Bill Wyman - bass
 * Charlie Watts - drums
 * Ry Cooder - mandolin

Lawsuit over copyright
"Love in Vain" (along with "Stop Breakin' Down Blues") was the subject of a lawsuit regarding the copyright for the song. In 2000, the court held that, according to US law, the songs were not in the public domain and that legal title belonged to the Estate of Robert Johnson and its successors.

Recognition and influence
Robert Johnson's original "Love in Vain" was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame as part of the 2011 "Robert Johnson Centennial" celebrations. Jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux adapted it for her 2011 album Standing on the Rooftop. An album review in The Guardian noted, "A major highlight is the echoing, gothic account of Johnson's 'Love in Vain'."

Love in Vain: A Vision of Robert Johnson is the title of a 2012 screenplay by Alan Greenberg. In it, he explores both the known facts and the myth surrounding Johnson. Keith Richards commented, "Finally someone has captured the central feel of this master musician and his times, and that man is Alan Greenberg. Take my word for it."

title: Love in Vain


text:
Matthew Driscoll

Matthew John Driscoll (born February 7, 1958) is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation from 2015 until 2017. He served as the 52nd Mayor of Syracuse, New York from July 10, 2001, until December 31, 2009. Currently he serves as the Executive Director of the New York State Thruway.

Biography
Driscoll graduated in 1976 from West Genesee High School in Camillus, a suburb of Syracuse. He formerly owned "Rosie O'Grady's", a popular Irish pub in Syracuse. He became Syracuse's mayor on July 10, 2001, when former Republican Mayor Roy Bernardi was appointed as deputy secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development in President Bush's administration. As President of the City of Syracuse Common Council, Driscoll automatically succeeded Bernardi and served the remainder of Bernardi's mayoral term.

That fall, Driscoll defeated several other Democrats in a primary, including Kate O'Connell. He went on to be elected after defeating former common councilor Bernie Mahoney by a thirty-two percent margin. In 2005 he defeated Mahoney's daughter, Joanie Mahoney, by a 3% margin. Driscoll won in part by claiming that Mahoney's race was funded by developer Robert Congel, a Bush-Cheney fundraiser who was overseeing the proposed expansion of the Destiny USA shopping mall. Driscoll campaigned alongside Eliot Spitzer, who had already begun his campaign to win New York's governorship in 2006; Spitzer's then-widespread popularity among New York Democrats likely helped Driscoll cement support from the majority-Democrat city. He won re-election, again by a slim 3% margin (49% to 46%) Previously, he served as President of the Syracuse Common Council from 1998 to 2001, as Third District Councilor in 1995, and as Second District Councilor from 1987 to 1989.

On April 26, 2007, Driscoll announced that he would not seek the office of the Onondaga County Executive, open due to the retirement of longtime Republican incumbent Nicholas J. Pirro. Driscoll said he would serve his mayoral term out through December 2009; he also ruled out a run for Congress against James T. Walsh in 2008. Driscoll was mentioned as a possible candidate for Lieutenant Governor of New York as a possible running-mate to incumbent Governor David Paterson in 2010.

On April 8, 2015, Syracuse.com posted a news headline that he has been picked by NYS Governor Cuomo to be the next Commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation.

Affiliations
Driscoll was a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets". The Coalition was co-chaired by Mayors Thomas Menino and Michael Bloomberg.

title: Matthew Driscoll


text:
Talk:Agustín Montero

Untitled
It seems unnecessarily deletionist to me to put the "non-notable" notice on this page. Steroids in baseball is a huge story and this player is one of those who have recently tested positive for steroids. Why even consider deleting it? Why not build as complete a list of sports figures as possible, and especially of those who are involved in a newsworthy controversy? Explain to me why he's not notable enough to be in Wikipedia, if you would. Moncrief 02:36, Apr 21, 2005 (UTC)

title: Talk:Agustín Montero


text: Category:Robert Johnson songs

title: Category:Robert Johnson songs


text: File:Clutch - Slow Hole to China.jpg

title: File:Clutch - Slow Hole to China.jpg


text:
Mark Smerchanski

Mark G. Smerchanski (November 1, 1914 – September 21, 1989) was a Canadian politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1962 to 1966, and a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 to 1972. Smerchanski was a member of the Liberal Party of Canada and the Manitoba Liberal Party.

Born in Malonton, Manitoba, the son of Anton Smerchanski and Dora Huley, both of Ukrainian descent, Smerchanski was educated at the University of Manitoba and the Virginia Polytechnical Institute, graduating in 1938. In 1940, Smerchanski married Patricia N. Paget. He worked as a professor of Engineering before entering politics, and was a member of the Canadian Institute for Mining and Metallurgy, the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, the Pan-American Institute of Mining Engineers and the Society of Economic Geologists. In 1953, he was appointed to the inaugural Board of Commissioners of the Winnipeg Transit System.

Smerchanski was a successful businessman, and was a leading organizer in the Manitoba Liberal Party long before he first ran for office himself. When Douglas Campbell resigned as Liberal leader in 1961, Smerchanski entered the race to succeed him and initially emerged as the frontrunner. He resigned on the weekend of the convention, however, and allowed Gildas Molgat to take his place as a candidate. Molgat won the contest on the first ballot, and it is likely that Smerchanski's last-minute withdrawal was arranged well in advance.

He first ran for the Manitoba legislature in the 1962 provincial election, and defeated NDP incumbent John Hawryluk by 289 votes in the north-end Winnipeg constituency of Burrows. He served in the parliamentary opposition for the next four years, but lost his seat by almost 1,000 votes to NDP candidate Ben Hanuschak in the 1966 election.

He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the "Trudeaumania" election of 1968, defeating Progressive Conservative incumbent Warner Jorgenson by 1,230 votes in the rural, southeastern riding of Provencher. He served as a backbench supporter of Pierre Trudeau's government for four years, and lost to PC candidate Jake Epp in the federal election of 1972.

He sought a return to the Manitoba legislature in the 1973 election, running in the rural constituency of Emerson. He did not win, but took enough votes away from the Progressive Conservative candidate to give the NDP a victory in the riding for the first and (to date) only time. He did not run again after this.

Smerchanski died in Winnipeg at the age of 74.

There is currently a Mark Smerchanski Memorial Prize in Women's Studies offered by the University of Manitoba, and the Mark G. Smerchanski Prize in geology/geophysics.

title: Mark Smerchanski


text:
User talk:Ph43rationism

Please stop. If you continue to vandalize pages, you will be blocked from editing Wikipedia.

title: User talk:Ph43rationism


text:
Talk:Dominion Police

Link
The second link no longer works. Confirm the link to be valid and if not, should consider removing it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.128.218.146 (talk • contribs) 02:40, 21 April 2005

Origin
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_did_the_RCMP_start

I am moving the above link here from the face of the article, as it's not a WP:RS. I haven't taken the time to look for better sources. – Fayenatic  L ondon 17:31, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

Uniform?
What did their kit look like and what equipment did they carry on the beat? Just wondering in case someone wanted to make a movie or other project. - knoodelhed (talk) 22:20, 9 January 2021 (UTC)

title: Talk:Dominion Police


text:
Talk:Maximum Security (comics)

cleanup
I attempted to clean up some of the descriptions but without knowing the details of the story line it is still choppy. It needs to have some background of the characters added so that someone who isn't intimatly familiar with the characters can better understand the premise and story line.--Stockwell 02:41, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Move to Maximum Security (comics)?

Comment: Are there any other "Maximum Security (*)" articles? - SoM 00:08, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Looks to me like everything linking to "Maximum Security" is looking for the comic. If moved, what would be at Maximum Security? Unless there's a compelling need to put something else there, I oppose move based on the policy to not disambiguate unless "necessary", which this doesn't seem to be. Niteowlneils 05:47, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC)

 * Oppose then. - SoM 15:01, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC)

It was requested that this article be renamed but there was no consensus for it to be moved. violet/riga (t) 17:47, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I have edited the article for clarity, and provided some explanations. However, I did not read the MS crossovers (other than the main miniseries) so I do not know if the data Gambit gave the Fantastic Four came from Bishop's mission in space (thought it would be logical.) Please check my modifications and remove the Attention Needed sign if you feel it's not needed anymore. Wilfredo Martinez 06:00, 8 August 2005 (UTC)

Issues
Accordig to most websites this is the complete list of Maximum Security issues and the ones that are featured in the article:

 * Week 1:
 * Maximum Security: Dangerous Planet (done)
 * Maximum Security #1 (done)
 * Avengers Infinity #4 (done)
 * Thor (vol. 2) #30
 * Uncanny X-Men #387

 * Week 2:
 * Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #24 (done)
 * Black Panther (vol. 2) #25
 * Iron Man (vol. 3) #35

 * Week 3:
 * Maximum Security #2 (done)
 * Captain America (vol. 3) #36
 * Captain Marvel #12
 * Bishop #15
 * Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #21
 * Peter Parker: Spider-Man (vol. 2) #24
 * Thunderbolts #45
 * X-Men #107 (done)

 * Week 4:
 * Avengers (vol. 3) #35 (done)
 * Gambit #23
 * Marvel Knights #6
 * X-Men Unlimited #29

 * Week 5:
 * Maximum Security #3 (done)

So are we going to take the relevant info from all of them, or miss some out?--GingerM 22:08, 2 December 2005 (UTC)--GingerM 22:07, 2 December 2005 (UTC)

Does that list provide a reading order, or is it just a tie-in list?

title: Talk:Maximum Security (comics)


text:
Joseph Doria

Joseph V. Doria Jr. (born June 28, 1946) is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs in the cabinet of Governor Jon Corzine from 2007 until his resignation in July 2009. He is a former Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly, State Senator for the 31st Legislative District, and a former Mayor of Bayonne, a position he held from July 1998 to October 2007.

Biography
On June 9, 2004, Doria was unanimously chosen by the Democratic County Committee members from the 31st Legislative District to fill the vacancy as interim Senator following the death of Jersey City Mayor and Senator Glenn Cunningham. He was elected to the remainder of Cunningham's Senate term in a 2004 special election, defeating then Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone. While his Senate term was scheduled to expire in January 2008, he resigned in October 2007 to become community affairs commissioner.

While a state senator, Commissioner Doria was the Vice Chairman of the Senate Economic Growth Committee, Vice Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, Vice Chairman of the Senate Labor Committee, a member of the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee and a member of the Joint Committee on the Public Schools. Doria was also a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Before entering the Senate, Doria spent a long career in the General Assembly, the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature, serving from 1980 to 2004. During his time in the Assembly he served as Minority Leader (1992–2001), Deputy Minority Leader (1988–1989), Minority Conference Leader (1986–1987), Majority Conference Chair (1984–1985), and finally as Speaker of the General Assembly from 1990 to 1991. While in the Assembly he was the first Chairman of the Higher Education Committee and served his final term as Chairman of the Education Committee. He was defeated for reelection to his Assembly seat in the June 2003 Democratic primary and left the Assembly when his term expired in January 2004. His absence from Trenton lasted six months, before his return as a state senator.

Doria was elected to the Bayonne Board of Education in 1975, served as Board President from 1976 to 1979, and also was President of the Hudson County School Boards Association from 1978 to 1979.

Serving for nearly a quarter century in the New Jersey General Assembly, Doria sponsored more than 240 bills that were signed into law. During his years in the Assembly, Doria authored major pieces of legislation in the areas of education, consumer protection, healthcare and transportation. He is responsible for measures to decrease state bureaucracy, especially in the areas of environmental protection and healthcare. Doria was the sponsor of laws giving New Jersey's public colleges and universities greater autonomy. He also wrote the legislation allowing new mothers to stay in the hospital 48 hours after giving birth. Doria was the founding chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee and chaired the Assembly Education Committee.

In 2004, Doria's name was suggested as President of Ramapo College, a position that was supported by then-Acting Governor Richard Codey and his predecessor Jim McGreevey (before he had resigned). The school's board of trustees ignored what had been called an "academic coup" to install Doria as President, and a search committee left his name off of a list of finalists for the position, leading Doria to abandon his pursuit of the appointment.

In March 2007, Doria announced he would not seek a second term in the State Senate. On September 21, 2007, Corzine nominated Doria as Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA), replacing Susan Bass Levin. Doria resigned his Senate seat and his mayoralty and assumed the commissionership on an acting basis on October 10, 2007. He was confirmed by the State Senate on November 29, 2007.

Governor Corzine announced Doria's resignation as Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs, in the wake of a corruption probe in which his home in Bayonne and his office in Trenton were raided. Though Doria had not been included in a series of arrests, 44 people had been taken into custody as part of a wide-ranging probe known as Operation Bid Rig. Doria was cleared of all charges by the U.S. Attorney's office in October 2011.

Education
Doria graduated from Marist High School in Bayonne. He received a B.A. degree from Saint Peter's College in History, an M.A. from Boston College in American Studies and was awarded an Ed.D. from Columbia University Teachers College.

title: Joseph Doria


text:
Brian Young (drummer)

Brian Young (born 1968) is an American drummer and music producer. He is best known as the drummer of the New York–based, Grammy-nominated power pop band Fountains of Wayne and Seattle-based alternative rock band The Posies. From 2012 to 2021 Young was the drummer for the Scottish alternative rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain.

Early career
Young was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Bethel Park. At the start of his teenage years, Young’s family moved to Prescott, Arizona, where Brian began playing drums. He attended Bradshaw Mountain High School, where he graduated in 1986. His first professional experience was filling in for his drum teacher at gigs, where other musicians expressed surprise at seeing a fifteen year-old kid show up to play. He sat outside between sets, because he wasn’t old enough to enter the clubs. His first paying gig was with a country and western band, and playing weekends in Prescott, he learned to play country, R&B, dance, and Top 40.

After high school, Young moved to Los Angeles. He worked a variety of gigs, including a tour playing for Junko Yagami, known as the “Japanese Madonna.” In 1994 Young joined The Posies and played on their fourth album, Amazing Disgrace (Geffen, 1996). He toured extensively with the band in the United States, Asia, Australia, and Europe. With Young on drums, The Posies performed with Burt Bacharach on his song "What the World Needs Now (Is Love)" that was featured in the 1997 movie, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

Fountains of Wayne
While The Posies were on hiatus, Young joined Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood and formed Fountains of Wayne. Their first self-titled album tied for second place in the Billboard magazine's 1996 Critics' Poll and their single "Radiation Vibe" hit number 14 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks in 1997. In 2021, “Radiation Vibe” placed #380 in Rolling Stone’s updated list of the 500 best songs of all time.

After recording and touring for The Posies fifth album, Success (1998), Young recorded with Fountains of Wayne on their second album Utopia Parkway (1999).

In 2003 the band released Welcome Interstate Managers, which featured the single "Stacy's Mom," a song that reached #3 on the Billboard Top 40 Mainstream Chart and earned a gold record. The video of “Stacy’s Mom” featured model Rachel Hunter was in heavy high rotation MTV. Welcome Interstate Managers reached #115 on the Billboard Top 200. The song “All Kinds of Time,” about a football star, was used to promote the 2005 NFL season.

Young went on to record three more albums with Fountains of Wayne, 2007’s Traffic and Weather, which reached number 97 on the Billboard Top 200 charts, and 2011’s Sky Full of Holes. He also played on the band’s double disc collection of unreleased material and fan favorites, 2005’s Out-of-State Plates.

Voted the #3 best alternative rock drummer in the DRUM! Magazine 2006 Readers’ Poll, Young is known for his versatile drumming style. In a 2007 profile in Modern Drummer, Young said, “The cool thing about Fountains of Wayne is that we do a whole lot of different stylistic stuff.” In that same interview, Young said he was influenced by “the great studio drummers of the 1970s and to some degree, every musician that I’ve ever heard or seen.”

Post-Fountains Work
In 2012, Young replaced Loz Colbert in the Scottish alternative rock band, Jesus and Mary Chain, which had reunited in 2007. He has toured extensively with the band, including a world tour marking the 30th anniversary of their album Psychocandy. Young appeared on the band’s 2017 album, Damage and Joy, their first studio album since 1998.

Young has produced for a number of artists, among them Broken Country Girls, Paul Skinner, Silver Relics, Xolie Morra and The Strange Kind, Ramirez Exposure, and Javier Escovedo.

His artist profile for Sabian Cymbals notes his “hard-hitting, aggressive style in tune with today’s modern rock.” Young has recorded or performed with artists such as America, Mandy Moore, Wavves, Ivy, Burt Bacharach, Butterfly Boucher, Max Collins, Jim Carroll, Afghan Whigs, Skyward, the Long Winters, and The Monkees. He also recorded more than 100 tracks for the Emmy-award winning and cult favorite television show, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

In 2013, Young appeared on an episode of the short-lived TBS comedy series Wedding Band, where he played a one-armed drummer in a Def Leppard cover band called Armageddon It!

In addition to Sabian Cymbals, Young endorses Ludwig Drums, Vater Percussion, LP Percussion, and Big Fat Snare Drum.

Young currently owns and operates a recording studio in Encino, California.

title: Brian Young (drummer)


text:
Talk:Bread and Circuses (Star Trek: The Original Series)

Redirect

 * Added this heading, because I think the redirect goes to the wrong page. My reasoning is below.-RomeW 22:19, 21 March 2006 (UTC)
 * I also want to add that if the issue with the redirect is because of the link in the Star Trek page, then we should change the link there.-RomeW 19:55, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Hi this is not about Roman civilization!

 * Uh... who said it was Mr Anonymouse? Cyberia23 07:23, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * I would've expected "Bread and Circuses" to describe the Roman concept, with this at Bread and Circuses (Star Trek). There's not even a disambiguation here. - Nik42 06:37, 23 May 2005 (UTC)

 * Never mind. On further investigation, it doesn't look like there even is an article on the Roman bread and circuses - Nik42 07:05, 23 May 2005 (UTC)

 * There is at Bread and circuses. You're not hitting it because of the capitalization. I personally believe that "Bread and Circuses" should redirect to Bread and circuses, not this page, because that page contains both this episode and the Roman concept.-RomeW 03:13, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Gladiators and Christianity
Did the episode explain why gladiatorial combats were taking place (I have not seen the episode in question)? It's clear that they've taken the Roman Empire past the point where it became a Christian empire, but Constantine I, the first "Christian" emperor, banned gladiatorial combats in 325, with the last gladiator combats in the City of Rome during the reign of Honorius. Simply put, the Christianized Roman Empire didn't have gladiatorial combats and I'm curious if the episode explained that. -RomeW 22:46, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

 * Been a while since I seen this episode, but it seems some form of Christianity existed (as characters mentioned "hearing the words of the Son"), however, those who pursued the belief were enslaved and forced to fight in gladitorial combat, probably in hopes that they would be killed off. Magna Roma seems to have developed along similar lines to Earth, however the Roman Empire existed well into its version of the 20th Century. Believers said the "words of the Son" were ancient, (as old as the empire itself) but it seems the Empire never accepted it as Earth's Romans had done, and kept it quelled under a secular police state. Cyberia23 00:32, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

 * Ah! So this is a 20th century version of pre-Christian Rome! That makes a lot more sense. Thanks. -RomeW 03:11, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

 * Yeah, they had televised gladitorial games and the Centurion soldiers had machine guns and were dressed like riot control cops. Cyberia23 16:09, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Christianity
This conclusion seems a bit off "...and goes on to imply that Christianity is necessary for the advancement of a society into a modern, space dwelling people, something with which Spock does not contend with a typical "illogical, captain," hence acknowledging the statement as true." Wasn't it more like Kirk wished he could stick around to watch the growth and achieving of dominance of Christianity all over again, not that it was "necessary" to achieve spaceflight? 68.124.177.7 08:18, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
 * The episode was on last night and that was my interpretation too. Ellsworth 00:42, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

Quo Vadis?
The story is clearly based on the book "Quo Vadis?". I think the article should mention that. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ystad (talk • contribs) 00:45, 3 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I think that if it is so "clearly based" then it should be easily cited. Alastairward (talk) 10:38, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

Evangelical Christian appeal?
Is it true that this particular ST-TOS episode is quite popular amongst evangelical Christians? 203.114.146.141 (talk) 03:57, 19 August 2014 (UTC)Calibanu

Probably, but it would be difficult to find an authoritative source that speaks for all evangelical Christians on this matter. Or to put this the other way around, there are way too many sources that _purport_ to speak for evangelical Christians in general.137.205.183.31 (talk) 09:58, 11 August 2016 (UTC)

Firearms Used
I removed the erroneous speculation about why the Roman guards were using Danish Madsen M50 submachine guns. The original post had an unsourced statement that they would appear "alien" to American audiences. The Star Trek production budgets didn't allow the prop department to go buy M50s just because they fit in with a theme. More likely they were just available in say, Paramount Studio's prop department. Evidence for this is in the baptismal scene at the end of the first Godfather movie where one of the hits is done using Madsens. They were also carried by the Soviet paratroopers in Ice Station Zebra and by the apes in Beneath The Planet of the Apes.John Simpson54 (talk) 14:22, 28 June 2017 (UTC)

Satire of television
I've always seen this episode as making fun of the world of television. Example: when the gladiator is threatened with a "special" if he hurts the network's ratings. 174.253.195.57 (talk) 03:51, 18 October 2022 (UTC)


text:
Travelling Riverside Blues

"Travelling Riverside Blues" is a blues song written by the bluesman Robert Johnson. He recorded it on June 20, 1937, in Dallas, Texas, during his last recording session. The song was unreleased until its inclusion on the 1961 Johnson compilation album King of the Delta Blues Singers.

Robert Johnson original version
Johnson's song has a typical twelve-bar blues structure (though as is common in downhome blues of this era, the length of each verse is in fact thirteen and a half bars of 4/4), played on a single guitar tuned to open G, with a slide. An alternate version was recorded the same day (and was considered lost) but was finally released officially on the 1998 reissue of King of the Delta Blues Singers.

Lyrics
The song is well known for the lyric "Now you can squeeze my lemon 'til the juice run down my leg". It is likely that Johnson had taken this himself from a song recorded earlier that same year (1937) called "She Squeezed My Lemon", by Roosevelt Sykes.

Led Zeppelin version
English rock band Led Zeppelin's version of this song was produced by John Walters at the BBC studios in Aeolian Hall on June 24, 1969 during the band's UK Tour of Summer 1969. Jimmy Page dubbed extra guitar tracks onto the track (the main track being played on a 12-string electric guitar) and it was broadcast four days later on John Peel's Top Gear show under the title "Travelling Riverside Blues '69", and repeated on January 11, 1970. Page used an acoustic slide guitar for the entire song, while Bonham played triplets on the bass drum.

It was interest from US radio interviewers and fans during Page's Outrider tour that originally led him to negotiate with BBC Enterprises for the song's release. A promotional video clip was also released in 1990, with out-take footage from the band's 1976 concert film, The Song Remains the Same inter-spliced with other footage from the band's archive. The clip also features a railroad montage, and underwater shots of the Mississippi River. The song reached number seven on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks Top 50 chart in November 1990, culled from national album rock radio airplay reports. In Canada, it reached number 57 on the RPM Top 100 Chart

title: Travelling Riverside Blues


text:
Crocker

Crocker is an archaic synonym of potter.

People and fictional characters

 * Crocker (name)

United States

 * Crocker, Indiana, an unincorporated community
 * Crocker, Iowa, an unincorporated community
 * Crocker, Missouri, a city
 * Crocker, South Dakota, a census-designated place
 * Crocker, Washington, a census designated place
 * Mount Crocker, California
 * Crocker Mountain (Maine)

Elsewhere

 * Mount Crocker, east of Comet, Queensland, Australia
 * Crocker Mountains, Sabah, Malaysia

Business

 * Crocker & Brewster, an American publisher based in Boston (1818–76)
 * Crocker Motorcycles, an American motorcycle manufacturer
 * Crocker National Bank, an American bank bought by Wells Fargo

Other uses

 * Crocker (sport), combination of soccer football and cricket
 * Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California

title: Crocker


text:
Slow Hole to China: Rare and Unreleased

Slow Hole to China: Rare and Unreleased is an album by American rock band Clutch, consisting of various previously unreleased recordings, released in 2003. Clutch has since released a remastered reissue of the album on April 28, 2009, re-titled Slow Hole to China: Rare and Re-released.

Album information
The album was released on CD by River Road Records, and 3,000 copies were printed on 12" LP by Emetic Records, with 2,000 of these regular black vinyl, while 1,000 were rare red marble vinyl.

It is an album of rare recording of songs (that have been extensively bootlegged over the years), with cover versions and some of the rare singles by the band. It also has some 'alternate' earlier versions of songs that were released on albums in a different format to what was originally recorded, something the band have done with albums such as Jam Room before. The remastered reissue has three more of such tracks added to the original.

Track listing
All tracks written by Clutch, except where noted.

Personnel

 * Neil Fallon – vocals
 * Tim Sult – guitar
 * Dan Maines – bass
 * Jean-Paul Gaster – drums

title: Slow Hole to China: Rare and Unreleased


text: Category:Blues songs

title: Category:Blues songs


text: Template:Marketing

title: Template:Marketing


text:
USS McFarland

USS McFarland (DD-237/AVD-14) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for American Civil War sailor and Medal of Honor recipient John McFarland.

McFarland was laid down on 31 July 1918 and launched on 30 March 1920 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation; sponsored by Miss Louisa Hughes; and commissioned on 30 September 1920.

Service history
McFarland, having served a month with the Atlantic Fleet, departed for European waters on 30 November 1920. For the next two months she operated in the English Channel, sailing for Gibraltar on 31 January 1921. On 9 March she arrived at Split for a four-month tour with the Adriatic Detachment. In July she continued eastward, and at Constantinople, on 31 July, joined ships of the Turkish Waters Detachment.

Returning to the United States only once (8 July to 22 October 1922), McFarland remained in the Black Sea and eastern Mediterranean area until spring 1923. During that period she performed quasi-diplomatic and humanitarian roles necessitated by the aftermath of World War I. She cruised regularly to Black Sea and Anatolian ports, distributing American relief supplies to Russian, Greek, and Turkish refugees and providing transportation, mail, and communications facilities.

McFarland returned to New York and on 15 September 1923 joined the Scouting Fleet at Newport, Rhode Island. With only two interruptions, she operated along the East coast and in the Caribbean for the next 17 years. The first interruption came with a cruise to Hawaii for the 1925 fleet problem involving an attack on Oahu; the second, a year out of commission, in reserve, at Philadelphia, 1931. On 2 August 1940, McFarland, undergoing conversion, was redesignated AVD-14, seaplane tender (destroyer). On 5 October she was recommissioned in full and assigned to the Pacific Fleet.

1923 collision
McFarland was heavily damaged during the early morning of 19 September 1923 after being rammed on the port side forward of her bridge by the battleship USS Arkansas (BB-33) during night maneuvers off of the Cape Cod Canal. The training exercise was being undertaken by Arkansas, the battleship USS Florida (BB-30), the auxiliary ship USS Antares (AG-10) and a flotilla of a dozen destroyers. McFarland was towed to Boston Navy Yard by the destroyer USS Sturtevant (DD-240).

World War II
On 7 December 1941, McFarland, operating out of Pearl Harbor, was conducting antisubmarine maneuvers off Maui. Receiving word of the Japanese attack, she patrolled to the southwest, returning to Oahu on 9 December. For the next seven months she operated from Pearl Harbor, completing several voyages to Palmyra Atoll and Johnston Islands. On these missions she carried Marine reinforcements to the islands and returned with civilian personnel.

McFarland sailed for the South Pacific 2 June 1942. She arrived at Noumea on 16 June and within a month she made her first contact with an enemy submarine in Bulari Pass, 15 July. In August, as the Guadalcanal offensive neared, she assumed tender duties in the Espiritu Santo – Santa Cruz Islands area. Assigned to keeping the supply lines open, McFarland carried supplies to the embattled island and evacuated wounded marine personnel while the planes she tendered performed scouting and fighting missions.

On 16 October, McFarland was unloading cargo and embarking wounded personnel in Lunga Roads when she was attacked by nine dive bombers. While the first seven scored no hits, the eighth hit a gasoline barge in tow alongside the tender's starboard quarter. The blazing barge was cut loose as the ninth plane made its run. At least one bomb hit McFarland's stern, knocking out her rudder and steering engine. Her crew shot down one plane, but lost eleven of its members in the fight; five killed, six missing, with an additional 12 critically wounded. For this action, the ship was awarded the first ever US Navy Presidential Unit Citation.

McFarland was towed to Florida Island, where she moored to the beach in the upper channel (later called McFarland Channel) of Tulagi harbor. She completed makeshift repairs to her hull by 26 November and sailed to Espiritu Santo, where further repairs increased her seaworthiness. On 17 December she began to make her way back to Pearl Harbor, arriving on 29 December.

Repairs completed by 17 April 1943, McFarland sailed for the west coast. Redesignated DD-237 on 1 December 1943, and homeported at San Diego, California for the remainder of the war, she operated with aircraft carriers as they conducted training exercises and pilot qualification landings. On 30 September 1945, she sailed for the east coast.

Decommissioned at Philadelphia on 8 November 1945, she was struck from the Navy Register on 19 December. Her hulk was sold for scrap on 29 October 1946 to the North American Smelting Company, Philadelphia.

Awards
McFarland received two battle stars for her World War II service.

title: USS McFarland


text:
Blast Tyrant

Blast Tyrant is the sixth full-length studio album by American rock band Clutch and was released March 23, 2004. The album was reissued on May 10, 2011. It was the first release with DRT Entertainment by the band.

Album information
The unabridged title of the album is Blast Tyrant Atlas of the Invisible World with Illustrations of Strange Beasts and Phantoms.

A reissue of the album was released through Clutch's own label, Weathermaker Music, and contains the original album along with a second bonus disc, entitled Basket of Eggs, which is a collection of acoustic versions of songs, from 2001 to 2011 by the band, including the "Polar Bear Lair Demos". The music video for the song "The Mob Goes Wild" was created by Ryan Dunn. Unlike some reissues the band have done, or some of the "import" versions of their albums to begin with, the track listing of the original album remains the same.

The album debuted at #147 on the Billboard 200, selling 8,000 copies in its first week.

Track listing
All songs written by Clutch.

Basket of Eggs and other reissues
In 2011, Blast Tyrant was reissued with a bonus disk of 10 tracks, half being acoustic versions of past clutch songs such as The Regulator and Tight Like That (originally appearing on Clutch's self titled album). Tracks 1–4 were recorded between September 2010 and January 2011; track 5 was live in a Milwaukee radio station in 2001; tracks 6-10 were recorded in July 2002 and are known as the "Polar Bear Lair Demos", of which 6, 7 and 10 are previously unreleased tracks by the band.

On July 9th, 2021, Clutch reissued Blast Tyrant as the first installment in their Clutch Collector's Series. This new reissue did not include the bonus Basket Of Eggs disk. However, the reissue included the acoustic version of "The Regulator", as well as two colored 180-gram disks (one orange, one blue), a band-signed insert, new cover art, as well as a limited edition 25 oz. etched glass stein and a t-shirt with a metallic silver ink of album artwork if you were among the first 1000 to pre-order the album on Clutch's website.

Personnel

 * Neil Fallon – vocals, rhythm guitar, organ
 * Tim Sult – lead guitar
 * Dan Maines – bass
 * Jean-Paul Gaster – drums

Production

 * Produced by Clutch and Machine
 * Recorded and mixed by Machine
 * Drums were recorded at Water Music, Hoboken, New Jersey
 * Pro-Tools by Nick Rowe and assisted by Ted Young
 * Guitars and vocals were recorded at The Machine Shop, Hoboken, New Jersey
 * Additional production of vocals and guitars recorded in Jean-Paul Gaster's living room
 * Mixed at the Machine Shop, Hoboken, New Jersey
 * Mastered by Ue Nastasi at Sterling Sound
 * Artwork by Encarnacion Hernandez

Chart performance
Album - Billboard (United States)

Singles - Billboard (United States)

title: Blast Tyrant


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text: User talk:85.186.64.116

title: User talk:85.186.64.116