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Dayton. I had several days with no reliable internet connection so this is a start at catch up. When we last communicated Hudson and I were on the banks of the Miami River in Dayton. One interesting note of history I left out of my previous post was a footnote from the founding of Dayton. Dayton was founded on April 1, 1796, by 12 settlers known as the Thompson Party. They traveled in March from Cincinnati up the Great Miami River by pirogue and landed at what is now St. Clair Street, where they found two small camps of Native Americans. Among the Thompson Party was Benjamin Van Cleve, whose memoirs provide insights into the Ohio Valley's history. Van Cleve’s memoirs outline how the group was attacked by native Americans who were not overjoyed with the idea of sharing their land. Several of the settlers were killed and Van Cleave credited his dog with leading him to safety as they ran through the woods to escape the natives.
Smoky
While on the subject of dogs risking the lives for the human friends I should mention Smoky World War Hero Dog. Smoky is buried and memorialized in the Cleveland area, well north of my route but this little fellow deserves some mention. The smallest hero of World War II stood only seven inches tall and weighed four pounds. She was "Smoky," a Yorkshire Terrier found in 1944 in New Guinea, abandoned in a foxhole. She was adopted by GI Bill Wynne, who quickly discovered that the little dog was uncommonly adventurous. Smoky's most famous feat was crawling through a tiny 70-foot-long culvert on a captured Japanese island, hauling a communication cable, sparing GIs from having to drag it above ground and be exposed to enemy sniper fire.
After the war Smoky became the world's first therapy dog, visiting wounded GIs in hospitals. She and Wynne then moved to Cleveland, where she died in 1957.
Indianna. Most of the way through Indiana we enjoyed beautiful farm country. We stopped in Terre Haute so Hudson could swim in the Wabash. As I watched him play in the river I could almost hear the chorus of Indiana’s state song:
Oh, the moonlight's fair tonight along the Wabash,
From the fields there comes the breath of newmown hay.
Through the sycamores the candle lights are gleaming,
On the banks of the Wabash, far away.
Indiana is also memorable for being the place of origin for one of the most remarkable and well documented dog accomplishment. In August, 1923, while on a family road trip in Indiana, Bobby a 2 year old smooth coat Collie was traveling with his family, Frank and Elizabeth Brazier, with their daughters Leona and Nova. They were visiting relatives in Wolcott, Indiana. While visiting a local pack of dogs drove Bobby off. The family spent days looking for Booby and finally gave up. They traveled a little deeper into Indiana then drove to their home in Silverton, Oregon. Six months later Bobby hobbled home. He was thin, mangy and his toenails were worn down to nothing. Needless to say Bobby was an overnight phenomenon.
The humane society used the publicity and their resources to locate people who saw Bobby on his journey. They pieced together an outline of Bobby’s sojourn. For a while Bobby followed their trip deeper into Indianna. When he seemed to have lost the trail, he retraced the steps by which they had traveled from Oregon going to several places the Brazier’s had stopped on their trip east. The Humane Society found places he had stopped and been fed for a few days before he pressed on. Bobby’s story seems to confirm what every dog owner believes, that dogs have deep affection for their families. But that is not all Bobby’s story tells us. A moment's reflection on his journey tells us that whether by instinct or intelligence dogs are more than our equal at some very difficult tasks. Bobby retraced a car ride, on foot. He crossed the Mississippi, the Missouri and hundreds of other rivers and streams. He crossed the Rocky Mountains. Do dogs have buried deep in their DNA the instinct to navigate similar to Geese? When we hear stories such as Bobby’s doesn’t it make us think that science has told us more about whales that these creatures who have lived with us for 15000 years. Maybe some fault lies with us pet owners who are sometimes too anxious to exaggerate the exploits of our cold nosed friends. Or maybe at some level we sell dogs short because it is hard to hold any creature in high regard who thinks so much of us.
Missouri Just offered more and more proof of the agricultural abundance of this rich country. Here I would make my evening stop at the state capitol, Jefferson City. Hudson and and I walked around the grand capitol building which is undergoing major renovations but happily they did not block our way to the object of our visit, the statue honoring the Lewis and Clark Party including their dog seaman. I think you will agree he looks pleased to be in the company of these pioneers,
From Jefferson City, Hudson and I basically followed the Santa Fe Trail through Kansas. It was hot in Kansas. As I traveled the state I thought about how a few years of their history had been responsible for such a rich folklore. After the Civil War, the railroads had arrived from the east, and in 1866 Texas cattle men banded together and drove great herds north. These enterprising cattle ranchers in Texas decided they couldn’t wait to get to the rich markets in the east. It did not take long for the railroad men to see an opportunity. On December 24, 1872, 6 years after the first drive, the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Company reached Denison from the north, and with the completion of the Houston and Texas Central to that point the following year, the Texas railroad system was finally connected to the nationwide network. 6 years is 52584 hours. If 27000 people watched 1 western movie that would represent those 52584 in man hours. One movie. It just shows how powerful a good story can be.
Before I close the book on my trip across Kansas I want to mention thunderstorms. Oh I know every state likes to brag about thunderstorms and I don’t want to be the guy who killed a good Rhode Island story but there is something about these plains that just says giddy up to a windstorm. When I drove past boot hill in was 95 degrees. Matt Dillon was nowhere in site, I figure he and Kitty were cooling off at the Longbranch. Hudson and I had supper and I decided to catch up on this blog. Then the cabin we were in started to rattle and shake, the rain poured out of the sky like water out of a cowboys boot and then the lights went out. Hudson and I went to bed. The next morning when we got up the storm was over, the sun was up and it was 57 degrees.
As Hudson and I travel across this great country my principal purpose is to tell Hudson’s story. But as this blog reveals I also like to draw attention to great things other dogs have done or are doing. WARNING! WARNING! This story does involve elections and politics a subject I usually consider completely off limits on this blog, but when I find a dog story on the cutting edge I owe it to my readers to report it. This is the story of Angus, a dog, and his aborted attempt to become the next Governor of Kansas. I will let the local newspaper reports tell the story.
Terran Woolley the Kansas man who registered his dog named Angus for governor, said the secretary of state’s office has halted the campaign to put his pooch in politics.
“His platform was going to be free Chuckit balls for life,” said Terran Woolley, of Hutchinson.
“He is a little heartbroken and a little relieved because he doesn’t have to go to all those pointless debates,” Woolley said by telephone.
Woolley said he registered Angus after reading news reports that teenagers had filed candidacy paperwork and there were almost no requirements on who could run.
But there is at least one. “A dog cannot run for governor,” Kansas Secretary of State spokeswoman Samantha Poetter said in a statement. “Kansas statute and the Kansas Constitution make repeated references to a person being governor.”
One person running for governor is Kris Kobach, a Republican who is secretary of state.
“I am sure that Kobach is scared to lose to Angus in the general election,” Woolley said.
I will leave this story to speak for itself but Hudson wants me to add that from his point of view Chuckit Balls for life is one heck of a platform