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Walking the dog today through Donmouth Nature Reserve I was lucky enough to capture this fellow enjoying his Sunday evening along with a few others on his paddle board , made me want to check out Scot Surf who organise these meetings and maybe participate myself .
I regularly walk along the magnificent coastline that runs along this reserve, cliff erosion is still very evident, the new wind farm across the bay was clearly visible and I am sure the path of the River Don where she meets the North Sea has twisted in to another direction that is alien to that I recorded during my initial visits many years ago, check out some of my earlier videos and photos I have posted here on Flickr in my dedicated album to this beautiful site.
Many visitors to our city miss its glorious offerings, thinking all we have to offer is the beach front at the main boulevard , its a pity as this reserve is a short drive from the main tourist area and has its own charm, attraction and wealth of nature on offer, I love it .
Donmouth Local Nature Reserve is a beach site in the historic Old Aberdeen part of the City where the River Don meets the sea.
A great place to see seals and a range of interesting birds. The beach area has changed over time as the river has changed its course. There are lots of interesting plants in the dunes and beach area. Bird hide is an excellent shelter from which to watch the wildlife. The paths run across King Street to the Brig 'o Balgownie., the original bridge in to the City from the North, then down the other side of the river to the sea.
The site was designated a Local Nature Reserve in 1992
Paths are good although wheelchair access to the beach would be difficult as the boardwalk can get covered with sand.
There is plenty of free car parking on the Beach Esplanade and at the car park in Donmouth Road. There are cycle racks on Beach Esplanade
Bridge Of Don has five spans of dressed granite, and rounded cutwaters that carry up to road level to form pedestrian refuges. The spans are 75 feet (23 m), with a rise of 25 feet (7.6 m).
It was widened in 1958-59, from 24 feet (7.3 m), to 66 feet (20 m) by the construction of a new concrete bridge adjacent to the old one.
It now carries four lanes of the A956 road, and is the last bridge on the River Don before it meets the sea. The bridge is just downstream from a substantial island in the river. Around the area of the bridge is the Donmouth Local Nature Reserve, designated as a LNR in 1992.
Near to the bridge are a number of World War II era coastal defences, including a pill box.
Mudflats
Mudflats are formed when fine particles carried downstream by the river are deposited as it slows down before entering the sea, and to a lesser extent by fine particles washed in by the tide. The sand spit at the mouth of the Don provides shelter from the wind and waves allowing this material to build up. The mud flats are a very rich and fertile environment. Despite their rather barren appearance they support a surprisingly diverse invertebrate fauna which includes; worms, molluscs and crustacea. These invertebrates are vitally important to wildfowl and wading birds within the estuary.
Salt marsh
Along the upper shore of the south bank saltmarsh has developed. This habitat would once have been much more extensive prior to the tipping of domestic and other refuse in the area and the formation in 1727 of an artificial embankment to prevent flooding of the river into the Links. This habitat is now reduced to a narrow strip of vegetation along the river margins upstream from the Powis Burn.
The species composition of the salt marsh varies according to the salinity of the water i.e. the proximity to the sea. Close to the Powis Burn this habitat is dominated by reed sweet-grass (Glyceria maxima) with reed canary-grass (Phalaris arundinacea), sea club-rush (Scirpus maritimus), spike-rush (Eleocharis palustris), hemlock water-dropwort (Oenanthe crocata) and common scurvygrass (Chochlearia officinalis).
Further inland reed sweet-grass continues to dominate but hemlock water-dropwort is more abundant with meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) and valarian (Valariana officinalis),
Sand dunes
Sand dunes are found in the more exposed parts of the estuary at the river mouth. Again, this habitat was once much more extensive in this locality with dune grasslands stretching from Aberdeen Beach inland as far as King Street, southwards from the estuary of the Dee, northwards to the Sands of Forvie and beyond. Many of the dunes formed part of Seaton Tip, and following tipping the area was grassed over. Other areas have been formally landscaped to form golf courses or planted with native trees in 2010 to create a new woodland area.
Some remnants of the natural dune flora can be seen in the 'roughs' on the Kings Links golf course and near the mouth of the river.
Above the high water mark, fore dunes with thick clumps of the pioneer grass species including sea lyme grass (Elymus arenarius) and marram grass (Ammophila arenaria) occur. Few other species are able to cope with the shifting sand. The largest area of these young dunes is to the north and west of the headland. Further inland where the dunes are sheltered from the actions of the wind and waves, and soils are more developed, more stable dunes are present supporting a more diverse grassland habitat.
Strand line plants which are able to tolerate occasional coverage by sea water include sea rocket (Cakile maritima), frosted orache (Atriplex laciniata), sea sandwort (Honkenya peploides) and knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare). Bur-reed (Sparganium sp.) has been recorded; presumably washed down by the river.
Marram grass (Ammophila arenaria) and sea lyme grass (Elymus arenarius) dominate the fore dunes. The latter species is not native to this area but appeared in 1802. It is thought to have been unintentionally introduced into the area by fishing boats. For a number of years it remained uncommon but from 1870 onwards it spread rapidly along the coastline (Marren, 1982).
In the more stable dunes red fescue (Festuca rubra), sand sedge (Carex arenaria), yellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor), wild pansy (Viola tricolour), harebell (Campanula rotundifolia), bird's-foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) and lesser meadow-rue (Thalictrum minus) are abundant. Small amounts of kidney vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria), valerian (Valeriana officinalis) and spring vetch (Vicia lathyroides) are present.
Scattered willows (Salix sp.) and sycamore (Acer pseudoplantanus) have seeded into this area. Gorse (Ulex europaeus) scrub has colonised the dunes in some areas and appears to be spreading.
Scrub
This habitat is almost entirely artificial with only the gorse scrub on the inner dunes being a semi-natural habitat. Alder and willow were planted along the south bank of the river in about 1970 and these shrubs are now generally well established. Further shrub planting on the south bank was carried out in 1990.
Willow (Salix sp.) and alder (Alnus glutinosa) were planted in the 1970's along the south bank of the River Don eastwards of the Bridge of Don. The trees to the west of this strip are doing considerably better than those to the east. More recent planting was carried out in 1990 with hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) elder (Sambucus nigra), goat willow (Salix caprea) and alder.
Underneath the scrub neutral grassland is present with cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata), false oat-grass (Arrhenatherum elatius), cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris), sweet cicely (Myrrhis odorata), hedge woundwort (Stachys sylvatica) and hedge bindweed (Calystegia sepium).
Grassland
Much of the grassland within the reserve is formed on imported soil and is intensively managed. This includes grassland on the north and south sides of the Esplanade. Daffodils are present in the grassland on the north side of the road. On the north bank to the east of the Bridge of Don is rank grassland on a steep south-facing slope. This is unmanaged and contains some patches of scrub.
Rough grassland is present on the headland. This area has been modified by tipping, with rubble to the east and with grass cuttings to the west. The grassland contains a mixture of neutral grassland, dune grassland, ruderal, and introduced garden species. This area attracts flocks of seed eating birds in late summer and autumn.
Improved grassland is present on the headland and along the south bank of the estuary downstream from the bridge of Don. Much of this vegetation has developed on imported soil and contains a high proportion of ruderal species and garden escapes. On the headland, broadleaved dock (Rumex obtusifolius), nettle (Urtica dioica), coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara), spear thistle (Cirsium vulgare), cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris), hemlock (Conium maculatum) and hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) are abundant. Sweet cicely (Chaerophyllum bulbosum) is widespread and in late summer fills the air with the scent of aniseed.
To the south of the Esplanade the grassland is managed with an annual cut.. The grassland does flood to form pools. Early in the year cuckoo flower (Cardamine pratensis) is common, meadow foxtail (Alopecuris pratensis)is known to occur around the margins of these pools.
Woodland
Semi-mature woodland is present on the steep sided south bank of the river upstream from the Bridge of Don. Most of this woodland has been planted in the mid 1930's though some older oak and elm trees are present. These may be relicts of former woodland cover. The woodland in the reserve is part of a strip of woodland along the River Don corridor which continues upstream from the Brig 'o' Balgownie.
Woodland is present on the south bank upstream from the Bridge of Don.
Much of the woodland consists of even aged stands with willow (Salix sp.), sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus), ash (Fraxinus excelsior), beech (Fagus sylvatica) and alder (AInus glutinosa). At the top of the slope mature oak (Quercus sp.) and elm (Ulmus glabra) are present. The ground flora contains tufted hair-grass (Deschampsia caespitosa), red campion (Silene dioica), ramsons (Allium ursinum) and lady fern (Athyrium felix-femina) .In a few areas dense shading is caused by the trees and in these areas the ground flora is poor.
On the north bank scattered trees are present, mainly willow and sycamore with some scrub.
NASA's Johnson Space Center’s "Chamber A" in Houston is an enormous thermal vacuum testing chamber and now appears to be opening it's "mouth" to take in NASA's James Webb Space Telescope for testing.
The telescope and the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) are two of the three major elements that comprise the Webb telescope Observatory flight system and are being lifted into the chamber in this photo. The other is the Spacecraft Element (spacecraft bus and sunshield), which is currently under construction at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems (NGAS) in Redondo Beach, California.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the scientific successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. It will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. Webb is an international project led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.
For more information about the Webb telescope visit: www.jwst.nasa.gov or www.nasa.gov/webb
To view the feature story about "Chamber A" visit: www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/nasas-apollo-era-test-c...
Image credit: NASA/Chris Gunn / Text credit: NASA/Rob Gutro
Image Description: The Webb telescope enters the giant Chamber A thermal vacuum chamber at NASA Johnson. At this point, Webb consists of mirrors and instruments but has not yet been mated with the sunshield or spacecraft bus. Webb is on its back, golden hexagonal mirrors face up. The secondary mirror support structure is extended like a tripod above the primary mirrors. The telescope lies on black and silver support equipment. It is approaching the giant mouth of the cavernous test chamber. The chamber is filled with test equipment and people in cleanroom suits. One of them stands on top of a red lift at left.
1. HORSES AND BIRD..., 2. Papagaio Charão, 3. Cardellinio vs Verdone, 4. DSC_3028, 5. Webbed Partners, 6. Untitled, 7. Labradors, 8. DSC00755 La belleza es efímera, 9. As vezes me pego sonhando..., 10. Scone Palace Poppies, 11. quando tudo caminha, 12. AugustHotSpell 076, 13. PRETTY...
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important criterion: You've got to allow me to use the link to your photo!
collect 4 awards of the group beTWO than post it here:
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~~~The COLLAGE-COLLECTION: ELITE-photos of my different groups: Collage-Collection
By the way: I am looking forward to feedback on my work with those fantastic images, Florette
***Interested in my stream?: please klick here , Florette***
~Time To Eat~
Wikipedia...
The California ground squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi), is a common and easily observed ground squirrel of the western United States and the Baja California Peninsula; it is common in Oregon and California and its range has relatively recently extended into Washington and northwestern Nevada.
The squirrel's upper parts are mottled, the fur containing a mixture of gray, light brown and dusky hairs; the underside is lighter, buff or grayish yellow. The fur around the eyes is whitish, while that around the ears is black. Head and body are about 30 cm (12 in) long and the tail an additional 15 cm (5.9 in). They can weigh from 280-738 g(9.87-26.01 oz).[6] The tail is relatively bushy for a ground squirrel, and at a quick glance the squirrel might be mistaken for a fox squirrel.
As is typical for ground squirrels, California ground squirrels live in burrows which they excavate themselves. Some burrows are occupied communally but each individual squirrel has its own entrance. Although they readily become tame in areas used by humans, and quickly learn to take food left or offered by picnickers, they spend most of their time within 25 m (82 ft) of their burrow, and rarely go further than 50 m (160 ft) from it.
In the colder parts of their range, California ground squirrels hibernate for several months, but in areas where winters have no snow, most squirrels are active year-round. In those parts where the summers are hot they may also festivate for periods of a few days.
California ground squirrels are often regarded as a pest in gardens and parks, since they will eat ornamental plants and trees. They commonly feed on seeds, such as oats, but also eat insects such as crickets and grasshoppers as well as various fruits.
California ground squirrels are frequently preyed on by rattlesnakes. They are also preyed on by eagles, raccoons, foxes, badgers, and weasels. Interdisciplinary research at the University of California, Davis, since the 1970s has shown that the squirrels use a variety of techniques to reduce rattlesnake predation. Some populations of California ground squirrels have varying levels of resistance to rattlesnake venom as adults. Female squirrels with pups also chew on the skins shed by rattlesnakes and then lick themselves and their pups (who are never resistant to venom before one month of age) to disguise their scent. Sand-kicking and other forms of harassment provoke the snake to rattle its tail, which allows a squirrel to assess the size and activity level (dependent on blood temperature) of the snake.
Another strategy is for a squirrel to super-heat and swish around its tail. When hunting, rattlesnakes primarily rely on their pit organ, which detects infrared radiation. The hot-tail-swishing appears to convey the message "I am not a threat, but I am too big and swift-moving for it to be worth trying to hunt me." These two confrontational techniques also distract the snake from any nearby squirrel burrows containing pups.
The swishing of the tail from side to side is called tail-waving. This tail-waving helps the squirrel to deter a snake attack. It was shown that the snakes attacked the squirrels that exhibited the tail-waving at a shorter distance than those that did not and majority of those tail-waving squirrels successfully dodged these attacks. This successful dodging, along with the fact that the adult squirrels are larger than the young ones, helps to deter the predators, as studies have found that the rattlesnakes are 1.6 times more likely to be deterred from attacking an area after an encounter with an adult squirrel. In 30 out of 45 interactions with snakes, the tail-waving behavior of the squirrels stopped the snake in its tracks and the snake attempted to wait for the squirrel to leave before it would consider attacking again, showing that the behavior does deter predatory attacks by the rattlesnakes. This is due to the adult squirrels being vigilant and looking more threatening and also that they are able to more successfully dodge attacks. They also can use their tail-waving to signal to other ground squirrels in the area that a rattlesnake or other predator has recently been spotted. Though the ground squirrels have been found to also exhibit this tail-waving behavior when there is no predator present, they wave their tail faster and for a longer amount of time when they spot a predator or in an area where a predator has recently been spotted.
Vigilant behavior in squirrels is also a defense mechanism to avoid predation. In addition to the tail-waving, the squirrels have been found to be more vigilant and on alert if there had recently been a predator in the area than they were if there had been no predator detected. If the ground squirrels are aware that they are in an area where the rattlesnakes have recently been, the ground squirrels devote more time to being alert and searching for the predators than to hunting and foraging than in an environment where they do not believe there are predators.[9] These vigilant squirrels were found to have a faster reaction time to a stimuli from a predator and jump higher and further away than a squirrel who was not as vigilant. In a simulated environment study, 60% of squirrels that were in an environment with a recent snake encounter exhibited an evasive leap behavior, which propels them father away from their attackers. 20% of squirrels exhibited this behavior in a primary encounter with a snake and roughly 5% of squirrels exhibited this behavior when there was no snake present and no threat detected. This shows that the squirrels are more alert, vigilant, and ready for an attacker after one has been recently seen.
Down below to the left, out of view in this photo, is Circular Pool. Now I'm not sure who named it circular because I reckon it is more of a square, although the end of the gorge in which it is located is certainly circular. Perhaps geometry wasn't my strongest point at school, or perhaps the gorge has changed shape!
Not in a few million years, I dare say! As delightful as Circular Pool was, I remembered the way the gorge walls seemed to light up after the sun has gone down. It was a perfect evening (hard to believe it is only a week or so ago), so I headed back up the track and wandered along the escarpment. The climb out of Dales for some reason doesn't seem to take as long as the descent, but my heart and lungs no doubt thought differently.
There's so much to shoot on this walk that it's hard to know what to point your camera at. I was sidetracked a couple of times, photographing the trees that somehow managed to cling to the sides of the gorge, but as the light dropped, I made a beeline back to the lookout and set up my camera.
To the eye, it was pretty dark all around, the exception being the sky and the rich, red glow of the rock reflecting the setting sun. It is a magical sight and the only danger are the huge mosquitoes that also enjoy this time of day - I was worried they might pick me and drop me off the edge.
Okay, so I'm exaggerating about how big the mossies are, but the red in that wall is no lie. It was a beautiful rich glow!
Photographed on the Phase One IQ180 with a 23mm Digaron, 30 seconds, f5.6, ISO 200, and then cropped a little top and bottom. Processing has been quick and cheerful, with a little more care needed if I take the photograph further.
Now, the question is, will this be one of the photos that makes it into the Momento book we're producing. Stay tuned and we'll walk you through the production process. At present, the 18 photographers from the recent workshop (including the instructors) are putting together their best four images, from which two will be selected for the 2013 Karijini Photography Workshop photobook!
View to W from Spanish Point, (Pembroke Parish, Bermuda).
Taken from the front door porch of my in-laws family house.
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Photo
Brian Roy Rosen
Uploaded to Flickr November 12th, 2015
© Darkroom Daze Creative Commons.
If you would like to use or refer to this image, please link or attribute.
ID: DSC_0034 - Version 2
Richmond Castle in Richmond, North Yorkshire, England, stands in a commanding position above the River Swale, close to the centre of the town of Richmond. It was originally called Riche Mount, 'the strong hill'. The castle was constructed by Alan Rufus from 1071 onwards following the Norman Conquest of England, and the Domesday Book of 1086 refers to 'a castlery' at Richmond.
In the 12th century, his great-nephew Conan expanded the castle and built the keep. Although it was derelict by 1540, it was restored centuries later. The property is the best-preserved early Norman castle in England and an important tourist attraction.
Richmond Castle consists of four main parts: a triangular main enclosure, an outer enclosure to the east, a keep at the northern corner of the main enclosure, and a small enclosure around the keep.
In 1069 William the Conqueror had put down a rebellion at York which was followed by his "harrying of the North" – an act of ethnic cleansing which depopulated large areas for a generation or more. As a further punishment, he divided up the lands of North Yorkshire among his most loyal followers. Alan Rufus, of Brittany, received the borough of Richmond and began constructing the castle to defend against further rebellions and to establish a personal power base. His holdings, called the Honour of Richmond, covered parts of eight counties and amounted to one of the most extensive Norman estates in England.
A 100-foot (30 m)-high keep of honey-coloured sandstone was constructed at the end of the 12th century by Duke Conan IV of Brittany. The Earldom of Richmond was seized in 1158 by Henry II of England. It was King Henry II who probably completed the keep which had 11-foot (3.4 m)-thick walls. Modern visitors can climb to the top of the keep for magnificent views of the town of Richmond. At the same time that the keep was probably completed, Henry II considerably strengthened the castle by adding towers and a barbican. Henry III and King Edward I spent more money on the site including Edward's improvements to the keep interior.
In addition to the main circuit of the wall, there was the barbican in front of the main gate which functioned as a sealed entry space, allowing visitors and wagons to be checked before they gained entry to the castle itself. On the other side of the castle, overlooking the river, was another enclosure or bailey called the Cockpit, which may have functioned as a garden and was overlooked by a balcony. A drawing of 1674 suggests there was another longer balcony overlooking the river side of Scolland's Hall, the great hall.
Richmond Castle had fallen out of use as a fortress by the end of the 14th century and it did not receive major improvements after that date. A survey of 1538 shows it was partly in ruins, but paintings by Turner and others, together with the rise of tourism and an interest in antiquities, led to repairs to the keep in the early 19th century.
In 1855 the castle became the headquarters of the North Yorkshire Militia, and a military barracks block was constructed in the great courtyard. For two years, from 1908 to 1910, the castle was the home of Robert Baden-Powell, later founder of the Boy Scouts, while he commanded the Northern Territorial Army but the barracks building was demolished in 1931.
The castle was used during the First World War as the base of the Non-Combatant Corps made up of conscientious objectors – conscripts who refused to fight. It was also used to imprison some conscientious objectors who refused to accept army discipline and participate in the war in any way. These included the "Richmond Sixteen" who were taken to France from the castle, charged under Field Regulations, and then sentenced to death, but their death sentences were commuted to ten years' hard labour.
The original 11th-century main gate arch is now in the basement of the later 12th century keep which was built in front of it; the original arch was unblocked in the 19th century.
The castle is a scheduled monument, a "nationally important" historic building and archaeological site which has been given protection against unauthorised change. It is also a Grade I listed building.
According to legend, King Arthur and his knights are sleeping in a cave underneath the castle. It is said that they were once discovered by a potter named Thompson, who ran away when they began to awake. Another legend tells that a drummer boy was lost while investigating a tunnel, and that his ghostly drumming is sometimes heard around the castle.
The cell block at the castle contains 2,300 examples of graffiti left by those imprisoned there, from the mid-nineteenth century to the 1970s. Perhaps the most significant of the mark makers were the Richmond Sixteen, who were conscientious objectors imprisoned there during the First World War.
Alan Rufus, alternatively Alanus Rufus (Latin), Alan ar Rouz (Breton), Alain le Roux (French) or Alan the Red (c. 1040 – 1093), 1st Lord of Richmond, was a Breton nobleman, kinsman and companion of William the Conqueror (Duke William II of Normandy) during the Norman Conquest of England. He was the second son of Eozen Penteur (also known as Eudon, Eudo or Odo, Count of Penthièvre) by Orguen Kernev (also known as Agnes of Cornouaille).[b] William the Conqueror granted Alan Rufus a significant English fief, later known as the Honour of Richmond, in about 1071.
Biography
Alan Rufus is first mentioned as a witness (along with his mother Orguen and brothers Gausfridus, Willelmus, Rotbertus, Ricardus) to a charter dated to 1056/1060, issued by his father Eozen to the Abbey of Saint-Aubin in Angers (q.v. Albinus of Angers).
Alan already held some property in Rouen, the capital of Normandy, and was lord of Richemont in Upper Normandy before September 1066. In 1066 or 1067, William of Normandy assented to the gift by Alan Comes (i.e. Alan Rufus) to St-Ouen de Rouen of the church of Saint-Sauveur without Rouen, and of the nearby church of Sainte Croix des Pelletiers, which had been his gift to Alan.
Alan was probably present at the Battle of Hastings in October 1066. On the journey to the battle site near Hastings, the Breton forces formed the vanguard, arriving a good half-hour before the rest of William's army. In the battle formation, Bretons are mentioned variously as in the left-wing or in the rear-guard of the army. Geoffrey Gaimar's L'Estoire des Engles and Wace's Roman de Rou both assert Alan Rufus's presence as Breton commander in the battle,[c] and praise his contribution: Gaimar says "Alan and his men struck well" and Wace states that they did the English "great damage".
A column of Norman cavalry swept into the Cambridge area in late 1066 and built a castle on the hill just north of the river crossing. Alan's first possessions in England were in Cambridgeshire, so he may have obtained them about this time. The Cambridgeshire town of Bourn, west of Cambridge and due north of London, along with several other towns in the area were according to the Domesday Book held in 1066 by the royal thane Almer of Bourn as a tenant of Edith the Fair. Alan's early acquisitions in England included many land titles that had been in the possession of King Harold's wife Edith the Fair, including all but one of her holdings in Cambridgeshire) Alan later favored Almer by giving him two additional manors.
In 1067, Alan witnessed a charter of King William to the monks of St Peter's at Westminster.
In January 1069, Earl Edwin in Yorkshire and his brother Earl Morcar in Northumberland rebelled. In late 1069, the King brought an army north to combat the rebels and recover York. According to the Register of Richmond, it was at the instigation of Queen Matilda, during the Siege of York, that King William conceded to Alan the Honour of Richmond (the Hundred of the "Land of Count Alan" in Yorkshire) in North Yorkshire. Unusually, within the land of Count Alan, King William himself and his half-brother Robert, Count of Mortain received only one manor each: William sharing one with Alan at Ainderby Steeple, on the eastern fringe of the Land, while Robert held one on its southern edge. The wording of the proclamation is:
Ego Wil(el)mus cognomine Bastardus Rex Anglie do et concedo tibi Nepoti meo Alano Britannie Comiti et heredibus tuis imperpetuum omnes uillas et terras que nuper fuerunt Comitis Edwyni in Eboraschira cum feodis Militum et ecclesiis et aliis libertat(ibus) et consuetudinibus ita libere et honorifice sicut idem Edwinus ea tenuit. Dat(um) in obsidione coram Ciuitate Ebor(aci).
Philemon Holland's English translation of William Camden's "Brittania" (1607) renders the proclamation:
I William surnamed Bastard, King of England, doe give and grant unto thee my Nephew[d] Alane Earle of Britaine, and to thine heires for ever, all and every the manour houses and lands which late belonged to Earle Eadwine in Yorkeshire, with the knights fees and other liberties and customes, as freely and in as honorable wise as the said Eadwin held the same. Given at our leaguer before the City of Yorke.
Alan Rufus began construction on Richmond Castle in 1071, to be the principal manor and center of his honour. As the first constable of his new castle, Alan chose Enisant Musard, the husband of one of his half-sisters. Richmond Castle overlooks the old Roman fort at Catterick, North Yorkshire. Alan's properties extended over the entire length of Earningas Street, the old Roman road from London to the North, heading to Edinburgh; this road was renamed Ermine Street.
In folklore, Alan has an association with King Arthur: in the tale of Potter Thompson, Arthur and his knights are said to lie at rest under Richmond Castle.
In Richmondshire, the Domesday Book's "Land of Count Alan", many of the Anglo-Dane lords, or their heirs, were retained in their pre-1066 positions of authority. The locations where this was done were complementary to those owned by the deceased Edwin, Earl of Mercia, whereas many of those where Edwin had been Overlord were given to Alan's Breton relatives: his half-brothers Ribald, Lord of Middleham, Bodin, Lord of Bedale, and Bardolf, Lord of Ravensworth, and their wet-nurse, Orwen. Other tenants of Alan in Yorkshire were English lords from East Anglia.
In the 1080s, Alan witnessed several documents of King William in England and Ghent, and one of Queen Matilda in England.
For the period from about 1083-1086 (the exact dates are uncertain) the formidable Sainte-Suzanne Castle was besieged by the king's army. King William I established a fortified camp at Beugy, about 800 metres north of the castle, manned by William's best household knights under the command of Alan Rufus. The siege did not go well, the castle proving to be well-defended. Wealthy Norman and English lords were frequently captured. After a year, Alan handed command to another Breton, who was later slain, along with many of the king's knights, aggrieving William sufficiently to come to terms with the commander of the castle.
It is likely that Alan was with King William I and the other members of the King's Council at Gloucester in Christmas 1085 when they discussed preparations for the extensive survey of England, later known as the Domesday Survey. On this survey was based the Domesday Book, which comprises two volumes, Little Domesday and Great Domesday.
Through 1086, Alan and Robert of Mortain attended on King William, e.g. at Fécamp in Normandy and in Wiltshire in south-west England.
By 1086 Alan had become one of the richest and most powerful men of England. Alan is mentioned as a lord or tenant-in-chief in 1,017 entries of the Domesday Book, behind only King William I and Robert, Count of Mortain in the number of holdings. The most powerful magnate in East Anglia and Yorkshire, he also possessed property in London, in Normandy (e.g. in Rouen and Richemont), and in Brittany. Alan Rufus is third (not including the King and his immediate family) among the barons in terms of annual income, which was about £1,200. His income in the year of his death, 1093, was £1,100.
Alan donated large sums to a number of religious houses, but most famously founded, with King William II, the Benedictine St Mary's Abbey in York in early 1088.
Alan was among the first four magnates to support William II of England against the Rebellion of 1088 in favour of the Duke of Normandy, Robert Curthose. The uprising was led by the recently freed Odo, Earl of Kent, Bishop of Bayeux, and joined by several major magnates. Beginning in March 1088, Alan was granted additional territory by King William from the confiscated lands of his neighbours who had rebelled. In or before 1089, Alan Rufus issued a charter at Rochester, Kent, Bishop Odo's former principal manor.
William de St-Calais had been in the army led by the king against Bishop Odo, but suddenly fled north to his castle at Durham. After the rebellion was defeated, Roger of Poitou, Alan Rufus, Odo of Champagne, and Walter d'Aincourt were sent to persuade St-Calais to surrender. After a lengthy parley during which they waited outside the castle, St-Calais agreed to surrender his person and stand trial, but only once they signed a complex document promising safe conduct before, during, and after the trial. Alan Rufus played a significant role in the subsequent trial of St-Calais, which commenced on 2 November 1088 at Salisbury in Wiltshire.
Wilmart's interpretation is that in exchange for St-Calais agreeing to submit to the King's judgement, Alan and the other royal officers signed a document guaranteeing St-Calais's safety before and after the trial. When St-Calais cited this in court, there was uproar, but Alan calmly confirmed St-Calais's statement and then said that if there were any fault here, it was his (Alan's). Alan concluded by begging the king not to attempt to coerce him into committing perjury; otherwise, he (Alan) would believe himself obliged to refuse to serve the king.
St-Calais was held in custody at Wilton Abbey until 14 November. Alan escorted St-Calais to Southampton to await passage to Normandy and exile.
According to Christopher Clarkson, in 1089 Count Alan persuaded King William II to convene ("assemble") England's very first "High Court of Parliament" ("under that name") at York.
Saint Anselm, in two letters addressed (perhaps in 1093–1094) to Gunnhild the youngest daughter of King Harold II and Edith the Fair, reprimanded her for abandoning her vocation as a nun at Wilton Abbey to live with Alan Rufus, intending to marry him, and after his death living with his brother Alan Niger ("the Black"). The historian Richard Sharpe has theorised that Matilda d'Aincourt, wife of Walter d'Aincourt, was the natural daughter of Alan Rufus and Gunnhild. In the same article, Sharpe also cited Trevor Foulds's suggestion that Matilda may have been a daughter of King William I and Queen Matilda; although Orderic Vitalis does not mention her name in his list of their daughters, Domesday does name a "Matilda, the King's daughter".
Wilmart thought Alan Rufus's death was sudden and unexpected. There are conflicting sources for the year of its occurrence. Two medieval sources (the 12th century Margam Annals and Stephen of Whitby's brief history of St Mary's, York) indicate that he died in 1089 or shortly thereafter, but scholars have concluded that 1093, perhaps on 4 August, is more likely. His body was transported to the abbey at Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk where he was buried in the cemetery outside the south door. Subsequently, his family and the monks of the Abbey of St Mary in York succeeded in their petition to have him reburied inside Bury Abbey.
Alan Rufus died childless. As Lord of Richmond, Alan Rufus was succeeded by his younger brothers: Alan Niger who also died without issue, followed by Stephen, Count of Tréguier.
Other activities of Count Alan Rufus
Beneath Richmond Castle, Alan founded the town of Richmond, North Yorkshire. He also built the original manor house of Costessey Hall, Alan's caput at Costessey in Norfolk, on the north side of the River Tud in Costessey Park.
Other media
In 2019 Magneto dayo Released a song titled "Alan Rufus" referencing the Count.
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that it uses these properties to "bring the story of England to life for over 10 million people each year". Within its portfolio are Stonehenge, Dover Castle, Tintagel Castle and the best preserved parts of Hadrian's Wall. English Heritage also manages the London blue plaque scheme, which links influential historical figures to particular buildings.
When originally formed in 1983, English Heritage was the operating name of an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government, officially titled the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England, that ran the national system of heritage protection and managed a range of historic properties. It was created to combine the roles of existing bodies that had emerged from a long period of state involvement in heritage protection. In 1999, the organisation merged with the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England and the National Monuments Record, bringing together resources for the identification and survey of England's historic environment.
On 1 April 2015, English Heritage was divided into two parts: Historic England, which inherited the statutory and protection functions of the old organisation, and the new English Heritage Trust, a charity that would operate the historic properties, and which took on the English Heritage operating name and logo. The British government gave the new charity an £80 million grant to help establish it as an independent trust, although the historic properties remain in the ownership of the state.
History
Non-departmental public body
Over the centuries, what is now called "heritage" has been the responsibility of a series of state departments. There was the "Kings Works" after the Norman Conquest, the Office of Works (1378–1832), the Office of Woods, Forests, Land Revenues and Works (1832–1851), and the Ministry of Works (1851–1962). Responsibility subsequently transferred to the Ministry of Public Building and Works (1962–1970), then to the Department of the Environment (1970–1997), and it is now with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The state's legal responsibility for the historic environment goes back to the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882. The central government subsequently developed several systems of heritage protection for different types of assets, introducing listing for buildings after World War II, and for conservation areas in the 1960s.
In 1983, Secretary of State for the Environment Michael Heseltine gave national responsibility for the historic environment to a semi‑autonomous agency (or "quango") to operate under ministerial guidelines and to government policy. The Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission was formed under the terms of the National Heritage Act 1983 on 1 April 1984. The 1983 Act also dissolved the bodies that had previously provided independent advice – the Ancient Monuments Board for England and the Historic Buildings Council for England – and incorporated those functions into the new body. Soon after, the commission was given the operating name of English Heritage by its first chairman, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu.
A national register of historic parks and gardens, (e.g. Rangers House, Greenwich) was set up in 1984, and a register for historic battlefields (e.g. the Battle of Tewkesbury) was created in March 1995. 'Registration' is a material consideration in the planning process. In April 1999 English Heritage merged with the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) and the National Monuments Record (NMR), bringing together resources for the identification and survey of England's historic environment. By adoption, that included responsibility for the national record of archaeological sites from the Ordnance Survey, the National Library of Aerial Photographs, and two million RAF and Ordnance Survey aerial photographs. Those, together with other nationally important external acquisitions, meant that English Heritage was one of the largest publicly accessible archives in the UK: 2.53 million records are available online, including more than 426,000 images. In 2010–11, it recorded 4.3 million unique online user sessions and over 110,000 people visited NMR exhibitions held around the country in 2009–10. In 2012, the section responsible for archive collections was renamed the English Heritage Archive.
As a result of the National Heritage Act 2002, English Heritage acquired administrative responsibility for historic wrecks and submerged landscapes within 12 miles (19 km) of the English coast. The administration of the listed building system was transferred from DCMS to English Heritage in 2006. However, actual listing decisions still remained the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, who was required by the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 to approve a list of buildings of special architectural or historic interest.
Following the Public Bodies Reform in 2010, English Heritage was confirmed as the government's statutory adviser on the historic environment, and the largest source of non-lottery grant funding for heritage assets. It was retained on grounds of "performing a technical function which should remain independent from Government". However, the department also suffered from budget cuts during the recession of the 2010s, resulting in a repairs deficit of £100 million
I want to take the time to talk about a video game. This is Legacy of the Wizard, which was called Dragon Slayer IV in Japan and was part of the Dragon Slayer series.
This particular game also happens to be my favorite NES game.
Legacy of the Wizard was one of the earlier NES games, and surely many households have played it. It was on of the earlier NES games I have played with was really little along with Mario and TMNT, and for that it always bring nostalgia back for me.
The game happens to be the literal definition of the dungeon crawler genre, and for good reasons. You can easily get lost in this dungeon and you have to back track many times because you have to make use of all the characters and items to progress. Obviously I was never able to beat this game when I was kid because I had no fucking clue of what I was doing, but I did manage to beat it couple years ago by watching walkthroughs online.
But what I really enjoy about the game is the music. Every time I listen to it, I always think to the old days. Just listen.
Anyways yeah, this is my favorite NES game.
“Gotham is at war with itself again. However this time the south is plagued with filthy crazies. I need to secure my position on the map, and with the south docks under my control, I’ll be able to do so. While all the other costume freaks…the few…very few smart ones, like me, can sit back and watch, gaining control from the sidelines…soon I’ll make my move…when the fools weaken each other…come along men, we have work to do…”
The Penguin moves from his Iceberg Lounge (#96) to takeover the neutral zone of the Southern Docks (#98).
This is my friend Nik Voon who I have been speaking to on Flickr and Tumblr for at least a year now.
On my way back from my KL trip, I finally got to meet him during my stopover in Singapore. Nik was kind enough to come all the way to the airport to meet my girlfriend and I :D
I've got to watch Nik improve over time and in no time, he'll probably be better than me with how dedicated he is to his photography!
Hopefully I get to come back to Singapore soon so we can meet again (and I won't be so drowsy next time)!!!
On another spring like February day, here we see Sanders former Wilts & Dorset Wright bodied Volvo B7RLE type number 509 - HF54 HGX at stop BN on a very quiet St Stephen’s Street in Norwich as it waits to head back to the North Norfolk Coast with the above service X44 journey. I had travelled up to Norwich on 509 to get my first Coronavirus vaccine jab at the Castle Quarter Shopping Mall and it was also my first ride on a bus since 19th December.
As with similar vehicles 503-508/510-14, having initially entered service in Norfolk carrying the W&D More livery, 509 has received Sanders standard allover yellow single deck livery, although as we can see it carries the revised red upper and lower case version of Sanders fleet name on the side panels. Other repaints noted so far are 506-8/510/2/4, which probably means the distinctive Coasthopper logo is soon to disappear.
Inspiration came from just randomly observing photos on 'Camera Finder'.
Book: The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien
- "Face to Face" is a Punk-Rock-Band from California and also a title of a Kinks-Album and just a title of a song by Gary Barlow. -
Today I have for presenting selected two s/w images from my current series.
For more information about this two new photos please read the text to the image:
Series 1 "Happy Mother's Day".
© All rights reserved.
Press L to view on a black background.
You can see more on my Flickr Photostream or on my Web site.
This image is mine. You may not use it anywhere or for any project without my express permission. Rates for commercial applications are available on request.
Please contact me if you would like to buy a print of this photograph.
today, cinderella starts here in the cinemas... and to celebrate this, i decided to make my own doll... because the mattel one is still to expensive!!! now, i dont need her anymore!!! :)
To the left of this image, out of picture, construction work is being carried out to repair and re-landscape a portion of the gardens that has been severely affected by storms.
www.washingtoncitypaper.com/arts/museums-galleries/blog/2...
“How Not To Be Seen: A Fucking Didactic Educational .MOV File” (2013) by Hito Steyerl is a work of sustained intensity: a kaleidoscopic essay on cinematic editing, aerial photography, and facial-recognition technology. It’s also a love-note to falling into a very particular kind of YouTube hole: luxury apartment development architectural demo videos.
observer.com/2017/12/curator-mark-beasley-highlights-vide...
Hito Steyerl How Not to Be Seen looks at how video surveillance and monitoring is shaping contemporary life.
www.flickr.com/photos/anokarina/40006366234/in/album-7215...
Idole cycladique de la collection Paul et Alexandra Canellopoulos
Musée de Canellopoulos, Athènes
Le Musée de Kanellopoulos, inauguré en 1976, retrace l'évolution de l'art grec à travers une collection variée de pièces d'art archéologique appartenant à différentes périodes.
www.athenes.fr/musee-kanellopoulos
pacf.gr/en/collection/themuseum/
La collection, rassemblée par Paul et Alexandra Kanellopoulos, constitue l'une des collections d'antiquités privées les plus importantes de Grèce.
C'est dans les Cyclades que l'art primitif issu du néolithique a connu l'évolution la plus caractéristique. Ces objets caractéristiques de la civilisation précoce des Cyclades datent des années 3200 à 2O00 avant J.C.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycladic_culture
Les figurines miniatures en marbre aux épaules larges et aux hanches étroites représentent en général des femmes nues que les archéologues supposent être des symboles de Fertilité ou des amulettes funéraires.
Site de l'auteur
perso.numericable.fr/dalbera4/mobius_web/musee_canellopou...
Early Cycladic period (3200 – 2000 BC)
This period was mainly characterized by the development of metallurgy, maritime navigation and communication. A multitude and wide range of bronze tools and weapons, swift-moving ships impelled by oars depicted on clay (frying pans) or metal (lead boat models) attest to the heyday of this early period of the Cyclades which played a pivotal role in the trade of materials and goods as well as the exchange of ideas, being in the centre of maritime communication routes. Metals, obsidian and marble, unique raw materials found on the Cyclades, were spread throughout the Aegean Sea. The marble vases and figurines, the kraters -known as “”kandiles”” (votive lamps)- and the violin-shaped figurines became initially synonymous with the Cycladic culture. Later, the kylikes and the “”palettes””, but chiefly the figurines with folded arms, with their widespread dispersal, turned into the symbol of the Cycladic achievement, whereas simultaneously, the creation of statues, namely life-size figures, and certain three-dimensional figurines (e.g. musicians) manifests the progress and innovation of the Cycladic art. Extrait du site du musée d'archéologie nationale, Athènes
In July we went to Norwich for a few days. These shots are around and in the castle that dominates the city centre. Built by the Normans it fell into disrepair and then the Victorians renovated the inside and outside. The clear structure over the lift provides an interesting view of the famous St Peter Mancroft church.
Western South Dakota is home to incredible sights like the Badlands and the Needles of the Black Hills, but nothing “sticks out” quite like Mount Rushmore National Memorial. This giant monument celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2016. In honor of this milestone, here are 75 facts about the sculpture that has captured the imaginations of so many.
1. The idea of creating a sculpture in the Black Hills was dreamed up in 1923 by South Dakota historian Doane Robinson. He wanted to find a way to attract tourists to the state.
2. It worked. Mount Rushmore is now visited by nearly 3 million people annually.
3. Robinson initially wanted to sculpt the likenesses of Western heroes like Oglala Lakota leader Red Cloud, explorers Lewis and Clark, and Buffalo Bill Cody into the nearby stone pinnacles known as the Needles.
4. Danish-American sculptor Gutzon Borglum was enlisted to help with the project. At the time, he was working on the massive carving at Stone Mountain in Georgia, but by his own account said the model was flawed and the monument wouldn’t stand the test of time. He was looking for a way out when South Dakota called.
5. Borglum, a good friend of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin, dreamed of something bigger than the Needles. He wanted something that would draw people from around the world. He wanted to carve a mountain.
6. Besides, the Needles site was deemed too narrow for sculpting, and the mountain had better exposure to the sun.
7. Borglum and his son, Lincoln, thought the monument should have a national focus and decided that four presidents should be carved.
8. The presidents were chosen for their significant contribution to the founding, expansion, preservation and unification of the country.
9. George Washington (1789-1797) was chosen because he was our nation’s founding father.
10. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was chosen to represent expansion, because he was the president who signed the Louisiana Purchase and authored the Declaration of Independence.
11. Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) was chosen because he represented conservation and the industrial blossoming of the nation.
12. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was chosen because he led the country through the Civil War and believed in preserving the nation at any cost.
13. The mountain that Borglum chose to carve was known to the Lakota as the “Six Grandfathers.”
14. It had also been known as Cougar Mountain, Sugarloaf Mountain, Slaughterhouse Mountain and Keystone Cliffs, depending who you asked.
15. The mountain’s official name came from a New York lawyer who was surveying gold claims in the area in 1885.
16. Charles E. Rushmore asked his guide, William Challis, “What’s the name of that mountain?” Challis is said to have replied, “It’s never had one…till now…we’ll call the damn thing Rushmore.”
17. In 1930, the United States Board on Geographic Names officially recognized it as Mount Rushmore.
18. The carving of Mount Rushmore began in 1927 and finished in 1941.
19. The actual carving was done by a team of over 400 men.
20. Remarkably, no one died during construction.
21. The men who worked on the mountain were miners who had come to the Black Hills looking for gold.
22. Although they weren’t artists, they did know how to use dynamite and jackhammers.
23. The Borglums did hire one artist, Korczak Ziolkowski, to work as an assistant on the mountain. But after 19 days and a heated argument with Lincoln Borglum, Ziolkowski left the project. He would later begin another mountain carving nearby, Crazy Horse Memorial, which today is the world’s largest mountain sculpture in progress.
24. Mount Rushmore once had an amateur baseball team.
25. Because Gutzon and Lincoln Borglum were so competitive, they would often hire young men for their baseball skills rather than their carving and drilling skills.
26. In 1939, the Rushmore Memorial team took second place at the South Dakota amateur baseball tournament.
27. The image of the sculpture was mapped onto the mountain using an intricate “pointing machine” designed by Borglum.
28. It was based on a 1:12 scale model of the final sculpture.
29. 90% of the mountain was carved with dynamite, and more than 450,000 tons of rock was removed.
30. Afterwards, fine carving was done to create a surface about as smooth as a concrete sidewalk.
31. The drillers and finishers were lowered down the 500-foot face of the mountain in bosun chairs held by 3/8-inch-thick steel cables.
32. Workers at the top of the mountain would hand crank a winch to raise and lower the drillers.
33. If they went too fast, the person in the bosun chair would be dragged up the mountain on their face.
34. Young boys (known as call boys) were hired to sit on the side of the mountain to shout messages back and forth to the operators to speed up or slow down.
35. Each president’s face is 60 feet high.
36. The faces appear in the order: Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, Lincoln.
37. Jefferson was originally intended to be on Washington’s right.
38. After nearly two years of work on Jefferson, the rock was found to be unsuitable and the partially completed face was “erased” from the mountainside using dynamite.
39. Washington’s face was completed in 1934.
40. Jefferson’s in 1936.
41. Lincoln was finished in 1937.
42. In 1937, a bill was introduced to Congress to add the image of women’s rights leader Susan B. Anthony to the mountain.
43. Congress then passed a bill requiring only the heads that had already been started be completed.
44. In 1938, Gutzon Borglum secretly began blasting a Hall of Records in the mountain behind the heads.
45. The Hall of Records was meant to be a vault containing the history of the nation and vital documents like the Constitution.
46. Congress found out about the project and demanded Borglum use the federal funding for the faces, not the Hall of Records.
47. Gutzon reluctantly stopped working on the hall in 1939, but vowed to complete it.
48. That same year, the last face — of Theodore Roosevelt — was completed.
49. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum died in March of 1941, leaving the completion of the monument to his son Lincoln.
50. The carving was originally meant to include the bodies of the presidents down to their waists.
51. A massive panel with 8-foot-tall gilded letters commemorating famous territorial acquisitions of the U.S. was also originally intended.
52. Funding ran out and the monument was declared complete on October 31, 1941.
53. Overall, the project cost $989,992.32 and took 14 years to finish.
54. It’s estimated only 6 years included actual carving, while 8.5 years were consumed with delays due to weather and lack of funds.
55. Charles E. Rushmore donated $5,000 toward the sculpting of the mountain that bore his name.
56. In 1998, Borglum’s vision for the Hall of Records was realized when porcelain tablets containing images and text from the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and biographies of the presidents and Borglum himself were sealed in a vault inside the unfinished hall.
57. The Hall of Records played a role in the plot of the 2007 movie National Treasure: Book of Secrets, starring Nicolas Cage.
58. Visitor facilities have been added over the years, including a visitor center, the Lincoln Borglum Museum and the Presidential Trail.
59. The Lincoln Borglum Museum features multimedia exhibits that let you use an old-style explosives plunger to recreate dynamite blasting the face of the mountain.
60. You can also visit the Sculptor’s Studio, where Gutzon Borglum worked on scale models of Mount Rushmore.
61. The Grand View Terrace — one of the best places from which to see Mount Rushmore — is located just above the museum.
62. The Grand View Terrace is at the end of the Avenue of Flags; it has flags from all 50 states, one district, three territories and two commonwealths of the United States of America.
63. The Presidential Trail is a 0.5-mile walking trail that offers up-close and different views of each face.
64. If you start the trail from the Sculptor’s Studio, you’ll have to climb 422 stairs. Enter the trail from the Grand View Terrace and you’ll have an easier time of it.
63. Rushmore’s resident mountain goats are descendants of a herd that was gifted to Custer State Park by Canada in 1924.
64. They evidently escaped (naughty goats!).
67. From the late 1950s to the early 1970s, Ben Black Elk, a famous Lakota holy man, personally greeted visitors to Mount Rushmore.
68. Every night, Mount Rushmore gets illuminated for two hours.
69. Since illumination can impact the natural environment (think lost moths, among other things), a new high-tech LED lighting system was installed in 2015 to minimize the negative effects of lighting Mount Rushmore.
70. Some believe you can see an elephant, or at least the stone face of an elephant, if you look to the right of Lincoln. Others believe if you look at a picture of the mountain rotated 90 degrees, you can see another face.
71. Mount Rushmore is granite, which erodes roughly 1 inch every 10,000 years.
72. Since each of the noses is about 240 inches long, they might last up to 2.4 million years before they completely wear away.
73. After about 500,000 years, the faces will likely have lost some of their definition. But at this rate the basic shape of the presidents’ heads might last up to 7 million years.
74. Numerous things are being done to preserve Mount Rushmore. This has included installing 8,000 feet of camouflaged copper wire in 1998 to help monitor 144 hairline cracks. The copper wire was replaced with fiber optic cable in 2009.
75. So far preservation efforts have been successful, with Mount Rushmore celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2016 — all four noses, chins and foreheads (as well as all 8 eyes, nostrils, lips and ears) intact!
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe, or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum created the sculpture's design and oversaw the project's execution from 1927 to 1941 with the help of his son, Lincoln Borglum. The sculpture features the 60-foot-tall (18 m) heads of four United States Presidents recommended by Borglum: George Washington (1732–1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) and Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865). The four presidents were chosen to represent the nation's birth, growth, development and preservation, respectively. The memorial park covers 1,278 acres (2.00 sq mi; 5.17 km2) and the actual mountain has an elevation of 5,725 feet (1,745 m) above sea level.
The sculptor and tribal representatives settled on Mount Rushmore, which also has the advantage of facing southeast for maximum sun exposure. Doane Robinson wanted it to feature American West heroes, such as Lewis and Clark, their expedition guide Sacagawea, Oglala Lakota chief Red Cloud,[9] Buffalo Bill Cody, and Oglala Lakota chief Crazy Horse. Borglum believed that the sculpture should have broader appeal and chose the four presidents.
Peter Norbeck, U.S. senator from South Dakota, sponsored the project and secured federal funding. Construction began in 1927; the presidents' faces were completed between 1934 and 1939. After Gutzon Borglum died in March 1941, his son Lincoln took over as leader of the construction project. Each president was originally to be depicted from head to waist, but lack of funding forced construction to end on October 31, 1941.
Sometimes referred to as the "Shrine of Democracy", Mount Rushmore attracts more than two million visitors annually.
Mount Rushmore was conceived with the intention of creating a site to lure tourists, representing "not only the wild grandeur of its local geography but also the triumph of western civilization over that geography through its anthropomorphic representation." Though for the latest occupants of the land at the time, the Lakota Sioux, as well as other tribes, the monument in their view "came to epitomize the loss of their sacred lands and the injustices they've suffered under the U.S. government." Under the Treaty of 1868, the U.S. government promised the territory, including the entirety of the Black Hills, to the Sioux "so long as the buffalo may range thereon in such numbers as to justify the chase." After the discovery of gold on the land, American settlers migrated to the area in the 1870s. The federal government then forced the Sioux to relinquish the Black Hills portion of their reservation.
The four presidential faces were said to be carved into the granite with the intention of symbolizing "an accomplishment born, planned, and created in the minds and by the hands of Americans for Americans".
Mount Rushmore is known to the Lakota Sioux as "The Six Grandfathers" (Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe) or "Cougar Mountain" (Igmútȟaŋka Pahá); but American settlers knew it variously as Cougar Mountain, Sugarloaf Mountain, Slaughterhouse Mountain and Keystone Cliffs. As Six Grandfathers, the mountain was on the route that Lakota leader Black Elk took in a spiritual journey that culminated at Black Elk Peak. Following a series of military campaigns from 1876 to 1878, the United States asserted control over the area, a claim that is still disputed on the basis of the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie.
Beginning with a prospecting expedition in 1885 with David Swanzey (husband of Carrie Ingalls), and Bill Challis, wealthy investor Charles E. Rushmore began visiting the area regularly on prospecting and hunting trips. He repeatedly joked with colleagues about naming the mountain after himself. The United States Board of Geographic Names officially recognized the name "Mount Rushmore" in June 1930.
Historian Doane Robinson conceived the idea for Mount Rushmore in 1923 to promote tourism in South Dakota. In 1924, Robinson persuaded sculptor Gutzon Borglum to travel to the Black Hills region to ensure the carving could be accomplished. The original plan was to make the carvings in granite pillars known as the Needles. However, Borglum realized that the eroded Needles were too thin to support sculpting. He chose Mount Rushmore, a grander location, partly because it faced southeast and enjoyed maximum exposure to the sun.
Borglum said upon seeing Mount Rushmore, "America will march along that skyline."
Borglum had been involved in sculpting the Stone Mountain Memorial to Confederate leaders in Georgia, but was in disagreement with the officials there.
U.S. Senator Peter Norbeck and Congressman William Williamson of South Dakota introduced bills in early 1925 for permission to use federal land, which passed easily. South Dakota legislation had less support, only passing narrowly on its third attempt, which Governor Carl Gunderson signed into law on March 5, 1925. Private funding came slowly and Borglum invited President Calvin Coolidge to an August 1927 dedication ceremony, at which he promised federal funding. Congress passed the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Act, signed by Coolidge, which authorized up to $250,000 in matching funds. The 1929 presidential transition to Herbert Hoover delayed funding until an initial federal match of $54,670.56 was acquired.
Carving started in 1927 and ended in 1941 with no fatalities.
Historian Doane Robinson conceived the idea for Mount Rushmore in 1923 to promote tourism in South Dakota. In 1924, Robinson persuaded sculptor Gutzon Borglum to travel to the Black Hills region to ensure the carving could be accomplished. The original plan was to make the carvings in granite pillars known as the Needles. However, Borglum realized that the eroded Needles were too thin to support sculpting. He chose Mount Rushmore, a grander location, partly because it faced southeast and enjoyed maximum exposure to the sun.
Borglum said upon seeing Mount Rushmore, "America will march along that skyline."
Borglum had been involved in sculpting the Stone Mountain Memorial to Confederate leaders in Georgia, but was in disagreement with the officials there.
U.S. Senator Peter Norbeck and Congressman William Williamson of South Dakota introduced bills in early 1925 for permission to use federal land, which passed easily. South Dakota legislation had less support, only passing narrowly on its third attempt, which Governor Carl Gunderson signed into law on March 5, 1925. Private funding came slowly and Borglum invited President Calvin Coolidge to an August 1927 dedication ceremony, at which he promised federal funding. Congress passed the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Act, signed by Coolidge, which authorized up to $250,000 in matching funds. The 1929 presidential transition to Herbert Hoover delayed funding until an initial federal match of $54,670.56 was acquired.
The chief carver of the mountain was Luigi Del Bianco, an artisan and stonemason in Port Chester, New York. Del Bianco emigrated to the U.S. from Friuli in Italy and was chosen to work on this project because of his understanding of sculptural language and ability to imbue emotion in the carved portraits.
In 1933, the National Park Service took Mount Rushmore under its jurisdiction. Julian Spotts helped with the project by improving its infrastructure. For example, he had the tram upgraded so it could reach the top of Mount Rushmore for the ease of workers. By July 4, 1934, Washington's face had been completed and was dedicated. The face of Thomas Jefferson was dedicated in 1936, and the face of Abraham Lincoln was dedicated on September 17, 1937. In 1937, a bill was introduced in Congress to add the head of civil-rights leader Susan B. Anthony, but a rider was passed on an appropriations bill requiring federal funds be used to finish only those heads that had already been started at that time. In 1939, the face of Theodore Roosevelt was dedicated.
The Sculptor's Studio – a display of unique plaster models and tools related to the sculpting – was built in 1939 under the direction of Borglum. Borglum died from an embolism in March 1941. His son, Lincoln Borglum, continued the project. Originally, it was planned that the figures would be carved from head to waist, but insufficient funding forced the carving to end. Borglum had also planned a massive panel in the shape of the Louisiana Purchase commemorating in eight-foot-tall gilded letters the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, Louisiana Purchase, and seven other territorial acquisitions from the Alaska purchase to the Panama Canal Zone. In total, the entire project cost US$989,992.32 (equivalent to $18.2 million in 2021).
Nick Clifford, the last remaining carver, died in November 2019 at age 98.
South Dakota is a landlocked U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota Sioux tribe, which comprises a large portion of the population with nine reservations currently in the state and has historically dominated the territory. South Dakota is the 17th largest by area, but the 5th least populous, and the 5th least densely populated of the 50 United States. Pierre is the state capital, and Sioux Falls, with a population of about 213,900, is South Dakota's most populous city. The state is bisected by the Missouri River, dividing South Dakota into two geographically and socially distinct halves, known to residents as "East River" and "West River". South Dakota is bordered by the states of North Dakota (to the north), Minnesota (to the east), Iowa (to the southeast), Nebraska (to the south), Wyoming (to the west), and Montana (to the northwest).
Humans have inhabited the area for several millennia, with the Sioux becoming dominant by the early 19th century. In the late 19th century, European-American settlement intensified after a gold rush in the Black Hills and the construction of railroads from the east. Encroaching miners and settlers triggered a number of Indian wars, ending with the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. As the southern part of the former Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889, simultaneously with North Dakota. They are the 39th and 40th states admitted to the union; President Benjamin Harrison shuffled the statehood papers before signing them so that no one could tell which became a state first.
Key events in the 20th century included the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, increased federal spending during the 1940s and 1950s for agriculture and defense, and an industrialization of agriculture that has reduced family farming. Eastern South Dakota is home to most of the state's population, and the area's fertile soil is used to grow a variety of crops. West of the Missouri River, ranching is the predominant agricultural activity, and the economy is more dependent on tourism and defense spending. Most of the Native American reservations are in West River. The Black Hills, a group of low pine-covered mountains sacred to the Sioux, is in the southwest part of the state. Mount Rushmore, a major tourist destination, is there. South Dakota has a temperate continental climate, with four distinct seasons and precipitation ranging from moderate in the east to semi-arid in the west. The state's ecology features species typical of a North American grassland biome.
While several Democrats have represented South Dakota for multiple terms in both chambers of Congress, the state government is largely controlled by the Republican Party, whose nominees have carried South Dakota in each of the last 14 presidential elections. Historically dominated by an agricultural economy and a rural lifestyle, South Dakota has recently sought to diversify its economy in other areas to both attract and retain residents. South Dakota's history and rural character still strongly influence the state's culture.
The history of South Dakota describes the history of the U.S. state of South Dakota over the course of several millennia, from its first inhabitants to the recent issues facing the state.
Human beings have lived in what is today South Dakota for at least several thousand years. Early hunters are believed to have first entered North America at least 17,000 years ago via the Bering land bridge, which existed during the last ice age and connected Siberia with Alaska. Early settlers in what would become South Dakota were nomadic hunter-gatherers, using primitive Stone Age technology to hunt large prehistoric mammals in the area such as mammoths, sloths, and camels. The Paleolithic culture of these people disappeared around 5000 BC, after the extinction of most of their prey species.
Between AD 500 and 800, much of eastern South Dakota was inhabited by a people known as the 'Mound Builders'. The Mound Builders were hunters who lived in temporary villages and were named for the low earthen burial mounds they constructed, many of which still exist. Their settlement seems to have been concentrated around the watershed of the Big Sioux River and Big Stone Lake, although other sites have been excavated throughout eastern South Dakota. Either assimilation or warfare led to the demise of the Mound Builders by the year 800. Between 1250 and 1400 an agricultural people, likely the ancestors of the modern Mandan of North Dakota, arrived from the east and settled in the central part of the state. In 1325, what has become known as the Crow Creek Massacre occurred near Chamberlain. An archeological excavation of the site has discovered 486 bodies buried in a mass grave within a type of fortification; many of the skeletal remains show evidence of scalping and decapitation.
The Arikara, also known as the Ree, began arriving from the south in the 16th century. They spoke a Caddoan language similar to that of the Pawnee, and probably originated in what is now Kansas and Nebraska. Although they would at times travel to hunt or trade, the Arikara were far less nomadic than many of their neighbors, and lived for the most part in permanent villages. These villages usually consisted of a stockade enclosing a number of circular earthen lodges built on bluffs looking over the rivers. Each village had a semi-autonomous political structure, with the Arikara's various subtribes being connected in a loose alliance. In addition to hunting and growing crops such as corn, beans, pumpkin and other squash, the Arikara were also skilled traders, and would often serve as intermediaries between tribes to the north and south It was probably through their trading connections that Spanish horses first reached the region around 1760. The Arikara reached the height of their power in the 17th century, and may have included as many as 32 villages. Due both to disease as well as pressure from other tribes, the number of Arikara villages would decline to only two by the late 18th century, and the Arikara eventually merged entirely with the Mandan to the north.
The sister tribe of the Arikaras, the Pawnee, may have also had a small amount of land in the state. Both were Caddoan and were among the only known tribes in the continental U.S. to have committed human sacrifice, via a religious ritual that occurred once a year. It is said that the U.S. government worked hard to halt this practice before their homelands came to be heavily settled, for fear that the general public might react harshly or refuse to move there.
The Lakota Oral histories tell of them driving the Algonquian ancestors of the Cheyenne from the Black Hills regions, south of the Platte River, in the 18th century. Before that, the Cheyenne say that they were, in fact, two tribes, which they call the Tsitsistas & Sutaio After their defeat, much of their territory was contained to southeast Wyoming & western Nebraska. While they had been able to hold off the Sioux for quite some time, they were heavily damaged by a smallpox outbreak. They are also responsible for introducing the horse to the Lakota.
The Ioway, or Iowa people, also inhabited the region where the modern states of South Dakota, Minnesota & Iowa meet, north of the Missouri River. They also had a sister nation, known as the Otoe who lived south of them. They were Chiwere speaking, a very old variation of Siouan language said to have originated amongst the ancestors of the Ho-Chunk of Wisconsin. They also would have had a fairly similar culture to that of the Dhegihan Sioux tribes of Nebraska & Kansas.
By the 17th century, the Sioux, who would later come to dominate much of the state, had settled in what is today central and northern Minnesota. The Sioux spoke a language of the Siouan language family, and were divided into two culture groups – the Dakota & Nakota. By the early 18th century the Sioux would begin to move south and then west into the plains. This migration was due to several factors, including greater food availability to the west, as well as the fact that the rival Ojibwe & other related Algonquians had obtained rifles from the French at a time when the Sioux were still using the bow and arrow. Other tribes were also displaced during some sort of poorly understood conflict that occurred between Siouan & Algonquian peoples in the early 18th century.
In moving west into the prairies, the lifestyle of the Sioux would be greatly altered, coming to resemble that of a nomadic northern plains tribe much more so than a largely settled eastern woodlands one. Characteristics of this transformation include a greater dependence on the bison for food, a heavier reliance on the horse for transportation, and the adoption of the tipi for habitation, a dwelling more suited to the frequent movements of a nomadic people than their earlier semi-permanent lodges.
Once on the plains, a schism caused the two subgroups of the Sioux to divide into three separate nations—the Lakota, who migrated south, the Asiniboine who migrated back east to Minnesota & the remaining Sioux. It appears to be around this time that the Dakota people became more prominent over the Nakota & the entirety of the people came to call themselves as such.
The Lakota, who crossed the Missouri around 1760 and reached the Black Hills by 1776, would come to settle largely in western South Dakota, northwestern Nebraska, and southwestern North Dakota. The Yankton primarily settled in southeastern South Dakota, the Yanktonnais settled in northeastern South Dakota and southeastern North Dakota, and the Santee settled primarily in central and southern Minnesota. Due in large part to the Sioux migrations, a number of tribes would be driven from the area. The tribes in and around the Black Hills, most notably the Cheyenne, would be pushed to the west, the Arikara would move further north along the Missouri, and the Omaha would be driven out of southeastern South Dakota and into northeastern Nebraska.
Later, the Lakota & Assiniboine returned to the fold, forming a single confederacy known as the Oceti Sakowin, or Seven council fire. This was divided into four cultural groups—the Lakota, Dakota, Nakota & Nagoda-- & seven distinct tribes, each with their own chief—the Nakota Mdewakan (Note—Older attempts at Lakota language show a mistake in writing the sound 'bl' as 'md', such as summer, Bloketu, misprinted as mdoketu. Therefore, this word should be Blewakan.) & Wahpeton, the Dakota Santee & Sisseton, the Nagoda Yankton & Yanktonai & the Lakota Teton. In this form, they were able to secure from the U.S. government a homeland, commonly referred to as Mni-Sota Makoce, or the Lakotah Republic. However, conflicts increased between Sioux & American citizens in the decades leading up the Civil War & a poorly funded & organized Bureau of Indian Affairs had difficulty keeping peace between groups. This eventually resulted in the United States blaming the Sioux for the atrocities & rendering the treaty which recognized the nation of Lakotah null and void. The U.S., however, later recognized their fault in a Supreme Court case in the 1980s after several decades of failed lawsuits by the Sioux, yet little has been done to smooth the issue over to the best interests of both sides.
France was the first European nation to hold any real claim over what would become South Dakota. Its claims covered most of the modern state. However, at most a few French scouting parties may have entered eastern South Dakota. In 1679 Daniel G. Duluth sent explorers west from Lake Mille Lacs, and they may have reached Big Stone Lake and the Coteau des Prairies. Pierre Le Sueur's traders entered the Big Sioux River Valley on multiple occasions. Evidence for these journeys is from a 1701 map by William De L'Isle that shows a trail to below the falls of the Big Sioux River from the Mississippi River.
After 1713, France looked west to sustain its fur trade. The first Europeans to enter South Dakota from the north, the Verendrye brothers, began their expedition in 1743. The expedition started at Fort La Reine on Lake Manitoba, and was attempting to locate an all-water route to the Pacific Ocean. They buried a lead plate inscribed near Ft. Pierre; it was rediscovered by schoolchildren in 1913.
In 1762, France granted Spain all French territory west of the Mississippi River in the Treaty of Fontainebleau. The agreement, which was signed in secret, was motivated by a French desire to convince Spain to come to terms with Britain and accept defeat in the Seven Years' War. In an attempt to secure Spanish claims in the region against possible encroachment from other European powers, Spain adopted a policy for the upper Missouri which emphasized the development of closer trade relations with local tribes as well as greater exploration of the region, a primary focus of which would be a search for a water route to the Pacific Ocean. Although traders such as Jacques D'Eglise and Juan Munier had been active in the region for several years, these men had been operating independently, and a determined effort to reach the Pacific and solidify Spanish control of the region had never been undertaken. In 1793, a group commonly known as the Missouri Company was formed in St. Louis, with the twin goals of trading and exploring on the upper Missouri. The company sponsored several attempts to reach the Pacific Ocean, none of which made it further than the mouth of the Yellowstone. In 1794, Jean Truteau (also spelled Trudeau) built a cabin near the present-day location of Fort Randall, and in 1795 the Mackay-Evans Expedition traveled up the Missouri as far as present-day North Dakota, where they expelled several British traders who had been active in the area. In 1801, a post known as Fort aux Cedres was constructed by Registre Loisel of St. Louis, on Cedar Island on the Missouri about 35 miles (56 km) southeast of the present location of Pierre. This trading post was the major regional post until its destruction by fire in 1810.[30] In 1800, Spain gave Louisiana back to France in the Treaty of San Ildefonso.
In 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon for $11,000,000. The territory included most of the western half of the Mississippi watershed and covered nearly all of present-day South Dakota, except for a small portion in the northeast corner of the state. The region was still largely unexplored and unsettled, and President Thomas Jefferson organized a group commonly referred to as the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore the newly acquired region over a period of more than two years. The expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, was tasked with following the route of the Missouri to its source, continuing on to the Pacific Ocean, establishing diplomatic relations with the various tribes in the area, and taking cartographic, geologic, and botanical surveys of the area. The expedition left St. Louis on May 14, 1804, with 45 men and 15 tons of supplies in three boats (one keelboat and two pirogues). The party progressed slowly against the Missouri's current, reaching what is today South Dakota on August 22. Near present-day Vermillion, the party hiked to the Spirit Mound after hearing local legends of the place being inhabited by "little spirits" (or "devils"). Shortly after this, a peaceful meeting took place with the Yankton Sioux, while an encounter with the Lakota Sioux further north was not as uneventful. The Lakota mistook the party as traders, at one point stealing a horse. Weapons were brandished on both sides after it appeared as though the Lakota were going to further delay or even halt the expedition, but they eventually stood down and allowed the party to continue up the river and out of their territory. In north central South Dakota, the expedition acted as mediators between the warring Arikara and Mandan. After leaving the state on October 14, the party wintered with the Mandan in North Dakota before successfully reaching the Pacific Ocean and returning by the same route, safely reaching St. Louis in 1806. On the return trip, the expedition spent only 15 days in South Dakota, traveling more swiftly with the Missouri's current.
Pittsburgh lawyer Henry Marie Brackenridge was South Dakota's first recorded tourist. In 1811 he was hosted by fur trader Manuel Lisa.
In 1817, an American fur trading post was set up at present-day Fort Pierre, beginning continuous American settlement of the area. During the 1830s, fur trading was the dominant economic activity for the few white people who lived in the area. More than one hundred fur-trading posts were in present-day South Dakota in the first half of the 19th century, and Fort Pierre was the center of activity.[citation needed] General William Henry Ashley, Andrew Henry, and Jedediah Smith of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, and Manuel Lisa and Joshua Pilcher of the St. Louis Fur Company, trapped in that region. Pierre Chouteau Jr. brought the steamship Yellowstone to Fort Tecumseh on the Missouri River in 1831. In 1832 the fort was replaced by Fort Pierre Chouteau Jr.: today's town of Fort Pierre. Pierre bought the Western Department of John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company and renamed it Pratte, Chouteau and Company, and then Pierre Chouteau and Company. It operated in present-day South Dakota from 1834 to 1858. Most trappers and traders left the area after European demand for furs dwindled around 1840.
Main articles: Kansas–Nebraska Act, Nebraska Territory, Organic act § List of organic acts, and Dakota Territory
In 1855, the U.S. Army bought Fort Pierre but abandoned it the following year in favor of Fort Randall to the south. Settlement by Americans and Europeans was by this time increasing rapidly, and in 1858 the Yankton Sioux signed the 1858 "Treaty of Washington", ceding most of present-day eastern South Dakota to the United States.
Land speculators founded two of eastern South Dakota's largest present-day cities: Sioux Falls in 1856 and Yankton in 1859. The Big Sioux River falls was the spot of an 1856 settlement established by a Dubuque, Iowa, company; that town was quickly removed by native residents. But in the following year, May 1857, the town was resettled and named Sioux Falls. That June, St. Paul, Minnesota's Dakota Land Company came to an adjacent 320 acres (130 ha), calling it Sioux Falls City. In June 1857, Flandreau and Medary, South Dakota, were established by the Dakota Land Company. Along with Yankton in 1859, Bon Homme, Elk Point, and Vermillion were among the new communities along the Missouri River or border with Minnesota. Settlers therein numbered about 5,000 in 1860. In 1861, Dakota Territory was established by the United States government (this initially included North Dakota, South Dakota, and parts of Montana and Wyoming). Settlers from Scandinavia, Germany, Ireland, Czechoslovakia[citation needed] and Russia,[citation needed] as well as elsewhere in Europe and from the eastern U.S. states increased from a trickle to a flood, especially after the completion of an eastern railway link to the territorial capital of Yankton in 1872, and the discovery of gold in the Black Hills in 1874 during a military expedition led by George A. Custer.
The Dakota Territory had significant regional tensions between the northern part and the southern part from the beginning, the southern part always being more populated – in the 1880 United States census, the population of the southern part (98,268) was more than two and a half times of the northern part (36,909), and southern Dakotans saw the northern part as bit of disreputable, "controlled by the wild folks, cattle ranchers, fur traders” and too frequently the site of conflict with the indigenous population. Also, the new railroads built connected the northern and southern parts to different hubs – northern part was closer tied to Minneapolis–Saint Paul area; and southern part to Sioux City and from there to Omaha. The last straw was territorial governor Nehemiah G. Ordway moving the territorial capital from Yankton to Bismarck in modern-day North Dakota. As the Southern part had the necessary population for statehood (60,000), they held a separate convention in September 1883 and drafted a constitution. Various bills to divide the Dakota Territory in half ended up stalling, until in 1887, when the Territorial Legislature submitted the question of division to a popular vote at the November general elections, where it was approved by 37,784 votes over 32,913. A bill for statehood for North Dakota and South Dakota (as well as Montana and Washington) titled the Enabling Act of 1889 was passed on February 22, 1889, during the Administration of Grover Cleveland, dividing Dakota along the seventh standard parallel. It was left to his successor, Benjamin Harrison, to sign proclamations formally admitting North and South Dakota to the Union on November 2, 1889. Harrison directed his Secretary of State James G. Blaine to shuffle the papers and obscure from him which he was signing first and the actual order went unrecorded.
With statehood South Dakota was now in a position to make decisions on the major issues it confronted: prohibition, women's suffrage, the location of the state capital, the opening of the Sioux lands for settlement, and the cyclical issues of drought (severe in 1889) and low wheat prices (1893–1896). In early 1889 a prohibition bill passed the new state legislature, only to be vetoed by Governor Louis Church. Fierce opposition came from the wet German community, with financing from beer and liquor interests. The Yankee women organized to demand suffrage, as well as prohibition. Neither party supported their cause, and the wet element counter-organized to block women's suffrage. Popular interest reached a peak in the debates over locating the state capital. Prestige, real estate values and government jobs were at stake, as well as the question of access in such a large geographical region with limited railroads. Huron was the temporary site, centrally located Pierre was the best organized contender, and three other towns were in the running. Real estate speculators had money to toss around. Pierre, population 3200, made the most generous case to the voters—its promoters truly believed it would be the next Denver and be the railway hub of the Dakotas. The North Western railroad came through but not the others it expected. In 1938 Pierre counted 4000 people and three small hotels.
The national government continued to handle Indian affairs. The Army's 1874 Custer expedition took place despite the fact that the western half of present-day South Dakota had been granted to the Sioux by the Treaty of Fort Laramie as part of the Great Sioux Reservation. The Sioux declined to grant mining rights or land in the Black Hills, and the Great Sioux War of 1876 broke out after the U.S. failed to stop white miners and settlers from entering the region. The Sioux were eventually defeated and settled on reservations within South Dakota and North Dakota.
In 1889 Harrison sent general George Crook with a commission to persuade the Sioux to sell half their reservation land to the government. It was believed that the state would not be viable unless more land was made available to settlers. Crook used a number of dubious methods to secure agreement and obtain the land.
On December 29, 1890, the Wounded Knee Massacre occurred on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. It was the last major armed conflict between the United States and the Sioux Nation, the massacre resulted in the deaths of 300 Sioux, many of them women and children. In addition 25 U.S. soldiers were also killed in the episode.
Railroads played a central role in South Dakota transportation from the late 19th century until the 1930s, when they were surpassed by highways. The Milwaukee Road and the Chicago & North Western were the state's largest railroads, and the Milwaukee's east–west transcontinental line traversed the northern tier of the state. About 4,420 miles (7,110 km) of railroad track were built in South Dakota during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, though only 1,839 miles (2,960 km) were active in 2007.
The railroads sold land to prospective farmers at very low rates, expecting to make a profit by shipping farm products out and home goods in. They also set up small towns that would serve as shipping points and commercial centers, and attract businessmen and more farmers. The Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway (M&StL) in 1905, under the leadership of vice president and general manager L. F. Day, added lines from Watertown to LeBeau and from Conde through Aberdeen to Leola. It developed town sites along the new lines and by 1910, the new lines served 35 small communities.
Not all of the new towns survived. The M&StL situated LeBeau along the Missouri River on the eastern edge of the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. The new town was a hub for the cattle and grain industries. Livestock valued at one million dollars were shipped out in 1908, and the rail company planned a bridge across the Missouri River. Allotment of the Cheyenne River Reservation in 1909 promised further growth. By the early 1920s, however, troubles multiplied, with the murder of a local rancher, a fire that destroyed the business district, and drought that ruined ranchers and farmers alike. LeBeau became a ghost town.
Most of the traffic was freight, but the main lines also offered passenger service. After the European immigrants settled, there never were many people moving about inside the state. Profits were slim. Automobiles and busses were much more popular, but there was an increase during World War II when gasoline was scarce. All passenger service was ended in the state by 1969.
In the rural areas farmers and ranchers depended on local general stores that had a limited stock and slow turnover; they made enough profit to stay in operation by selling at high prices. Prices were not marked on each item; instead the customer negotiated a price. Men did most of the shopping, since the main criterion was credit rather than quality of goods. Indeed, most customers shopped on credit, paying off the bill when crops or cattle were later sold; the owner's ability to judge credit worthiness was vital to his success.
In the cities consumers had much more choice, and bought their dry goods and supplies at locally owned department stores. They had a much wider selection of goods than in the country general stores and price tags that gave the actual selling price. The department stores provided a very limited credit, and set up attractive displays and, after 1900, window displays as well. Their clerks—usually men before the 1940s—were experienced salesmen whose knowledge of the products appealed to the better educated middle-class housewives who did most of the shopping. The keys to success were a large variety of high-quality brand-name merchandise, high turnover, reasonable prices, and frequent special sales. The larger stores sent their buyers to Denver, Minneapolis, and Chicago once or twice a year to evaluate the newest trends in merchandising and stock up on the latest fashions. By the 1920s and 1930s, large mail-order houses such as Sears, Roebuck & Co. and Montgomery Ward provided serious competition, making the department stores rely even more on salesmanship and close integration with the community.
Many entrepreneurs built stores, shops, and offices along Main Street. The most handsome ones used pre-formed, sheet iron facades, especially those manufactured by the Mesker Brothers of St. Louis. These neoclassical, stylized facades added sophistication to brick or wood-frame buildings throughout the state.
During the 1930s, several economic and climatic conditions combined with disastrous results for South Dakota. A lack of rainfall, extremely high temperatures and over-cultivation of farmland produced what was known as the Dust Bowl in South Dakota and several other plains states. Fertile topsoil was blown away in massive dust storms, and several harvests were completely ruined. The experiences of the Dust Bowl, coupled with local bank foreclosures and the general economic effects of the Great Depression resulted in many South Dakotans leaving the state. The population of South Dakota declined by more than seven percent between 1930 and 1940.
Prosperity returned with the U.S. entry into World War II in 1941, when demand for the state's agricultural and industrial products grew as the nation mobilized for war. Over 68,000 South Dakotans served in the armed forces during the war, of which over 2,200 were killed.
In 1944, the Pick-Sloan Plan was passed as part of the Flood Control Act of 1944 by the U.S. Congress, resulting in the construction of six large dams on the Missouri River, four of which are at least partially located in South Dakota.[83] Flood control, hydroelectricity and recreational opportunities such as boating and fishing are provided by the dams and their reservoirs.
On the night of June 9–10, 1972, heavy rainfall in the eastern Black Hills caused the Canyon Lake Dam on Rapid Creek to fail. The failure of the dam, combined with heavy runoff from the storm, turned the usually small creek into a massive torrent that washed through central Rapid City. The flood resulted in 238 deaths and destroyed 1,335 homes and around 5,000 automobiles.[84] Damage from the flood totaled $160 million (the equivalent of $664 million today).
On April 19, 1993, Governor George S. Mickelson was killed in a plane crash in Iowa while returning from a business meeting in Cincinnati. Several other state officials were also killed in the crash. Mickelson, who was in the middle of his second term as governor, was succeeded by Walter Dale Miller.
In recent decades, South Dakota has transformed from a state dominated by agriculture to one with a more diversified economy. The tourism industry has grown considerably since the completion of the interstate system in the 1960s, with the Black Hills being especially impacted. The financial service industry began to grow in the state as well, with Citibank moving its credit card operations from New York to Sioux Falls in 1981, a move that has since been followed by several other financial companies. In 2007, the site of the recently closed Homestake gold mine near Lead was chosen as the location of a new underground research facility. Despite a growing state population and recent economic development, many rural areas have been struggling over the past 50 years with locally declining populations and the emigration of educated young adults to larger South Dakota cities, such as Rapid City or Sioux Falls, or to other states. The Cattleman's Blizzard of October 2013 killed tens of thousands of livestock in western South Dakota, and was one of the worst blizzards in the state's history.
Personal comment in view of recent events.....
Firstly, how are they going to enforce this new ruling as many look so convincing. Secondly, where do we go to ‘powder our noses’? Thirdly, how are they going to know that a trans woman isn’t a woman from birth? This has all been created by radical cis women, outspoken trans activists and a small minority of men, claiming to be trans, using it to their own devices! It’s not over by a long shot!
I'm no threat to anyone....... I just enjoy being me and presenting as such. x
Actually the first cold spell of this winter is hitting Western Europe.
It's -7°C and the forecast talks about -14° and less until next week. Brrrrrrrrr ....
Campfire in Mara Serena Safari Lodge, Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, Africa
Much better Large On Black with a cup of hot tea :-))
I was never able to get him over for an official photo op.... time escapes us all eventually... but in our last moments, I sneak attacked him with my camming skillz. ;)
Gone but not forgotten, Hanz..... You will always be near and dear to my heart beyond just pixels. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime and I know full well I was blessed to have had you in mine for a season. Thanks for being you, an amazing talented artist and supportive friend. Today of all days.... I wish you the best in your life's journey!
~Trinnnnn
(many thanks to Pareeerica for the textures....http://www.flickr.com/photos/8078381@N03)
We don't have lights on the tree yet and Jack says it's not legal to decorate before Thanksgiving :)
“2017 AYIP”
365 Project (2017 and beyond)
“The 365 Toy Project”
New in October 2010 to Strathtay Scottish. Passed to Stagecoach UK Events, back to Strathtay Scotish and then to Yorkshire Traction before passing to Busways.
Along Going-To-The-Sun Road near St. Mary, MT. Out for evening bear viewing, as a grizzly had been reported in area. We did spot him, and photograph him, but the following day provided better views of him. This was cooler.
Would you like to see more ballerinas and ballet dancers?
Nikon D810 Photos of Ballerina Dance Goddess Photos! Pretty, Tall Ballet Swimsuit Ballet Bikini Model Goddess Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II AF-S Nikkor Zoom Lens!
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Nikon D810 with the Nikon MB-D12 Multi Battery Power Pack / Grip for D800 and D810 Digital Cameras allows one to shoot at a high to catch the action FPS! Ballerina Dance Goddess Photos! Pretty, Tall Ballet Swimsuit Bikini Model Goddess! Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II AF-S Nikkor Zoom Lens!
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Ballerina dancing ballet! Pretty ballerina girl with blonde hair and blue eyes!
A pretty goddess straight out of Homer's Iliad & Odyssey!
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Pretty, Tall Bikini Swimsuit Model Goddess!
New blog!
Ask me any questions! :)
Sony A7R RAW Pretty Brunette Bikini Swimsuit Model Goddess! Pretty Hazel Eyes & Silky Brown / Blond Hair!
And here're a couple of HD video movies I shot of the goddess with the 4K Sony:
Enjoy! Be sure to watch in the full 1080P HD!
The epic goddess was tall, thin, fit, tan, and in wonderful shape (as you can see).
Check out my greatest hits compilation, and let me know what you think:
www.elliotmcguckenphotography.com/45surf/45SURF-Heros-Ody...
Epic Goddess Straight Out of Hero's Odyssey Mythology! Pretty Model! :) Tall, thin, fit and beautiful!
Welcome to your epic hero's odyssey! The beautiful 45surf goddess sisters hath called ye to adventure, beckoning ye to read deeply Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, whence ye shall learn of yer own exalted artistic path guided by Hero's Odyssey Mythology. I wouldn't be saying it if it hadn't happened to me.
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Pretty Swimsuit Bikini Model Goddess! :)
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She was a beauty--a gold 45 goddess for sure! A Gold 45 Goddess exalts the archetypal form of Athena--the Greek Goddess of wisdom, warfare, strategy, heroic endeavour, handicrafts and reason. A Gold 45 Goddess guards the beauty of dx4/dt=ic and embodies 45SURF's motto "Virtus, Honoris, et Actio Pro Veritas, Amor, et Bellus, (Strength, Honor, and Action for Truth, Love, and Beauty," and she stands ready to inspire and guide you along your epic, heroic odyssey into art and mythology. It is Athena who descends to call Telemachus to Adventure in the first book of Homer's Odyssey--to man up, find news of his true father Odysseus, and rid his home of the false suitors, and too, it is Athena who descends in the first book of Homer's Iliad, to calm the Rage of Achilles who is about to draw his sword so as to slay his commander who just seized Achilles' prize, thusly robbing Achilles of his Honor--the higher prize Achilles fought for. And now Athena descends once again, assuming the form of a Gold 45 Goddess, to inspire you along your epic journey of heroic endeavour.
ALL THE BEST on your Epic Hero's Odyssey from Johnny Ranger McCoy!
Modeling the Gold 45 Revolver Gold'N'Virtue swimsuit. :)
A laid-back,classic, socal lifestyle shoot!
May the 45surf goddesses inspire you along am artistic journey of your own making!
All 45surf Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography is shot in the honor of Truth, Beauty, and the Light of Physicist Dr. E's Moving Dimensions Theory's dx4/dt=ic . The fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions at the rate of c. Ergo relativity, time, entropy, and entanglement.
Professional ballerina pointing in point ballet shoes and dancing ballet in a white leotard and tutu.
Nikon D810 Photos of Ballerina Dance Goddess Photos! Pretty, Tall Ballet Swimsuit Ballet Bikini Model Goddess Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II AF-S Nikkor Zoom Lens!
Further to last night's discovery, I returned home from the office this evening and noticed the Flanger was connected to a guitar. I asked my partner if I could take a few shots for Flickr and he said of course but warned me to be a bit careful about what I wrote as a 'Flanger' is also something quite rude. You live and learn. I rarely do B+W so I am out of my comfort zone for more than one reason!
From 25 to 27 July 2022, Admiral Rob Bauer, Chair of the Military Committee attended the 24th annual Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defence Conference in Australia. On the sidelines of the conference, he met with NATO Partners’ Chiefs of Defence of Australia, Japan and Mongolia, the Vice-Chief of Defence of the Republic of Korea as well as the Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command.
(technically equivalent to Panasonic DMC-LC1)
A "compact" camera (roughly as large as a DSLR) with a fast zoom lens and a 2/3" sensor.
The lens diameter is such that the sensor uses only the area near the central axis, so the optical quality is very high.
The sensor quality does not appear to match the that of the glass, as far as I can tell.
Ergonomics are excellent. Zoom, manual focus and f-stop are operated by rings on the lens barrel. The focus ring notches into an AF and AF-Macro stop. The exposure time is set by a dial on the camera body. Mostly, and unusually for a compact camera, the photographer will not be choosing all settings in this way.
The flash can be used in either of two modes, either flashing directly forward (the fairly large distance from the lens should minimize the red-eye-occurrence, or tilted upwards and bouncing its light off the ceiling. I haven't tried the flash, so I don't know how well this works.
Shot with a Canon EOS600D and a Leitz-Summicron-R 50mm manual focusing lens.
The remains of the Grade I listed Dudley Castle, in Dudley, West Midlands.
According to legend, a wooden castle was constructed on the site in the 8th century by a Saxon lord called Dud. However this legend is not taken seriously by historians, who usually date the castle from soon after the Norman Conquest of 1066. It is thought one of the Conqueror's followers, Ansculf de Picquigny, built the first castle in 1070 and that his son, William Fitz-Ansculf, was in possession of the castle when it was recorded at the time of the Domesday Book of 1086. Some of the earthworks from this castle, notably the "motte", the vast mound on which the present castle keep now sits, remain. However the earliest castle would have been of wooden construction and no longer exists.
After Fitz-Ansculf, the castle came into the possession of the Paganel family, who built the first stone castle on the site. This castle was strong enough to withstand a siege in 1153 by the forces of King Stephen. However, after Gervase Paganel joined a failed rebellion against King Henry II in 1173 the castle was demolished by order of the king. The Somery's were the next dynasty to own the site and set about building the castle in stone starting in the second half of the 13th century and continuing on into the 14th. The keep (the most obvious part of the castle when viewed from the town) and the main gate date from this re-building. A chapel and great hall were also constructed.
The last of the male line of Somery, John Somery, died in 1321 and the castle and estates passed to his sister Margaret and her husband John de Sutton. Subsequently, members of this family often used Dudley as a surname. In 1532 another John Sutton (the seventh in the Dynasty named John) inherited the castle but after having money problems was ousted by a relative, John Dudley, later Duke of Northumberland, in 1537. Starting around 1540, a range of new buildings were erected within the older castle walls by him. The architect was William Sharington and the buildings are thus usually referred to as Sharington Range. Dudley was later beheaded, for his attempt to set Lady Jane Grey on the throne of England.
The castle was returned to the Sutton family by Queen Mary, ownership being given to Edward Sutton. The castle was later visited by Queen Elizabeth I and was considered as a possible place of imprisonment for Mary, Queen of Scots. However, the Sutton family were not destined to hold the castle for much longer and Edward Sutton's son, Edward Sutton III was the last of the male line to possess the property. In 1592, this Edward sent men to raid the property of Gilbert Lyttelton, carrying away cattle which were impounded in the Castle grounds. Financial difficulties continued to mount, however, until Edward Sutton III solved the problem by marrying his granddaughter and heir, Frances Sutton, to Humble Ward, the son of a wealthy merchant.
The castle became a Royalist stronghold during the English Civil War and was besieged twice before its surrender to Cromwell's forces in 1646. The first siege in 1644 was lifted after the Royalists sent a relief force which drove away the Parliamentarians. In 1646 Sir William Brereton commanded the Parliamentarians in the second siege against the Royalists led by Colonel Leveson. The castle was surrendered on 13 May 1646. Parliament subsequently ordered that the castle be partly demolished and the present ruined appearance of the keep results from this decision. However some habitable buildings remained and were subsequently used occasionally by the Earls of Dudley although by this time they preferred to reside at Himley Hall, approximately four miles away, when in the Midlands.
The bulk of the remaining habitable parts of the castle was destroyed by fire in 1750. However, in the nineteenth century, the site found a new use as a 'Romantic Ruin' and a certain amount of tidying up of the site was carried out by the Earls of Dudley. Battlements on one of the remaining towers were reconstructed and two cannon captured during the Crimean Wars were installed. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century the site was used for fêtes and pageants. In 1937, when the Dudley Zoo was established, the castle grounds were incorporated into the zoo.
. . . meant to be viewed on black . . . Via Fluidr . . . (then click on image to view details LARGE) . . . bigger is definitely better . . .
thanx to Lenabem for sharing her wonderful textures . . . www.flickr.com/photos/lenabem-anna/sets/72157624082271697/
Tunnel 7 was first put out of service in 1920 after landslide.
The San Diego and Arizona Railroad had cleared the bore of Tunnel 7 after it collapsed on October 22, 1932, but a fire later destroyed the support timbers and the alignment was abandon.
To by pass the tunnel, a cut was excavated around the mountain and the track was routed to by-pass the bore completely.
The western entrance to Tunnel 8 which is the longest tunnel on the Desert Line is about 100 yards away (behind me) from this opening.
The western entrance to tunnel 7 was buried in a land slide and there is no evidence today which would show exactly where it was once located.
Carrizo Gorge Railway Tunnel 7 - MP 98.5.
Jacumba - San Diego County, California.
(March 1, 2015)
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Actually they both complain about not being able to have a drink, and how their husbands, although they are trying to help, just don’t seem to understand what a woman goes through.
To complete the dish, all I have to do is cook some brown rice or bulgur and make a fresh, green salad.
How about some burger patties? Why not. Let's see if I can improvise vegan burgers for the first time :-)
to be continued
Poor Patch...I mean poor Patch Premier...she'll have to deal with a new Patch now...
I noticed that I carry hand sanitizer, wet wipes and anti bacterial wipes with me at all times. I am very aware and probably a little paranoid about getting sick these days, especially since I'm always prone to allergies and catching a cold. I feel like these things do help protect me and also, taking vitamins has also helped to prevent me from getting sick so often.