50+ thread

John M. Bozeman was a grandiose hustler who helped establish the town in 1864, while he was promoting the "Bozeman Trail,"a dangerous shortcut for white settlers traveling through Wyoming and Idaho to Montana gold camps. John M. Bozeman hoped that his new town would "swallow up all the tenderfeet ... from the east, with their golden fleeces to be taken care of," one immigrant reported. But the whole Bozeman Trail quickly became a fiasco, as tribes including the Lakota Sioux, the Northern Cheyenne and the Northern Arapaho resisted the intrusion on their turf; within only four years or so, Native warriors wiped out 81 U.S. Army soldiers in the infamous Fetterman massacre and shut down the trail for good. As for John M. Bozeman himself, he had abandoned his wife and three young daughters in Georgia when he headed west to seek his fortune – setting the pattern for all the schemers and lone wolves who've come to this town since then.

John M. Bozeman had some good qualities (handsome, muscular, a crack shot). But fundamentally he was "a reckless man (who) never could see danger anywhere," according to one of his own friends back in the 1860s. He dressed like a dandy, in "the black beaver-cloth cutaway coat and striped dress trousers favored by gamblers," according to historians and friends, and made his living as "a speculator" who "farmed a bit, got in a few fights, gambled a lot, dreamed up business schemes, and was out of town for long periods of time."
John M. Bozeman's ventures included investing in a hotel and a river ferry, and delivering mail himself between Bozeman and the Virginia City mining camp, for 50 cents per piece (more than $18 in today's dollars) – apparently shameless price gouging. "His conscience was very elastic," a friend reported, and "to beat a man out of his wages or to neglect paying a bill or jumping a claim were matters of very little moment with him. ... His faults were produced by his education, or the lack of it rather, and the social system of the South, where labor was a disgrace to a white man. (He) had no use for money except to bet with, and the most congenial place to him on earth was the saloon, with a few boon companions at a table, playing a game of draw."

And John M. Bozeman only lasted a few years in Bozeman. At the age of 32, he was murdered – either by more hostile natives or by the jealous husband of a woman he was having an affair with. It was "the universal suspicion on the part of the husbands of the few women in town" that John Bozeman was a philanderer chasing the local married women, in the words of one historian. After he was killed, his estate wasn't worth as much as his outstanding bills.

 

It is really getting windy here !!! , my weather station alarm has constantly been going off , Just recorded a 48mph gust and sustained winds of 28mph

 

Good morning! It’s 54° and raining. Can’t complain.

@MTgirl - HGBM

 

I saved that for when I forget..

 

That’s good you are studying while you can still remember things, proactive.

 

Roof cleared, snow around the house moved, ready for the big melt. Time for lunch.

 

Got about half the deck clear, leaving the inch or so on the driveway. Supposed to rain and sleet tomorrow so leaving something for it to stick to when it freezes instead of the bricks. On the other hand if I take it down to the bricks ice melt will work better. Decisions...

 

30* seems tropical.
and I finished pruning my fruit trees.

 

Yesterday was a long day after working my day job and the bar. So I have some sympathy for those who have to work more than one job to meet that struggle. I've occasionally had a little side hustle going but never had to work 2 jobs. Not that I do now either but I could see how that would grind on a person having to make ends meet and feed their families.

 

Beautiful, spring day here, today. Been a lot of boat traffic.

 

This is cool....thanks!

 

What?
AGMRG!
Aint got my reading glasses.

 

Afternoon everyone been a while since I been here

 

Well the trip down the hill got called for bad weather and unsafe driving conditions!! . Majority of the roads including the Cajon Pass are flooded and the wind is still very strong that driving is not safe !!!

Earlier we were driving around and the wind was strong enough to toss us around and we were in a full size car . Crossing flooded sections of road with the winds made for interesting moments

 

66 days, but we aren't counting

 

That looks worse than a clogged toilet at a busy 7-11

 

So
What are you sayin?

 

You are old