Resolved:

…to never make a list of things to do before one dies….because it will only make your life look incomplete when death arrives before all items can be crossed off the list.

Hmm…

I think it is hard for someone making less than $66,000 to agree that $700,000 in new taxes is too much for those that make above $2.87 million per year.

Things I Do Not Care For

1. Japanese animation
2. Web 2.0 (All the various web applications that are basically myriad ways to tell people what you are doing on the toilet or buying at Starbucks)
3. Lindsay Lohan and all faux celebrities stars
4. Nancy Grace

June 3, 2008

Wrong Hammer, But…

I got a new hand sickle in the other day, to help trim the tall Johnson grass around the house, deck, etc. Only just now did I think of this:

Ha, I know, wrong kind of hammer, but it was all I had on me. I lost my 3-lb. sledge somewhere. I got the sickle to help replace the weedeater, which in light of peak oil, may be just ahead of the curve. It works fantastic and the blade is very strong, Austrian made. I picked it up from Scythe Supply in Perry, Maine, and would recommend them to anyone out there looking for more traditional grass mowing tools.

Comedy Gold?

Doing my usual surfing, I came across a service that allows users to store a personalized email to send out to their “left-behind” family and friends in the event of the rapture. The site links to some example letters, which are quite entertaining from a Catholic perspective. It reminds me how far I’ve come in my journey home to the Church. Example:

I’m writing this near the end of August in the year 2000. I just turned twenty-four years old. You are reading this because recently a lot of people vanished from the face of the earth. Perhaps their clothes and jewelry just fell to the ground, their bodies disappearing without a trace. I’m sure you are wondering what happened, why it happened, and can it happen again. You’re reading this because you were not one of them. You are one of the people remaining on the earth. I’m writing this because I’m one of those who disappeared, and I want you to know why.

Victory Day - День Победы

I always like browsing the photos after each Russian Victory Day celebration, which is today, May 9. This was a nice and interesting photo I came across:

I’m glad our sailors got to march with their former allies in celebration of their victory over Nazi Germany.

Lyman Wight and the Mormons on the Texas Frontier

These last few weeks have brought to the nation’s attention the sect of polygamous fundamentalist Mormons in the arid and wide-open spaces of West Texas. Some of course see the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as something foreign, not of Texas. The group led by the imprisoned Warren Jeffs did in part move to Eldorado, Texas from the Arizona/Utah border, but it is not the first time Texas has had experience with polygamous sects of Mormons within its borders. In the mid-1840s, a band of Mormons ventured to the Republic of Texas in order to fulfill their slain leader’s wishes of establishing a presence in the area.

Why did these Mormons come to Texas? How did they affect the people and the area? The roots of the Mormons history in Texas is found in the Mormons’ search for a home for their people in their early years. The Mormons found themselves on the move every few years throughout their early existence, often the result of persecution and conflict with their neighbors. From New York, to Ohio, then to Missouri, the early Mormons never settled long anywhere and plans to settle somewhere in peace was often in the thoughts of Joseph Smith.

Joseph Smith’s interest in Texas was born of this pattern of frustration. While a man of many plans for his followers, some of his most ambitious plans dealt with the Republic of Texas. First, he planned to run for President of the United States on a platform of Texas annexation. Secondly, Smith wanted to form an army to patrol the Texas and Oregon frontiers. Lastly, a plan was in the works for Smith to move the main body of Mormons to the Texas/Mexico border in order to establish an independent state. But why had Smith so desired to ally his desires for the future of his clan to the fledgling Texas Republic?

For one, the opportunities for the Mormons in Texas were of great interest for Smith. At the time, Texas was looking for emigrants to settle the frontier, largely in part to help populate the more desolate areas of the region and to be more ably to claim the areas from Mexico, with whom the young Republic was still sparring with for control of the lands west and south of San Antonio. Joseph Smith had sent a Mormon ambassador to Texas to meet with Sam Houston over the possibility of a Mormon community south of the Nueces River, in what was then disputed territory between Texas and Mexico. This territory could be a place for Mormons to create their Kingdom of God and be more able to live their lives as they felt best, without persecution.

The Mormons also felt that being in proximity with Native Americans and Mexicans would be less confrontational than their history living among Americans in New York, Ohio, Missouri and Illinois. Their plans to live at the frontier of Anglo settlement in Texas was in part born out of the more friendly relationship Mormons had with Native Americans and Mexicans of the day. Besides feeling a spiritual connection to the Native Americans of Texas, they also felt that the Mexicans played a special part in Mormon spirituality. The Mormons felt that Mexicans were in fact Lamanites, one of the four main tribes presented in the Book of Mormon. The prospect of living in a territory to practice Mormonism freely, being the neighbors of their possibly conversion-friendly Native Americans and Mexicans, and creating the Mormon Kingdom of God resonated mightily with Smith. Now, plans were needed to start the move to Texas from Nauvoo, Illinois.

Joseph Smith’s man for the job of making the initial trek to Texas to settle Mormons was Lyman Wight. Lyman Wight was an early convert to Mormonism. He had been born in Fairfield, Connecticut in 1796, and as a teenager served in the War of 1812. Later he and his wife settled in Cuyahoga County, Ohio and joined the communitarian movement of Sydney Rigdon. Wight formed a communal sect called “the Family” in the pattern of Rigdon in which members shared all possessions based on a common-stock economy. These communal Rigdonites and Wightites converted as a whole once Mormon missionaries brought to them the message of Joseph Smith Jr. Rigdon became one of Joseph Smith’s primary advisors in this early era of Mormon history, and Lyman Wight became a known and trusted friend of Smith. As an indication of Wight’s standing in the early church, Smith (as prophet) ordained Wight as the first high priest, who in turn then ordained Smith to the high priesthood. Joseph Smith would call on Lyman Wight again and again to take care of some of the most important business of the church to come.

Lyman Wight went on to become an effective missionary, and later a respected Mormon militia captain. Wight was ordered to go to Jackson County, Missouri in order to prepare a gathering place for the Mormons, in what eventually was named the Mormon Garden of Eden and place of Christ’s return. This strong millennial spirit followed Mormonism through its various locations, as the members of the sect sought to make a kingdom of God on earth in preparation of Christ’s millennial reign. Wight became a firm believer of the prominence of Jackson County’s role in Mormon spirituality, and organized a Mormon militia to better able defend Mormons in the area. Interestingly though at the same time Wight also became the leader of the Missouri state militia in the region, at conflict with his Mormon calling to military leadership. This eventually led to conflict, with the Mormon militia battling the Missouri militia in what became known as the Mormon War.

After the war, Wight and Smith spent time in jail together, yet were allowed to escape. They fled to Nauvoo, Illinois where Smith continued his work on building the Mormon community there. Wight had been ordained as an apostle in the sect in 1841, among other roles of leadership in the community. As the town of Nauvoo grew, naturally more lumber was needed to build houses, buildings and the new temple. Smith sent Wight to the pinewoods of Wisconsin to the north to set up milling operations to send lumber down the river to Nauvoo. During this time, Wight began to be edged out of his internal position among the inner circle mainly due to his being away for months at a time. Also, the twelve Mormon apostles were sent on a mission trip to England, but Wight stayed behind on other business, further excluding him from bonding with the Mormon leadership. It was also during this time spent between Nauvoo and Wisconsin that Smith inducted Wight and the other apostles into the secretive practice of polygamy. Between working the mills on the Black River in Wisconsin, and canvassing the nation in support of Smith’s potential run for President of the United States in 1844, Lyman Wight played a central role in the success and growth of the Mormons.

In 1844, a few months before his death, Joseph Smith shared his plan with Wight to settle in Texas a place for Mormons to eventually form their own independent state. Wight would lead a Mormon expedition of settlement to Texas after the lumber season, and as soon as the Mormon ambassador Woodsworth returned from Texas with a signed treaty. Smith then gave Wight a seer stone and sent him on a mission to the Atlantic seaboard. It was the last time Wight would see Smith alive. In June 1844, Joseph Smith was killed in jail. Wight felt moved to complete his mission in Texas to honor his prophet’s wishes.

With the death of Smith, the Mormon community was without its charismatic leadership it had grown under for the previous 14 years. Wight returned to Wisconsin to wrap up his duties in the milling towns for the season, while a crisis of succession brewed at Nauvoo. Two things here contributed to Wight’s course for Texas in addition to his will of carrying out Smith’s final instructions. The first is that during his numerous months away from Nauvoo, Wight had lost his privileged position as a member of the inner circle. Not was he bonded with the other apostles that undertook the mission trip to England. Secondly, his close band among the lumber mills and towns in Wisconsin had more or less become a Wight settlement in their own right. As Brigham Young rose to prominence in Nauvoo, Wight’s strong opinions clashed with Young’s attempts at consolidating power. Wight supported the cause, which felt that Joseph Smith’s son, Joseph Smith III should become the rightful heir to his father. This conflict over who should lead the church along with Young’s underestimating Wight’s desire to go to Texas was bound to cause a split.

As things continued to deteriorate for Wight at Nauvoo, he decided that his position as one of the premier elders of the church meant that he alone could act independently of the current Mormon leadership. Wight prepared his communities along the rivers and woods of Wisconsin, and set out for Texas in March of 1845. Wight and his followers, about 150 organized into twenty-one households, began the trek down the Mississippi, through Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and Indian Territory. In the first weeks of November, the Wightites crossed into Texas and wintered in Grayson County. Wight and his band had entered the Republic of Texas, but by the time they struck winter camp, the republic had ceased to be. On January 1st, Texas became the 28th state of the Union.

By the end of April they were on the move again, crossing the Trinity River on April 30th, and fording the Brazos River in Falls County a few days after. On the 6th of June 1846, the settled approximately four miles north of Austin. Within a few weeks they set up a water-powered mill at the foot of Mt. Bonnell. The mill was the first industrial business in the area and soon began grinding corn for the locals. The mill also allowed the manufacture of chairs, tables, wooden dishes and other articles, which surely helped the Austinites’ opinion of this communalistic sect. The Wightites worked in the construction trade as well, building several new homes in the capitol, as well as the new jail. The Mormons largely kept to themselves, though they did preach among the locals. The Austin Texas Democrat reported that Elder Lyman Wight had lectured on the Book of Mormon and the role of the Native Americans in the new land. The polygamy of the Mormons in Austin seemed to have been kept fairly quiet, for Wight and his followers commanded respect and admiration. Wight was described by a local Methodist minister as a dark-bearded and black headed-man, standing well over six feet tall and weighing over 200 pounds. Wight wore polished black boots a black hat and kept two pistols holstered at his sides. Wight was often called to address the state senate when in town and was well received by the governor and senators. Though they were seemingly well liked, Wight soon sent a party to scout for a place to move which was further west, possibly to more ably practice their unique familial system.

After approaching the German immigrants in Gillespie County, Wight set out for their new home in the early part of 1847. The Mormons settled approximately three miles east of Fredericksburg on the Pedernales River, naming the new settlement Zodiac. They again built a mill, serving the local German immigrant community, as well as the soldiers stationed at Fort Martin Scott. The Comanches under chief Buffalo Hump also traded with the Mormons, both benefiting from the peace treated enacted between the German settlers and the Comanche tribe. The Mormons lived well, and began to fill positions in the government, of the population of the county. By 1851 though, the Wightites were on the move yet again.

During the first part of 1851, Wight and most of the colony had moved fifty miles north of Zodiac, to Burnet County. One major reason was the jealousy of the non-Mormons of the success and influence the Wightites began to wield throughout Gillespie County. Mormons had held the positions of county clerk, justice of the peace, county commissioner, and precinct constable. Wight himself was elected to the office of chief justice of the county, upsetting the majority of Germans in the community because he had challenged that his opponent was running as an alien, not a citizen. Besides inspiring animosity among the Germans, Fort Martin Scott stopped contracting locally, hurting both the German and Mormons. On top of this all, powerful storms had wrecked the mill, destroyed homes and damaged their farmland. All in all, the colony decided to try their hand in Burnet County and leave Zodiac behind.

The move from Zodiac was possibly softened by the knowledge that in 1849 they had voted to eventually return to Jackson County, Missouri. Continued hardships in Burnet County forced them to yet again move, this time to Bandera County. Increasing raids by Indians, mounting debts, and increased anti-Mormonism forced their hand in Burnet County. Declining numbers of followers, continued harassment at the hands of marauding Indians, and continued economic hardships caused Lyman Wight to finally decide to return to Jackson County in 1858. The day after Wight and his small band left, Wight died on March 31, 1858 a few miles west of San Antonio. With his burial in Zodiac the next day, Wightism died out forever.

The Wightites contributed significantly to early Texas history, and helped make life among the frontier settlers all that more palatable. Their milling prowess was without challenge throughout the area, and their contributions to the economy of fledgling towns such as Austin and Fredericksburg quite possible helped them become stable centers of population, while other towns along the frontier died and were swept away by the passage of time.

Tagged!

The rules are:
1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about himself.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

What was I doing 10 years ago:
Going to college at Austin Community College for a semester and working! Kind of a boring era.

Five things on my To Do List today:
1. Finish making rows in garden.
2. Plant the various plants I have ready to plant.
3. Finish my paper about the early Mormon expedition to Texas in the 1840s.
4. MAYBE do some dishes.
5. Feed the cats and dogs!

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
* Donate to various Catholic charities. (I like Mr. Snyder’s answer, plus, it makes you more able to claim ludicrous things in the next four answer.)
* Buy several acres in a semi-rural area, build my dream earthen construction house.
* Buy 2 or 20 machine guns. (Maybe this is a possible bad habit.)
* Travel is still technically feasible!
* Help contribute to building an actual community, local shops and businesses, subsidiarity, etc.
* Man, this list could go on for a while…

Three of my bad habits:
1. Wasting time surfing the net.
2. Eating junk food.
3. Not cleaning up around my desk (leaving drink cups, soda cans, etc.)

Five places I’ve lived:
1. Borger, Texas
2. Tatum, New Mexico
3. Eagle Nest, New Mexico
4. Lubbock, Texas
5. Kyle, Texas

Five jobs I’ve had:
1. Movie store clerk
2. Nightclub kitchen manager
3. IRS mail clerk
4. Pizza-Hut cook and delivery driver
5. Cable company tech support

Five books I’ve recently read:
1. Dollfuss: An Austrian Patriot by Johannes Messner
2. Polygamy on the Pedernales: Lyman Wight’s Mormon Villages in Antebellum Texas by Melvin C. Johnson
3. The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman
4. Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest by Matthew Restall
5. The White Scourge: Mexicans, Blacks, and Poor Whites in Texas Cotton Culture by Neil Foley

The five I tagged:
Tag yourself! By the time it gets to me, my limited blogging of late inspires little taggation!

White chocolate? Check! Crispy cookie? Check! Salt? HUH!?

About a month ago, I found a link to a flikr photo collection of mysterious yet wonderful varieties of Japanese KitKat candy. Now, this sounds dumb, but as I was browsing through the set, I came upon a stupendous example of craziness….a French Salt flavored white chocolate KitKat. No way! I had to partake of this Japanese confectionery and soon found some for sale on the world’s yard sale, eBay!

A few weeks later, I have in my possession:

Wow. I was excited today when I checked the mail. I supposed it’s good to be so easily entertained…ha.

It tasted very good! Not nearly as salty as I had imagined. The salty bits were in the crunchy cookie part, and the white chocolate covering it was the best white chocolate I’d ever had I believe.

Actually, I bought two: one to eat, and one to display on my shelf as a trophy!

Overall - 7/10