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“When I think of our condition, my heart is heavy. I see men of my own race treated as outlaws and driven from country to country, or shot down like animals.”
~Chief Joseph, Washington D.C., 1879
Earlier this year the New York Times published a fine piece by Andrew McCarthy recounting his journey into the Omo Valley of Southwestern Ethiopia. The extremely remote Omo, where human remains date back 2.5 million years, is home to seven primary tribes of people who are now watching, defenseless, as their once productive lives and culture are bulldozed into dependence and idle misery.
Like the sound of bugles and rifle fire in the next canyon over, there is a warning in that for us.
Patterns of life in the Omo have, for millennia, been predicated on the health and behavior of the Omo River. Pastoralists, the various tribes of the Omo have relied on its annual flooding to, by all accounts, sustainably maintain their crops of sorghum, maize, and beans, and to water the herds of domesticated livestock that supplement their diet. They have lived well, were satisfied with their lives, and neither looked for, nor needed, any outside help.
“If I knew for certain that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life.”
~Henry David Thoreau
But all of that is now changing as the Ethiopian government and a consortium of international conglomerates complete work on a series of dams across the Omo, creating, downstream, what National Geographic has called “a spreading humanitarian emergency that threatens to spawn conflict…(and) is largely being met with silence from both the Ethiopian government and the international community…People are starving and dying.”
Wounded Knee
The people of the Omo live far downstream from the dams, but more importantly they live far downstream from the sources of money and power that created them.
Those same pressures are at work for those of us living downstream from the power and money centers of America. The pressures are dressed up differently for us—neatly disguised by our world of technology and super abundance—but we too are increasingly dependent on, and dominated by, machinations of industry and government that operate far beyond any capacity we might have to meaningfully influence an outcome in our favor.
You can’t fight city hall, and you sure as hell can’t fight Google.
What’s most dangerous about the intertwining of government programming with corporate dreaming, like a couple of mating snakes, is that they ultimately work in concert to create, promote, and enforce utter dependency–either on the stuffs they produce or by means of the laws they pass. And we have no choice, really, because they are jealous creatures and ultimately whatever they may decide on—from pipelines to bullet trains, from Alexa to Driverless Cars, is ultimately imposed on us whether we like it or not. And if necessary, they’ll do it by force.
As Addis Ababa and the World Bank are to the Omo Valley, so Washington D.C. and corporate boardrooms are to River City. That is especially true if you happen to live in more rural climes, where your objections don’t scale and your vote is essentially meaningless.
Partisans from The State of Jefferson, circa 1941.
It gets worse, naturally. As the Omo river has failed to flood, so has a new government policy of “villagisation” taken hold, wherein Omo Valley peoples are stripped of their ability to raise their own food, subsequently lose their self-reliance and independence–and are finally force-marched into displacement camps.
As usual, those who go passively onto the reservation are left starving and destitute, while those who resist are outlawed and eventually killed–in order to make more room for ecologically ruinous hydro-electric schemes and enormous, internationally controlled plantations of sugarcane, cotton, rice, and palm oil.
The script now playing out in the Omo has, from Africa to South America, from Australia to Canada, traditionally been what we held up as the progress of western civilization in service to mankind. And it has admittedly provided unparalleled luxury and long periods of security, even as we destroyed every model of sustainable agriculture along the way, enslaved entire populations either literally or virtually, and ultimately quashed any notions of independence and self-reliance for the sake of all that comfort.
In The Unsettling of America, celebrated novelist, poet, and ecologist Wendell Berry offers us this:
“If there is any law that has been consistently operative in American history, it is that the members of any established people or group or community sooner or later become “redskins”—that is, they become the designated victims of an utterly ruthless, officially sanctioned and subsidized exploitation. The colonists who drove off the Indians came to be intolerably exploited by their imperial governments. And that alien imperialism was thrown off only to be succeeded by a domestic version of the same thing; the class of independent small farmers who fought the war of independence has been exploited by, and recruited into, the industrial society until by now it is almost extinct. Today, the most numerous heirs to of the farmers of Lexington and Concord are the little groups scattered all over the country whose names begin with “Save”: Save Our Land, Save the Valley, Save Our Mountains, Save Our Streams, Save Our Farmland. As so often before, these are designated victims—people without official sanction, often without official friends, who are struggling to preserve their places, their values, and their lives as they know them and prefer to live them against the agencies of their own government, which are using their own tax moneys against them.”
Take a drive through any American Indian reservation, inner-city housing project, the coal seams of Appalachia, or enjoy a toxic stroll across the potato fields of Idaho if you want to see the finer fruits of subsidized exploitation, and its consequent government-enforced dependency.
The injuries to character and community Berry notes are real, lasting, and visible all around us. They are the manifest symptoms of a commodity rich and yet spiritually diseased and corporatized culture that has invaded our better judgment under the banner of the “growth economy”. Worse, seen on such a grand and pervasive scale, those symptoms are also reliable bell-weathers of an empire whose finest days are probably in the rearview mirror.
Post World War II, manufacturing in the United States has been off-shored and replaced by behemoth, mysterious, and unaccountable service corporations such as Amazon and Google whose power probably, like a vine of strangling kudzu, outreaches even that of our elected government.
Even the corporate name is suggestive of the “counterfeit paradise of South America,” a place full of vibrant life and activity where one can easily starve to death.
As Candice Millard wrote so evocatively in The River of Doubt:
“The rain forest was not a garden of easy abundance, but precisely the opposite. Its quiet, shaded halls of leafy opulence were not a sanctuary, but rather the greatest natural battlefield anywhere on the planet, hosting an unremitting and remorseless fight for survival that occupied every single one of its inhabitants, every minute of every day.”
The synthetic Amazon, one can’t help but think, is a first-cousin to the natural one, only its many ways to kill you are deliberately, and seductively, camouflaged by the patterns of ease and convenience.
Amazon’s recent move into the food business—by acquiring Whole Foods Corp.—ought to scare the daylights out of those of us living downstream. By injecting itself into the control and distribution of food networks, Amazon highlights once again our utter dependency on unaccountable, centrally planned, and unreliable corporate behemoths for the sources even of our own nutrition.
If there is ever a break in that chain you can be certain that it won’t be Jeff Bezos who is going hungry. But you probably will be. And just like the people of the Omo, when you can’t feed yourself, or your family, you are easily exploitable, and will soon find yourself stripped of everything else you hold dear, including your dignity.
If you aren’t trying to raise a few vegetables of your own, or securing your own sources of meat–and I mean this sincerely–you probably should be.
Victor Davis Hanson, in his excellent treatise The Fragility of Complex Societies, wrote:
“…In a wider sense, America’s strength has always been found in the self-reliant, highly individualist, even eccentric citizen…We need these cranky independent people, if only as a minority to remind the rest of us who are plugged into huge conglomerations, both private and public, for our wages and sustenance, that there are dangers with reliance on hierarchy, centralized government, and high density—which, well beyond fragility, inevitably results in groupthink, fad, and cultural uniformity.”
What Hanson proposes as our greatest cultural strength–those independent, cranky, and eccentric citizens–are often precisely the people we need most. But as a result of all that independence, they are also often the first to discover themselves turned into outlaws and Indians. That remains true even as we are making fewer of them, and even as those who manage to reach a majority are eventually chased onto the reservation by an army of relentless hashtag soldiers and social justice warriors.
Hanson writes:
“Today’s popular culture knows Facebook well, but does one in a thousand know that a bee is necessary for an almond to set, or what a piston and cylinder are, or the difference between a southern and northern storm? I once asked my students to explain the winter solstice, not just the astronomy of it, but what such a date portended in terms of work, culture, and mindset. It was in the 1990s, and my favorite answer was, ‘She was a rap singer, Sister Solstice that mouthed off too much.’”
This widespread intellectual lassitude shows up in the trends of our national conversations too, which mostly happen on television, and where they often devolve into incomprehensible shouting matches moderated by the media lawn-jockeys at CNN or FOX–equally unwatchable spectacles of corporate self-aggrandizement and binary political pandering.
The Bundys. Love them or hate them, they refused to go on the reservation, and despite widespread mockery and derision, they won.
As one example of the disabling of our famous American self-reliance–under what is now, in many states, legislated dependency–I offer the example of a 911 call for service I once responded to as a police officer in California. The reporting party met me at the door and explained, in a state of near hysteria, that her emergency was a ten year-old child—a profane, obese, and filthy lump I could see brachiating around the living room behind her–who was refusing to go to school.
Wendell Berry cites a related and easily observable phenomenon. “Our model citizen,” he writes, “is a sophisticate who before puberty understands how to produce a baby, but who at the age of 30 will not know how to produce a potato.”
Admirably, he restrains his alarm, leaving the rest of us to study the import and impact of this phenomenon, a true-enough generational pox which can only hasten the demise of a once fine dream: the dream of a free nation inhabited by self-reliant, self-sufficient, and therefore independent peoples likewise endowed with the capacity and desire to defend those ideals against the extremely agile and powerful forces who would exploit and control them. Those forces have always included the government and corporate boardrooms.
“That great strength and bulwark of the 19th century civilization, vested rights and inheritance, will be a prime factor in its complete undoing. But…when the old order of things have passed away as a dream of the night, will we rebuild on a better and truer basis? Being an optimist, I think yes.”
~Frederick Russell Burnham
Sadly, the current model of successful citizenry doesn’t seem to mind losing all of that freedom and independence, or even notice that they are losing it. Which is a direct result of allowing ourselves to be herded onto retail sales and marketing reservations where our every waking moment is subject to increasing, rather than decreasing, dependency on the modern version of Indian Agents.
Decades of that has, Berry says, left us “…frustratingly helpless and ignorant in regard to basic human skills—growing food, maintaining a home, caring for and educating children, promoting friendship and cooperation, facing illness and death—as well as financially dependent on other specialists.”
The end result of this dependency is now clearly observable in politics, where virtually any celebrity, regardless of qualification, has a legitimate prospect of being elected into public office–and even of becoming the President of the United States.
Those of us making a deliberate choice to resist these pernicious influences in our lives had better accept that we will, eventually, be made into outlaws and Indians. Our insistence on remaining reasonably self-reliant—and vigorously defending the benefits of independence–is ultimately threatening to those who would exploit us for profit and notions of progress.
But it is never enough to point a finger at the horizon and declare that a storm is coming. Far better, one thinks, to prepare for its arrival and to safeguard our natural rights in advance. Which is a thing we do well by reducing our trust in, and therefore our dependency on, predatory corporations and retail representation in government. In the long term, we build stout resilience when we devote our energy to local communities and local economies—where our voices, our money, and our votes may still matter.
And, perhaps most importantly, we can help keep our children off the reservations, and out of the intellectual stockades of the future, by teaching them to value things that last, to fix things that break, and to consider innovation with an eye on conservation. We can arm them for meaningful resistance in the long fight to preserve their own independence by teaching them to think–rather than merely feel—their way through the pitch darkness and howling winds of a gathering storm.
Annie Marland says
I would like to see a story on the state of immigrant women as they crossed the country on the way to Eastern Oregon. Their contributions, accomplishments, and how they were treated. How life changed for them when they settled and made homes in Eastern Oregon. Also how the white women and Piaute women interacted with each other if they did.
My interest is what part did women play in settling Eastern Oregon.
That’s definitely worth exploring. May be a Frontier Partisans thing.
Thanks for being here.
Pfleging Jim says
Trying to determine if I prefer to be independent, cranky, or eccentric. Perhaps all three! Maybe I’m the last to notice. Whichever, I’m glad I’m in good company! Thanks for a great read.
I’m hopeful that all three skills will come in handy 🙂 Thanks, Jim
Brent Gourley says
Touches on so many levels of societal change, I ponder the outcome of the next generations. So thankful for the life influences of my peers.
Me too, Brent. Our efforts are never wasted if we learn a valuable skill and try to pass that on to the young ones. During the Great Depression the fall was precipitous but there was great resiliency among people because they were not so entirely dependent on technology. They knew how to make things and to fix things and to stretch things. The ease and abundance of our lives almost guarantee that the next fall will be from a much greater height, and the landing exponentially harder.
J.F. Bell says
This brings to mind a particular incident from the Rick Perry days of yore.
Sometime around the late 90s and early Oughts there was a plan floated for a monstrosity known as the Trans-Texas Corridor. It was not popular, at least in my social circles, not the least because it was unpopular elsewhere, and like so many other ideas handed down to us peons by our enlightened leadership (and despite widespread objection) it refused to die a natural death.
Among other things the plan called for a massive expansion of Interstate 35. Publicly this was to ease congestion. Privately, we all figured, it was to let more cheap Mexican crap into the country, it being widely believed that our illustrious governor always had some kind of side deal with our friends across the River. At last check the proposal included a center with double railroad lines for high-speed transit, two lanes purposely for commercial vehicles and tractor-trailers, and three lanes each direction for general traffic. The footprint of the thing was horrific. Already an eyesore as a four-lane interstate, the expansion would have cut a swath half a mile wide from the Mexican border all the way up to the Oklahoma line. At some point it was assumed that this jewel of modern infrastructure would reach Canada.
This did not fly well with numerous groups, for numerous reasons. Chief among them were a not-insignificant number of landowners who, for absurd and wholly selfish reasons, lacked the civic desire to drop a concrete and asphalt nightmare across the old family homestead, and to whom our illustrious leadership shrugged, smiled, and said simply “Eminent domain.”
Which in turn prompted some of said landowners to appear in public protest. They went to their county courthouses to make their displeasure known, and many carried small containers of dirt from their property. The gesture was mostly symbolic.
Except for one old coot who made the local news by emptying a cupful of black soil onto the courthouse steps, looking at the nearest camera, and stating in plain English something to the effect of:
“This is all you get. You want the rest, you’ll buy it with blood.”
I think that was a common enough sentiment. Presumably the rest of the state thought as much because, after almost a decade of sucking resources and irritating the citizenry, the state of Texas finally got the proposal to flush and stay flushed. The neighbors got to keep their land, the number of Mexican eighteen-wheelers did not appreciably increase, and our fearless leader left office so he might cap his political legacy by washing out of the 2016 Republican primary.
I suspect I’ve wandered somewhat afield with the comment, but I think there are two points to be drawn here.
One, you can’t wait until the devil’s on your doorstep. By that point it’s too late. To keep them off the front porch you have to meet them at the fence, and to keep them from the fence you have to stop them at the road, and…so on. Recognizing the hazard when it’s still in the germ state is ninety percent of the fight.
Two, the machine can be beaten. Not easily and not as often as we might like. Very seldom with any economy. Usually not with any speed, either.
But it can be done.
Fantastic.
You must have been eavesdropping on an RIR conversation this evening.
Thanks for sharing this, and I’m sure now that my phones are tapped. I would add that it not only can be done, but it MUST be done if we are to avoid becoming the next tasty meal that feeds the machine. What remains is how best to accomplish the MUST. Thanks again, sir, much appreciated.
J.F. Bell says
De nada.
If you’re not on at least half a dozen watchlists by this point, friend…you ain’t trying.
Eric L says
Nicely done. I’ll pass this along to my boys. It is me in a nutshell. Independent, cranky with a smile, and eccentric. Cause you all know I have my own little brand of insanity. Oh, and taters, I grow at least six different kinds.
Welcome to the campfire Eric. Always good to have some taters.
Taters, first and foremost. Thanks for harboring your own brand of anything-insanity included.
Saddle Tramp says
Craig, I had no idea how prescient Henry Starr would be to this piece and I do agree with Jim on his allusion to it.
Since Indians have a prominent place (deservedly so) in your historical reference to current times, I would like to add another if I may. We will call this Bronze Indians, Horses Spears, Medicine Bags and Prisons.
For about 3 years straight I made regular runs from Tipton, CA delivering a specialty ultra-filtered milk to a cheese plant in Waupun, WI. When I took the northern route I would usually go through Winona, MN (for scenery and other reasons and cross over the Mississippi River into Wisconsin and run the back roads over to Waupun. Winona, MN is the birthplace of James Earle Fraser who designed the Indian Head / Buffalo Head nickel, The Navy Cross and many other sculptures and THE END OF THE TRAIL is his most famous. His father was a railroader in the early days and expansion of the railroad out west. He was part of a contingency sent out to recover the remains of Custer’s men from The Battle Of The Bighorn. When James was still a boy they moved out to South Dakota territory. James recalled an old fur trapper telling him they were going to push the Indians right into the Pacific Ocean. This was the inspiration for THE END OF THE TRAIL. The original non-bronzed version now sits in the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, but was in Visalia, CA for many years having been saved by the City of Visalia from the trash pile after it’s exhibit at the 1915 Panama — Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. The National Cowboy Museum then came to it’s rescue as it was a plaster cast sculpture and was deteriorating. A bronzed replacement was cast from the original and left in Visalia as promised and paid for by the Cowboy museum in OKC. However, in 1929 the first bronze cast sculpture was commissioned by Waupun, WI industrialist Clarence Shaler and is in a park in Waupun and is the better of the two bronze versions in my opinion having seen them both. Chief John Big Tree also attended the 125th anniversary of the founding of Waupun. It is controversial still, but widely claimed that he was one of the models for the sculpture. Work it out yourself I guess. Clarence Shaler was a sculptor himself and his work is on display throughout town. One prominently just across from the state prison which is right in the middle of Waupun surrounded by a very ornate wrought iron fence. Waupun (city of sculptures) and also the state pen. Indians and Outlaws. One of Shaler’s own sculptures is on the grounds of UCLA. Shaler also commissioned a sculpture for his wife’s grave ( The Recording Angel) which is in the cemetery adjacent to THE END OF THE TRAIL.
Regarding the Trans-Texas Corridor, I recall several years ago encountering a big official highway sign (alongside both Interstate 10 and Interstate 20) showing the Trans-Texas Corridor location. I said to myself “where the hell is it?”
Oh… the [future] corridor. Nothing but a sign. I can’t say if they abandoned the sign or not. I have not been that deep into Texas for several years.
I can say that the high speed rail in California has broken ground and has made an impressive swath through Fresno. A huge concrete structure is rising up. I go through Fresno a lot and have watched it’s continued progress. Boondoggle or the future? Only time will tell…
I also just heard an interview with William Means where he mentioned the CIA (Cowboys and Indians Alliance) where they are working together to protect the heritage and future of their cultures. William Means has much wisdom and speaks with a strong heart. The end of the trail? Let’s hope not…
History does not repeat itself but humanity does (to the good or bad). Feed the wolf you want to live…
Great and provocative piece as always Craig. I am holding back. It’s your (and Jim’s) show!!
Great stuff, ST. Thank you.
No need to hold back here, Tramp, your insights and wisdom are always appreciated. So excellent that you brought up End of the Trail. It has always been one of my favorite pieces and my brother even gifted me a beautiful rendition that hangs in our house. The long fight is to preserve what we know to be good and avoid being driven into the pacific. It probably always has been. The better part of preserving ourselves involves cutting a wide path around the soldier’s fort, because once they spot us, they are relentless in pursuing us. Really appreciate your commentary, please keep it coming.
Saddle Tramp says
Oops!
For historical accuracy that would be “ The Battle Of The Little Bighorn”
I always enjoyed running all of that territory too. You can smell history in the air…
Saddle Tramp says
Just came out of the theatre and saw previews to Eastwood’s 15:17 To Paris. This one looks to be a fit tight with the RIR outlook on preparedness and adapting to difficult circumstances. Eerily it takes place on a train…
I am sure you probably know about this one coming out…
Yes, I am looking forward to seeing it. Eastwood has managed to maintain his senses and sensibility over the years. Of course, he is of an older school and benefits from remaining mostly off the Hollywood reservation–he has his own name and his own money and his own production company, which is an admirable kind of independence. And it is probably the ONLY reason a movie like that gets made in today’s environment. So we owe him for his fortitude. Safe travels, Tramp, glad you are here with us.
Brian H. says
Damn good piece. I’ve read F.P. posts for near a year now. This other horse looks like a runner too.
Thanks, Brian.
Thanks Brian, much appreciated. We hope to keep bringing you solid work.
Brian H. says
I’d also add that a lot of people in my former haunts (Durango CO) are mystified to the point of anger at my hacky attempts at understanding the Bundys. It was a tad bit reassuring to see that subject addressed in the context that I’ve been trying to join it to.
It’s a red flag when people get angry at you for trying to understand an issue or a phenomena. It’s a symptom of ideological binary thinking that is getting to be a lot like a disease in the body politic. Understanding doesn’t mean you necessarily endorse, in whole or in part, and that seems to be hard for people to grasp.
Annie Marland says
You’ve brought up a really sore subject of mine. Having grown up (wasn’t any taller than I am now) in Burns and spent many of them down at the Malheur. Mentioning the Bundy’s just raises my hackles and you’ll hear from me later when I load my shotgun. The Bundy’s are varmints.
Put the shotgun away Annie. Mad as you are it might go off, and nobody wants that.
Annie Marland says
Not to worry. I’m a gentle soul. I just use it for big game and water fowl!!
That’s my girl. I’m just glad you have one. For intruders, and such. 🙂
Hacky attempts are better than no attempts–which is the problem we keep running into.
Lane Batot says
None of this is hard for ME to understand, because I’ve ALWAYS been “the injun”! I well remember MY first attempts to halt “progress” that threatened a patch of woods by my house–I was all of 4 years old! Things only escalated as the conflicts of the ensuing years came and went–the “motorcycle war”(I won that one, by sheer persistance and time); the “housing development war” LOST that one, but by Gawd, I cost them a LOT of green frogskins!); the dog pound war(won that one by sheer persistence and constant guerrilla raids, with the help of a local newspaper to give the final coup de grace!); the slob trapper conflict(won that one–and least for awhile);–I can harangue on and on. Lots of raiding experience and tactics gathered over the years. And I learned a long time ago that costing the white-eyes lots of wampum is ALWAYS the best way to bring them to their knees–no physical violence to their persons is ever really necessary! If I’M not on some kind of “watch list” I’D be surprised! But then most of my “activities” were completely anonymous–celebrity is NOT yer friend in such a life. But if so, whoever might be assigned to keep tabs on me would get mighty bored–virtually no phone conversations to follow, and if I was to be physically followed, it would havta be ON FOOT out in the woods, and I’ll KNOW they’re there, thanks to my unfailing primitive intel–all those birds and other critters would let me know alien intruders are about. And “going coyote” like this is about the only way to evade such criminal opponents–whether they are actual criminals, or policing for the guvmint. Just sayin’(for the sakes’ of any young, still learning whipper snapper injuns out there, that might be reading this, and have gotten themselves into a conflict with “progress”.…..)
That is a fine collection of feathers for your head dress. And you are right, celebrity isn’t helpful. Better to ride a wide circle around the soldier fort. Thanks for taking the time to comment, it is much appreciated.
Lane Batot says
Oh, aye, as I WELL learned long ago–“roondaboot lads, roondaboot!” That from the tod in Richard Adam’s “The Plague Dogs”–a MARVELOUS novel about a coupla outlaw stray dogs that become the center of various public controversies, all unbeknownst to them–which is often the way of it for us peons. Kept “in the dark”. But what else is there for us to do, except keep mauling them yows? One MUST eat! And IGNORANCE of the great wheel of conspiracy is often one’s best protection from it’s influence!.…. That book KEEPS coming up in my mind and comments lately–time perhaps for a reread.…..And then maybe ANOTHER “Critter Geek Critique” over on that thar “Frontier Partisans”!
Speaking of which — going to format that and get it up this weekend.
Lane Batot says
.….my sympathies, of course, for anyone trying to “format” any of my rambling!
Saddle Tramp says
A good reference source to Outlaws of the West is Ramon Adams SIX GUNS AND SADDLE LETHER. I have a nice first edition hardback copy. I always go for first edition hardbacks whenever I can. He also has a fine book on cowboy lingo. A cowboy don’t say much, but he sure knows how to express himself. Indians too!!!
Brian H. says
Yesterday, on an NPR station out of Paonia Co, I heard a piece on the State of Jefferson. The host of the broadcast acted like the whole thing was too incredible and whacky. There was a push a few years back here in Colorado involving some rural (five, I think) counties to go it alone. Any coverage it got was met with the same derision. For myself, the preachy religious stuff that seems to come along with these ideas turns me off but at the end of the day I still feel I have more in common with my actual neighbors, regardless of religion or even I dare say “politics” (what does that word even mean anymore) than say Yvon Chouinard preaching public land salvation or someone like our Governor Hickenlooper (he may run for President stay tuned) who seems to think the problems on our side of the Divide can be solved by another bicycle trail. We may all be Americans and for the better I hope, but I feel the last big wave of economic homogeneity is rolling West. Craig, your post has me thinking days after I read it. For me that’s usually a good sign. Thanks!
Was just thinking along these lines yesterday. The media (and I’m a newspaperman) tends to be insufferably condescending about such movements, especially if they’re rural-based. Elites don’t (maybe can’t) understand that it’s the condescension more than anything else that fuels separatism, from Catalonia to California. Most secessionists realize that they’re risking a big economic hit in separating from the metropolis, but at a certain point, having insufferably arrogant people piss down your back and tell you it’s raining just gets to be too much to bear. And if you’re going to get screwed economically one way or another anyway…
Brian H. says
Succinctly said, Jim. Grinning faces surround us.
Thanks Brian. I was raised within the boundaries of what would be the State of Jefferson and, although I think ultimately it will never go anywhere, have some sympathy for the underlying sentiment. It’s essentially a question of representation–which those rural counties simply do not have in Sacramento or Salem. They are raped for their resources, but have no meaningful means of resisting or preserving themselves. Lassen County, where I hail from, was initially part of the Nevada territory given its location on the eastern side of the Sierras, and they fought a three day war when California attempted to collect taxes from them. Geographically it has no business being in California, but is governed my Sacramento as a kind of poor vassal. So, the State of Jefferson idea is really about reclaiming the franchise and securing some right to self-determination. Which is why it will never happen.
Saddle Tramp says
Perhaps not so succinct but…
You guys really know how to bring it out of me. I somewhat hesitate on this, but feel that I must honesty opine on the continuing thread here. First, I am never out to insult anyone’s stated opinions or choice in subjects. This is a bloodless offering albeit it might be misconstrued as a [sic] pissing contest. It is not. I travel across the State Of Jefferson all the time. I also tune into JPR (Jefferson Public Radio) when going through there and KBOO when further north where I was most recently introduced to Countryside Ride as guests on the Noon Time Jamboree. Great show! My kind of territory.
However, my most recent and significant memory of the State Of Jefferson is of a Red Tailed Hawk majestically perched atop a round exposed piece of granite jutting just above the ground about four feet high. Powerful as hell. As always there is the far away view of sacred Mt. Shasta that can be seen from a hundred miles alway when traveling north on Interstate 5.
I say the following with absolute sympathy and no derision whatsover. I do believe it is a “whacky” idea to seriously consider a State Of Jefferson. I also think that the Bundy’s are whacky (and wrong) in spite of the governments bungling and handling of the case that allowed the mistrial. I don’t hate them, I just think it is misguided but good intentions. What about unarmed Indians protesting at Standing Rock being arrested and jailed because of the powerful economic influence. I also abhor the overreach of powers or selfishness from any groups (or governments) without due consideration and process. Complicated? Damn right! Thomas Jefferson’s advice that if a man neither picks his pocket nor breaks his bone, he has no truck with him is of little comfort these days. In these complicated times that is fraught with implications. I am no elitist. Far, far from it. I also abhor the frivolous elitist positions. I do not consider Yvon Chouinard in that category at all, but rather a man of strong convictions.
I stand behind him! Should we allow capitalism to run roughshod over the last remaining natural wonders still holding out. What would Teddy Roosevelt or Edward Abbey think? There has been enough damage as it is. We need to reverse course. I absolutely agree with the sentiments of the State Of Jefferson as they view the destruction taking place below them. We know which way the water flows. The same goes for Colorado or in the past the Florida Keys when they blockaded the road years ago. Too much to go into, but I will mention the many times I have traveled the Interstate 70 corridor from Fruita, CO to Denver and back as an example of commerce and nature trying to coexist. An impressive bike trail runs alongside and in between in long sections of it. Fishing and white water rafting as well and of course the ski resorts. In spite of it, the beauty is still intact albeit scarred. The last holdout for the completion of Interstate 70 was through Glenwood Canyon Colorado. Environmentalists held it up for years. It eventually got settled and what is now considered the crown jewel of the Interstate system (and an engineering marvel) was completed. Where do we stop is what I ask myself. Should 5 counties in Colorado separate? I cannot see a good conclusion myself. The last load I picked up in Colorado was at a Ft. Morgan sugar mill. The woman in the office was decrying the loss of workers from dirty random drug screens from Pot and blaming the legalization of it. They must adhere to Federal guidelines is the issue. She was tired of Colorado and was heading to Idaho where they would not take her guns away. My guess was she was not a Pot smoker. How about including those crying out for inclusion like Puerto Rico? Are they just another unworthy and failed cause like rural America.
I have driven many many miles of backroads through small town America. So much is collapsing. I saw it driving up through Nevada on U.S. Hwy 93 just today. How do you save it? I am afraid that separating it won’t be the answer. I sympathize with the sentiments but think it’s pissing up a rope to think they can prevent the inevitability of it as sad as that may be. I do not like the direction we are heading in either. That’s what RIR is all about (by observance or advice) and that’s why I threw in with it. I don’t like anyone pissing down my back either.
Nothing wrong in taking a stand, but it’s damn complicated. This is a case of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice gone amok!!
VIA: Mountain Home, Idaho holding up for a Boise delivery in the morning. The last time here my backhaul was 22 bales of alfalfa that I picked up just south of here along the Snake River. A girl with scarlet hair and wild green eyes that danced with expression, met me at the hay stack. She was training to be a loader. A country girl raised on the farm who told me she loved all the big toys including the Caterpillar bale squeezer that quickly loaded me. The load went to Wilmington, CA and the port to head over the big water and overseas. Such is the world as it is…
Thoughtful musings, as always, ST. It’s a hell of a lot easier to diagnose than to prescribe. Especially when there probably ain’t no cure. If our only options are rampant capitalist exploitation or ever-tightening regulation squeezing like an anaconda, we’re well and truly screwed. Yet here we are, trying to find a path that doesn’t lead to pulling a Jax Teller and riding the Harley into a semi’s grill.
Something in your comment puts me in mind of James McMurtry’s “Can’t Make It Here Anymore.”
For the record, I’m not a fan of the Bundys — particularly the Malheur takeover which was a carpetbagger stunt if there ever was one.
Annie Marland says
It’s time to weigh in on the subject of Malheur county and the Refuge. I was born and raised in Burns, then left for college in 1965. I wasn’t there when the takeover happened. I have many friends still there that were. I’ve spent hundreds of days at that beautiful refuge along with my parents and grandparents. We were good friends with John Scharff (and wife Helen), the manager of the refuge at that time. My grandparents sold their 140,000 acre ranch up in the Silvies Valley and moved to Burns. They didn’t need to graze on BLM land before they sold. He soon became a county judge (didn’t have to be a lawyer) and traveled Harney county. He was good friends to most ranchers (those who trusted “law men”) and also Malheur county. There wasn’t much of a BLM presence and ranchers during the late 40’s to 60’s pretty much grazed their own land unless the herd got too big and needed to expand their grazing area. At the time there really was cattle rustling so ranchers didn’t let their stock roam too far. I know the ranchers are frustrated and angry because the cost of leasing BLM land is really high now. Hard on the ranchers if there is no rain, too much rain so hay crops are destroyed. Then they have to buy hay. I do feel sorry for ranchers because it’s a really tough life. The one thing that does disappoint me is the damage they do to creeks and rivers by letting cows eat and drink along the river banks and stir up the mud. They could be more environmentally friendly. Some are by fencing off the banks so cows can’t get into the creeks. OK, I’ll stop the rambling and get on to the Bundy issue. I am angry that the takeover happened and it didn’t have to happen. It really divided the folks of Burns and Hines, leading to ugly confrontations. There are still hard feelings today. Politics, as you can expect makes it worse. I’m very sad and mad about how the Bundy thugs damaged the refuge buildings, destroying Piaute artifacts, fences. The old refuge buildings had lots of wonderful history in them including a museum. I’m mad as hell that they got away with it. OK, toast me over the coals of the campfire………….
Annie Marland says
What the hell does all this mean?
Nah, Annie, you ain’t no marshmellow.
Stay tuned on the Bundy front — I don’t think the point of view here is as divergent from yours as you think. And here’s Frontier Partisans piece on some efforts to use grazing in a healthy, beneficial manner.
https://frontierpartisans.com/5841/protecting-the-west/
There’s a LOT of good cooperative work that goes on that nobody ever sees or hears about because the media — particularly TV — is only interested in stories of conflict with good visuals. Extremists of all stripes make good copy, but they’re seldom representative of anything but their own pathologies.
What’s often lost in the discussion of the refuge issue is the original reason anyone showed up there at all. The reason people–and it was not just the Bundy’s–came to Burns in the first place was to protest the re-arrest and re-imprisonment of Dwight and Steven Hammond.
You may recall that the Hammonds pleaded guilty to two incidents related to fires that escaped the confines of their ranch and burned a total of 140 acres of BLM land adjacent to their property. You and I both know that 140 acres of brush in that country is a drop in the bucket, which is to say virtually meaningless for the purpose of starting a criminal case at all–and particularly under the circumstances.
The first fire was started intentionally, as a backburn, by Steven Hammond to protect his winter grazing from a lightning started fire that was burning on BLM and threatening to burn over onto the ranch and annihilate valuable winter feed. The second involved a small portion of land that the BLM had illegally fenced off on Hammond Property. After the Hammonds challenged them in court, BLM left the fencing–no doubt as a deliberate snub–and it was destroyed in a fire the Hammonds admitted starting–but it was on their own property.
The Federal government then charged the Hammonds under the terrorism act. If anyone other than a Federal prosecutor can justify that charging I’d love to hear the argument. Charging under the terrorism act carries potential life-sentences–and also mandatory minimums, which are not, under Federal rules, disclosed to a jury. Think long and hard about why that might be. I would submit it is because if a jury were to hear of mandatory minimum sentencing in stupid cases they might be inclined to vote not guilty–which could be seen as some measure of reasonable justice–and which is supposed to be the way things work.
The Hammonds pleaded to only two of the numerous charges levied against them and received 5 years each under a plea agreement that also–and they did not know this because the government was not required to inform them–erased any ability they might have to appeal the decision. A lenient judge–no doubt seeing the overkill in both the charging and the sentencing–then reduced the sentences for both men, time that they served in full, and they were subsequently released. The judge was in error and did not have that authority.
The government, after their release, then insisted that justice could only be served if they were re-imprisoned to serve the full mandatory minimums–despite the time already served, their obvious lack of threat to the community or the constitution, and Dwight’s 74 years of age.
The Hammonds were then informed that they had no right to appeal.
Ask yourself several questions about why the government did all of that, and consider it in light of the fact that the Hammonds own the water rights on that portion of their ranch the BLM originally attempted to fence them out of. Consider it also in light of the fact that the government has made no secret of its intentions to drive ranchers, loggers, and miners completely out of the country. Consider it finally in light of the fact that the Hammond Ranch is adjacent to Malheur and surrounded on three sides by BLM land.
I have worked long enough in law enforcement to know that one strategy of defeating people is simply to keep hammering them with petty charges or, as in this case, completely ridiculous charges of terrorism–until they finally give up, leave the area, or die of despair. An extension of that thinking would be to insist on throwing them back in prison under a terrorism charge–which can only be seen for what it is: absolute bs.
What happened to the Hammonds, which underwrites all of the later regrettable nonsense at Malheur, and led to the unnecessary death of LaVoy Finicum, is every bit as much the responsibility of the Federal Government as it is the Bundy’s or anyone else. What most people believe happened out there, and the reasons for it, are media driven drive–no matter what one may think of the Bundy’s personally. And nevertheless, the Hammonds, whose crime was–what, exactly?–are back in prison.
But the government wasn’t finished, either. The arrest of Marc Mumford, the Bundy attorney, in the Federal Court in Portland was a real shitshow in terms of it’s legality and as further evidence of what the government was trying to accomplish. Don’t take my word for it, investigate it yourself and draw your own conclusions, but I submit to you that, in the words of Mrs. Dwight Hammond, “It’s pretty tough to feel American when your own government has a vendetta against you.”
That is clear-cut abuse. And it could happen to ANYBODY. The national security state at work. Civil forfeiture has been abused for similar ends.
Annie & Craig:
You might find this old Nugget story interesting. It involves similarly aggressive LE efforts to use the process itself as punishment.
http://www.nuggetnews.com/archives/960117/front2.html
It most certainly is. This leads back to Bunkerville and the outright, and now admitted, lies of BLM and FBI Agents in regard to their treatment and characterization of the Bundy’s–which is what first stirred Finicum’s bilge. And Finicum was, despite attempts to assassinate his character, an Arizona rancher with both hat and cattle. That characterization, despite all of the known evidence, which includes the FBI and others entering Finicum’s home and conducting a warrantless search, was meant to portray him as a dangerous threat.
The massive and long running corruption at play at Bunkerville has, fortunately, been exposed for what it was–and there are virtually dozens of other people who might testify to the same treatment through the years–all over Nevada, certainly, and elsewhere.
The penultimate abuse comes at a traffic stop executed by OSP in unmarked vehicles on a remote stretch of 395. Initially, this would sound like a model law enforcement tactic–known colloquially as a “road kill”–which is often used when supposedly dangerous subjects are away from their base of strength– and that would be true if there was an arrest warrant for the subjects in the vehicle to be stopped. But there wasn’t. Not one warrant. For anybody. No warrants. That fact alone is criminal. Lack of a warrant would not preclude a traffic stop for a traffic violation–an infraction–but it certainly doesn’t justify what we now know actually happened: the vehicle came under direct fire, which is deadly force, which is utterly unjustifiable.
Furthermore, after Finicum decided to flee the traffic stop his vehicle came under fire a second time before encountering the roadblock, and then again at the roadblock, which he swerved to avoid. We now know that FBI HRT members lied outright about firing their weapons, and can be seen on video picking up brass discharged after they did it. The speculation is that they lied in order to stave off the involvement of the FBI’s own shooting investigation team. This was, incidentally, discovered by Deschutes County Investigators while recreating the crime scene. Furthermore, one of the rounds the FBI lied about shooting struck Ryan Bundy.
And again, with no warrant in the system for any of the passengers in the vehicle, the stop had no legal basis to begin with, outside of an infraction, and certainly nowhere does that justify either employment of deadly force. One might argue that the manner in which he approached the road-block was life-threatening, but he had ALREADY been shot at for no conceivable reason, and in fact swerved to avoid it.
Finicum was shot three times in the back, twice in the upper left region. His wife posits, reasonably, that what appears to be him reaching for a weapon is actually him reaching to the area of the exit wounds where he had already been shot. In any case, he never brandished the weapon, and it wasn’t until 8 hours later that the weapon was even recovered from his body.
Deadly and less lethal rounds were fired at the remaining passengers for ten minutes AFTER Finicum exited the vehicle.
My professional opinion is that this thing stinks from beginning to end. Badly. As far as the guns at Malheur go, which has raised the ire of so many, one of the lawyers makes an excellent point when he says that “there is nothing unlawful about exercising your second amendment rights in the context of your 1st amendment rights”.
It is notable that none of the weapons recovered or investigated in regards to the Malheur incident were unregistered, or linked to any crime, anywhere.
Annie Marland says
The Air Force took some property away from my folks when they wanted to build a radar station. Built it and then closed it a couple of years later. They never got any money for it. *%#** Federal Govt.
Brian H. says
Ok Saddle Tramp, I’m game. Seeing as I posted on a number of the subjects discussed. All offered in the spirit of an open mind. I, like Jim, think that Malheur was a mistake. But as Craig referenced the Bundy’s what I was commenting on was my personal attempts to (rhetorically) link the issues at Bunkerville and with the Hammond family as part of the issue of Federal overreach. That issue is WAY larger than this single post. As far as the Chouinard / Hickenlooper stuff, I was venting at the idea that the West as a playground of urban elites served by lift ops, baristas, housekeepers and gardeners while the ranchers, and the miners, and the timber cutters find themselves taking work out of state or worse still, having to leave the towns they grew up in and who’s families laid out those very towns. I agree that extractive industry has harmed some of this amazingly beautiful, vast country. But the people that built it don’t deserve to be driven off the landscape of their grandfathers in what amounts to gentrification because of a nation that encouraged them to do be there in the first place, still wants the benefit of the labor only now they can afford to take it from places an ocean away. VIA: Palisade, Colorado. Amongst peach trees that need pruning…
Saddle Tramp says
P.S.
I hear tell that Black Bears from California are migrating to parts of the Great Basin in Nevada. They are repopulating after a very long absence…
Laid over in Ely, NV last night just west of the Loneliest Road In America and aka the Grand Army Of The Republic Highway.
It was the austerity of it. The lack of the human mark for mile after mile other than fences and a road. A town is a real event. The anticipation of it for hundreds of miles. So much open space for one’s thoughts to wander in.
— saddle tramp
Nevada / January 28, 2018
I once lived and worked in Eureka, Nevada. That is some marvelous country out there.
Yes they are, and wolves have found their way back to the Lassen National Forest as well.
Saddle Tramp says
Brian H.
Thank you for expanding on your thoughts. I come from a similar background and family history so to speak. I understand the dilemma fully. My contention is with the truly “greedy and careless” bastards from whatever geography they occupy. There is so much embedded when we bring up rights and ownership and the like. I have somewhat of a different view. It’s great when it works for yourself but not so great when you are run over by the powerful and left on the side of the road. I know to whom you refer. I am not of that group and lean way the other direction. I have broke my back for a buck and shoveled a lot of shit. I always identify first with the working stiff. I do not however limit my respect or understanding of others. It must meet certain criteria though. We are more in agreement than not I believe. I really do appreciate your honest response. Thank you!
Brian H. says
Saddle Tramp. — For sure the Greedheads make it hard for those that are at the wrong end of some matrixed profit margin . I also think that it’s important to acknowledge that a lot of the people I was attempting to speak about are simply trying to feed families or get a little ahead while working for Greedheads. There is a big chunk of Westerners that are neither yeoman nor label fobbed twit. I’m just one of them. A salute to Jim and Craig for creating space to talk about this stuff and learn somethings too.
That’s the mission. For all of us. Learn something — do something.
Brian H. says
Of course the irony of lamenting a group of people “driven off the landscape of their grandfathers” on a post called “Outlaws and Indians” doesn’t hit me ’til the next day. “Assimilate or die”…
Lane Batot says
.…What comes around goes around.……
Saddle Tramp says
I can’t just stand by…
Respectfully:
The Federal government is no doubt (and deservedly) held in low repute today. The states as well.
I try to take the long view both forward and back. Unless you were one of the original 13 states the Federal government acquired the rest of them by one means or another. It’s complicated of course. Without the Federal government the west would have never survived itself economically or otherwise at least in it’s modern form. The cattle industry is a glaring example of this. Without the Federal government the cattle industry would not have survived. I worked for a company with a rich history (since 1882) that was involved in every aspect of the Meat Industry and allied industries including owning one of the largest ranches in Texas. Hell, it was wealthy individuals from Chicago that saved the XIT Ranch. My point is that the image and icon of the west being the always self-reliant and independent rancher just ain’t altogether true. Without the Federal government they would have never made it. I am not deriding or dismissing the hard work of the folks in the west at all. Let’s just admit it, that without the Federal government they may well be “All hat and no cattle.” I personally know plenty of each. This is definitely an emblematic subject that needs to be worked out (without blind anger). Justice is tedious, time consuming and not always well served. Look around. It’s everywhere…
My focus here isn’t on whether or not the federal government has propped up ranchers in the west, or miners, or loggers. At one time all of those things were undeniably true which is why the BLM was referred to, by a certain generation, including my own grandfather, as the Bureau of Livestock and Mines. Those days are decidedly over and have swung far in the other direction. Some would say unfairly so. What interests me most is the now-acknowledged corruption in the handling of the Bundy case, from Bunkerville to Burns, and the lies that led to LaVoy Finicum’s death. Which they also–we now know– lied about. My next piece, publishing Monday, will explore the topic, and why I think it is important to the rest of us, wherever one may stand on grazing rights and best use practices.
Saddle Tramp says
I will silence my tongue until then and will look forward to it. I am just trying to establish some facts and dispel some myths. This is a very important subject. I am well aware of the abuses and a bright light needs shined on all of it on all sixes…
It’s a whole new world. I always look forward respectfully with an open mind on your take of it. Appreciate it!
You will get chips-fall-where-they-may assessment — THAT I can assure you.
Annie Marland says
Looking forward to it Craig.
PS: No, I’m not a spammer yet.
Saddle Tramp says
P.S.
“Those days are decidedly over… “
I am taking it out of context with the thought that it appears that [some] don’t want to give up the past it seems. Whether the FBI or the Feds or the Bundy’s and others are guilty will hopefully come to light with facts not perceptions. I have no favorite in this race…
Craig is digging in on this. There’s nothing good there. The whole thing shows a pattern of federal abuse. You don’t have to like or support the Bundys to see it. Hell, there’s BLM insiders who are appalled at the agency’s behavior.
Lane Batot says
.…On a completely unrelated note, and talking about all-things-connected, I just realized I made the 58th comment on this post right after my 58th B‑day! Do I get a prize?