Bill, enjoy your articles......had you relatives been moonshiners like some of mine, you wouldn't have had so much to write about!!! Dolores ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, March 02, 2003 11:07 PM Subject: [ILJACKSON] Little Egypt Heritage Articles, 2 Mar 2003, Vol 2 #9 > Little Egypt Heritage Article > Stories of Southern Illinois > Bill Oliver > > 2 March 2003 > Vol 2 Issue: #9 > ISBN: pending > > Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen of Little Egypt, > > "A people without a history is like wind on the buffalo > grass." > --Crazy Horse, Oglala Sioux > > This has been an eventful week. I'll bet Mr Rogers likes > his new Neighborhood! Crayola Crayons are 100 years old, as > is the Ford Motor Company. Yesterday, March 1st, Singer > Harry Belafonte and Actor-Director Ron Howard celebrated > birth dates; with twenty-seven years difference in their > ages. In 1781, the Continental Congress adopted the > Articles of Confederation on March 1st. Also, on March 1st, > in 1872, Congress authorized the creation of Yellowstone > National Park. On the first of March, 1845, President John > Tyler signed a congressional resolution to annex the > Republic of Texas; while in 1953 a President finally signed > the admittance of Ohio as the eighteenth state of the > Union. Beginning yesterday, Ohio officially began its > yearlong celebration of the 200th year anniversary of > statehood by moving the state capital back to Chillicothe. > But, only for the day. > > Some of my ancestors, grandfathers and great grandfathers, > just felt that farming was not their calling. My maternal > Grandfather was a printer in the days when type was set by > hand and printing machines needed an operator. His father > was a Carny Barker with traveling shows. And, his > Grandfather, I've been told, was a mason, and laid some of > the streets of Reading, Pennsylvania. Great Grandpa tried > farming for awhile after meeting and marrying Great > Grandma. He supplemented his income as a potato farmer with > brick laying, like his father. He then turned to "buggie" > striping and finally to house painting. > > My paternal Grandpa tried farming but just didn't like it. > He tried mining coal and working for the railroad. For > awhile, with his brother, he operated a street car in > Cincinnati, Ohio. He eventually operated cranes which > loaded railroad ties onto flat cars. > > Farming east of the Mississippi River and farming west of it > was much different. In the west the differences in soil and > availability of water have greatly influenced crops grown. > When Great Grandpa farmed with his in-laws in Nebraska, corn > was the big crop. Vegetable farming was not more than for > domestic use. His potato crops were not very successful. > > Economic factors, including the decline in Federal Support > for cereal grains and oilseeds, farmers looked for > additional and alternative crops to grow. They looked for > high value crops with long term market value. Sugar beets > and potatoes produced higher returns per acre than small > grains which produced only marginal returns for the work > invested. Since root crops were good for a long term market > value, other root crops such as onions, red beets, carrots, > parsnips, and even rutabagas could be mechanized in both > production and harvesting. So, with irrigation and the ever > adventurous plains farmer, these crops are being added to > the high value crops being grown today. > > As these words flow onto my word processing software, it is > once again snowing. And, this reminds me that 'tis the > season. It all started with Native Peoples. One of the > common threads of the peoples of America is the concept of > 'spirit'. Meaning was divined from things they > experienced. They got meaning from the rivers, the > mountains and valleys, particular rock formations, trees and > all the animals that inhabited their lands. > > The Peoples each had a 'spirit', so it was natural for them > to summarize that each thing that they encountered also had > a 'spirit', and to each, its own spirit. This was passed > from generation to generation from very ancient times. > > The Sioux danced the Buffalo Dance in the spring to thank > the buffalo spirits that would give up their lives for the > use of the Peoples. The Iraquois and other eastern Woodland > Natives performed their ceremonies to thank the spirits of > the deer before they were hunted and killed. > > At this time of year, when the weather warms for short > periods of time, the saps run ... tree water. Sinzibuckwud, > or maple sugar, was discovered long ago in antiquity. The > 'tree water' comprised about 15% of the woodland Natives' > diet. After collecting the 'tree water' they cooked the sap > > down by the arduous task of heating hot rocks in an open > fire, then placing them into a wooden bowl filled with sap. > The rocks, of course, had to make steam in order to cook > down the sap. > > No one knows when a process was developed. However, the > Native Peoples were very observant of their surroundings. As > forest dwellers, they had developed a very sophisticated > forest technology. An Iroquois' legend simply says that one > of their youths watched a squirrel run up a maple tree and > bite off a twig. The squirrel licked the sap off the twig. > When the Iroquois youth tried the same, he found that the > sap was sweet. Canadians have observed red squirrels running > around from maple tree to maple tree nipping and creating > deep wounds. After the wounds have exuded some sap, the > squirrels return for lunch by eating the sugar crystals. > If squirrels could do it, the Indians could definitely build > on the squirrels' tactics. > > In selling America to potential immigrants, the benefits and > practice of maple sugar making was exploited in the travel > brochures of the day. The "barkers" for both the north and > the south touted that one could grow one's own sugar in > one's own back yard. > > So like the Native Americans, from whom they learned the > how, the first settlers to this country gashed the trees, > collected and boiled the sap, making maple sugar in their > own "back yards". Yankees that they were, they nigh > immediately improved on the process by using metal pots to > collect the 'tree water' and kettles in which to boil down > the sap. > > Civil War buffs know that the use of maple sugar was > regarded as an act of protest during the War Between the > States. Cane sugar was an exclusive item from the Southern > States, as was most of the molasses. Prior to and during > that war, Northerners used maple sugar to sweeten their > foods, thus, protesting against products from the South. > > Wado, > > > Bill > -=- > > > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/SOIL > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/ILMASSAC > http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/state/BillsArticles/LittleEgypt/intro.html > > > > > > ==== ILJACKSO Mailing List ==== > Karima, List Administrator mailto:[email protected] > List Guidelines: http://www.rootsweb.com/~illinois/JacksonCoWelcome.html > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >