Some More On The Eagles

HorsePower Holiday

By: Stan Jordan

Dan and Traci Bowers tell me that they are sponsoring another HorsePower Holiday this year at the Paulding County Fairgrounds on May 5th, 6th and 7th – the first weekend in May.

This consists of tractor pulls of all types, from little ones up to the 1000 horse power and anything that has a hitch and wants to pull.

There will be camping plots available, all kinds of demonstrations, food will be available and lots of entertainment going on all the time.

See Ya!

Beavers In The Maumee

By: Stan Jordan

Now that the sort of shock has worn off, I am pretty sure that there are beavers here in the Maumee River.

There are just too many folks telling me about the trees being gnawed away for me not to think some of it is for real. I know lots of fellows don’t think so, but I think the beavers (of some type) are here to stay.

Now Jack DeLong reported seeing beaver marks a few months ago. Then Mike Culler brought in some pictures of some of the beavers’ work. Then I got reports of beavers all the way into Indiana.

Jim Pendergrast, the main man in the drainage business in this area, stopped in the office the other day and we had a long informing talk on the beaver problem in this area.

Yes, he said we have had beavers around here for over 30 years. He said he has only seen one, but their work and evidence is all over.

He said some of the areas west of Fort Wayne and some of the area around Cecil have a little drainage problem from the work of the banks beaver.

Jim says these beavers we have around here are not the same type that we are use to seeing on tv. They are not the type who build a dam and a little round house under the water.

These are called banks beavers and they usually build a slopping banks out of mud and sticks, but they don’t build a little dwelling in the dammed up water. They live like a muskrat, maybe a mile away.

We contacted the DNR about beavers in the Maumee River and he said that is not true or words to that effect. But he did say they heard a report of beaver damage in the Cecil area and he talked of the type of gnawing on the trees that I have had reported to me.

Then later he said these are a smaller type of beaver maybe. But he too said we don’t have a big rodent type of beaver that builds dams and little houses in the pond.

Now that is just what Jim said, and Jim called them the banks beaver. Jim has worked in that type of terrain for years and I am inclined to believe his version of this deal. Because I have seem pictures of the beavers’ work on the saplings in the Maumee, I’m sure we have a beaver of some species along the banks of the Maumee.

See Ya!

Some Of The Activities

The Pancake and Sausage breakfast held annually by the Rotary International will be at the Saint Mary’s Center on Memorial Day morning.

The big RibFest held by the A.C.D.C. will be held on Saturday, June 3rd. This will be around the firehouse as usual.

The big Town Wide garage sale will be June 9-10       You are asked to sign up so that your location can be advertised.

The Big Boy$ Toy$ cruise-in will be along about this time or maybe in July.

The home made ice cream social at the Bethel Methodist Church is usually around July.

In August the Chamber has the Day In The Park that is always a good time. Along about that time Dan and Traci Bowers have the big raft race on the Maumee River.

There’s going to be some more big times too.

See Ya!

Sam Rivers, Indian Agent Chapter 29: Buffalo, a baby & talks

By: Stan Jordan

Well, I haven’t written for a while. Gen. Kearney, and Lieutenant Morgan and the other soldiers went back to the fort a few days ago. All four of our soldiers have stayed here as they are to be here all summer. We all worked in the garden these last few morning and we can rest a few days now. We are well into the summer now, as this is the last part of June of 1853. We had a big scare the other day. A big herd of buffalo came across the prairie and headed for our camp. We were very lucky, as when the leaders of the group came to the bridge, they turned west and we didn’t have any damage at all. If they had crossed the river, they would have trampled our camp down into the ground.

At the very end of the charge, hunter shot a young buffalo calf. That calf’s mother was mad, and wouldn’t leave the camp. It’s a wonder she didn’t charge towards us, but after a while she moved away towards the herd.

We have quite a bit of news today. Callie told me she was going to have a baby next February the 14th. All of us are excited and sat around the fire at night, and talked about our families, and the number of brothers and sisters we had.

I came from Mississippi and was a stage coach driver out of El Paso. When I left home at fourteen years of age, there was already eight youngsters in the family. Callie said, when she left Cape May, New Jersey, to work at her uncle’s  hotel in North Platte, Nebraska, she had two brothers and a sister.

Rooster came from Missouri and when he left to join the army, he thought there were eleven in his family. He can’t recall all the names.

Farmer left home at fifteen because his father worked him like horse, and treated him like one. He came from down around Ina, Illinois. He said, “We never had anything, because Dad drank it up.”

Hunter came from Tennessee, He said, “We had some bottom farm land.  I thought if I left, there would be one less mouth to feed. Mom didn’t want me to go, but she also agreed with me. If God has some angels, Mom will be there.”

Slim didn’t say much, but he hated his Dad, and his new mother.

“She had five kids of  her own, and when my real mother died, we had six. Dad forgot about that we had six, and he had to cater to her kids. When I was fifteen, I went down into Missouri and worked on a farm. The work was hard, but we all got along alright. I guess I did really like them. When I was old enough, she signed for me to join the army. She took me in, and she had a half a dozen of her own. But I worked a lot, and it didn’t hurt me.”

We all sat around the campfire, Rooster made a couple of pots of coffee, and Callie told him to bring out some cookies she had made. It was a fine evening, and we got to know each other’s backgrounds were pretty much the same.

I told the boys we were going to sleep-in in the morning, because we don’t have too much to do right not.

See Ya!