Category: This great Nation & Its People
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Amen
Many Americans will pause today to honor the men and women who have given their lives in the United States armed forces. What most probably don’t know is that this holiday originated in the South after the War for Southern Independence. It was originally called “Decoration Day.”
Don’t tell the social justice warriors.
The monuments that these modern day Leninists believe represent “white supremacy” were a byproduct of a movement that began one year after the conclusion of hostilities to remember the over two hundred thousand men who died defending the Southern fight for independence.
It took decades to collect enough pennies to build the monuments that are now being toppled in hours.
Not even the Yankees who faced cannon and rifle fire from these Confederate soldiers were so bold to deny Southerners their memorials. Some, in fact, joined hands at dedication ceremonies across the South. If anyone should have hated Confederate soldiers, it was these men. But they didn’t.
Thousands of Union soldiers saluted their Confederate counterparts as they surrendered at Appomattox and wept with them when these Southern patriots gave up their flags. Not one Union soldier burned a Confederate flag or dragged it through the mud when the War was over. The immediate aftermath was magnanimous on both sides.
Reconstruction created tension, but in subsequent decades as the South sought to be once again an integral part of the Union, and as the vigor of youth gave way to the reflection of old age, these grey headed veterans saluted both sides and honored their dead.
If anyone wants to understand why these monuments were erected, simply read the inscriptions. Not one is dedicated to “white supremacy,” but all honor the Confederate soldier and many the Southern women who supported the cause.
Several are dedicated to the “Principles of 1776” and the “Sovereignty of the States,” the same cause Southerners wrote about as they headed off to war in 1861. This is no “Lost Cause” revisionism. That comes from those who disingenuously write that the War began as a moral crusade to end slavery.
The women who held the first “Decoration Day” in Columbus, Georgia in 1866 did so to honor the dozens of Confederate soldiers buried in Linwood Cemetery. This was soon replicated across the South. The Grand Army of the Republic copied the event in 1868, causing another Southern innovation to be coopted by Yankee do-gooders.
American soon honored Confederate dead as part of “Memorial Day” events, including those like President William McKinley who wore the blue.
Southerners eventually decided to hold separate “memorial day” remembrances in April as part of “Confederate Memorial Day.” They wanted as a people to reflect on the cost of war.
Their newly gained poverty was a daily reminder, but these wives, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, cousins, aunts, uncles, sons, and daughters of fallen heroes still burned with the flame of defiance. They put down their swords but did not concede that their men were “traitors.”
By the 1870s no one north of the Mason Dixon called them that anymore. They were as American as Lincoln. It was not unfashionable well into the late twentieth century–even for the Left–to honor Confederate soldiers as valiant and courageous men. That list includes every American president from Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton.
Taking down monuments or removing Confederate flags would have been as un-American as rooting for the Soviet Union to win the Cold War.
But as Bernie Sanders demonstrated in 2016, being a Soviet stooge makes you a rock star in modern America. Perhaps that is why adopting the Soviet playbook is so easy for both the uneducated and university indoctrinated masses. Confederate memorials represent a roadblock in their crusade to eliminate Western Civilization and rewrite American history.
When all of the Confederate monuments are gone or “contextualized,” where will the Leninists turn next?
If the cultural Marxists want to divest themselves of “Confederate” imagery, then “Memorial Day” would eventually have to go, too.
After all, long after the War for Southern Independence, the Confederate Battle Flag showed up on battle fields from Europe to Asia to the Middle East.
It would be the only “fair” and “equal” thing to do.
Buckskin Bill wearing the clothes that gave him his name, along with
a bear fur hat and handmade muzzleloader he built.
I first heard of “Buckskin Bill” from my good friend, Dick Thompson. He told me about hunting in Idaho’s primitive area and stopping at a small crossroads general store to pick up supplies.
On the way, Dick notices someone sleeping under a large wagon. During a conversation with the store’s proprietor, Dick casually mentions the man he saw sleeping under a wagon down the road and wanted to know if someone should check on him.
The proprietor chuckled, saying,” That’s Buckskin Bill, he’s fine. Just resting up to make his trek home. It wasn’t the last time Dick would hear the name, as Buckskin Bill became famous as the last of the true mountain men. Books have been written and TV documentaries filmed about the famous mountain man who wanted to be left alone. His real name was Sylvan Hart.
Four of Buckskin Bill’s handmade muzzleloaders.
The Beginning
Sylvan Hart was born in 1906 in Oklahoma. Hart was restless from a young age, as most boys were back then. He worked on Texas oil rigs during the Great Depression and later attended universities, but dropped out. Hart was highly intelligent, and college bored him. In 1932, after working for the Norden Bombsight Company, Hart headed west, seeking peace and adventure in Idaho’s rugged back country, in search of gold. He fell in love with the area.
Powder horns and possible bag made by Buckskin Bill.
The main branch of the Salmon River, known as the “River of No Return” for its treacherous rapids and isolation, became his sanctuary. The area was rich in natural resources. Besides being abundant in fish and game, minerals were abundant for Hart to use to make his own knives, guns, pots and pans from the raw materials.
He said, “My reaction to the Depression was to find a place with the natural resources to defeat it. I could have found no better place than Salmon River. I spent some $50 a year then for what little I needed to buy.”
Copper kettles, ladles and spoons made form Buckskin Bill from the copper in the mountains.
Hart and his father originally purchased the 50 acres on the Salmon River in 1932 for the sum of one single American dollar. It was a dollar well spent, as he would go on to live off that same land until his death in 1980. Besides some metals, gunpowder, nails, and his favorite Darjeeling tea, almost everything was foraged from the surrounding land.
Bill rifling one of his muzzleloader barrels the old way.
The Name
Hart earned the nickname “Buckskin Bill” for his preference for the clothes he made from hides he tanned himself, using the animal’s brain. His lifestyle was as unique as his attire. He built a compound of crude cabins with names like “Pneumonia Hall” and “Misery Mansion.” By the time of his death, Hart had created a veritable village on the riverbank, including a bomb shelter, a turret, a two-story house, and a blacksmith shop.
He would hunt, fish, and garden for food, while occasionally venturing into nearby towns to trade his furs for supplies. His presence always drew a crowd when spotted. He was loved by locals for his outgoing personality and tall tales, while still fiercely guarding his privacy and the rugged freedom of his chosen lifestyle.
Wearing his bearskin coat, horned helmet while brandishing his broadsword,
all made by Buckskin Bill, you can see he was quite the character.
Lifestyle
In his own words, Hart described his philosophy: “I live on beans and taters. I ain’t never been sick a day in my life … I figure it’s about 99% willpower.” His resourcefulness and ability to thrive in the harsh conditions earned him the respect and sometimes bemusement of both locals and the growing number of rafters venturing down the Salmon River.
Inside view of Bill’s sleeping quarters.
In 1956, the National Forest Service designated the five-mile section of the Salmon, Hart’s home, as a “primitive area,” threatening potential eviction. Hart famously constructed a stone gun tower overlooking the river, a symbol of both his defiance and his fear of losing the life he had built. While he avoided eviction, the incident cemented his reputation as both a defender of the wild and a relic of a bygone era.
The observation tower/gun turret Buckskin Bill built on his property.
While never wealthy, Hart’s stories and lifestyle made him a folk hero.
Panning for gold on the Salmon River wearing his
bearskin Conquistador hat obviously made by Bill.
Hart’s Survival Tips
“When you kill a deer, the first meal should be fried brains, one kidney, liver, heart, sweet bread, and any other odds and ends you might want to eat there. And if you are like me and need a little vitamins or medicine of some kind, it’s in there, and you always feel better after a meal or two like that.”
When speaking of his handmade muzzleloaders, Hart sad, “I don’t complain about anything, but if you had the choice between a flintlock rifle and lots of game, and a lot of modern technology, I would take the older type you see and take my chances.” It was this kind of hearty backwoods resourcefulness that people refer to when calling “Buckskin Bill” the last of the mountain men.
“You know, if you can make a really good gun, and do all the work, you don’t worry about breaking it. There’s some satisfaction in having a gun the way you want it. With a flintlock, too, you can shoot a long time without depending upon anybody else. If you’ve got the powder.”
Part of Buckskin Bill’s compound.
Besides hunting and fishing, Hart had a huge garden as a year-round food source, with plenty of root vegetables in it. “I always had a garden, he said, “It was easy to get fruit, and I made moccasins and clothing out of animal skins.”
His isolation gave him time to think and ponder, leading to this statement, “For the city man, life is just a jumble, like the facts in a college freshman’s notebook. But you ask me anything about nearly anything, and I can answer because I’ve had time to think about it.”
It wasn’t the bears or mountain lions that worried Hart, living by himself in the wilds of Idaho. He stated, “I am afraid of one thing … A cold wind. That’ll kill you for nothing. You’ll just die like a damn fool.”
Buckskin Bill’s Blacksmith shop.
The End
Sylvan “Buckskin Bill” Hart died in 1980, and he was buried on his property. After his death, the U.S. Park Service declared his property and compound as the Buckskin Bill Museum, where visitors can glimpse the life of this remarkable mountain man and contemplate the vanishing wilderness lifestyle he embodied. The only way to access this unique piece of history is by rafting down the Main Salmon River or by taking a jetboat tour.
There are several good books and YouTube videos about the life of the last of the mountain men.