First I want to share one more article about the Twitter History project I’m involved with that came out in this morning’s local newspaper: http://hjnews.townnews.com/articles/2010/01/13/news/news05-01-13-10.prt. Journalist Arie Kirk did a nice job describing the project. Best-selling author Annette Lyon also wrote about her involvement in TwHistory here on her blog, and it’s a great read.
But there’s always more to the story, which is one of the things I love about history. Here’s a little glimpse of what’s been going on behind the scenes as volunteer authors gear up for the Mormon Overland Trail reenactment using a Google groups page:
Laurie: Does anyone understand the concept behind the ten-mile stakes, as in “Put up the fifth ten miles stake.” Do they count these per week?
Annette: I have no idea how often they did these, but it sounds like they’re putting up markers every ten miles for those who come behind. Someone–I can’t remember who–built a pretty sophisticated odometer to track the miles.
Marion: That was Appleton Harmon who created the odometer, I believe. I think he got tired of counting the rag tied to wagon wheel. I’m not sure what they mean by the fifth. They wouldn’t have done that in one day, so maybe they were tracking by week?
Josi: I think they meant a fifth of whiskey; that’s about what I would need about every 10 miles to get from Winter Quarters to Salt Lake.
Marion: LOL
Rob: I think we might be surprised to see how often that was the case. 🙂 There’s a story from Robert Gardner, one of my ancestors, while working on the temple. He had a big gash cut in his leg from a log coming down a chute up in the mountains. Porter Rockwell was helping him out and gave him some whiskey. Rob told that he started pouring it on his leg to clean the wound, and Porter told him that it was for him to drink, so he did both.
If you would like to join in on the fun please contact us via the TwHistory.org site or leave me a comment. What would you like to reenact next?