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Across The Fence: Simply October

I should probably not admit this, but it is already 10 minutes to noon on Monday, Oct. 26. So what is the significance of that? I have a semi-firm deadline of 1 p.m. to get this column submitted, and I now know that I'm not going to make it. Weekend company occupied our Saturday and Sunday as we relaxed in the friendship of folks who have been an important part of our lives for many years. Vibrant conversation, quiet meals and the pleasure of hosting our guest's first time trip to the Scotts Bluff Monument, Rubidoux Pass and trading post and the Wildcat Hills seemed more important than deadlines. I know that the editors are at this moment wondering if perhaps this will finally be that "first time" that I miss the cut-off, but I should be able to squeak by.

At any rate, this will be the last column of October and over the years October has become quite an extraordinary month for me and for those I hold close. October marks the change of seasons as the vibrant green of summer gives way to the rustle of corn stalks ready for harvest, and last spring's calves are shipped to market.

October brings that first, crisp frost that glistens in the early morning sun and puts a bite in the air that reminds us that winter is just around the corner. Leaves begin to lose their hold on branches that have sustained them for the past six months as they change to shades of crimson and gold. Soon the ground will be littered with their colors while stark branches overhead wait for that first glorious covering of feather-light snow. Nature is taking a long, deep breath and waits.

October is a reminder of those shortened daylight hours and the long, cold nights of late January and early February when nine months later there are scores of birthdays to be celebrated. Perhaps mine is not the only family with aunts and uncles, cousins and nephews born in the month of October. This year, along with a score of other birthdays, we celebrated my dad's 93 years and his honored position as patriarch of our ever-growing clan of nearly 80 descendants. We also celebrated the birth of a granddaughter, a first for Deb and me.

October is also Breast Cancer Awareness month and marks an important milestone as Deb celebrates her ninth year of being cancer-free and we continue to advocate for cancer research for all cancer patients.

But for now, I'm going to focus on just three of the last days of the month, Oct. 26, 27 and 28. Three days in history that hosted a number of significant events over the past 190 years.

On Oct. 26, 1825, New York Gov. DeWitt Clinton led the ceremonies at the opening of the Erie Canal. The hand dug canal, dubbed "Clinton's Ditch," was begun in August of 1823 and connected the Great Lakes of the northeastern United States with the Atlantic Ocean by crossing the state of New York from Albany to Buffalo. In 1817 the legislature authorized an expenditure of $7 million to build a proposed canal that would be 363 miles in length, 40 feet wide and four feet deep.

When the work was completed, more than two years later, the final length of the canal was 425 miles and 83 locks had been built to accommodate a 500-foot increase in elevation. The route had been plowed by teams of oxen and the canal was dug by hand using mostly Irish laborers who were paid $10 a month. It is said that additional incentive was provided with barrels of whisky located along the route.

On the inaugural day, Gov. Clinton left Buffalo aboard the canal boat 'Seneca Chief.' His departure was announced in New York by strategically placed cannon that were fired sequentially. After the first cannon was fired, each consecutive cannon was fired when the retort of the previous one was heard. Using this method, New York learned of Clintons' departure a mere 81 minutes after he had left Buffalo. It was, at that time, the fastest mode of communication ever achieved. Governor Clinton arrived in New York nine days later on Nov. 4.

Thirty-three years later, on Oct. 27, 1858, Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was born in Manhattan, New York. Perhaps one of our nations most famous and revered individuals, Teddy Roosevelt would scorch the pages of history with his bravery, valor and service to the country. It is likely that his life was the personification of the great American, wild west adventurer, cowboy and rancher, hero and leader of men at San Juan Hill, public servant, New York City constable, preservationist and President of the United States. Roosevelt was a man of action, conviction and perseverance a true American hero.

When Roosevelt was only 15 years old, the west that he had read and dreamed about was already changing. On Oct. 27, 1873, Joseph Glidden applied for and received a patent for the manufacture of barbed wire. Some called it "Devil's Wire" and it certainly did bring out the worst in cattlemen and homesteaders. It would be interesting to know how many hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of miles of barbed wire have been strung across this continent.

And if barbed wire alone did not bring enough bloodshed to the west, the struggle for money, power, justice and personal revenge certainly contributed its fair share. On Oct. 26, 1881, the Earps, Clantons and McLaurys, along with Doc Holiday and others, would face off in the beginnings of a long and bloody feud on the back lot of a livery stable in Tombstone, Ariz.

From the growing pains of the west to the industrialization of the east our endeavors to bring culture to our eastern shores might well have been crowned by the monumental gift that was given to the United States by the French. It was Oct. 28, 1886, that President Grover Cleveland dedicated the colossal bronze sculpture that had been shipped to the U.S. in 200 specially constructed wooden crates. After being uncrated and reassembled the majestic "Lady Liberty" stood proudly in New York harbor opening her arms to more than 12 million refugees that would flock to America over the following three decades. And 15 years later in 1904, with streets already congested with commerce, New York City would open the doors to an underground network of rail transit, The NYC Subway.

Pushing the fast forward button and flashing past prohibition and the roaring twenties, the Great Depression, Dust Bowl years and two world wars we were on the threshold of a social, cultural and economic boom and the era of the baby boomers. Yep, that's me. Just weeks before the historic "Blizzard of '49" I made my entrance into this bustling world and though that event is of little historic significance, it did make a lasting impression on my mom and dad.

I grew up during the so-called era of post-war prosperity, an era that I'm pretty sure never made it to the rural communities of northeastern Kansas. When statistics reported that the average household had two televisions and two cars we were still listening to the radio and wishing for indoor plumbing.

We were acutely aware of the cold war and the threat of nuclear attack. With little more than 50 miles between my school and Forbes Air Force Base in Topeka, Kan., my classmates and I were drilled in the proper procedure in the event of a nuclear attack: "Crouch beneath your desk with your head between your knees, face away from the windows and close your eyes. (The blast of an Atomic bomb could blind if you looked directly at it.)". It seems we weren't told the real truth about a lot of things.

Khrushchev and Eisenhower, (remember Khrushchev pounding his shoe on the podium), Khrushchev and Kennedy, The Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Woodstock and Kent State, it was a time of prosperity and rebellion, a nation in a continuous state of rebirth.

Though not the last of these great and historic events of recent years, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the engineering wonder of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Mo. Completed on Oct. 28, 1965, the gleaming symbol of the "Gateway to the West" commemorates the starting point of the nations westward expansion.

Trappers and traders, homesteaders, gold seekers, dreamers and doers, all stepped foot on the western banks of the Mississippi and spread out across the continent like a giant swarm of industrious ants searching for the perfect spot to start their colony.

At 630 feet high the Gateway Arch, designed by Eero Saarinen in 1947, stands at twice the height of the Statue of Liberty and 100 feet higher than the Washington Monument. It stands as a gleaming, stainless steel monument, a modern day rainbow, a reminder of the past and a promise for the future.

M. Timothy Nolting is an award-winning Nebraska columnist and freelance writer. Contact Tim via email at [email protected].

 

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