Newsletter May 1, 2006

Greetings to all, hope everyone weathered thru the recent severe storms ok, the rain was very much welcome but not the rest. Old Shadow was doing her “stuck like glue” routine she does not like storms at all! The gauge read 3.4 inches but I’m sure it missed some as part of that rain was coming down horizontally. It sure has been an odd Spring, 44 degrees earlier in the week, 96 degrees just six days before that. Luckily I haven’t done much with the garden yet, did get it tilled up week before last. It was so dry I only saw two earthworms and both were carrying canteens!

WHAT’S GOING ON, please check the enclosed fliers and site map for the fine doins at the Cadron Blockhouse later in the month. The braintan seminar for there has been postponed till the Fall, cooler weather to work them hides. Need to confirm these dates but believe Bryant’s treerat weekend will be September 22-24 at the Madison county WMA. Seeing I’ll be that close probably have to stop in at my favorite gun makers and lunch at the bean palace.

WHAT’S NEW, welcome back Mike Piper, Mike renewed his membership at the Gathering, it was great to visit and get caught up on things. Greetings and special welcome to new member, Mr. Marvin Woody who made the trek with Mike, look forward to seeing more of you both on the trail.

Madam VP has asked all the state reps and governors to relay information regarding the 06-07 membership drive. I will attempt to use some of my new found electronic skills to retrieve it from the message boards and get it posted somehow in the newsletter, don’t hold your breath!

WHAT’S OLD, the National Gathering 06 is gone but never forgotten. Every year we get a little bigger and better. Many Thanks to Steve and the entire Ft Osage site staff, they treated us like family as always. The CoHT made a very wise choice in voting Ft Osage as the permanent Gathering site.

Special Thanks to Mr. Bob Dorian for yet another excellent seminar, this year Bob spoke on the Santa Fe Trade era with his usual host of wonderful displays and books. Many Thanks to all the members that volunteered to host seminars and demonstrations apologize if I leave anyone out.

Dick, Pete, Tom, Rooster, Dan, Swanny, Wart, Ed, Veronica, Kathy and Karen. Thanks to everyone who helped out the public visitors, I believe we made a very favorable impression on many.
This year an overnight Missouri river canoe trek was added. I heard everyone enjoyed it so much it will now be a regular part of the Gathering.

Being just a week ago it might be a bit before the Eboard members get their particular reports finalized and posted, I will forward that info as available.

The SCT renewal/new app program was a little late to implement and a little confusing, hope to get the bugs worked out by 07. I believe it ended up with eleven names in the drawing, Tracy Smith was the lucky winner with his money back and a huge box of delicious cookies.(special hugs for the Wiese girls help)

The auction, well it was one of those “you had to be there” kind of events. If you don’t like to laugh don’t show up is all I can say! Mr. Underwood and I got into our usual bidding war fun, Miss Becky and others jumped in there also. Afterwards Dick jokingly accused me of coaching some of them.

The memory and laughter of a lifetime was Swanny auctioning off a pint of pickled peppers, wish I had that one on tape. He didn’t falter till the very end and that was due to lack of oxygen!

Moon’s preliminary auction report was over 2,800 dollars, WOW. Thank You just isn’t enough for all those that donated items and participated.

Ft Osage National Gathering 07 is already under way. Swanny has asked for a planning and logistics committee to be chaired by Tater. There have already been several good ideas presented to help improve the event.

ADVERTISEMENT, Kristopher has two green size XL capotes for sale, pretty sure one is made from a Whitney. Finally got a look see at Mr. Javine’s 1717 LeRoi, pretty sweet, especially for F&I and earlier personas. Don’t forget about the up coming Market Faire at Cadron, could be a very good turn out, at least no one will go hungry.

OUTDOOR ACTIVITES, received word from several members and friends that have bagged nice turkeys. I had an extremely good chance at a short bearded young tom, don’t think he was the sharpest of birds, just stood there for quite some time trying to figure out what that big blob was sitting under a tree. Hope he doesn’t get any smarter with age.

Word has it the edible mushrooms have received some moisture and waiting for the Sun to return, this is from a gentleman that can find them blindfolded in the dark.

Don’t forget that the deadline for the ODWC permit hunts is May 5th, good luck to those applying.

BOOK REVIEW, Thanks to Judith Clarke with an E for forwarding a review for this edition, believe me, if Judith says it’s a good book then it’s a good book.
I picked up a couple new books at Ft Osage and several good titles from Mr. Dorian to head to the bookstore with.

In closing it seems I used Thank You numerous times in this edition, yes every one is most hearted sincere. What a diverse, enjoyable and down right fun group of folks we have in the CoHT!
Until the post rider reaches you again, laugh a lot and Take Care,

YMH&OS,
My friends,

Though they may not have "worked" too well in the past, we've decided to hold a membership drive for this next year and make it worth your while by awarding prizes for the largest number of new memberships.

A new line has been added to our membership applications - a temporary one can be found at http://www.coht.org/app.jpg I'd like you to use this one AT LEAST UNTIL the app in the normal online area can be changed. This one can be printed out quite easily and given to prospective members to send in.

PLEASE REMEMBER - in order to have your referrals counted, the "Referred by" line MUST be sent in.

Credit for a membership will be given and recorded by our membership director, Jim "Wart" Perkins for each PAID membership sent in with the “Referred by” section filled in.

Dates of the membership drive will be from April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2007. Prizes will be awarded at the 2007 National Gathering. You won't need to be in attendance to win, though perhaps it will encourage you to show up in order to get it sooner. *grin*

Prizes are as follows:

For first place (minimum 15 memberships) - .45 caplock (I'll get details, maybe photos for you as soon as I can.)
For second place (minimum 12 memberships) – steel brazier (ditto)
For third place (minimum 10 memberships) – hand sewn linen shirt (ditto)
For fourth place (minimum 6 memberships) – 1 year CoHT membership
For fifth place (minimum 3 memberships) – 6 month CoHT membership

It's important that all prizes be awarded. Though I hate to reward for mediocre performance, however if our goals aren’t met, then the prizes will be awarded to those members with the largest # of memberships referred.

Prizes (except for the free memberships) have been donated by members of the CoHT who wish to remain anonymous.

Thank you my friends, and good luck!

Shorto, Russell. The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan & the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America . New York : Doubleday, 2004.

Among the many truths that govern what we know of the past is “History is written by the winners.” That has been especially true of the history of this country in regard to the early Colonial period. Add to this the difficulty of a constantly changing language, and you have the “forgotten colony” of New Netherland .

Russell Shorto has written an excellent factual history that is laced with witty observations on the early days of New Netherland, especially the village of New Amsterdam and the varied characters who made up its population. Most of us grew up hearing about Manhattan being purchased for $24 by Peter Minuit and about peg-legged Governor Peter Stuyvesant who gave the colony to the English. The truth is much more interesting than the caricatures that we learned in school, reinforced by Washington Irving’s comic Knickerbockers of later years. Manhattan was purchased with trade goods close to the value of the prices other Dutchmen paid for similar tracts of land. Stuyvesant surrendered the colony because he had no support from the colonists, who had been grossly neglected by the Dutch West India Company, who held title to it and treated it as a trading post, not as a settlement. New Amsterdam was the trading center of North America from its beginning, but grew into a real settlement, much more than a trading post. Why have we not learned this before? Shorto quips, “The Pilgrims’ story was simpler, less messy and had fewer pirates and prostitutes to explain away.”

Many of the records detailing the governing of New Netherland by the West India Company were sold for scrap in 1820, but some records survived, both in New York and in England . Those held by the New York State Library are still being translated and give much more information on the great influence the Dutch had on the land that became the United States . Part of the story Shorto tells is the story of the survival of these records.

New Amsterdam was a rowdy village, many of whose buildings were devoted to the sale and consumption of alcohol. Its residents came from all over the world and spoke in their native tongues. Many English religious dissidents fled to New Netherland from New England , which was extremely repressive and intolerant under the Pilgrims. (The famed Dutch religious tolerance was more forbearance than acceptance. They had learned that forcing people to follow the “true” word of God caused social unrest and was bad for business. And, after all, the Dutch were very interested in business and money-making.)

A good portion of the book deals with the relations between Peter Stuyvesant and Adriaen Van der Donck and their conflict over the governance of New Amsterdam . Van der Donck was a lawyer trained in Leiden during the time that Rene Descartes and Hugo Grotius were there. He believed in the freedoms they espoused and worked to obtain a charter that gave the residents of the colony the same rights and freedoms held by the residents of the City of Amsterdam itself. When the English took over, they left the Dutch institutions intact and granted the colony “Articles of Capitulation” which stated that the New Amsterdam, now New York , colonists would enjoy “liberty of their Consciences.” None of the other English colonies had that guarantee. Following this precedent, the New York State Legislature decided not to ratify the United States Constitution in 1787 unless “a bill of specific individual rights were attached to it.” It can be said that New Netherland was partly responsible for the Bill of Rights.

This is an enjoyable, informative book and sheds some very long overdue light on the Forgotten Colony. I recommend it highly.

Judith Clarke