Americam Muslims

General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing Viet Cong Captain Nguyen Van Lem: Eddie Adams' Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph.


From the desk of Tim Rice

Israel has been fighting hezbollah for 3 weeks. Hezbollah is still throwing 75 to 100 missiles a day at Israel. Where are they getting them? Bush says Syria and Iran. Surely they've used all the missles that they had stored up. Now Chavez has joined up with Iran. They've got some deep pockets on the world market.
Bush doesn't want a "cease fire". He says he wants a lasting peace. They've had cease fires before that don't last.
An American Muslim emptied his gun at 6 jewish old ladies in Seattle. He said he hates Jews. Yeah, I heard the news this morning that he was bi-polar and not on his meds, but I'm not stupid, somebody taught him hatred. He didn't read it in a magazine, he didn't read it on the internet at Yahoo, he didn't see it on CNN. It was taught to him at his local mosque by other Muslims that he listened to. This American Muslim's are for peace is............BULLSHIT.
When will the world and your President admit that this war on terror is a war on Muslims? In Iran they protested the Israeli attacks on Lebannon. There were protest signs against the USA. I wasn't aware that we were fighting alongside the Israeli's. The Muslims must think we are. Obviously we can't win the war on terror in Iraq. We must do something about the rest of the Muslim's. Even the one's here. Isn't the President sworn to provide protection for American citizens? Then outlaw muslim's, NOW. Round 'em up, put 'em in the camps, remove them from our society. Guess you didn't realise that there are muslims in Wichita that hate jews and might mistake you for one even if your not. You are at risk of a muslim attach. If you think this sounds outlandish, the FBI sent out a warning to all of Seattle and surrounding areas to put Jewish gathering places on alert.
Back to Israel, they are in the position we were in at Fallujah. They are going to have to go house to house in each village to clean them out. If they don't, the fighting won't stop. Even if they do, the fighting won't stop if the muslims rally behind Hezbollah and come in from other countries like Syria and Iran.
I don't see a good ending to all this for quite sometime. We have all of our Military in Iraq with the best equipment we can provide and we can't control Baghdad. The "elected" president of Iraq, Maliki, came over here last week and met with Bush and chewed him out for his lack of support. Bush came out of the meeting and announced he was sending another 5000 troops to Baghdad. Sounds like we're losing. On hardball, Chris Matthews said that he remembers during Vietnam we had 500,000 troops there when the VC started the TET Offensive. They attacked all of the provincial capitols at once. After it was over, Westmooreland said he wanted another 250,000 troops. Yes, we were losing. Yes we are losing in Iraq.
At least we don't have battle of the networks over the spelling of Hezbollah. Remember when Fox called the lead terrorist Usama Bim Ladin instead of Osama. Rumsfeld settled that one day in a press conference when he said he got a "UBL" report every day.
I just don't see a good ending to all this.

My comments,
The audacity of General Westmoreland to ask for another 250,000 troops after the Tet offensive. Here are the numbers, doesn't look like a lose to me. We had 8000 dead, they had 25,000-45,000 dead. We had 30,000 wounded, they had 30,000 to 50,000 wounded. Another political move by a General, that eventually persuaded the American people we were losing that War. This also led to Lyndon Johnson announcing he would not run again. He kept telling America we were winning, when, in fact we were losing. Why? Because for every 50,000 or 100,000 we killed, the very next day, there were just as many replacements marching down the Ho Chinh Minh trail from China.
Concerning the old Jewish ladies killed in Seattle Yesterday. Today, the FBI called this a hate crime. This is the definitive, and most civil way of saying that it is terrorism, plain and simple. I am sure that all American Muslim Mosque are being scrutinized as we speak. Oh darn, I forgot Homeland Security is out of money, full of corruption, and nobody knows what they do anyway. Another political disaster. Watch your back!!!!!
Daniel

Boone Chastain Rice was my Great Grandfather

(Boone C. Rice, second row, second from the left)

As I had stated before, I have spent many hours researching Boone Rice. The four short paragraphs I attached with the picture this week, barely touches the surface. The real story of Boone Chastain Rice is to follow.

To tell the story of Boone we must first go back to my 4th Great Grandfather, James Rice. James was born in 1736, Halifax,VA and he married Alice Hix, she was born 1742. Alice had a brother John Hix who married James Rice sister Sibeller Lydia Rice. This is the way they did things back then, families intermarried. The Rice's married into the Bailey family over seventy-five times over a period of one hundred years. There were alot of Rice names that came from the Hix side of the family, Joshua, Lydia, Sabra, Hiram, Morris, and other's. Myself and many other descendents of James Rice do not know who James Rice descends from exactly. Who his Daddy is.

But we do know, and my DNA proves, that he is a descendent of Thomas Rice and Ann Marcey Hews, who, at age eleven, came to this country in 1656 aboard the ship"Bristol". Yes, the ship named after the famous Port of Bristol, England. Which was the largest import and export of emmigrants and slaves of that period. Thomas was indentured to the Captain of this ship and did serve out his indenturement and was awarded land for his servitude. Although Thomas was from Wales, he did have other family in England. Thomas had gone back to England to accept a large inheritance, and on his travel back aboard ship, he was killed in 1711. (From my notes............Thomas was born in England of Welsh extraction. The Wales family had a coat of arms with the motto, "Fides non Timet" (Loyalty, not fearing). The Welsh spelling for the surname was Rhys. After settling in Hanover Co., VA and having 12 children, he received notice of an inheritance in England. He never arrived there and is believed to have been assassinated at sea. No will in England mentioning him has as yet been located...............and more notes............"A record in Gloucester, Virginia, home of the early Gwynns,indicates that a Thomas Rice owned 30 plus acres in that county. [Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 32, pg 259.] p. 46 . . . "The Hanover Rices claim a coat of arms said to be the same as that of the Rice and Thomas families which stem from Sir Rhys ap Thomas, a natural son of George Plantagenet. This line had a peerage granted by Bloody Mary in 1555. Earlier figures of interest in the lines are Sir Griffith Rice, Catherine Howard, who descended from William, the Conqueror, and Vryan Reged, lord, of South Wales. [Coat-of-arms data; for genealogy of Welsh Rice family, see A History of Wales by Sir John Edward Lloyd, condensed in Rice and McGhee Families History.]") The Rhys family of Wales can be searched on the internet. You will find they had many Castles and fought many Wars to protect their territories, the Rhys name dates back to around 1100 A.D........more notes..........The Welsh Rices of Dynevor Castle - from Shelby Rice Sutton of St. Georges, Delaware This goes back to the 11th century to give the background of those ancient Welsh princes whose given name was Rhys (Rice). There were times in the pre-Norman period when the Deheubarth kings were unable to maintain their hold on all parts of the kingdom. Rhys ap Tewdwr, the last independent Deheubarth king to rule the whole kingdom, was killed in a 1093 skirmish with Normah forces. His death marked the end of an era. By the early years of the 12th Century The three provinces of Deheubarth became part of a territory of lordships ruled by Normans who enjoyed a power derived by conquest from the Welsh kings they displaced. Rhys ap Tewdr left a son, Gruffudd ap Rhys, brought up in exile in Ireland, Gruffudd returned to try and regain his father's kingdom. He managed to secure a foothold in Ystrad Tywi from which he launched a powerful Welsh campaign after the 1135 death of Henry I. Gruffudd fell during early stages of the struggle and his three elder sons were in due course eliminated. A fourth son, Rhys ap Gruffudd, survived. By 1171 he had secured control not only of the greater part of Ystrad Tywi, but the whole of Credigion and parts of Dyfed. The same year Henry II, anxious to secure settlement of the Welsh problem, recognized the position Rhys had won for himself. Rhys, from his chief castle at Dinefwr, ruled a Deheubarth which - though less extensive than the pre-Norman kingdom was still a major political entity. The earliest surviving redaction of Welsh law emanates from Deheubarth and is very probably to be attributed to the years of Rhys' supremacy. …At this gathering - proclaimed the previous year throughout Wales, England, Scotland and Ireland - Rhys set two contests, one for the poetry and another for "the harpers and the crowders and the pipers and various classes of music" and chairs were awarded to the winner of each contest. It was after the 1189 death of Henry II and Rhys's failure to secure rapport with Richard I that major conflict broke out. Rhys turned first to those lordships on the perimeter of his principality and then to the frontier central sections, but the ageing warrior's vigorous campaigns did not solve these issues. Before Rhys ap Gruffudd's 1197 death, Deheubarth itself was rent by the conflict which arose between his sons. It seems likely Rhys intended his eldest son, Gruffudd, should succeed him as ruler of the entire kingdom, which he had ruled from Dinefwr, but within a few weeks of the Lord Rhys's death Gruffudd's position was challenged by three of his brothers, Maelgwyn, Rhys Gryg and Maredudd. Maredudd and Rhys Gryg were the first to gain possession of Dinefwr, but on July 2, 1201, Maredudd was killed fighting against the Normans. Rhys Gryg managed to hold on to Dinefwr, but Gruffudd seized Cantref Bychan and its main castle at Llandovery. Then on July 21 Gruffudd died at Trate Florida, leaving two young sons, Rhys Ieunac and Owain. IN spite of their youth, the two sons continued the struggle against their uncles to hold on to at least some of their father's territory. During the next few years Dinefwr changed hands often but Rhys Gryg gradually asserted a hold on Ystrad Tywi. There were no surnames in the days of the Welsh "Rice" princes. The name "Rhys ap Tewdwr" means Rice, son of Tewdwr, with Rhys (or Rice) and Tewdwr both being first names. Thus Gruffudd ap Rhys is Gruffudd, son of Rhys, and his son, in turn, is Rhys ap Gruffudd. All their descendants could just as legitimately claim as a surname Tudor (Tedwdwr) or Griffith (Gruffudd), instead of Rice (Rhys). Later, when surnames became obligatory, some descendants adopted the Rice surname...........more notes......In the later part of his life, he owned a small plantation in the lower part of what is now called Hanover County, Virginia. He received this land from King George II by deed, dated April 29, 1693, for 1, 200 acres of land in Hanover County, on both sides of Cub Creek and Dirty Swamp, bounded by the lands of Col. Davis Meriwether, James Goodall and Richard Brooks. Tragedy overtook Thomas Rice when he let his wife, with nine sons and three daughters, and went to England to receive a considerable estate which had been left to him. He did not return. The sailors reported that he died at sea. It is supposed that he was assassinated. Nothing was ever heard regarding the inherited English estate. "His family was left destitute in a strange land....." "The family being left without an earthly father, were distressed, but they were, in the good providence of 'God, provided for." Memoirs of the Reverend David Rice, published by Thomas T. Skillman, Lexington, Kentucky. 1824, pg. 420. (B.R. 55K 46, rare Book Division, Congressional Library, Washington, D,C

James Rice had a brother Jonathan, and sisters Nancy and Sibeller Lydia. James and Alice had eight children, Nancy, James Jr., Frances, Hiram, Martha "Patsy", Sabra, and of course my 3rd Great Grandfather Jonathan. Jonathan, I call him Senior, was born 1760. He married his first cousin Rebecca Hix, daughter of John Hix and Sibeller Lydia Rice. This was not unusual for family to marry family, especially cousins. He may have grown up with her, and may have been the only woman within 100 miles that he liked. My Pappy, Lloyd Rice wrote "I married the girl that lived down the road". He married her because they grew up together, and live so close. They were married 62 years, not counting the years they grew up together. (From my notes.......Jonathan was the wealthy member of the family. Many were named after him for 3 generations. Inventory of property held 2-17- 1825. His will is in Will Book C Pg 160, Their home was in Logan Co Ky near the Robertson Co Tn State line. Several of his children died in infancy The children of Jonathan and Rebecca had fair intellects especially Jonathan Jr. Jonathan moved to Logan Co Ky in the late 1790's. Jonathan Jr. moved to Polk County, Mo. around 1835.) Jonathan was in the Mill business in Logan County, KY. Because of his wealth, he was left out of his father, James Rice, will. James Rice first settled in Robertson County, TN, and later moved to logan County, KY. We had family that lived on both sides of the River, as the river was the dividing line. James Rice is listed with the D.A.R. as America Revolutinary soldier, and I assume his venture to TN, was his miltary land grant tenured after the War. ( More Notes....You must realize by now that migration for what was to become America, led from Jamestown, down to Virginia and the Carolina’s. Then when Daniel Boone built the “Wilderness Path “, in to Kentucky, and Tennessee. All of the migration to Missouri came mostly from Kentucky and Tennessee. At that time, part of Kentucky belong to Virginia, before Kentucky became a state in 1797. There are a lot of Rice's in Kentucky, who settled there before statehood. The Rice’s migrated from Virginia, I suspect after the American Revolutionary War. Military/Pension Land Warrants were used a lot in Kentucky. These warrants were issued to soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War, instead of pay they got land warrants. Some of the Land Warrants were issued by the British, to those that help them fight the war, as if they really had a right, after that war, to give land away. History will show, that the very reasons that started Wars, those problems, seem to linger long after these Wars had ended. This also led to the War of 1812, when we finally kick the British boot out. These Land Warrants could be sold or given to others, many were given to other family members. They were like cash tender. By 1825, the warrants were no good in Kentucky., and Missouri and Illinois became public-domain, where you could buy 100 acres of land for $4. This was part of the Louisiana Purchase, 1803. Sometimes the land would be auctioned off. “Squatters” were people that settled land before a territory had become a state. After statehood, these people were offered to buy the land for $1.25 an acre up to 160 acres, and some of these folks lost their land in auctions.)
Jonathan Sr. and Rebecca had five children, Elizabeth "Betsy", Lydia, Nancy, Joshua Morris, and of course my 2nd Great Grandfather Jonathan. Jonathan Sr. died in 1825. Young Jonathan, born 1801, would have been twenty- four years old. I'm sure he accrued his fathers wealth and learned the trade of running a Mill. It was then in 1835 that Jonathan migrated to Polk County, Mo. According to my Uncle Jacks notes, Jonathan and his friend James Albert "Boone" Chastain and Boone's wife Elizabeth Porter Chastain made the trip, followed by several slaves. Both Jonathan and Boone were early settlers of that county. I assume that Jonathan and his friend Boone started a sawmill business. Boone was killed in a sawmill accident around 1838, and he is buried next to where the old sawmill once stood.
Let's get a visual on this whole situation. Elizabeth has her house, Jonathan has his house. Elizabeth has her slaves, and Jonathan has his. Elizabeth is now half owner of the Sawmill, and she is eighteen years old. Jonathan is twenty years older than Elizabeth. According to records three years pass before Jonathan marries Elizabeth, in 1841. I'm sure he took care of her during those years. But first they were friends, then business partners, and then husband and wife. What a story! They named there first born, my Great Grandfather Boone. Why? Because Boone was a dear friend, husband? Who knows, but the story of Boone Chastain is interesting. He was full French. I suspect that Elizabeth was full French also. That is why my DNA reflects so much French blood. Boone Chastain had a Great Grandfather by the name Pierre "Peter" Chastain who married Susanne Soblet.......(My notes.........Pierre and Susanne had 5 children when they fled from Charost across the Jura Mountains to Vevey, Canton Vaud, Switzerland to escape religious persecution. After September 1698, the family departed Vevey for The Hague in the Netherlands. From there they moved to London, England. Pierre became active in gathering a group of French Huguenot refugees for colonization in Virginia. They arrived with a group of 207 passengers from Gravesend, England on 19 April 1700 aboard the ship Mary and Ann of London, to the James River on 12 July 1700 and settled in Manakin,Goochland, Virginia about 20 miles up the James River. The group was given a 10,000 acre tract of land. Susanne died in February of 1701.) You can search the French Huguenot story on the internet. It's interesting! There was alot of French Huguenots that came to America, but Boone Chastain's family was first.

You already have the rest of Boone's story......well almost!

Lloyd Rice tells this story
"Shadows Over My Shoulders"
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Boone Chastine Rice b Dec 15 1844 in Ky., d 6 May 1913 Rogers Mill county, Ok. married Dec 5 1880 Barbara Amelia McMehen born Canada-Irish July 1857 d Dec 1 1925 Walnut Grove, Mo.

Children:

James Boone, born May 12, 1882, said to have been killed in a gunfight.



Mary Barbara (Mabel) b Jan 30 1884 married Charles Harless, had two sons. When the Rice family first migrated to Roger Mills County, Mabel was only 15 years old and she taught the school there at Clabber Hill.

twin Lloyd M b June 1885, my Grandfather, married Ira Belle Word. Ira Belle's Grandfather Orville Word, married Eliza Wilcox Hays. Eliza was one of the Great Grandaughter's of Daniel Boone.

twin Leslie M b June 1885, married Susie Noble, children: Barbara, Eddie, Bob,and Joe.

Robert M (Bobby) b June 1888 d 12/21/1921 died during WWI
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Biography of Boone C. Rice

Boone C. RICE was born in Polk County, MO, December 15, 1844. His father, Jonathan RICE, was a native of Logan County, KY, and came to Polk County, MO, in about 1830. The subject of this sketch was educated in the common schools of his native county, and at an early age, began farming. In 1863, he enlisted in Company L, 15th Missouri Cavalry, under Col. John Allen and was on Price's last raid through Missouri and participated in the battle of Big Blue, and other engagements. After the war, he returned to Polk County and went to farming on the old homestead, and also engaged in buying mules for the Southern market. Mr. RICE came to Walnut Grove in 1878, and worked for B.Y. ACUFF and J. BROWN till August 1880, when he opened up a drug store for himself, the firm being RICE & KING. The firm was dissolved by mutual consent in October 1882, and Mr. RICE made a trip to Texas, returning in December following. Mr. RICE was married December 5, 1880, to Miss Barbara McMEHEN, daughter of James McMEHEN, one of the most prominent citizens of the northwest part of Greene County. Mr. and Mrs. RICE have one child, a boy names James B., born May 12, 1882. Mr. RICE is a Freemason in good standing, and his wife belongs to the M.E. Church South. They have many warm friends, and are highly esteemed by all who know them. Mr. RICE has been quite successful in business and retains the confidence of people among whom his business career has been known.
Source: "History of Greene County, 1883", R. I Holcomb, Editing Historian, Biographies.

Daniel Rice comments: I have corrected this Biography, originally written by Goodspeed publishing and then transcribed again by R.I. Holcombe.. It says that Boone was with the 15th Missouri Calvary, CSA , this is not true. There was a 15th Missouri Calvary Army of the Northern Sub-District of Arkansas, Surrendered 11 May 1865 by M. Jeff Thompson to MG G. M. Dodge, commanding the Department of Missouri. Paroled at Jacksonport, Ark, 5 Jun 1865. The 15th fought many battles in Missouri. But by 1863, the Union Troops were in control of Missouri. There were no more CSA units in Missouri. Boone Rice enlisted on Nov. 1, 1863 in Co. L, 15th Regiment., Missouri Vol. Cavalry. Discharged on July 1, 1865.This is reflected on Boone’s discharge of which I have in my possession. Boone was seventeen years old when he entered service and nineteen years old when discharged. Boone may have been in the “Battle of Price’s Last Raid”, but not as a Confederate. It was General Sterling Price's last attempt to take Missouri back from the occupying Union Army in the fall of 1864. Price marched out of Arkansas with eight ragged brigades totaling about 12,000 men, led by some of his most competent generals, including Jo Shelby, James S. Fagan, John S. Marmaduke and the “Swamp Fox,” Jeff Thompson. He hoped many more Missouri boys would join him as he marched through the State, but this hoped for support (part of which he imagined to be members of a shadowy Confederate underground sometimes known as the “Knights of the Golden Circle”) never really materialized.

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Daniel Rice comments: There were some prominent stock men (cattlemen) in Walnut Grove township. I believe B.C. Rice , in this biography, made the trip to Texas to sell cattle or mules, selling to the Southern Market. Then eventually, I believe is why he settled in Roger Mills County, Ok. To homestead a cattle ranch. By 1880, there were no more cattle drives to be found. Moving cattle was now in the hands of the great railroad system. The Railroad had bypassed the town of Orleans, close to where Boone lived. Eventually Orleans became non-existent. Boone is now forty-five years old, but he needed to move on. Boone brought his cattle with him to Oklahoma in 1889. They lived in tents for almost two years, in the Arbuckle Indian Territory, close to Purcell, Ok., and then participated in the “Oklahoma Run”, in 1892. During this time he leased land to grow feed for his cattle. Lloyd M. Rice wrote " In a few minutes he (Boone) came back to the second wagon, pulled by four horses and driven by my twin brother. The wheel horse was saddled and one of us rode it while the other drove. Sometimes one rode a horse and herded the cattle following behind the wagons", "The Land is again a cattle ranch. However, there are no small boys chasing coyotes to their dens in this modern age". To put this in perspective, Lloyd and Leslie were only five or six years old when they made this trip. Here was one twin boy on a horse, and the other twin pulling at the reins of a covered wagon. Even though the “Run” had been announced in 1889, due to government bureaucracy, the run did not take place till 1892. There were problems getting some of the Indians off the land, and some of the Indians got first choice of properties, which had to be formalized. The land also had to be surveyed, which took a substantial amount of time. Maybe Boone thought it was going to happen quickly, which it didn’t, but at any rate, they lived there in limbo for some time. I have been told by reliable sources, that almost twenty-five thousand settlers lined on the Texas side of the territory, and they ran south to north. The U.S, Calvary was there, and fired the gun to start the “Run”, and yes, there were those who jumped the gun, now called “Sooner’s”. It would be almost another fifteen years before any roads were built around Roger Mills County. When Boone settled on the land, they made a “dugout” to live in until they built the house. When, my brother Tim, and my father visited there in the mid-seventies, the old dugout was still visible, the windmill was still standing. It must have taken months getting the lumber to the land to build the home. The lumber was hauled one hundred and fifty miles from the end of the railroad. It is overwhelming for me to think of this land with no roads, no fences, wild prairie grass growing to shoulder length while on horseback. Daniel Rice and notes from Uncle Jack

Prior to the passage of the Organic Act of 1890, an Indian Commission of three men were appointed to work with the Indians and persuade them to take their lands by allotment. The surplus would then be opened for settlement. The Indian Commission worked with the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes at Fort Sill for several years, and finally the Jerome Agreement was signed. The Tribes were allotted their homesteads, and the remainder of the rest of the area would be available for settlement by others. The lands of the Cheyenne - Arapaho country were to be decided by a "land run", a race for claims in the reservation. This run was held April 19, 1892. Daniel Rice

When driving between Lone Wolf in Kiowa County and Granite in Greer County, on Highway 9, or west out of Sentinel on Highway 55, even the natives of the area has trouble imagining six million Texas Longhorn cattle with hundreds of trail bosses, chuckwagons, and remudas of 40 to 50 horses ambling through and grazing contentedly in the lush, green grass during the period from 1866 until 1885. In addition to the many enormous drives, cattle herds also traveled in fewer numbers until 1892 when homesteaders located and began fencing Oklahoma Territory. Local lore and history tells about the Great Western Trail traversing this area with it's origin at Bandera, Texas, just to the NW of San Antonio, about 450 miles south of the Red River, and it's destination of Dodge City, Kansas, about 45 miles north of Indian Territory. Some historians called the trail the old Doan Trail, because it crossed the Red River at Doan's crossing. Others called it the Old Dodge City Trail, because it ended at Dodge City. Some even confused it with the Chisholm or Chisum Trail, which actually lay further east near El Reno. Oklahoma State Highway Department called it the Old Texas Trail on their map published in 1933.
The Great Western cattle Trail was only a few miles west of Elk City, and the Rice Homestead. After the land had been settled in 1892, there were others who used the old trail. Lloyd M. Rice wrote: Father had a windmill on the place, which furnished an everlasting stream of pure, cold water. So, all the freighters, all the hunters of homes, all the outlaws, all the people who were running from "you guess what" came by our Homestead...at different times we met Frank and Jesse James, Temple Houston and others who were nameless. They stopped, drank our water, watered their horses and slept in my fathers house, ate his bread and went on their way. Daniel Rice

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Boone C. Rice Register of Land Office at Mangum, OK
Homestead Certificate #4320 and application #17623
Legal Description is
SE1/4NW1/4, NE1/4SW1/4 AND the Lots numbered 2 and 3 of Section 18-12-21.
containing 152 and 56/100 acres.

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Original Civil War Discharge By Daniel Rice
Boone C. Rice served with:

15th REGIMENT MO CAVALRY.

Organized November 1, 1863, from 7th Regiment Enrolled Militia. Attached to District of Southwest Missouri, Dept. Missouri, to April, 1865. District of North Missouri, Dept. Missouri, to July, 1865.

SERVICE.--Scout and patrol duty in District of Southwest Missouri till April, 1865, and in North Missouri till July, 1865. Actions at Mt. Vernon September 30, 1864; Moreau Bottom, Jefferson City, October 7; Booneville October 9-12; Big Blue or State Line October 22. Engagement at the Marmiton, or Battle of Charlot, October 25. Mine Creek, Little Osage River, Marias des Cygnes, October 25. Newtonia October 28. Affair near James Creek April 27, 1865 (Co. "C"). Mustered out July 1, 1865.
Lost during service 1 Officer and 6 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 1 Officer and 35 Enlisted men by disease. Total 43.
Source of Data: "A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, V.III" by Frederick H. Dyer, c1908, p.1311
Daniel Rice Comments: His Military record indicates he showed up the first day with the clothes on his back, a good horse and saddle. He was also sick for a two week period in 1864.

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Census Information

1900 Roger Mills County Census Elk Township in Household 472 was
B.C. Rice, head, born Dec 1844, 54 years old married 20 years, born MO, dad born in KY, mom born in KY, farmer and can read and write
Barbara, wife, born July 1857, 42 years, married 20 years bore 5 kids, 5 kids living, born in Canada-Irish.
Lloyd M, son, born June 1885, 14 years born MO twin
Leslie M, born June 1885, 14 years born MO twin
Robert M born June 1888, 11 years, born MO


1910 Census Roger Mills County, Kiowa Township, Household 39, E.D. (Enumeration District 241, Moad is census taker in April 1910 and sheet 2-B
Boon C. Rice 63 years m. 28 years
Barbara is 49 and married 28 years, had 5 kids, 5 living
Robert M 21 years
Lloyd M and 22 years old married 1 year
Ira daughter-in-law 18 years married 1 year
James B son 5/12 1882

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Tidbit's
100 years ago

Cheyenne Sunbeam Newspaper 9-5-1902

The county commissioners appointed B.C. RICE as Justice of the Peace for Kiowa Township, Ok. Sept. 5, 1902
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Early History, Walnut Grove Township, Greene County, Missouri From "History of Greene County, Missouri," St. Louis: Western Historical Company, 1883.

"The first death was that of Boone Chastine, of Kentucky, who died in 1838, and was buried at the present site of a saw mill."
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Obituaries

BOONE C RICE
Born 15DEC1844
Married 5 DEC 1880
Died 6 MAY 1913
Buried Grandview Cemetery
Beckham County, OK
Husband of Barbara A. McMehen
B.C. Rice, an old and highly respected citizen who lived 12 miles north of town, died in Elk City Tuesday. Mr. Rice had been sick for several weeks a short time ago his condition became so serious that he was brought to town so he could be under the constant care of the physician. His condition became more serious Tuesday and an operation was performed but without relief and he grew weaker until death relieved his sufferings.
Funeral services were held at the residence on east Third Street Wednesday afternoon conducted by the Masonic Lodge of which e was an honored member. Burial at the Grandview Cemetery. He leaves a wife and five children all grown. Mrs. C.E. Harless, a daughter from Kansas City was here to attend the funeral.
8 May 1913 Elk City Newspaper



It appears that on Boone C. Rice's grave there is a military stone. There are no dates on the stone but this info says that the stone says.
TRL 15 MO Cav.- TRL means Troop or Company L

Barbara McMehen Rice
Born July 1857
Died 1 DEC1925
Buried Grandview Cemetery
Wife of Boone C Rice
Daughter of James and Harriett Rebecca McConnell

Mrs. M. Reger received a sad message last Tuesday afternoon stating that her sister, Mrs. Rice had died suddenly at Walnut Grove, Missouri, that day. Mrs. Regers left Wednesday for Missouri and returned Saturday night with the corpse and relatives.
Mrs. Barbara Rice died Dec 1, 1925 at Walnut Grove, Missouri. Her remains were shipped to Elk City Saturday night and her funeral was preached by Rev. Webb of Elk City at the Grandview School house Sunday. She was laid to rest in the Grandview Cemetery Sunday afternoon. A large crowd of relatives and friends from Cheyenne, Sandstone, Bella Vista, Elk City and Grandview attended the services. She leaves to mourn her passing a mother of Walnut Grove, Missouri; a sister, Mrs. Regers of Grandview; a brother, two sons, Lloyd and Leslie Rice of Oklahoma and daughter Mrs. Harliss of Texas and many other relatives and friends.
December 10, 1925 Elk City News

(These family members buried at Grandview Cemetery, Elk City, Ok.)

Rice Barbara A. (McMehen) 12/01/1925 W/O Boone C. D/O James & Harriett Rebecca (McConnell)

Rice Boone C. H/O Barbara (McMehen)

Robert M. 12/21/1921 S/O Boone C.& Barbara (McMehen)
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Now that I have laid down some History of Boone Rice. Let's speculate on him making the biggest decision of his life. Concerning the Civil War. Boone C. Rice had to make a decision. Would he join the North or the South in the Civil War. This was probably the most important decision in his life. It was, by all accounts, a decision of life or death. His father, Jonathan, was not around in 1863, to give him any kind of guidance. His mother Elizabeth, when Boone was to go to war, would be left home with Margaret age 13 being the oldest, and young Logan Joshua at age 11, the oldest boy. Jonathan’s father, Jonathan, in Kentucky, had many slaves. Jonathan and Elizabeth also were large slave holders in Polk County, Mo. The Civil War events that unfolded leading up to 1863, leads me to believe his decision to join the Union Army was two-fold. Even if he was a Southern sympathizer, Missouri was now controlled by the Union troops. Also, the Emancipation Proclamation was written in 1862. Quite simply, slavery was to be abolished. Polk County was his home, and the home of his mother and father before him. If these were the laws of his home, he had to adhere to them, no matter what his belief was. This was a difficult time for Boone and others, who had to make these decisions. Hatred was rampant from both sides of this issue. By the end of the war in 1865, people were sick of the feuding, and the dying. Upon surrendering, General Robert E. Lee said “ I can not stand to see one more of our young boy’s die, as so many have”. I seldom think about Boone. What he thought, and how he felt leaving his mother with his younger brothers and sisters. Would he make it back, to help her, and be healthy? When he returned from the war, he stayed with his mother till she died some 15 years later, and did not marry until after her death. It seems that Boone became a pillar for his mother, and then later for his brothers and sisters, and even later for his own family when they moved to Oklahoma. He was a man respected by his family and by his community.

Boone’s story is unique, and a big part of history. I am so proud of what he accomplished in his lifetime, and proud to be his Great Grandson. God Bless Him!

Please Enjoy these remnants of Boone, as I have over the years collecting this history. I hope you know him alot better, and please pass this to your children.....and their children.

Daniel

P.S. There is this song that reminds me of Boone. They played the song alot after 911, and our troops went off to War. Five for Fighting "Superman". Maybe I'll do the WORD family next week...:)

Time for America to put its diplomatic muscle where its mouth is

The real story has been told today by the Daily Star....Daily Star?....never heard of them? They were founded in 1952, and initially started circulating in Lebanon. It is probably the leading English language newspaper in the Middle East and of the Arab World. Of course without the internet we would have never seen or heard of this newspaper. Today we get the real story of the latest Israeli v.s. Hezbollah conflict.

Bush ask Syria to step in and stop the War with it's influence over Hezbollah. One hour ago, Syria has now taken the side of Hezbollah, and will support them any way possible. Russia's---->Putin says we need to stop the violence, and seek to balance the situation. We have names for people like him "Fence Rider". He embarrassed and spat with our President today. I assume he had too many Vodka Absolutes and Putin pounced on the reference to Iraq. "We of course don't want to have a democracy like the one in Iraq, to be honest," he deadpanned, to laughter from Russian-speaking listeners. All that Dubya could say was "Just Wait". If it was me......I would have reminded him that we have a history of over 200 years of Democracy. Something we have in common also with Jim Beam Whiskey. Or maybe he could have challenged him to a arm wrestling match, like they do in Texas. Maybe he just should have dropped his drawers, and said "Kiss my Hiney". Instead, all we get was " JJJUUUUSSTT WWWWAAAIITT! We have been fighting the Russians for over a 100 years, and now we are suppose to take insults to our Democracy. For those of you under 40 years old.....you probably won't understand, but I will say what our President probably wanted to say, but did not.............. "KISS MY ASS"

This story reminds me of a comment my brother made this week. You can go to the car tag agency and write a check with no ID. But you go the grocery store, they want to see a drivers license to cash your check. "The world is turned upside down, and I am standing straight up".

On with this very informative story of history.

Time for America to put its diplomatic muscle where its mouth is

Editorial from Lebanon...Daily Star

This week has given a sense of just how quickly things can change in the Middle East. In a matter of hours, a relatively confined conflict in the Gaza Strip erupted into a two-front war, posing a dangerous threat of even wider escalation. But perhaps the most startling development of late is that the United States is at least publicly trying to take a relatively balanced approach to the conflict unfolding in Lebanon.

Expressing concern for Lebanon's "fragile democracy," US President George W. Bush urged the Israelis to show restraint during their siege, stressing that precautions should be taken so as not to weaken the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. Likewise, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also urged Israel to show concern for the democratically elected government of Lebanon, as well as infrastructure and innocent civilians.

It is the least that they can do, considering the suffering that we Lebanese have endured as a result of US policies. For 15 years, we were trampled under the weight of Syrian oppression, via an occupation that had been approved by Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, in exchange for Damascus' cooperation in the 1991 war in Iraq. We were emboldened by the younger Bush's decision to terminate America's policy of sanctioning Syrian hegemony over Lebanon. We took to the streets, demanding Syria's withdrawal and the return of democracy to our country.

From that point forward, we became a focal point in Bush's democracy scorecard, as he proudly boasted that his policies had helped achieve democratic advancements around the region. Lebanon was held up as a shining example of the fact that the people of the region have a real desire to live in free and democratic states. And we trusted Bush when he promised that he would do everything to protect and advance our aspirations.

But now, our fledgling independence is under fire. Only a little over a year since we started making our own decisions and trying to forge a sense of national unity, we have been hit with a crisis of unexpected proportions. Our fledgling government, which like any 1-year-old is still struggling to stay on its feet, is under fire. Our civilians, who had no part in the decision to abduct Israeli soldiers, are being killed. Our infrastructure, which has only recently been built, is being destroyed.

Yet even now, as Israel is laying waste to our country with guns and missiles paid for with US tax dollars, and as American-made bombs are raining down on our cities, we are still clinging to the same values and ideals that the Bush administration has promoted: We want life, liberty and happiness; we want democracy, sovereignty, freedom and independence.

No one is calling for the return of Syrian occupation, even though one could argue that Syria's presence served as a deterrent to this kind of Israeli onslaught. No one is asking whether the US government only asked the Syrians to step out only so that the Israelis could step in to replace them. We are holding out hope that the Americans will be faithful to the values that they have championed and protect us from further harm.

The Americans now need to choose sides, not between warring parties, but between right and wrong. They must now demonstrate their commitment to freedom, human rights and international law and speak out loudly and firmly against the killing of civilians, the destruction of infrastructure and the brutal collective punishment that all of us are now enduring.

Albert Pike Word

Albert Pike Monument, Washington D.C.
My Great Grandfather, Albert Pike Word, was named after the great Albert Pike, who among other things founded Freemasonry. The Story below, author unknown, tells his story. The poetry that follows is dedicated to my father. This biography written many years ago reflects the mastery of pen in hand. This may seem like alot of reading, but how could one man accomplish so much back in these early days?


ALBERT PIKE
by: Unknown
Albert Pike found Freemasonry in a log cabin and left it in a Temple. He was the master genius of Masonry in America, both as scholar and artist. No other mind of equal power ever toiled so long in the service of the Craft in the New World. No other has left a nobler fame in our annals.
A great American and a great Mason, the life of Pike is a part of the romance of his country. Outside the Craft he was known as a poet, journalist, soldier, jurist, orator, and his ability in so many fields fills one with amazement. Apart from the chief work of his life in Masonry, he merits honor as a philosopher and a scholar. Indeed, he was one of the richest minds of his age, resembling the sages of the ancient world in his appearance and in the quality of his mind. Those who do not know Masonry often think of him as a man whom history passed by and forgot.
Pike was born in Boston, Massachusetts, December 29, 1809, of a family in which are several famous names, such as Nicholas Pike, author of the first arithmetic in America, and the friend of Washington; and Zebulon Pike, the explorer, who gave his name to Pike's Peak. His father, he tells us, was a shoemaker who worked hard to give his children the benefit of an education; his Mother a woman of great beauty, but somewhat stern in her ideas of rearing a boy. As a child he saw the festivities at the close of the War with Great Britain, in 1815. When Albert Pike was four his father moved to Newburyport, and there the boy grew up, attending the schools of the town, and also the academy at Framingham. At fourteen he was ready for the freshman class at Harvard, but was unable to pay the tuition fees for two years in advance, as was required at that time, and proceeded to educate himself. Had he been admitted to Harvard he would have been in the class of Oliver Wendell Holmes.
As a lad, Albert Pike was sensitive, high-strung, conscious of power, very shy and easily depressed; but, ambitious and determined to make his place in the world. Always a poet, while teaching school at Fairhaven he wrote a series of poems called "Hymns to the Gods," which he afterward revised and sent to Christofer North, editor of "Blackwood's Magazine," at Edinburg, receiving in reply a letter hailing him as a truly great poet. Had Pike given himself altogether to poetry he would have been one of the greatest of American Poets; but, he seemed not to care for such fame but only for the joy, and sometimes the pain, of writing. Indeed, the real story of his inner life may be traced in his poems, a volume of which was published as early as 1813, in honor of which event his friends gave him a reception.
In a poem called "Fatasma" he pictures himself at that time as a pale-faced boy, wasted by much study, reciting his poems to a crowded room. As his lips move his eyes are fastened on the lovely face and starry eyes of a girl to whom he dared not tell his love, because she was rich and he was poor. No doubt this hopeless love had much to do with his leaving New England to seek his fortune in the West. Anyway, it made him so sore of heart that the word God does not appear in his poetry for several years. Another reason for going away was the rather stern environment of New England, in which he felt that he could never do and be his best. So, he sings: Weary of fruitless toil he leaves his home, To seek in other climes a fairer fate.
Pike left New England in March, 1831, going first to Niagara, and thence, walking nearly all the way, to St. Louis. In August he joined a party of forty traders with ten covered wagons following the old Santa Fe Trail. He was a powerful man, six feet and two inches tall, finely formed, with dark eyes and fair skin, fleet of foot and sure of shot, able to endure hardship, and greatly admired by the Indians. He spent a year at Santa Fe, the unhappiest months of his life. Friendless, homesick, haunted by many memories, he poured out his soul in sad-hearted poems in which we see not only the desperate melancholy of the man but the vivid colors of the scenery and life round about him. Shelly was his ideal, Coleridge his inspiration but his own genius was more akin to Bryant than any other of our singers. What made him most forlorn is told in such lines as these:
Friends washed off by life's ebbing tide, Like sands upon the shifting coasts, The soul's first love another's bride; And other melancholy though.
Happily, new scenes, new friends, and new adventures healed his heart, and a new note of joy is added to his rare power of describing the picturesque country in which he was a pilgrim. In 1832, with a trapping party, he went down the Pecos river into the Staked Plains, and then to the headwaters of the Brazos and Red Rivers. It was a perilous journey and he almost died of hunger and thirst, as he has told us in his poem, "Death in the Desert." After walking five hundred miles he arrived at Fort Smith, Arkansas, friendless, without a dollar, and well-nigh naked. He was soon teaching school in a tiny log cabin near Van Buren, and, tired of wandering, his life began to take root and grow.
Again his pen was busy, writing verses for the "Little Rock Advocate," as well as political articles under the pen name "Casca," which attracted so much notice that Horace Greely reprinted them in the New York Tribune. Soon the whole state was eager to know the genius who signed himself "Casca." Robert Crittenden and Judge Turner rode through the wilderness and found the tall, handsome young man teaching in a log schoolhouse on Little Piney River. Charmed with his modesty and power, they invited him to go to Little Rock as assistant editor of the Advocate. Here ended the winter of his wandering’s, and his brilliant summer began among friends who love him and inspired him to do his best.
Pike made an able editor, studying law at night, never sleeping more than five hours a day - which enabled him to do as much work as two men usually do. By 1835 he owned the Advocate, which contained some of his best writing. He delved deep into law, mastering its history, its philosophy; and, once admitted to the bar, his path to success was an open road. About this time we read a tender poem, "To Mary," showing that other thoughts were busy in his mind. That same year he married Miss Mary Hamilton, a beautiful girl whom he met on a June day at the home of a friend. A few months later appeared this "Prose Sketches and Poems," followed by a longer poem; bold, spirited, and scholarly entitled "Ariel." His poems were printed, for the most part, by his friends, as he seemed deaf to the whispers of literary ambition.
In the War with Mexico Pike won fame for his valor in the field of Buena Vista, and he has enshrined that scene in a thrilling poem. After the war he took up the cause of the Indians, whose life and languages fascinated him and who, he felt, were being robbed of their rights. He carried their case to the Supreme Court. to whose Bar he was admitted in 1849, along with Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin. His speech in the case of the Senate Award to the Choctaws is famous, Webster passing high eulogy upon it. Judged by any test, Pike was a great orator, uniting learning with practical acumen, grace with power, and the imperious magnetism which only genius can command.
Pike was made a Master Mason in Western Star Lodge No. 1, Little Rock, Arkansas, July, 1850; and the symbolism of the Craft fascinated him from the first, both as a poet and scholar. Everywhere he saw suggestions, dim intimations, half-revealed and half-concealed ideas which could not have had their origin among the common craft Masons of old. He set himself to study the Order, his enthusiasm keeping pace with his curiosity, in search of the real origin and meaning of its symbols. At last he found that Freemasonry is the Ancient Great Mysteries in disguise, it's simple emblems the repository of the highest wisdom of the Ancient World, to rescue and expound which became more and more his desire and passion. Here his words: "It began to shape itself to my intellectual vision into something imposing and majestic, solemnly mysterious and grand. It seemed to me like the Pyramids in the grandeur and loneliness, in whose yet undiscovered chambers may be hidden, for the en-lightenment of the coming generations, the sacred books of the Egyptians, so long lost to the World; like the Sphinx, half- buried in the sands. In essence, Freemasonry is more ancient than any of the world's living religions. So I came at last to see that its symbolism is its soul."
Thus a great poet saw Freemasonry and sought to renew the luster of its symbols of high and gentle wisdom, making it a great humanizing, educational and spiritual force among men. He saw in it a faith deeper than all creeds, larger than all sects, which, if rediscovered, he believed, would enlighten the world. It was a worthy ambition for any man, and one which Pike, by the very quality of his genius, as well as his tastes, temper and habits of mind, seemed born to fulfill. All this beauty, be it noted, Pike found in the old Blue Lodge - he had not yet advanced to the higher degrees - and to the end of his life the Blue Lodge remained to him a wonder and a joy. There he found universal Masonry, all the higher grades being so many variations on its theme. He did not want Masonry to be a mere social club, but a power for the shaping of character and society.
So far Pike had not even heard of the Scottish Rite, to which he was to give so many years of service. He seems not to have heard of it until 1852, and then, as he tells us, with much the same feeling with which a Puritan might hear of a Buddhist ceremony performed in a Calvinistic church. He imagined that it was not Masonry at all, or else a kind of Masonic atheism. His misunderstanding was due, perhaps, to the bitter rivalry of rites which then prevailed, and which he did so much to heal. At length he saw that Masonry was one, though its rites are many, and he studied the Scottish Rite, its origin, history, and such ritual as it had at the time, which was rather crude and chaotic, but sufficient to reveal its worth and promise.
The Scottish appeared in America in 1801, at Charleston, South Carolina, derived from a Supreme Council constituted in Berlin in 1786. For its authority it had, in manuscript, a Grand Constitution, framed by the Prussian body - a document which Pike afterwards defended so ably, though toward the end of his life he was led by facts brought out by Gould and others, to modify his earlier position. The Council so established had no subordinate bodies at first, and never very many, in fact, until 1855, a very natural result in a country which, besides having Masonry of its own, regarded the Rite as heresy. None the less Pike entered the Scottish Rite, at Charleston, March 20, 1853, receiving its degrees from the fourth to the thirty-second, and the thirty-third degree in New Orleans, in 1857.
The following year he delivered a lecture in New Orleans, by special request, before the Grand Lodge of Louisiana; his theme being "The Evil Consequences of Schisms and Disputes for Power in Masonry, and of Jealousy and Dissensions Between Masonic Rites" - one of the greatest single Masonic lectures ever delivered, in which may be found the basis of all his Masonic thought and teaching. Masonry, as Pike saw it, is morality founded in faith and taught by symbols. It is not a religion, but a worship in which all good men can unite, its purpose being to benefit mankind physically, socially, and spiritually; by helping men to cultivate freedom, friendship and character. To that end, beyond the facts of faith - the reality of God, the moral law, and the hope of immortality - it does not go.
One is not surprised to learn that Pike was made Sovereign Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, in 1859. He at once began to recast the Rite, rewriting its rituals, reshaping its degrees, some of which existed only in skeleton, and clothing them in robes of beauty. To this task he brought all his learning as a scholar, his insight as a poet, and his enthusiasm as a Mason. He lived in Little Rock, in a stately home overlooking the city, where he kept his vast library and did his work. In the same year, 1859, he was reported dead by mistake, and had the opportunity of reading many eulogies written in his memory. When the mistake was known, his friends celebrated his "return from Hades," as it was called, by a festival.
Alas, then came the measureless woe of Civil War, and Pike cast his lot with the South, and was placed in command of the Indian Territory. Against his protest the Indian regiments were ordered from the Territory and took part in the Battle of Elkhorn. The battle was a disaster, and some atrocities by Indian Troops, whom he was unable to restrain, cause criticism. Later, when the Union Army attacked Little Rock the Commanding General, Thomas H. Benton, Grand Master of Masons in Iowa, posted a guard to protect the home of Pike and his Masonic Library. After the War Pike practiced Law for a time in Memphis. In 1868 he moved to Alexandria, Virginia, and in 1870 to Washington.
Again he took up his labors in behalf of Masonry, revising its rituals, and writing those nobel lectures into which he gathered the wisdom of the ages - as though his mind were a great dome which caught the echoes of a thousand thinkers. By 1871 the Scottish Rite was influential and widely diffused, due, in part, to the energy and genius of its Commander. In the same year he published "Morals and Dogma," a huge manual for the instruction of the Rite, as much a compilation as a composition, able but ill-arranged, which remains to this day a monument of learning. It ought to be revised, rearranged, and reedited, since it is too valuable to be left in so cumbersome a form, containing as it does much of the best Masonic thinking and writing in our literature. It is studded with flashing insights and memorable sayings, as for example:
Man is accountable for the uprightness of his doctrine, But not for the rightness of it. The free country where intellect and genius rule, will endure. Where they serve, and other influences govern, its life is short. When the state begins to feed part of the people, it prepares all to be slaves. Deeds are greater than words. They have a life, mute but undeniable, and they grow. They people the emptiness of Time. Nothing is really small. Every bird that flies carries a thread of the infinite in its claws. Sorrow is the dog of that unknown Shephard who guides the flock of men. Life has its ills, but it is not all evil. If life is worthless, so is immortality. Our business is not to be better than others, but to be better than ourselves.
For all his strength and learning, Pike was ever a sensitive, beauty-loving soul, touched by the brevity and sadness of life, which breathe in his poems. His best known poem, but by no means his greatest, was written in 1872 entitled, "Every Year," in which this note of melancholy is heard: Life is a count of losses, Every year; For the weak are heavier crosses, Every year; Lost springs with sobs replying, Unto weary Autumn's sighing.
Death often pressed the cup of sorrow to his lips.
Three of his children died in infancy. His first son was drowned; his second, an officer, was killed in battle. His eldest daughter died in 1869, and the death of his wife was the theme of a melting poem, "The Widowed Heart." His tributes to his friends in the Fraternity, as one by one they passed away, were memorable for their tenderness and simple faith. Nothing could shake his childlike trust in the veiled kindness of the Father of Men; and despite many clouds, "Hope still with purple flushed his sky."
In his lonely later years, Pike betook himself more and more to his studies, building a city of the mind for inward consolation and shelter. He mastered many languages - Sanskrit, Hebrew, old Samarian, Persian - seeking what each had to tell of beauty and of truth. He left in the library of the House of the Temple fifteen large manuscript volumes, translations of the sacred books of the East, all written with an old- fashioned quill, in a tiny flowing hand, without blot or erasure. There he held court and received his friends amid the birds and flowers he loved so well. He was companionable, abounding in friendship, brilliant in conversation, his long white hair lending him an air of majesty, his face blushing like a child's at merited praise, simple. kindly, lovable. So death found him in April, 1891, fulfilling his own lines written as a boy:
So I, who sing, shall die, Worn thin and pale, by care and sorrow; And, fainting. with a soft unconscious sigh, Bid unto this poor body that I borrow, A long good-by - tomorrow To enjoy, I hope, eternal spring in high Beyond the sky.
So passed Pike. No purer, nobler man has stood at the Altar of Freemasonry or left his story in our traditions. He was the most eminent Mason in the world, alike for his high rank, his rich culture, and his enduring service. Nor will our craft ever permit to grow dim the memory of that stately, wise, and gracious teacher - a Mason to whom the world was a Temple, a poet to whom the world was a song.

Kenneth “Pete” Word Rice
1923 -1997


"Every Year"
written by Albert Pike, 1872


Life is a count of losses,
Every year;
Lost springs with sobs replying,
Unto weary autumn's sighing,
While those we love are dying,
Every year.

The days have less of gladness,
Every year;
The nights more weight of sadness
Every year.
Fair springs no longer charm us,
The winds and weather harm us,
The threats of death alarm us,
Every year.

There come new care and sorrows,
Every year;
Dark days and darker morrows,
Every year.
The ghosts of dead hopes haunt us,
The ghosts of changed friends taunt us,
And disappointments daunt us,
Every year.

To the past go more dead faces,
Every year;
As the loved leave vacant places,
Every year;
Everywhere the sad eyes meet us,
In the evening's dusk they greet us,
And to come to them entreat us,
Every year.

"You are growing old," they tell us,
Every year;
"You are more alone," they tell us,
Every year;
"You can win no more affection;
"You have only recollection,
"Deeper sorrow and dejection,
Every year."

The shores of life are shifting,
Every year;
And we are seaward drifting,
Every year;
Old places, changing, fret us,
The living more forget us,
There are fewer to regret us,
Every year.

But the truer life draws nigher,
Every year;
And its morning star climbs higher,
Every year;
Earth's hold on us grows slighter,
And the heavy burden lighter,
And the dawn immortal brighter,
Every year.

Chinese Monumental Railway

BEIJING - The first train service to Tibet opened Saturday on the world's highest railway, an engineering feat protesters say could threaten the restive Himalayan region's environment and Buddhist culture. The railway passes spectacular icy peaks on the Tibetan highlands, touching altitudes of 5,000 meters (16,400 feet). Lhasa, which leaves many visitors gasping for breath,lies at 3,650 meters (11,976 feet).

The 710-mile rail line crosses mountain passes up to 16,500 feet high an large stretches of ground that is frozen year-round. Specially designed train cars have oxygen supplies to help passengers cope with the thin air and window filters to protect them from ultraviolet rays, while high-tech cooling systems
keep the railbed frozen and stable.

But activists complain the railway will bring an influx of Chinese migrants, damaging Tibet's fragile ecology and diluting its unique Buddhist society. They say most of its economic benefits will go to migrants from the east.

These are some great pictures - Slideshow

The first Train out of the station was named "Qing I", and refers to the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), whose leaders came from Northeast China, in the area known as Manchuria, were considered Foreign Rulers. However, by the end of the dynasty the Qing rulers had heavily adopted Chinese ways, a process known as Sinification. Although there were always some among the Han Chinese scholars and officials who would never surrender to the foreign Manchus, the Qing dynasty brought stability and prosperity to China.

Which brings us to the question of, in America, "who built our trains, railroads, highways and bridges"? You can thank our Westpoint graduates for their engineering skills that began the railroad in America in 1880. They also engineered our highway and bridges. I always thought that Westpoint only put out
Military leaders. Without these brilliant engineers we would not have the transportation system of today. To read more on the history of Westpoint
go here: