Be Just, Humble, Merciful, & be Happy.

S. T. Casebeer

Assuming just for a moment, that I’ve gleaned some bit of wisdom from my long, illustrious career, I’ll share a few thoughts on living a satisfying life. First of all, set aside a bright, roomy section of your mind and fill it with all your best memories.  Visit it often and never enter without first removing your shoes.  Keep it immaculate and it will serve you well. Share it with your Deity, whatever you perceive him to be.

   Sharpen your awareness of the natural wonders that surround us, and encourage it’s appreciation in others. Be cognizant of life’s cycles, appreciating each new season in turn, while realizing fully that despite our best efforts, time is resolute, and with time, each season will pass. Embrace each new season with hope and optimism, while retaining all that’s best of seasons past.

   Do not be drawn into meaningless, futile, debilitating debates with loud, obnoxious people. Just consider the source and when possible avoid their venting. Their noise is a noxious vapor, and repulsed silence is often the appropriate response. I have good news.  Your loudmouth neighbor, your loudmouth in-law, and the loudmouth in your Sunday school class, all have one thing in common; they don’t know squat!  They’re just noisy!  Relax and ignore them, and don’t encourage their clamor.  Be mindful of your example to others; it’s your most effective testimony.  Value truth and consider the cost of deceit. 

   Cherish and reverently exercise your right to vote and keep this country free!  Many people have given their lives in order to secure the freedoms you enjoy today.  Honor their sacrifice.  Honor our veterans and all those who choose a life of service. Honor individuality, revere tolerance and exhort all those who lift up the cause of freedom. Confront ignorance, and be diligent in the advancement of knowledge.  Ignorance and intolerance are almost inseparable, and despite what some will tell you, neither one is a virtue. Positive outcomes are never achieved through negative actions. Respond to others, as you’d have them respond to you. 

   Be open to affection but wary of unwholesome pleasures. And do not be deceived. Deceit is ephemeral; lies and indiscretions will eventually come to light. Every action has a consequence.  When considering any action, before proceeding, think the scenario through to its logical conclusion.  You can never undo a thoughtless deed, and carelessly sewn seeds produce a ponderous harvest!

   Anything that you are unable to do in good conscience and moderation, do not do!  Eat nutritiously and judiciously, consistently burning more calories than you consume, until you’ve achieved your ideal weight, and you will be healthier, more industrious, more prosperous, more popular, profoundly gratified, and gut wrenchingly contented.  It’s what all the ages have striven for.

   In all things, promote liberty for all, and justice tempered with mercy.  In this country, everyone has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Celebrate ethnicity; take pride in your heritage, but value the traditions of others.  Our country’s greatest strength is diversity; honor diversity and keep America strong. While I am generally conservative in my own actions, I am passionately liberal in defense of the choices of others. Personal choices, that’s what freedom is. Remember always that you are as good as any and better than none. Be just, humble, merciful, and be happy.  “Obie’s Quest”

July in the Ozarks-95 degrees & 95%: Toasty! but colorful.

Photo by S. T. Casebeer

Asa Steven Camp

My great great grandpa, Asa Steven Camp (1829 to 1902) 

Asa was born on April 5^th, 1829 in Herrick Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania.  Named Asa Steven after his mother’s family (Stevens), Asa was the second oldest of nine children.  Asa was only fourteen when his mother passed away in 1842 at the age of 36. In the summer of 1850, at the age of 22, Asa accompanied his Father Clark Camp, across the plains to the gold camps of northern California’s Sierra Nevada foothills.  There, along the banks of the south fork of the American River and its tributaries, in the company of one hundred thousand other crazed miners; Asa and his father Clark pursued their dreams of the storied El Dorado and its gold. We know for a fact that Asa returned east for a time prior to a second trek to California in 1854, and it’s possible that Asa lived for a time with his father in Bradford, Illinois, before returning to Hangtown.

   The trip across the Great Plains by wagon would have required several months of hard travel, and necessitated negotiating the Sierra Nevada Mountains of northern California, during the few months of the year during which the mountain passes are not made impassable by mountains of drifting snow. During this second pilgrimage, Asa became acquainted with the Oldfield family.  John and Mary Eliza Oldfield and their children hailed from Wisconsin, and they too were bound for the Sierra Nevada foothills where John intended to try his hand at mining. Among the Oldfield family was 7-year-old Laura Ellen.  We can only guess at the details of Asa and Laura Ellen’s first meeting.  With an age difference of 18 years, while it’s possible that Asa and Laura bonded during their long, tedious trip west, it seems unlikely that any thoughts of a relationship flourished until many years later. At some point in time Asa and Laura Ellen’s well rooted relationship set buds and bloomed, and on November 5^th, of 1867, the Reverend D. Sutterland joined Kelsey resident Asa S. Camp, age 37 years, and Laura Ellen Oldfield, age 19, in holy wedlock.  This union would produce 5 children, and endure until the time of Asa’s death. The Camps lived for a time just off Mosquito Road, on the west bank of the south fork of the American River, east of the rural settlement of Mosquito.  There Asa and Laura Ellen raised their family, and Asa pursued the vocations of miner and freight hauler.  In 1872 the family moved closer to Hangtown, alias Placerville, taking up residence on Reservoir Hill, where Asa passed away in December of 1902, followed by wife Laura Ellen, twenty-six years later, in 1928. 

Just Rememberin'

I remember the smell of that ornery colt,

The thrill of a sunset race,

The feel of his mane as I held on tight,

With the wind upon my face.

I remember how he’d nicker,

When I came into view.

I remember how we loved to ride,

And how I loved him too.

That was back in ’83;

Ol’ Smokey’s race is run,

But I often think of TG Smoke,

By the evening’s crimson sun,

When I feel the wind upon my face,

And another day is done.

            STC

Jared Waldo Daniels

Another of my great great grandpas, 
Jared Waldo Daniels, circa 1855

The following is an excerpt from
Encyclopedia
Biography Of Minnesota
History of Minnesota
By Judge Charles E. Flandrau

The Century Publishing and Engraving Company
1900

Jared Waldo Daniels

Jared Waldo Daniels, M. D., was born at Stratford, Coos County, New Hampshire, June 15, 1827, the son of Joseph and Roxana (Hatch) Daniels. His paternal grandfather came from Mendon, Massachusetts, and settled in Stratford, New Hampshire, where he followed farming.  He also owned and operated lumber and flour mills.  He was a man of prominence in local affairs and served as a private soldier in the war for American Independence.  Joseph Daniels, the father of our subject, was also a farmer.  He had two sons and one daughter.  One of the sons, Dr. A. W. Daniels, has been for many years a prominent physician in St. Peter, Minnesota; the other son is the subject of this sketch.  Jared W. Daniels was “bound out” to a farmer when he was four years old. His mother lived to the good old age of eighty-four years, and died at St. Peter, Minnesota.  When Jared was eleven years of age he left the farm and learned the trade of cabinet making.  He attended the common school and spent six years in an academy, working his trade to pay his way.  After leaving the academy, he went to Boston and studied medicine with his uncle, Dr. B. F. Hatch.  He then attended medical lectures and afterwards graduated at the Bellevue Medical College, in New York City.  In March 1855, he came to Minnesota, and while visiting his brother, who was a physician at the lower Sioux agency, was appointed to the upper Sioux agency at Yellow Medicine Minnesota.  He was the first physician to the Sioux Indians at that agency, and to the United States troops who were afterwards stationed there, and he remained at this agency about seven years.  In 1862 he was appointed assistant surgeon in the sixth Minnesota Infantry, and was with that regiment under General Sibley in the campaign of that year.  He was the only physician in the command of Col. Joseph R. Brown at the battle of Birch Coulie, where over one-third of the command was killed or wounded before reinforcements came to their relief.  He was also in the battle of Woods Lake. Hon. Charles W. Johnson, who was present at the battle of Birch Coulie, made the following statement, which appears in the official record of that engagement:

   “Assistant Surgeon, Jared W. Daniels, had accompanied Company A to Birch Coulie, and no man on any battle-field displayed more heroism.  On the morning of that fatal 2^nd of September he is remembered as going about bareheaded, examining and binding up the wounds of the men.  He was in great personal danger, but seemingly unheedful of it all, he never flinched for a moment, and for thirty-six hours he never ate a morsel of food nor closed his eyes for sleep, so great was the demand upon him.”  
   In 1863 Dr. Daniels crossed the plains with General Sibley to the Missouri, and participated in the battles of Big Mounds, Buffalo Lake and Stony Lake.  On his return he was promoted to surgeon in the Second Minnesota Cavalry, and again crossed the plains in 1864, joining General Sully on the Missouri River, and was with him on the march to the Yellowstone.  He was present at the battles of Kill Deer Mountain and Bad Lands.  On his return he was stationed at Fort Snelling until he was mustered out in the fall of 1865.  Soon after, he located at Fairbault for the practice of his profession.  In 1868 Bishop Whipple had money placed in his hands by an act of Congress for the benefit of the Indians at Fort Wadsworth.  Doctor Daniels being well acquainted with these Indians was selected by Bishop Whipple to go to Fort Wadsworth and take charge of the distribution, and to look after the relief of the Indians.  At that time the Indians were scattered and very poor- having very little clothing except breechclouts and leggings- and they had to be gathered together at the agency and cared for. 

   In 1869, Doctor Daniels was appointed by the President as Indian agent at Sisseton.  Under his charge they were required to work for themselves, or at the agency, for everything they received from the government, so that when he left them, in 1871, they all had land under cultivation, were dressed like white people, and many of them living in houses of their own building; schools were established and they were in the way of becoming self-supporting. Doctor Daniels provided a code of laws, and established the first police force composed of Indians, in the history of the government, to patrol the reservation and the frontier, and to suppress the importation and the sale of whiskey.  He remained in charge of the Sisseton agency until December 1871.  He was then transferred by General Grant to the Red Cloud agency, in Wyoming, to pacify the Sioux and other hostile tribes.  Here he found about 5,000 Indians, consisting of Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapahoe, the greater portion of them being in a turbulent state and hostile to the government.  Under the influence of the Doctor’s generous treatment, the number increased, by others coming in from the north and south, until there was something over 8,000 Indians at the agency.  There were no white people at the agency except those in Dr. Daniel’s employ.  He remained at the Red Cloud agency until the fall of 1873, when he was appointed inspector of agencies, in which capacity he traveled all over the western country, visiting the different Indian agencies in Montana, Idaho, Washington, New Mexico and Arizona.  In July 1875, he was sent alone to make a treaty with the Sioux, after the Indian Department with a delegation of Indians in Washington had failed, by which they were to give up their hunting rights south of the Platte River, when it was the only place where the buffalo could be found.  He not only made the treaty but dictated to the Indians what they should receive, giving them wagons, harnesses, and cattle instead of the guns and ammunition, which they most urgently demanded.  In September of the same year, he was appointed as a commissioner to treat with the Indians for the cession of the Black Hills.  In 1876 he was appointed on another commission to treat with the same Indians, and effected the treaty by which the Black Hills was ceded to the United States. In 1886 he was again appointed on a commission to make a treaty with the Indians in North Dakota, and with all the tribes in Montana, northern Idaho and eastern Washington, and they effected treaties with all these tribes. In 1887 he left the government service and returned to Fairbault, where he has since resided, having retired from the active practice of his profession. Doctor Daniels had formed an acquaintance with nearly all the Indian tribes in the Northwest, and could speak the Sioux language. He had known them intimately in peace and in war, in plenty and in poverty, in time of sorrow and in time of joy.  He had sympathized with their troubles, healed their sick and taken part in their festivities, until he was loved as one of their own people, owing to his just treatment of them under all circumstances.  This was the secret of his success with them.  He could go in safety where no other white man dared, and though he had many narrow escapes, he received no injury, and he never carried arms to protect himself.  His influence was greater among the Indians than that of any other white man, and his life was safe when that of another would be in jeopardy. 

   Within a few months after taking charge of the Red Cloud agency, Dr, Daniels was ordered by the Indian Department to take a delegation of Indians to Washington.  In complying he selected Red Cloud- the great war chief who had fought the United States troops for three years without being conquered- and twenty-eight of his leading braves.  He took them to the Capitol, New York and Philadelphia, that they might more fully appreciate the power of the government.  When the Milwaukee railroad desired to extend its line through South Dakota the Indians would not permit the surveyors to cross their reservation. Dr. Daniels was employed to get their consent, which they readily granted when he explained to them the benefits to be derived from it. 

From the “PIONEER PRESS” we quote the following:

“Dr. J. W. Daniels, recently in charge of the Indian agency at Lake Traverse, paid a visit to his wards in that region prior to his departure for the Fort Laramie agency, to which he had been appointed.  The second night after his departure for St. Paul, he was overtaken by one of the scouts or messengers, who handed him the following curious certificate of good character, which is an exact copy of the original drawn up in the handwriting of Gabrel Renville: “Dr. J. W. Daniels has been our agent for three winters, and in all his business with us he has always been honest and upright.  We are very much attached to him, and regret very much that he is going to leave us.  We seldom praise a white man; we always have some fault to find with him; but we know that this man is an honest and very good man, and we want the wise men at Washington to know this, and that when we say this, we speak nothing but the truth.  We, the chiefs and head men of the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Sioux Indians write this.” 

Signed,

Gabrel Renville                                Wieaurpinoufra

Yaeaudupatotanka                            Hokxedanwaxte

Ecauapieka                                       Cantelyapa

Wakanto                                           Akicitanapie

Waxieanmaza

In politics Dr. Daniels has always been a Republican.  He belongs to the G. A. R. and the Loyal Legion, and is a member of the Episcopal Church.  He was married June 23, 1856, to Miss Hortense Eugenie Beardsley, of Oconomowoe, Wisconsin.  They had four children, of whom two are living: Hortense Virginie (Mrs. H. B. Hill, of Fairbault) and Asa Wilder Daniels, living at Placerville, California.  Mrs. Daniels died in 1869, in St Peter.  Dr. Daniels was again married, October 11, 1882, to Mrs. Ella Winslow, of Fairbault.

REMINISCENCES of Jared Waldo Daniels

Excerpt, chapter 3, from:
 the “REMINISCENCES” of 

Jared Waldo Daniels

Transcribed from the families copy of the original document

& Edited by Dr. Daniels’ great, great grandson,

S. T. Casebeer

In 1858 this place was an Indian Agency where the Sisseton and Wahpeton received their annuities at such times in the year as the government saw fit to send them to the Agent, regardless of the time specified in the treaty.  It consisted of three log buildings, one for the farmer and a boarding house, one for the blacksmith, and one for the blacksmith shop.  Three buildings were located on the banks of the Yellow Medicine River, about two miles from its junction with the Minnesota.  A horseshoe shaped piece of bottomland surrounded by high bluffs formed the background for this picturesque place.  Ten acres was the extent of the enclosure, which was not quite large enough for the camping ground of Northern Indians.  On the opposite side of the river was located the trading posts which consisted of three log buildings on a plot of land backed by high bluffs covered with timber.

To this beautiful valley I was introduced by farmer Robertson, on the first day of May, 1855.  It was a beautiful sight at the time as the groves of plumb trees that skirted the timber on either side of the road passing down the bluff, were in full blossom, and the trees just putting on their Spring attire. I was taken to the blacksmiths’ house and told that this was to be my quarters.  The house was 12 by 18 feet, log, and as neat and tidy on the inside as woman’s hands could make it. I was to board with the family, which consisted of man and wife with a child about three years of age, and sleep in the attic.  Here I spent most of my time for a year, and I cannot say that any part of the time passed unpleasantly, for Mr. Ford and his good wife were well informed, and had had much experience with the Indians.  Mrs. Ford could speak the Dakota language as well as a native.  This was the only white family at the Agency.  The farmer had a mixed blood for a wife who was educated in Canada.  She was a pleasant woman, and very interesting in giving her reminiscences of life among the Dakotas.  The farmer boarded the men employed, twelve at this time, and his wife, assisted by an Indian woman, did the cooking. 

A mile and a half from the Agency was a mission of the Presbyterian Church, presided over by Rev. Dr. Williamson, and a mile beyond, another in the charge of Rev. S. R. Riggs.  At one of these places all the employees, except for a couple of French Canadians, would attend church every Sunday that the weather would permit.

Mr. Robertson, the farmer, was a Scotchman educated at Oxford, and had traveled in many countries.  He spoke French and Spanish fluently.  He was a large, broad shouldered man, six feet two inches in height, and a weight of two hundred and thirty-five pounds. He was kind and generous with the urbanity of deportment, and conversation that fitted him for the most polished society. His life closed at the Lower Agency in the Spring of 1858, with the mystery that always seemed to surround him.

August and part of September I spent among the Indians at Big Stone Lake and Lac Travers, looking after those people professionally, the plowing being done by the government, as the Agent did not think it quite safe for him to perform that duty. The fact was, the Agent was an honest, upright man, not amenable to the machinations of Indian traders, and the influences were against him with all who could not use him.

The last of September, all the Indians from the North came to the Agency to receive their annuities, but they did not get them until the last of October, owing to the money not being sent to the Agent.  If it had been sent from Washington, he had not been informed.  It was paid the Indians as soon as he received it.  Had it not been for the large quantity of dried buffalo meat that the Indians brought with them they would have had to return without their annuities or starve.  During their stay at the Agency they were being trusted by the traders to the extent of the amount of money they were to receive, so that when they were paid they had very little, if any, to take home. When the number of Indians was taken, they were all seated in a circle on the prairie and four men counted them three times.  Men, women and children, the youngest to the oldest, sick and bedridden, all were there. A few less than five thousand, about 4700 Indians were present. The Cut-Head band were not all there.

The Agent made an application for troops to be present at the pay table to keep the traders a proper distance away and to protect the Indians. Thirty soldiers were sent him, under the command of Lt. Ruggles, a young officer just from West Point, and this was his first detached duty, which seemed somewhat severe, as he was not mounted and with his men had made a march of fifty miles over a burnt prairie during a bad windstorm.

Everything passed off pleasantly at the payment; the Indians paid their debts, and went home pleased with their Agent.  Though according to the treaty of 1851, they should have had their annuities in July, they forgave the wrong.

One evening in July, a crazy man made his appearance at the Agency, and disappeared as quietly as he came. The reason that we had to consider him of unsound mind was, that he would answer no questions, and was repeatedly making this remark, “Sixty-nine will surely come when no man can hold his own.” About ten days after this, two Indians came to the Agency with this man, having found him on the prairie, fifty miles west of this place.  They were on their way home from an Indian camp on Jim River. When they found him he had nothing on but a shirt, he was foot sore, and unable to travel.  They put on him leggings, moccasins, and a piece of cloth on his head, then they lifted him onto one of the horses they had been riding and one of them walked by his side and held him on.  The first water they came to he was provided with something to eat, as they had plenty of dried buffalo meat.  The following day he was much refreshed, but they had to support him all the way here, which took the greater part of three days.  The farmer sent him below where he could be taken care of. 

There are people, for I have met them, who are so prejudiced against the Indians, that they will say it was a mercenary motive that prompted these Indians to perform the part of the “Good Samaritan.” Such persons have very little, if any knowledge of Indian character, or are incapable of appreciating the motive because of the evil within themselves.  There was no other motive but that which civilization teaches us is the foundation of all goodness, “Do unto others as you would like others to do unto you.”

July 4th, 2011: The Task Before Us

July 4^th, 2011:  On November 19^th, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln attended the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery.  As usual, the President economized his words, and the brevity of his address was only surpassed by his eloquence. According to our president, those whose souls had hallowed this ground had given their lives that the nation itself might live.  And he entreated the people to dedicate themselves to the great task before them, “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” A government of, by, and for the people, united “under God”, that’s a compelling idea, a people unified by their faith, and their mutual pursuit of liberty and justice for all. That’s a proposition that a man could proudly die for. In March of 1865, following his re-election, a haggard and humble President Lincoln addressed a traumatized nation, staggering through the final stages of a horrific conflict. Visibly moved by the occasion, our war-weary President closed his Second Inaugural Address with the following sentiment: “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have born the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan- to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.” On this Independence Day, may we rededicate ourselves to this great task; may God assist us in our efforts, and may God Bless the United States of America.  STC