We Could Use The Values and Integrity of Daniel Boone Today September 26, 2010

Ole Dan'l Didn't Have a Coonskin Cap

Fess Parker's Fraudulent Portrayal of Boone

On This Date In History: Daniel Boone died on this date in 1820. He didn’t get attacked by Indians, he didn’t get eaten by a bear and he didn’t die in Kentucky. He simply died quietly at the age of 86. The cause? He reportedly died of eating too many sweet potatoes and died of indigestion. I never have been able to figure out how a pathologist today could make such a determination though.  It may be just a later addition to the Boone legend.   Today we remain in a credit crisis affecting real estate owners. In Boone’s day, you had to have a proper claim and it seems ole Dan’l didn’t have the proper papers for his land holdings in Kentucky. Because he failed to register his land properly, he lost his land in Kentucky and I suppose that included Boonesboro. Dan may have been gone but they kept the name. Boone in 1799 went west and settled in Missouri at the tender age of 65. He spent his final years hunting and trapping. Later, Fess Parker portrayed Boone in a TV series in the late 60′s. In the series, Parker wore a coonskin cap and there was even a reference to that in the theme song. Trouble was that Boone never wore a coonskin cap. He preferred a broad brimmed beaver hat. Guess Parker had the coonskin cap left over from his previous TV series in which he portrayed Davy Crockett. Kept the Boone series budget costs low. Honestly, I couldn’t tell the difference between Parker’s Crockett and Parker’s Boone as he was one of those guys who acted the same way in all of his roles. But, I must say I think Parker looks more like a Boone than Boone did. There is a statue of Boone, not Parker, near Cherokee Park.

Just about everyone has heard of Daniel Boone, but that wasn’t always the case.  On his 50th birthday, The Adventures of Daniel Boone was published which was an narrative supposedly in Boone’s own words.   While the 1784 release made Boone more of a household name in America, he was certainly already well known in the Ohio Valley when he lived.  Nevertheless,  his fame began to rise after he died when Lord Byron wrote about him in a 1823 poem titled Don Juan.   Byron’s work was read around the world and Boone’s fame quickly went from the Wilderness to the World with others adding to the Boone legend with tales that may or may not have been true.  I read one that said Davy Crockett once killed 105  bears in Tennessee in one season and he is most responsible for that species absence from the Frontier State.  I don’t know about the veracity of the Crockett story but there are many Boone bear tales in Tennesee and other areas that live today.  Quite often, myths surrounding American Folklore are based on fact.  And the stories of Boone are really a reflection of early America as he had a love for adventure and the outdoors while at the same time, maintaining his dignity and perserverance when faced with hardship.  For instance,  Boone did not run out on his financial obligations. Some histories say he actually did his job well and the gov’t changed the rules.  He transferred his claims to members of his family and the debts were his trying to pay back his clients who did lose their claims because he felt responsible since he was the surveyor even though it wasn’t his fault.  This comes from a source that is very Boone-centric, yet it seems well intentioned.   He claimed that the reason he left Kentucky was because of the intrusion of settlers in the late 19th century into the Blue Grass State.  “Too many people! Too crowded, too crowded! I want some elbow room,” he said.  What he wanted was to settle on some land that wouldn’t be taken away from him and the Spanish were all too willing to oblige.   You see, at that time, the area now known as Missouri was under the control of Spain and was called Upper Louisiana.  Shortly thereafter the French gained dominion over the land until Napoleon sold it to the United States. 

 But, in spite of the changes at the top, Boone was able to keep his claim…until the Uncle Sam took charge and, once again, Boone’s claims were challenged by the government.   In 1810, he returned to Kentucky to pay off all of his debts.  He only had 50 cents to his name when he returned to Missouri but he had satisfied his creditors.  It’s too bad more Americans today do not have the character of Daniel Boone.  I’m not sure where we lost it but his actions sure are a contrast to some folks today who purposely default on their mortgages because its “good business.”  Boone probably would not have referred to such action in that manner.  Boone had great satisfaction at his being able to pay his outstanding debt.  Perhaps we as individuals and as a nation should endeavor to gain that same level of satisfaction.

When the State of Franklin Tried To Become America’s 14th State August 23, 2010

United States Map 1783-1803 includes inset that features State of Franklin

On This Date In History: In Colonial times, the Crown made the rules and in 1763, England decreed that no settlements be made west of the Appalachian mountains.   This decree was known as the Proclamation of 1763 and the intent was to prevent an escalation of fighting between English settlers and Native Americans. 

Note that Extreme Western NC and East Tennessee Are Beyond The Boundary of the 1763 Proclamation

After the French and Indian War, English settlers poured over the mountains into the region formerly inhabited by the French.  The Indians of the region formed an alliance under the Ottawa chieftain Pontiac in an effort to push back the intrusion.  The proclamation was designed to give London control over westward expansion rather than provincial governments.   The Native Americans really weren’t too keen on the proclamation because one of the provisions was that they had to cede more land for European settlement.  But, they went along as they felt it was probably the best deal that they could get.  The Cherokee worked hard to quickly draw the boundaries so as to preclude further White settlement.  Nevertheless, frontiersman refused to abandon their outposts…remember Daniel Boone was running around what is now Kentucky in the 1760s.

Painting of Franklin in 1785 Looks As if Ben Were Asked About His Feelings Toward Having a State Named For Him

Several of the original coastal colonies stretched westward deep into the continent and colonial governments had a difficult time maintaining control of their western territories.  In the 1670′s, revolt in western parts of Virginia led to Bacon’s Rebellion.  In the case of the North Carolina Colony, the western boundary was the Mississippi River.  The vast majority of inhabitants lived on the coastal plain, east of the Appalachian Mountains and they enjoyed the most services for their taxes and they also controlled the political system.   Much as the folks in western Virginia in the 1670′s, people living in the western portion of North Carolina felt as if they had no representation in any political system and that they were forced to pay taxes in support of the regions along the coast.  In 1772, hundreds, if not thousands, of folks in the mountains of what is now eastern Tennessee formed the Watauga Association.  The effort was mainly for defense against the Indians but it also gave them a unified political voice.   When the American Revolution came about, the Wataugans used their expert aim with their long rifles to defeat the British at King’s Mountain, South Carolina under the leadership of John ” Nolichucky Jack” Sevier.   After the Revolution, the state of North Carolina wasn’t any nicer to the region than the king had been as they taxed the Wataugans “grievously….without enjoying the blessings of it.”

Sevier-A "Statesman"?

In 1784, it was apparent that it was politically impossible to effectively control the vast region of  North Carolina  and the state legislature offered to cede the Tennessee lands to the federal government.  In response, the Wataugans held  a convention and on this date in 1784 representatives of the people who lived in what is now eastern Tennessee voted to found the 14th state of Franklin.  Even though the new “state” was named for him, Ben Franklin declined an invitation to visit but Thomas Jefferson approved of the move. They even elected John Sevier as Governor. But, they got a little ahead of themselves as only 7 of the 13 states agreed with Jefferson and the Constitution said that they needed 9 to gain statehood. Meanwhile, back in the North Carolina capitol of Raleigh, the state rescinded their offer of secession of its western lands to the federal government  and arrested Sevier as a traitor!   Undeterred, the state of Franklin continued to operate on its own until 1789.   This was an illustration of the difficulty of the time as Raleigh making laws and decrees was one thing but being able to enforce the law in the west was another story.  Eventually, in  North Carolina gave in, pardoned Sevier and forgave the settlers back taxes and once again ceded the western lands to the Tennessee territory of which Franklin became part.  When the territory was admitted to the Union in 1796, Sevier was elected its first Governor.

James Alex Baggett Wrote About the Union Cavalry From Tennessee

 In truth, East Tennessee is a legal distinction as is Middle Tennessee and Western Tennessee.  According to the Tennessee Constitution, no more than two state supreme court justices can come from any of the regions, thus insuring that each part of the state is represented on the state’s highest court.  But, the regions also were, and to some degree still are, differentiated by their socioeconomic level.  In the 1860′s, the eastern part of the state was the poorest of the three regions and had, by far, the fewest number of slaves.  Yeoman farmers had little in common with wealthy slave owners.  At the 1861 state secession convention, 29 counties in East Tennessee and 1 in Middle Tennessee spoke out against secession and threatened to once again form an independent state aligned with the Union.   While they did not rejuvenate the state of Franklin, the folks in East Tennessee maintained their independence.  During the Civil War, most of the mountain folks of East Tennessee remained loyal to the Union and proved to be a real thorn in the side of the Confederacy, much as they had to the King and to North Carolina. 

Kevin T Barksdale Wrote About the Lost State of Franklin

If the US was ever invaded, I have thought there were parts of the country that would never be conquered and East Tennessee is near the top of my list.  Today, one can find State of Franklin Blvd east Elizabethton, TN; I’ve driven by it before it may even be in North Carolina but I can’t find it on a map.  Just north of that Elizabethton is the town of Watauga.  Not far to the east in North Carolina is Watauga County.  Curiously, the town of Franklin, TN is nowhere near the region as it can be found south of Nashville.

Weather Bottom  Line:  As it turns out, the storms on Saturday morning robbed the atmosphere of so much energy when the front came through on Saturday night, it had nothing to work with.  I should not have been so wishy washy.  Declaring “If” and “Maybe” is not really making a forecast.  My bad.  We will be dominated by high pressure with relatively dry air in the region so for the week ahead, highs in the upper 80′s will feel quite refreshing.  I really do think we’ve turned the corner on excessive heat for this year.

Tropical Storm Kyle; Daniel Boone Dead From Indigestion Without a Coonskin Hat September 26, 2008

for a whole mess of hurricane ike damage photos, videos and stories, CLICK HERE and scroll down through the blog

Invest 94 IR Satellite 0926 0245Z

If you look to the left you will see what has been dubbed Invest 94. I kept telling you that the models were advertising that the air aloft was a bit chilly, which indicated that it was a cold core low. But, that was computers talking. I had thought that perhaps the boys at the National Hurricane Center would call it a subtropical storm and give it a name. It was kicking up pretty good winds and sometimes I wonder if when a storm is not really tropical but is affecting a lot of people as it moves ashore, then they go ahead and give it a name just to alert the public to its whereabouts. I’m sure that comment will not be greeted warmly by the boys at the NHC. I admit, its a guess and I may be wrong. Anyway, you can see from the satellite that it is a more classic comma shape. It will pass to the east of Louisville and the rain threat is minimal. If you get a light shower Friday evening, it won’t do much good. I think the big news is that a strong front appears to be on its way for early to mid week and will not only bring a chance for rain but also decidedly Fall-like air. The weekend looks good with clouds decreasing Saturday. Sunday looks good.

Tropical Storm Kyle IR Satellite 0926 0245Z

Tropical Storm Kyle: The news here is that the storm finally got away from the

Tropical Storm Kyle Forecast Track 0925 11PM

Dominican Republic and was designated as a tropical storm shortly thereafter. Now, it dawdled so much that the upper winds that had been favorable are not so good right now. But, as Invest 94 moves inland and Kyle moves northward, it will open up an opportunity for the winds to relax a bit. Now, Kyle will be zipping right along and the forecast track has it moving into the Canadian Maritimes in a few days. The inland low will tag along behind and bring rain to the northeast. There is a big fat ridge in the North Atlantic that won’t allow it to turn right as it would like to do due to the coriolis force. It would be tough for the storm to veer more to the left and affect the US coast. It would be a stretch for the ridge to be that strong to overcome the coriolis parameters but its not totally out of the question. The official forecast and a few of the spaghetti models do make Kyle a hurricane. Look to the bottom of the post for a look at the Tropical Storm Kyle National Hurricane Center Discussion.

Ole Dan'l Didn't Have a Coonskin Cap

On This Date In History: Daniel Boone died in 1820. He didn’t get attacked by Indians, he didn’t get eaten by a bear and he didn’t die in Kentucky. He simply died quietly at the age of 86. The cause? He reportedly died of eating too many sweet potatoes and died of indigestion. Today we have the credit

Fess Parker's Fraudulent Portrayal of Boone

crisis affecting real estate owners. In Boone’s day, you had to have a proper claim and it seems ole Dan’l didn’t have the proper papers for his land holdings in Kentucky. Because he failed to register his land properly, he lost his land in Kentucky and I suppose that included Boonesboro. Dan may have been gone but they kept the name. Boone in 1799 went west and settled in Missouri at the tender age of 65. He spent his final years hunting and trapping. Later, Fess Parker portrayed Boone in a TV series in the late 60′s. In the series, Parker wore a coonskin cap and there was even a reference to that in the theme song. Trouble was that Boone never wore a coonskin cap. He preferred a broad brimmed beaver hat. Guess Parker had the coonskin cap left over from his previous TV series in which he portrayed Davy Crockett. Kept the Boone series budget costs low. Honestly, I couldn’t tell the difference between Parker’s Crockett and Parker’s Boone as he was one of those guys who acted the same way in all of his roles. But, I must say I think Parker looks more like a Boone than Boone did. There is a statue of Boone, not Parker, near Cherokee Park.

TROPICAL STORM KYLE DISCUSSION NUMBER 2

NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL112008

1100 PM EDT THU SEP 25 2008

Tropical Storm Kyle Spaghetti Model 0926 00Z

A NOAA HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT WHICH WAS INVESTIGATING KYLE EARLIER THIS EVENING MEASURED AN EXTRAPOLATED SURFACE PRESSURE OF 994 MB AND MAXIMUM FLIGHT LEVEL WINDS OF 56 KT. THERE WERE ALSO A FEW SFMR RETRIEVALS NEAR 55 KT…BUT THE FLIGHT METEOROLOGIST ON BOARD ESTIMATED THAT THESE MEASUREMENTS WERE LIKELY ABOUT 10 KT TOO HIGH. IN ADDITION…A DVORAK CLASSIFICATION USING THE SHEAR PATTERN WOULD YIELD A DATA-T NUMBER OF 3.0. ALL OF THIS INFORMATION UNANIMOUSLY SUPPORTS AN INITIAL INTENSITY OF 45 KT. THE LATEST AIRCRAFT FIX INDICATES THAT KYLE HAS ACCELERATED AND IS NOW MOVING AT 010/11. THIS MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS AS THE CYCLONE IS ADVECTED

Tropical Storm Kyle Spaghetti Model Intensity Graph 0926 00Z

NORTHWARD BETWEEN A MID-LEVEL HIGH JUST EAST OF BERMUDA AND THE LARGE CUT-OFF LOW NEAR THE EAST COAST OF THE UNITED STATES. MODEL AGREEMENT IS EXCEPTIONAL THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD AND VERY LITTLE ADJUSTMENT WAS REQUIRED FROM THE PREVIOUS FORECAST. KYLE IS CURRENTLY UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF 20 KT OF WESTERLY SHEAR AS DIAGNOSED BY THE SHIPS MODEL. THIS SHEAR IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR ANOTHER 12 HOURS OR SO…DURING WHICH ONLY MODEST STRENGTHENING IS EXPECTED. VERTICAL SHEAR WILL DIMINISH AFTER THAT AND KYLE WILL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO STRENGTHEN TO A HURRICANE IN 36-48 HOURS AS IT MOVES OVER WARM WATERS AT A FAIRLY SPEEDY CLIP. THE FORECAST INTENSITY IS CLOSE TO THAT SHOWN BY THE LGEM…HWRF…FSU SUPERENSEMBLE…AND CONTINUITY. HOWEVER…THE GFDL AND SHIPS MODELS MAKE KYLE A LITTLE BIT STRONGER. KYLE WILL THEN CROSS NORTH OF THE GULF STREAM AFTER 48 HOURS AND SOME WEAKENING IS EXPECTED. MODEL GUIDANCE SUGGESTS THAT EXTRATROPICAL TRANSITION COULD BEGIN ONCE KYLE MOVES ACROSS THE CANADIAN MARITIMES IN 72 HOURS WITH THE PROCESS COMPLETED BY 96 HOURS. BY DAY 5…THE EXTRATROPICAL LOW IS EXPECTED TO BECOME ABSORBED INTO A FRONTAL ZONE. INTERESTS IN BERMUDA SHOULD MONITOR KYLE IN CASE THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT DEVIATION TO THE RIGHT OF THE EXPECTED TRACK. IN ADDITION…PORTIONS OF EASTERN NEW ENGLAND AND THE CANADIAN MARITIMES SHOULD ALSO MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF KYLE.

FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS

INITIAL 26/0300Z 24.8N 68.0W 45 KT

12HR VT 26/1200Z 26.5N 68.1W 50 KT

24HR VT 27/0000Z 29.2N 68.7W 60 KT

36HR VT 27/1200Z 32.4N 68.9W 65 KT

48HR VT 28/0000Z 36.3N 68.3W 70 KT

72HR VT 29/0000Z 44.5N 65.5W 60 KT…INLAND…NOVA SCOTIA

96HR VT 30/0000Z 50.0N 60.0W 50 KT…EXTRATROPICAL 120HR VT 01/0000Z…ABSORBED BY A FRONTAL ZONE

$$FORECASTER BERG