|
Post by Mike Thorson on Feb 10, 2004 9:37:34 GMT -5
Just this morning I was looking at an old Boston newspaper on sale on E-Bay from, I think, September of 1832. It was a report written from Detroit that detailed the interrogation of Neopope. He commented that he had advised Black Hawk to take the people into Illinois to plant corn in traditional areas but that he had told Black Hawk if he encountered any whites to just shake their hands and turn around and go back. Now of course Neopope would be careful about what he says at the end of the war to avoid the appearance of being antagonistic to the winning side. Also journalists might have been already cranking up a sympathetic-to-the-Indians angle. Still, I wonder if there was a bit of brinksmanship going on with the Sauk-Fox. They had crossed over in 1831 and gotten away with it, why not try it again? However, once the shooting started at Stillman's Run, they were in over their heads. I would subscribe to the theory that had Atkinson's regulars gotten to Black Hawk before the loosely-trained militia got there, then military protocol and proper interpreters might have produced a peaceful escort of the band back to Iowa. Then again, young militants in Black Hawk's band might have looked for a provocation to violence sooner or later. Hi Jeffrey, I'm very glad you are here contributing! Per the message board guidelines make sure to sign all of your posts with your first and last name. You've probably already noted that everyone else has their posts signed. Any questions or concerns feel free to let me know. And once again - welcome!
|
|
|
Post by Mike Thorson on Jul 8, 2004 8:43:54 GMT -5
BUMP
|
|
|
Post by Mike Thorson on Jul 29, 2003 8:29:13 GMT -5
I was listening to Wisconsin Public Radio's "Simply Folk" Sunday night (July 27) with host Judy Rose as I usually do. Last Sunday Judy said (not an exact quote, paraphrasing) "In 1832 Black Hawk and his people were pushed out of the Rock River valley. In July two of his peace emissaries were killed at the Battle of Wisconsin Heights." Fortunately I didn't catch the rest of what she said but I'm sure the tens of thousands of listeners in Wisconsin benefited from her history lesson which isn't too far off from the official WHS version.
|
|
|
Post by Mike Thorson on Jul 17, 2003 8:46:30 GMT -5
Steven's entire citation on the Hamilton image: From the original, owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, at Madison. If it is found to be misidentified I'm sure the WHS will change it accordingly Bob, especially if you bring it to their attention......sarcasm mode off.
|
|
|
Post by Mike Thorson on Jul 16, 2003 14:20:36 GMT -5
Preliminary response to DISCOVERY-- Billy Hamilton, NOT? BOB BRAUN wrote "We are all familiar with this image of William "Billy" Stephen Hamilton. There's just one problem... Based on work done by Ms. Jenifer Cloutier of Minnesota this is probably not Billy! It most likely is, instead, Billy's oldest brother Phillip, at about age 19. Read all about the image." I read all about the image and pose the question, What "work" was done by Ms. Cloutier? The last time I checked simply referring to "an exceedingly rare volume today" written by a family member does NOT provide evidence that the heretofore attributed likeness of William Hamilton is of anyone else. Has Ms. Cloutier established the provenance for the portrait in question - has she examined it? Could she at least cite the full reference, the page number, and the inscription identifying the portrait? I say, place your lamentations on hold and require students who make assertions to provide evidence , before other board members exclaim, "Discovery!" instead of "Discovery?" Wondering Why in Warrenton, Cliff My response would be that this is a discussion forum and that it seems a valid discovery or item to bring up, - or has the last word on the Black Hawk War been written by those with proper qualifications?
|
|
|
Post by Mike Thorson on Jul 15, 2003 9:06:05 GMT -5
I am also concerned with the use of Mike Thorson's artwork as "altered" by someone else. My understanding is that art is not like the written word, where one can quote under the "fair use" clause of the copyright law. I do hope that Mike's permission was gained before using his work as it was presented--altered-- in the publication. As for Pete's observations on the button, note that the artifact is white metal. Normally, watch coat buttons were in brass-- which was point on this particular item. I don't think that the presence of say a watch coat button necessarily means that watch coats were present at Mounds Fort, which was I think Pete's point. Bob. I was compensated by the State of Wisconsin for two line drawings one of which was used for the National Register of Historic Places when they registered Fort Blue Mounds. They gave me the original drawing back. I assume they scanned it or something. I was told that the drawing would also be used in the Wisconsin Magazine of History article but at the last minute was told that "We made some modifications to your first drawing " - I assumed this meant they took out the Blue Mounds Ridge that was part of the original drawing or somehow changed the angle / juxtaposition of it behind the Fort. I was informed of the desire for some modifications but was never told what exactly they wanted. I don't have the notes I worked from in front of me and obviously Bob Birmingham knows the Fort dimensions in his head by this time but the dimensions are much different from my drawing. The drawing that is in the magazine was a surprise to me. Parts of the front blockhouse, the ditches and much of the stockade near the viewer I think was simply traced with pen and ink. The front blockhouse also apperas to no longer be square as I drew it originally. I'm pretty sure the blockhouses were square..? The interior building shrunk dramatically and squeezed more tightly into the stockade along with other changes. I'm almost positive too that the interior building was described as longer than the blockhouses - the altered drawing shows it as smaller than either blockhouse. Obviously the length of the stockade was shortened considerably. The far blockhouse probably ahd the most alterations. The side facing the viewer is the same but the sides and top were changed because of the much different angle. I'm very late in coming into this whole thing and the author of course has the most information and time, work, sweat invested in the article so I'm not questioning his knowledge of the Fort in any way, just that the info I worked with was obviously different. My problem is simply the credit given - that the drawing appearing in the article was "based on a drawing" done by me. To me, portions looked simply traced and it doesn't reflect the many hours of work I put into the original drawing, at one point getiing feedback from the author and then changing things. But one can just see what has been done to Bob Braun's work by others to know that what seems fair and proper to the CREATOR of something from nothing doesn't even occur to those who build upon this creation ond give no, or what I construe to be inedequate credit. I'm probably shooting myself in the foot here for future work as I'm sure this will get back to people as fast as it takes to cut & paste and click but it doesn't mean I wouldn't want to do work for the state in the future. I think people there, as with most people, don't really have any idea how much work it really is to create a drawing from nothing and that there are many different kinds of drawings, or pieces done in other media. The drawings I did for Blue Mounds and for Wisconsin Heights were done is a certain style that I noticed was used at National Parks and that I was attempting to mimick. That is, simple, stark line drawings with little shadow or line emphasis - deemphasis. Basically they sort of look like drawings you might see in a coloring book. Th.is was done intentionally and as a BASE to start with. More advanced and stylisitc works of the Fort and of Wisconsin Heights could of course use these first drawings as a base to start from but i don't think that this point was ever understood by some. Plus there was always the question of compensation.
|
|
|
Post by Mike Thorson on Jul 7, 2003 10:38:20 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Mike Thorson on Apr 11, 2002 9:02:55 GMT -5
Greg - well just don't have an accident with all that excitement! Whenever you get that pic to me I'll link it to your profile. I also upped your posts.
|
|
|
Post by Mike Thorson on Apr 10, 2002 9:24:08 GMT -5
Mike, If I actually login more often can I have my picture on this page too? Just curious. Carter Greg - sure, if you send me an image I can set it up so it appears in your posts - but I can only do that if you are registered. Once you've done that shoot me an image via e-mail. Take a look at Bob Braun's posts - I have added a pic of him too now.
|
|
|
Post by Mike Thorson on Apr 9, 2002 8:49:55 GMT -5
Rusty - sure, send me a pic and I can link it to your profile. I empathize with your connection speed problems. My only option for a long time was ISDN which is expensive and only went up to 112K. Now I'm lucky enough to get DSL at home and work and I'm spoiled by it. However - I strongly advise anyone out there considering Ameritech DSL - DON'T! I went through many months of problems and hassles and 10 hours on the phone trying to fix problems.
|
|
|
Post by Mike Thorson on Apr 8, 2002 9:26:56 GMT -5
Hmm Rusty I'm sorry to hear the page loads so slowly for you. What connection speed do you have? Do you have problems loading other web pages? Let me know, maybe I can help. As far as stars go you are already a big star in my book 8)
|
|
|
Post by Mike Thorson on Apr 4, 2002 9:27:34 GMT -5
Hi Rusty glad to see you here. You bring up a valid point regarding previous posts. If people would like to count how many posts they had on the old board and then tell me I can update their profile to reflect that number. THe old message board address is www.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=MThormilitia
|
|
|
Post by Mike Thorson on Mar 27, 2002 14:02:55 GMT -5
Great to see you here Stephen! You are welcome as a guest of course. If you decide to become a registered user - even better.
Anyway - welcome aboard.
|
|
|
Post by Mike Thorson on Mar 26, 2002 15:39:20 GMT -5
Welcome to the new Black Hawk War message board
If anyone has questions you can send me an instant message via this message board OR post the question here. Glad you are here!
|
|
|
Post by Mike Thorson on Mar 27, 2002 14:08:55 GMT -5
This technically belongs in the battles section but was too broad to include in just one section. Feel free to vote and also post comments.
Sorry for the misspellings!
|
|