Travel and Leisure

This is an unusual post. Since travel has been restricted the past year, Travel &Leisure (T&L) had various articles from the past, for a while. Then, we had people writing of their trips to local sites that were close to where they lived. That was a nice touch. Everyone recognized that they had overlooked some great opportunities when opting to venture far away from home. We might look at some of those. 

What motivates this is the 50th anniversary edition that is just out. As well as looking at travel since 1971, they also offer some trips that had been thought about for a while but not done. There are two articles with an U.S theme. One was a loop by a French couple through the literary landscape of New England. Stops were made in Concord, Amherst, Lenox, Pittsfield in MA and Hartford in CT. Many names were mentioned, however the sites visited were connected to Alcott, Dickinson, Melville, Wharton, and Twain. We will look further into that later. 

As an aside, the 400, 300, 250, 200, 100 is on the horizon. SAR has a clock on their site. That's for the 250th part. The 400th still needs definition. According to the Gloucester MA folks, it's 2023, a mere two years. But, we say there are 10s of MA towns that will be celebrating for a few decades. Too, are presence will be persistent and consistently oriented toward the then and the now. T&L mentioned this. 

Which brings up the 2nd article. It was of the west. The author writes that in her 19th years, she and a friend boarded a bus in New York. After 40 hours they ended up in Billings MT after being glued to unfolding as they went west of the U.S. landscape. Their destination was Yellowstone. Of course, Gardiner, the gateway city on the northern end, was mentioned. The two were going to spend the summer working in the Yellowstone Hotel. In this return trip, she brought her son. Of course, they covered the area, including being in Jackson Hole WY. 

What got our attention was that the author really enjoyed her first experience which had a lingering effect. So, we got to see her reminiscing but also talking to experts about the changes. She mentioned the awe that the Native American and the trapper/trader must have had on seeing Lake Yellowstone for the first time. We have been looking at rivers in that vicinity in our look at waterways associated with movement to the west. And, we appreciated that the author took time to report details that are important. Here is the article to read (thank you, T&L). 

Why I Took My Son on a Classic Adventure
Through Yellowstone and 
Grand Teton National Park

Let's look at a couple of lists that T&L put together for people in the U.S. who might want to do a car trip this year. Lots of people are buying travel trailers with that in mind. 

• Best US Cross-country Road Trip - nothern route -- It starts in the west with Seattle WA. Then we see Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota. They only did nine so we're already five. Then, we have Minneapolis MN and Chicago IL. The final two are Pittsburg PA and NY NY. They mention the need to stop in Yellowstone. In the article mentioned above, there are notes about the early exploration plus the push to make the area a National Part. 
• Best US Cross-country Road Trip - southern route -- Again, starting in the west we have LA CA, Sedona AZ, the Santa Fe NM, Amarillo TX, OKC OK, Hot Springs AR, and two in TN (Memphis and Nashville). Then, they go to NC and VA. They had to go out of the way to get to Sedona AZ but did put the Grand Canyon on the list.  

In terms of the western expansion, Santa Fe was there early in New Spain. The map of the routes west shows their following somewhat along the natural terrains (Western expansion) that allowed the early travel. 

Again, this is a landlubber post which we will balance with posts of nautical themes. 

Remarks: Modified: 07/30/2021

07/30/2021 -- 

Practice for carving

TL;DR -- We were looking further west but have to take the time to look at prior conditions. From the French-Indian affair through the War of 1812, a lot of time passed. And, then, New England did not cover much territory. It was looking at western Ohio recently where we realized the oversight and stopped to take those matters into consideration. 

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As we look at the details related to the 250th of the U.S. start, we have to consider lots of angles, such as before and after. Today, let's relook briefly as the "Carving of the land" that happened after Jefferson's deal. Starting with the area just east of the Mississippi, people settled. And, more came. Til now, we mainly were looking at land west of the Mississippi. Today, we will take a look at an area further east which was known as the northwest (albeit, before Oregon came on the scene). 

This map gives an overview of the status around the time of the Revolution. It shows the areas controlled by New England (red), New France (blue), and New Spain (orange). That whole area of the middle and leftmost was the topic in several prior posts, such as State of Missouri, 1821. For instance, most of the left coast was claimed by New Spain, except for some of the northern region. 

North America in 1750

Our interest is that families moved to these areas all of the time during the century of the frontier, including moving to many states. And, that left holes in the paper trail that genealogists love. We will have some posts on the fact that genealogists are not logical. Lots and lots to do. 

Now this next map is where we were going. Having followed some families out west from the time of the Revolution and also taking the lineage back to the beginning (400 years ago and so), we now see that we need to look more closely at the lost generations between the Patriot (SAR and DAR) and the generation about two after. Earlier, we mentioned that the fifth generation did the Revolution. The sixth and seventh got things going. Then, the eighth? Got the reward? Not really, as we still had decades and decades of hard work to be done. 

In Frank's magazine (The Massachusetts Magazine), there was regular column about Michigan. By C.A. Flagg, first of series was Vol. 1, No. 2, pg 73. 

It never really sunk in until of late. Our focus had been the southern route, where northerners came west through the Carolinas into Tennessee and west. Imagine tracking a family through that. 

This next map is great as it shows the colonies around the time that we (the U.S.ers) were being trained by the Crown militarily as we supported the conflicts with New France and its Native American allies. Those colonies are on the right coast. Now, look left. 

Notice, New England states were ceding property. We had an earlier map that showed Virginia claiming land to the west out to the Rockies (not in this map). Great country? Right? We just saw this video of people (in other countries) watching another video that talked about the size of the U.S. both geographically and economically. Things are huge. 

With, it might be added, the vast majority of the population being on the coasts. Imagine that? The good life is in the interior. In any case, We had to go back to Massachusetts for the start of a family that then was spread over this region and west. 

Here's where we are heading. When we first ran into the problem, we knew too little to have an informed opinion. But, after running into a pattern time and again, we will say this. Lots and lots of American families have been dissed. John thinks that it stinks; he has no axe to grind since his lineages are all post the Civil War. As we look at the events that led up to the Civil War and many other conflicts such as with the Native Americans, lots of things call for attention. Abstracted history throws out such details as if of no consequence. Genealogists with their plodding (a mere paper chase, with little reasoning going on). Time to talk advanced logic, okay? 

If you look at the map of Missouri (above link), in 1821, when the State got started (paired with Maine's entry in 1820) with a slave/free balance, there were few counties covering the state. Some of them huge. Then, these split over time. One of our tasks was looking at Bureau of Land Management records with respect to the opening of Missouri. Since then, we have looked at other states. 

Another thing to note. We have seen, time and again, the mother dying young. The recent one, a mere 20 years old. Then comes another wife. In one case, the step-mother split when her husband died leaving a youngster (wasn't hers anyway; step child) to be raised by the families (uncles, in this case, who did a good job). The thing that grates was one established organization, y'all can see it here, dissing this poor thing. 

Yes, this'll be discussed ad infinitum until the great minds (yes, genealogists, you) come to some type of awareness that we can assess being without relying to much on paper. Sheesh, I just saw a Census that is screwed up. It's not an issue yet. We'll document it to let people know that this can happen. Too, though, as one looks at that map (2nd one, okay?), depending upon the time of the document, it could have any of those labels. So, there ought to be a way, with technology now, to do errata that persists. 

Actually, we have just begun the necessary work. 

Remarks: Modified: 07/30/2021

07/28/2021 -- 

Grave abuse

TL;DR -- For a decade, we looked into the question of Where is Thomas? That query was with respect to the location of his remains. After reading about and listening to lots of comments and ideas, we decided to dig deeper. Lo and behold, we find that the place where Thomas was buried was torn apart 190 years ago or so. Stones were moved without regard to bodies which were left. Then, the land was contoured for traffic dragging the bones about. Or, they were thrown in the river bed that was being filled. Some remains and stones may have moved to two areas. Harmony Grove Cemetery is close; but, the Trask plot is closer. God only knows. 

--

A decade ago, we first asked the question of "Where is Thomas?" after visiting the cemetery in Salem, MA and coming away disturbed. Then, we slowly gathered data and kept asking. Where is Thomas? Finally, we heard on a phone call (Maine Gardner) about tales of missing graves. Okay, what does that mean? Well, we kept gathering related material. Too, we got familiar with the area. Actually, Ann's childhood house is within a stone's throw of where the Gardner Burial plot was. Let's say, using a hefty arm. However, it was almost as high on the side of the hill as was Thomas when he sat by his tree and said that he liked the view of the water (7 Oct 2019, Gallows Hill - look at the painting in this post). 

Later, we noticed that Dr. Frank had mentioned the issue in his books quoting Samuel Pickering Gardner's comments about the problem. A summary post (28 Feb 2019, Another twist) tied things up. And we took our attention out to the wild west. 

 Showing Google view, with annotations, 
mapped to Sidney Perley's sketch of the
area around Gardner Burial Plot

But, it is time to re-address this theme due to the hard sleuthing of Melissa Davenport Berry. She runs a FB group titled Early Quaker History and Genealogy as well as the New England Family Genealogy and History group.  

Recently, we were looking at FB as there is a lot of activity there related to New England. Melissa who writes for several publications has just reported on some research. The following four bullets are her blog reports with comment. We need to thank Melissa. Also, it is time to clear the air on this. We'll handled the Gardner part.  

• Salem Uproar over Dilapidated Tombs - This is about the same time as the turmoil related to Gardner Hill. Names involved are "Derby, Bowditch, and Sargent." It was said that people were horrified.   
• Salem Uproar over Dilapidated Tombs, Part II - "Lindall, Browne, Kitchen, and Turner families" are mentioned. 
  
• Salem Uproar over Dilapidated Tombs, Part III - Just naming additional families opens up the area to look at: Weld, Boardman, Wolcott. Wait, John and Elizabeth Gardner are mentioned, as is Putnam, to boot. 
  
• Salem Uproar over Dilapidated Tombs, Part IV - Nathaniel Bowditch got involved and raised public interest. 
  

That Nathaniel Bowditch's name was mentioned and got our attention. Okay, we'll get back to this theme. Somehow, we need to get the message across about the incidents as well as figure some way to get Thomas (and Margaret) Gardner recognized when the 400th comes up (or before). 

Remarks: Modified: 07/23/2021

07/22/2021 -- 

Sons of the American Revolution

TL;DR -- Genealogists are not logical. This we will go into at some point. Many are patriotic. As we see with SAR and DAR. We are nearing the 250th of the Revolution that started the U.S. As such, there are lots of things to report and to discuss. Thinking of the 150th, which was 100 years ago, consider the state of technology? 

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We could have titled this "Genealogists are not logical" but let's keep that for a later date. Today, we want to mention a page that pulls together the search methods for the

            SAR and DAR databases. 

We have mentioned these two before and like that there is a common reference point. Too, we can thread lineages from 400 years ago through those two to filter out interesting stories. 

The below list pulls together a few posts from the past as this will be a continuing theme. As well, the 250th is coming up and will be getting more attention as we go along. 

These are not in order.

• In the small (April 2021) -- looked at an example of trying to find information on a patriot who had dealings with George Washington. 
• Middle and out (October 2020) -- recap of several months of work on application research. It ain't easy. 
• Locales and their history (October 2018) -- these groups help locals to document their history which ought to be appreciated by all. 
• Spirit of '76 (March 2018) -- early attempts at publication deserve our respect. 
• Revolutionary experiences (December 2020) -- some of the activity covered a wide range of area. 
• Support specifics (October 2020) --  recap of resources found and utilized over the scope of our activity with regard to Gardner Research, including SAR & DAR. 

Both of these groups will be interesting to watch over the next few years as the 250th advances, arrives and wanders down the road. 

Remarks: Modified: 07/23/2021

07/23/2021 -- Add TL;DR and image for our portal (https://TGSoc.org).

Content and its management

TL;DR -- It seems that it is time to do the periodic review of technology in terms of our use and of choices pending. Nothing urgent is at hand except to increase the ability to have more options as we go forward. In the background is the reserved use of technology that might raise the issues of security, effectiveness, privacy, and other topics. We expect a 'deeper' dive this time (where 'deep' is taken from the AI mania's seeming hold on the imagination of a whole lot of people. What would Thomas think?

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The explosion of techniques over the past decade and one-half is astounding. And, that techniques range from low-level coding and handling of data through all sorts of presentations on various types of platforms (real or virtual) and then the interpretation worlds coming in, especially with analysis as a driver and that the variety of methods are without end is quite a bit to chew on. For the individual as well as for the group. To now, it has been a daunting task to cope; going forward, it will be even more problematic. 

So, doing a relook is quite apropos now. Let's just start with a list, some of which is older than it may appear and have a new face; what is new will be pointed out, eventually. 

Context: Aug 2014, on Decisions; 2021/22 stop to relook; list of Content Management tools and approaches. 

We can think in terms of hats which are difficult to have on at the same time and, definitely, switching modes is no easy task.  

• Project Seven - responsive web design, as they tout, with a huge collection of capabilities which can be plug and play or even more. 
• Dreamweaver - early to the game and still going. 
• CSS-tricks - one of the demonstrators of the ability of this lowly tool that got my attention early on. 
• Joomla - it's open source and capable, but too much on the configuration side of things. 
• concrete5 - again, open source; found it useful but cumbersome. 
• WordPress - very popular; liked it, but, personally, didn't like the ad-hoc collection of fee-based entities seemingly waiting to pounce. 
• Drupal - thematic scheme that was interesting. 
• ...
• Top 10 best website builders - there are lots of these list where some analysis has already been done. 

Must comment about data bases and their issues (several of the above mention their database options).  As an aside, have done this for years. The concern is more general and relates to staying away from conditions that lead to abusive modes being successful. 

One thing that grated was that most of these approaches make heavy use of pieces that are pulled together out of a database. That is, this approach is highly fluid but lacks structure. Is that important? Yes and no. Many of the modern website whose adherence to the chaos (seeming) might dazzle, the performance can stink. Too, it is hard to multi-task in such an environment. If I see something, I don't want it to change while I am cogitating about related issues. Lots to discuss, perhaps. Going with HTML files forced a structure. At first, of course, there were tables, but this usage diminished over time. 

Slow grind

So, we might think of a split where there is structure in the look and its code. Then, data would be handled by a data base, albeit that sort of thing might really require cloud support for reasons of stability. Until now, we have avoided those decisions. So, it's time to go back and reassess. 

We always talked content versus configuration is a recursive manner. One's person content might very well be another's configuration. Better wording might come to fore, but we'll keep with this split for a while. 

Remarks: Modified: 07/23/2021

07/19/2021 -- Finally, we're on the summer tech trek: Techie world, again. No known destination or timeframe for when that unknown is defined sufficiently to consider having arrived there. 

07/23/2021 -- Add TL;DR and image for the portal (https://TGSoc.org). 

A(rtificial) I(ntelligence) researched properly

TL;DR -- As we have mentioned in lots of post, New England has a long arm through space and time. Very long. We have looked at the interior example of this. We have a nautical one, to boot, that sits there awaiting attention. And, we need technology for various matters. Keeping it simple over the decade was one goal. Accomplished as we do not even have a smart phone. From the outside, apps look to be idiotic. I'll get one soon and be more specific. With regard to the purveyors of the clouds that are strangling the folks, we are immune and neutral. We'll tsk, tsk at any who is not behaving in a mature manner (did Zuck ever get over his bull-in-a-china-closet self?). Once we do a little look back which implies future happenings similarly (truth engineering is the focus), we look at DL and its huge impact of an unreasonable nature (hint for the brainy, think Wigner's comments). What is wrong here? Well, we 'deep' dive, proper sense, into DL and come up with the pearls of wisdom that seem to have been lost in the mud. 

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An ongoing concern is that we need to have a technical focus for a while as we re-look at the computing landscape. This type of thing seems to have occurred on a periodic basis which we have covered somewhat as we proceeded. But, since technology will be a focus going forward, we will be more regular on looking from that angle. 

And, we will pull together several threads as we work this. Then, we need to assess where the world is on related topics. Warning, we're going to the core and back in an attempt to clarify what are the real issues and why so much hype and confusion. 

So, let's recap, somewhat. It does parallel other activities in the world of technology. 

• We started this in 2010 using facilities of Microsoft (MS) as we were looking to be in the world of  ASP.NET for web apps with access to OfficeLive for the business focus. The first cut of the web site went quickly due to their tools. And, all was well, or so it seemed. 
• So, in 2012, MS pulled the plug (leaving a bunch of little moms and pops scrambling as they lost the core of their business model). Rather than step up to Office365, we went looking. That was nice. As we got to see how the web was about seventeen years after its 'wild west' start. We tried several of the state-of-the-art approaches. Mind you, we are now facing the onslaught of change coming from Jobs' gift (in other words, the app world was dawning). However, since our purpose was content management in a totally new environment, we fell back to our roots which was riding the wave of the internet from the beginning via Unix and Linux. Remember, at one time, SUN noted that the network was the computer (early 1990 timeframe). So, we converted from 'asp' to html using little graphics with attached functions as the GUI. It was fun. The choice was to use an ISP who ran Linux and offered lots of software choices including a web design tool. Didn't like it, for many reasons. So we did our own thing. 
• After two years (2014) of managing content with antiquated methods, it got to be wearing. So, at that time, we took the time, again, to reassess the state of the art with respect to web stuff. And, we looked, again, at CSS. Yes. So, that became the GUI provider (parameters and systems, just like we see with DL - more on that, lots more). I saw a 3D graphic engine implemented in CSS/JS but still had lots of content to cope with. I was relieved to have some progress improvement.  
• Then, by 2016, Google was saying to those who went out pioneering earlier, respect the little guy or you don't get any attention (meaning, in their ways of pushing stuff). So, we became mobile friendly. The keyword was being responsive. This was done with even more CSS. At the same time, we picked up WordPress in addition to Blogger which became under the auspices of Google. In the meantime, we kept looking at new kids on the block. After all, some spend their lives playing with the stuff. So, alternatives abound. Guess what? I have lots and lots of examples of people being screwed (hence, this is one thing on our plate) because they didn't take the time to understand technology. At least, know more than how to push buttons on that thing that Jobs' gift gave the world (incidentally, I am about to get one - the smart phone - I call it a dumbing device and can show examples of that, to boot). Anyway, Google provided a little test facility to check out your site. We passed. That was enough, then. But, again, soap box: everyone seems to have descended to this one-eyed little thing where one cannot multi-task. Can I explain further? You bet. It'll be on our table for discussion for a long while. Also, later I used someone's Jobs' gift to look at the site. Not bad given that it's not using custom apps but a good browser (that will not go away, folks, for many reasons). 
  
• Then, 2017/18 came along. We decided that ThomasGardnerSociety.org was a bit to type and decided to go a little smaller. We asked for opinions and settled on TGSoc.org which has been a blast. We still have the old site for older material that will be reorganized. On the new one, we are stressing the need for truth and its engineering. Frankly, the site is to be a test bed for ideas and discussion, eventually. More on that below. At the time, we relooked at the options. And, settled, again, on HTML/CSS but brought in JS. Now, there are several varieties of JavaScripting available. However, I just saw top-of-the-line bit of research in truth maintenance (older concept) which balances multiple worlds (essential) which was created with html/css/js. Yes, I have seen lots of topnotch sites using this. Topnotch? Not commercial flimflam, please. Not academic, either. 
• Now, we're 2020/21 and have started to redo, again. Of course, it's time to reassess the world. And, knowing about New England and American History a little more now than in 2010, that whole framework has to come to become more visible in a coherent manner that will persist. Guess what? We will argue that there is research to support that will be as important as biomedical research. After all, we're talking the soul of the nation and of the world's people being entrapped via technology that is driven by motives are that not what we might want given what we know of the 400 years of effort on the part of thousands of families. But, that's for later (see below). Now, we will look at apps. Also, we will be looking at multi-media and the different ways to express some notion with both provenance known and veracity shown. Ever heard of AI? 

Okay, switching gears. One thing that I have noted is that people who are presenting tough stuff (say, as one expects with science) always use a mode that is as complex as the subject. Some people call this 'static' but do so erroneously. I will have examples, but many of these sites represent the latest thinking in fields such as mathematical physics which really is the driver of all of science. Too, the web has gone wild with approaches to presentation. Some of these will live on. Those are the ones that we want to pay attention to. We will have the more entertaining aspect, but hard-core issues area going to be a huge focus. 

Let's look at one, for now. Of late, there is this thing called Deep Learning which has gotten a lot of press and generated both hype and fear. The former? Oh yes, AI, as in artificial intelligence, has finally shown its head. Well, not. We will explain.  The latter? Again, AI. Old Musk (pusher of the electric car and its illusions) says, it's summoning the beasts. Other brains are bewailing the future and it perils. 

Well, in short, AI ain't. We have spent the past year looking at the guts in terms of the underlying mathematical and computational approaches. And, we are ready to discuss where there is more hype than not. We use that phrasing as, of course, it's not all for naught. There is some good stuff there. On the other hand, business managers are buying into this stuff to the detriment of their customers and their employers and the rest of us. Won't name names, yet, but some billionaires are exhibiting classic idiocy. 

To close this, let me point to two papers that were in the recent ACM Communications. They are both open to public view (thanks, ACM) so that we can access content of the papers without going into a closed environment. The ACM is the Association for Computing Machinery and has been around since the advent of computing. Earlier, it had an academic flavor but is now balanced with people from the industry. The Communications is their flagship publication that is printed monthly. This recent issue is just full of good stuff as we find with these two. 

• Deep learning for AI -- The ACM provides a Turing Award to folks who contribute to the discipline in an extraordinary manner. This paper is based upon a Lecture by three researchers who shared a Turing Award: Bengio, Lecun, and Hinton. Recognize those names? These guys were of neural nets all along and so can be seen to have sloughed through the years. They are not recent wonders exploiting graphic cards nor are they pushing notational magic such as tensors. Of late, news reports have mentioned these three talking (Hinton is whom I have seen referenced the most) and saying, wait, neural approaches have issues. We have to back up and relook at the situation. Well, this article expresses those issues and discusses some work that needs to be done. Great stuff. The article is open for reading (thanks to ACM). They mention symbolic approaches, the old stuff to some, and the later modes that are heavily numeric - exploiting age-old ideas about transforms, optimization and more. But, it’s in their ‘Recent advances’ and ‘The Future of Deep Learning’ where we see discussion of other things that are being pursued plus some suggestions and notions that need attention, like attention (now, a soft type). I liked the higher-level cognition little section. Yes, the old ‘planning and reasoning’ methods ought to be more than dead meat to those numeric overlays that are so insidious. I can talk that, too. BTW, Minsky’s ideas on the society of mind are still apropos, to boot. But, there is a lot more to put on the table. Next bullet.
• Deriving equations from sensor data using dimensional function synthesis — ACM, thanks, this is open, too. Gosh, in the last bullet, B&L&H were musing about higher-order (which even tensor notations aren’t going to give to the neural approach) and its use. After all, B&L&H are academics and know the mathematical stuff. So, Cambridge (Tsoutsouras, Willis, and Stanley-Marbell) to the rescue. This paper reminds me of a lot of things that I saw and dabbled in. To me, what was the conclusion was having a trained person in the loop. Trained? Yes, thoroughly comfortable with the type of thinking that a good physicist would follow while modeling - used since model-based approaches are still germane to the subject, perhaps even more so now with the flood of data and improper analysis that is killing us - in order to solve some problem. Good engineers fit this bill. 

So, we will need to have a technical focus, in part. One motivation is that DL, as automated mode, is gnawing at things textual and visual and creating what is considered knowledge views. Well, it is not. There are 'deep' issues at play here that are being ignored. These deal with what can be ungrounded domains, such as mathematics and philosophy. One might ask about 'grounded' which has been discussed forever. Well, humans will play a part in whatever dynamics are needed. 

Example of human deep learning
guiding DL

Yet, that complexity does not mean that things (are allowed to) just run a natural course with negative impacts upon humans and their culture and society because we shirk our responsibility to be mature. Run fast and break things? Heard that before? It's right out of Silicon Valley (to me, silly) during the past decade and one-half when things accelerated to more instability than many thought possible. Sure, the web/cloud is there. Well, the majority of that is something that we need to study which some have termed crapularity (really crapology - in response to the interest in the Singularity). 

We use the concept of research as being important. Science is one focus that needs to be there. Definitely, mathematics will be of concern. Now, people? What do they bring? That is something to learn more about in a way not done before. One suggestion is that the web/cloud offers lots of modes to look at in a new way. For starters, a survey of the past four or five decades with respect to how computing evolved and a consistent presentation of the results is imperative. I see now lots of older practitioners, who are retired, talking of their work. One theme, perhaps to be expected, is how the new modes merely rephrase what was done before with new gimmicks. Some sciences seem to redefine themselves from time to time. BTW, what will be re-evaluated, to boot, will be DNA from several perspectives that seem to have been swept off the table and under the rug as commercial interests took over the science. Wait, the old and the young? Generational dynamics? Actually, the topics have no limit. However, one important element? We are dealing with the American Dream. Who owns that? What is it, exactly? And, how might American Indian thoughts apply in modern contexts such as science? 

Remarks: Modified: 07/12/2021

07/11/2021 -- Review and edit; add image. 

07/12/2021 -- We are back in the saddle. Concerns abound. Such as, some have been taken to the cleaners due to unscrupulous developers and outright charlatans with modes that lurk and pilfer. Some have paid way too much for some capability since they were too old to know or to make the effort. Oh yes, youngsters not knowing? Yes, that is the case, too. Can we have a sustainable web for all? 

Carving the land

TL;DR -- So, we got the gift of the Louisiana Purchase from New Spain and New France after they grabbed the land from the American Indians. Then, St. Louis was the nexus of a carving that is so common. We started with this in New England 400 years ago. Well, all along, technology allowed the fruition. Today, old ideas are still there along with the improvements. What we want to do is thread over a spectrum some view via lives within families around and about at the different times. Spectrum? 400, 300, 250, 200, 100. And, various combinations can apply. Now, the 250th? Coming up. The Declaration of Independence which was celebrated recently if it was not forgotten due to the lure of hot dogs and brew. 

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Lately, we have spent lots of time on land issues out west. But, the world of the sea is important, too. So, we will keep a balance; one way will be to look at things from both sides while considering the differences. So, as the seas and oceans were huge and needed to be studied, so too was the interior of the U.S. when we got the increase via Jefferson's deal. The Bureau of Land Management has the responsibility to manage the public lands which includes having records of what was there and its deposition. We can track that through time as well as pay attention to the history, the people, and their genealogies. 

Case in point is Missouri and Arkansas. This book looks at the history of the counties in northwest Arkansas which is the southern border of Missouri: History of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, ... Counties of Arkansas (1889). Notice that it's published by Higginson. This is like the books that we have of the New England areas. Thousands of these accompanied the 300th lookback, albeit some were 1/2 century earlier. But, notice the topical articles, say, pioneer life or early settlers or what went into getting established and such. Given that Arkansas was of the Confederacy, there is a lot of local history. Remember, Missouri as declared as a State along with Maine, so we had a balance. And, we're talking years before Kansas. BTW, we have not gotten to Texas, yet.   

We mentioned that the Gardner guys were involved with surveying at Cape Ann and elsewhere (Merrimack). They were in good company. Both Washington and Jefferson were involved with surveying. So, too was Lincoln. This was, and still is, a regular function whose duties increased with Jefferson's deal. This image gives some indication of the size of the problem. 

The Public Land and Survey System is the current mode and represents how good systems persist. That above map is from 1988. Note, the colonies plus a few states are on another system. So too is Texas which requires special attention for several reasons. Canada uses its Dominion Land Survey. 

We look at this before when we were looking at rivers that headed out west and the creation of Ohio was part of the discussion. Of course, that was a New England deal, mostly. We are now a little further west and not much later in time. One difference is that we see a lost generation or two. 

Remarks: Modified: 07/01/2021

07/01/2021 --