Writing the West: Episode 21(033026)

0:00Protein is now at Starbucks and it's never tasted so good. You can add protein, cold foam to your favorite drink or try one of our new protein lattes or matcha. Try it today at Starbucks. This is Monday, Matt and A on the Mutual Audio Network. Come on, let's all go to the lobby. Because people are staring at us listening to these shows while we're in the theater. The following audio drama is rated PG for parental guidance recommended. Writing the West Stories and poems by Rick Steer Red by Michael Messner and Friends Wagon's West The spring of 1845, 3,000 people were gathered near St. Joseph, Missouri, anxious to begin their overland journey into the unknown.

1:05Joel Palmer, leader of one of the Wagon Trains, informed the pioneers. The loading should consist of provisions and apparel, a necessary supply of cooking fixtures, a few tools, everything in the outfit should be as light as a required strength of permit. And no useless trumpery should be taken. The pioneers had to plan for more than a five month, 2,000 mile, cross-country journey. Everything that was necessary to build a new home and to begin farming also had to be packed. Palmer suggested the minimum food essential for each adult consist of 200 pounds of flour, 75 pounds of bacon, 10 pounds of rice, 5 pounds of coffee, 25 pounds of sugar, 10 pounds of salt, 2 bushels of dried beans and dried fruit, 1 bushels of corn and corn meal, and 1 keg of vinegar.

2:07Good shoes and warm clothes were a requirement, and each man was required to carry a rifle and plenty of ammunition. Oxen were considered the best animals to pull the heavy wagons. They were strong and dependable, and natives were not likely to steal them. By the middle of April, with men driving the stubborn green teams, women and babies crowding into the wagons, the older children walking and driving the loose stock, the long caravan of wagons started west. Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake, after having plundered the riches of settlements along the coast of South America, thought it best not to tempt fate and run the gauntlet across the Atlantic Ocean. Instead he sought to escape by rounding the horn and sailing into the Pacific.

3:07He pointed his ship, the golden hind, north in hope of discovering a northwest passage that would lead him back to England. The golden hind was the first European ship to sail along the North Pacific coast, a land Drake called Nova Albion, or New England. By summer the pirate ship was reported to be in the vicinity of 48 degrees north latitude near Vancouver Island. Here a massive cold front moved in and froze the rigging. The crew fresh from the tropics and poured their captain to turn back. Drake reluctantly ordered his ship south. It is known the golden hind, under the weight of tons of plunder and leaking at the seams, put in at a harbor along the coast for repairs. A brass plaque found near San Francisco Bay in 1936 is considered by many to prove this was the site of the layover, while other historians believe the actual harbor was Wales' cove on the Oregon coast.

4:14After spending more than a month making repairs, the golden hind put to sea. Drake pointed his ship into the trade winds and 14 months after departing the coast of Nova Albion, the golden hind sailed into Plymouth Sound, England. Her keel having completed a furrow that circled the globe. The fine art of recording. Making notes of indiscriminate things using a sharpened yellow pencil to write in an open blue notebook. One black raven traipsing down sky. Two brown deer wandering aimlessly. A hesitant gray rabbit nibbling grasses. Thousands of insects buzzing away. One orange butterfly flitting aimlessly.

5:17Flowers too numerous to try and count. A single warm wind blowing up meadow. One man sitting on the ground writing with a yellow pencil in a blue notebook. A man who looks a lot like me. The Great Migration Far ranging lumberjacks returned to the Great Lakes States and told stories of the Pacific Northwest and Northern California, where they claimed pine trees grew bigger and taller than anything the locals had ever seen. And they swore they had seen Douglas fur growing 15 feet on the stump and stretching 300 feet tall.

6:18And redwood trees so enormous they grew into the clouds. The lumberjacks of the Great Lakes region were drawn to the new timber out west. And by the turn of the 20th century, this western movement rivaled the era of covered wagon pioneers over the Oregon Trail. The timber barons also turned their attention west after reports from their cruisers told of tremendous stands of virgin timber in Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. They had to pay up to $6 an acre for land, but the trees were so thick and tall a healthy profit was assured. Timber barons moving west included warehouse or Whitney Simpson, Polson, P.V., Blodget, Griggs, Hartley, Clow, and partners like Smith and Powers, Clark and Wilson, Brooks and Scanlon, Chevlin and Hickson and Pope and Talbot.

7:20They purchased millions of acres of forest land, logged the prime timber and produced lumber at company sawmills. The heyday of western logging and what some claimed at the time to be an inexhaustible supply of timber lasted fewer than a hundred years. Timber! Gold Rush Aftermath The two men most responsible for the California Gold Rush were John, Sutter, and James Marshall. After Marshall discovered gold on the American River, 40 miles northeast of Sutter's Fort, the men working for Sutter deserted him and took up mining. With the shops and the grist mills fell silent, hides rotted in the tanning vats and the crops spoiled in the fields.

8:22Miner swarmed over Sutter's land and challenged his title to the property in court. Sutter finally gave up the sprawling land grant and moved to Pennsylvania. He died in 1880, while visiting Capitol Hill in an attempt to enlist Congress's help in winning compensation for his claims. James Marshall also suffered a miserable fate. He joined in the search for gold but was luckless and never became wealthy. As his frustration mounted, he boasted he was the rightful owner of all the gold in California. Miners drove him from one camp to the next. He finally took up residence in a small cabin on the American River near where he had made the original discovery, living in abject poverty. A forgotten man, until death took him in 1885. Five years later, the California legislature spent $9,000 on a statue in his likeness pointing at the exact spot where he had found the first nugget.

9:27You've been listening to Writing the West. The stories and poetry in this podcast are by Rick Steber and appear in Books by Him. Log on to www.ricksteberauthor.com to find out more. This program was produced by Michael Messner by permission of the author. Special thanks to Michael Tucker, Rachel Pulliam, and Art Schingler. Thank you for listening. Thank you for listening to Monday, Matt Nay right here on the Mutual Audio Network. Please consider subscribing to other days of the Mutual Feeds, including Tuesday terrors for horror, Wednesday wonders, our science fiction and fantasy magazine, Thursday thrillers for action, adventure, mystery, and crime drama. Friday follies are end of the week comedy series.

10:29Saturday story circle for kids and families alike and Sunday showcase, bringing you the very newest in audio releases for the week from our United Artists of Audio, right here on the Mutual Audio Network. The Mutual Audio Network, listening and imagining together. This episode is brought to you by Athletic Brewing Company, no matter how you do game day. On the couch, in the crowd, or manning the snack table, Athletic Brewing fits right in. With a full lineup of non-alcoholic beer styles, you can enjoy bold flavors all game long. No hangovers, no buzz, no subbing out for water in the second half. Stuck the fridge for tip off with a variety of non-alcoholic craft styles available at your local grocery store or online at AthleticBrewing.com. Near beer, fit for all times.