Lex Anteinternet: Seventy Five years ago today.

Lex Anteinternet:
Seventy Five years ago today.: Seventy Five years ago today.

Sweetwater Station, Freemont County Wyoming.

There's a highway rest station on top of Beaver Rim at Sweetwater Station that I've stopped in a million times, but I've never photographed it before.  Probably because there's always been a lot of people there and I felt self conscious about it.  Anyhow, the other day I went through and it was just me, so I took these photos with my Iphone.

The photos here will be left large so that the details on the signs can be read.  I didn't do a very good job of photographing them while there, but it was relatively early in the day and light conditions were not idea.

This is a converging location on the trail and a lot of different things are significant about the spot.  It's a significant Oregon Trial spot in and of itself.  It was also the location of an Army post, protecting the trail, during the 1860s.  Lt. Caspar Collins, who lost his life famously leading a mixed company at the Battle of Platte Bridge Station, was stationed at Sweetwater Station.

Lex Anteinternet: The Cheyenne Leader for November 30, 1916: A Nati...

Lex Anteinternet: The Cheyenne Leader for November 30, 1916: A Nati...: Only meriting a small entry at the bottom of the page, we learn on this day that Wyoming National Guardsman Pvt. Frank J. Harzog, who enl...

Owen Wister Monument, Medicine Bow Wyoming

This is a monument to Owen Wister in Medicine  Bow, Wyoming.  Granted, it isn't in the "some gave all category", but we have strayed from the strict criteria that implies a bit.  Wister is famous, of course, for writing The Virginian, in which Medicine Bow plays a prominent part.

The monument is located just outside of a museum, which was not open when I drove through and stopped (I'm afraid I've driven through many times and not stopped).  The same location has a plaque with a large collection of the local brands on it, scene here.

San Jacinto Monument, San Jacinto Battleground State Park, Texas

San Jacinto Monument as viewed from the USS Texas.

These are photographs of the San Jacinto Monument, erected at the location of the Battle of San Jacinto in Harris County, Texas. The monument is the largest masonry column in the world.

The monument commemorates the April 21, 1836 Battle of San Jacinto, which occurred on this location, and which secured Texas' independence from Mexico. It was built from 1936 to 1939 and includes inscriptions which relate the story of Texas obtaining independence.

 Fossils in the monument's limestone.

 Reflecting pool.

Holscher's Hub: USS Texas. The only surviving dreadnought in the world. San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site, Texas.

Holscher's Hub: USS Texas. The only surviving dreadnought in the world

 

These are photographs of the USS Texas. The date stamp, fwiw, is in error. These were taken in  October, 2016.

The  Texas is the last Dreadnought on earth.  One pre dreadnought battleship exists, a Japanese example, and several post dreadnought battleships. But these ships, which formed the backbone of every major fleet in the world in the early 20th Century, are down to this example.  She was launched in 1912 and commissioned on 1914. A major ship in her day, while she served all the way through World War Two, and provided support to amphibious landings in Europe and the Pacific, she was already somewhat antiquated at the time of her commissioning.  Super dreadnoughts, like the Arizona, were already being launched prior to her commissioning.  Still, she was a ship of many firsts, including being the first US ship to mount anti aircraft guns.

 

 San Jacinto Monument as viewed from the USS Texas.