Thursday, October 29, 2015

The Autobiography of Hannibal Lugg as told to Frances R. Green: Alyssa Fell, "Hannibal Lugg: A Wisconsin Settler's Perspective of Life on the Atlantic Ocean"

The autobiography of Hannibal Lugg as told to Frances R. Green is a fascinating look at the life of a first generation English immigrant who settled in Yorkville, Wisconsin in 1842 and then moved to Racine, Wisconsin some years later, but still managed to make five trips across the Atlantic Ocean in his lifetime (Green 10). Because he came from Cornwall, England (a small town located on a peninsula which is surrounded by the English Channel and the Celtic Sea), and later in life lived next to Lake Michigan in Wisconsin, Hannibal Lug spent a good majority of his life intimately close to water, and it shows in his autobiography, which he presumably dictated to Frances R. Green of Racine, Wisconsin, as the title of the text suggests. Apart from the autobiography itself, no solid information can be found about Hannibal Lugg or Frances Green. However, whether the text is fact or fiction, it still provides insight into maritime life or at least how American maritime literature existed in the minds of those contemporary to it.
            In the autobiography, Hannibal speaks of his youth in England, his motivations for emigrating to America in 1842, his many travels, and other important events he experienced after settling in Wisconsin, such as his first and second marriages and the death of his first wife. Hannibal’s autobiography is relatively short, fast-paced, and action-oriented, and doesn’t give many explicit descriptions of the emotions of its narrator, Hannibal does seem to linger on certain events more than others, which leaves the reader with the assumption that those events were more important, remarkable, or memorable to him. Most of these events occurred at sea or on or near other bodies of water, such as Lake Michigan or the river systems and other Great Lakes that brought him to his new home in Wisconsin. For example, he devotes only a few sentences to speaking about his wives, and those sentences are very informational rather than emotional. He devotes entire paragraphs to his travels on water and how he nearly drowned on the coast of Cornwall at age fifteen (3). He also spoke much more briefly about his land or how he settled it than he did his transatlantic journeys. This could be, in part, because he employed others to work his farm; he was a carpenter by trade and made much of his income that way. Therefore, his occupation didn’t put him in direct contact with the land like farming did for many others. Instead, his many travels put him in closer contact with water and it becomes clear in his autobiography that Hannibal was a man who settled in Wisconsin, but truly lived at sea, if we are to take his account as fact. On the other hand, if the autobiography is indeed a fiction, it still serves to illustrate where the literary imagination may have been during this time—a time when westward expansion had begun but many immigrants were still arriving by sea, and had to brave Atlantic waters to make their new home in America. While some were looking westward, still others were looking east to the sea, or to their native lands beyond it, as Hannibal himself did.
            Hannibal first journeyed back to Cornwall in 1851, with the purpose of visiting his mother and his childhood home. While he did make it back to the house of his youth, his mother no longer occupied it, having passed away two weeks earlier while he was at sea to see her (Green 12). This trip proved to be the most remarkable to him because of the barbaric events that took place on this ship, which was named the Liverpool (10).  These events include a flogging, which he remembers vividly: “The first thing the mates did was to give the men a flogging ‘to break them in’…This happened in New York harbor in the year 1851, on an American ship. I have crossed the Atlantic Ocean five times, but never witnessed anything like that demonstration” (10). Hannibal included later that another sailor had been “lashed by one of the mated with a rope to which a block of wood was tied, and was hurt in a way that caused him to walk lame” and that yet another sailor threw himself overboard after a pot of varnish he had knocked over by accident, “preferring death to life on board the vessel” (11).  While it is not clear from the text alone whether he only witnessed ship brutality once because he was always a passenger and never part of a crew, and thus, wouldn’t know if the practice was common or not, other examples of floggings exist in other works, such as R.H. Dana’s Two Years Before the Mast (Dana 101). However, the text does suggest that flogging or other forms of ship brutality may have been a uniquely American practice and offers an outsider’s view into the life of an American sailor.
            Because Hannibal Lugg was a first generation English Immigrant, his autobiography also offers some key insights into the American immigrant experience  and motivations, the formation of national identity and how  ideas of manifest destiny may have made their way to Europe after the revolutionary war. Because Hannibal was English, he makes no mention of having to learn a new language and, while he did spend some time in Quebec early in his journey, probably never had to overcome a language barrier like many other immigrants did. His transition from English to American, as he tells it, appears very smooth but mainly because he only mentions it in passing. His motivation for moving to America was to find work in his trade (carpentry) and to start a family with his future wife, whose family moved to America just before him (Green 4). In a brief summation of his motivations he says: “I was a young man with a desire to make for myself a home. I could have remained at home with my parents, but that seemed not to be what I wanted” (10). While he identified England for his homeland his whole life, as he admits when he speaks of his last trip back to England where he had planned on spending the remainder of his days, his motivation for uprooting himself from England is uniquely American: he wished to create his own destiny, his own life. He also gives mention that a number of his English friends had also moved to America, which points to a rise in individualistic thinking in Europe as well as America, and thus, a movement of ideas across seas.
            So much of Hannibal’s unique story was focused on his travels and his movements. If we are to take his account for truth, Hannibal was a very active man and remained so into his nineties (Green 14). The fact that most of his journeys occurred on water proves just how central waterways, lakes and the ocean were to travel before there were rails, cars, or airplanes. Thus, water became not only the backdrop for his travel, but his means of travel and consequently, became a large part of his life. Most settlers in America did just that—they settled... They bought land, cultivated it, and lived on it, or they moved westward in order to do the same at less cost. Hannibal, however, kept crossing the Atlantic and held on to his past while he created his future. His story is one of dual national identity, of immigration, and , largely, of water.

Work Cited

Dana, Henry Richard. Two Years Before the Mast. New York: P.F. Collier & Son Corporation, 1937. Print.
Wisconsin Historical Society. Wisconsin Genealogy Index: Birth Record Entry for Racine County, Reel  No. 0248, Record No. 002578; viewed online at http://www.wisconsinhistory.org on 10/23/15. 



Summer in the Lakes: Carrie Elder: Varied Perceptions of Milwaukee's Lakes.

Carrie Elder
Dr. Teresa Coronado
Eng 451
28 Oct 2015
Summer on the Lakes
            Travel narratives can offer readers a chance to explore different landscapes and oceans from the comfort of their home. In addition, these narratives can offer insight into the minds of the authors and what values they associate with the nature around them. Travel narratives are about more than exploring and seeing new sights; they are also about rationalizing the world around us. Margaret Fuller’s written account of her trip around the Great Lakes. A particular secitoin focuses on her time on a steamboat on Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she marvels at the beauty of the lakes around her. Fuller also talks about the social and cultural happenings that are connected, and also removed, from life by the lakes. Summer on the Lakes by Margaret Fuller belongs in the Maritime Literature canon because of its function as a text that is concerned with rationalizing and dissecting the lakes in Wisconsin and how they function in our understanding of the natural space around us.
            Margaret Fuller was a writer, scholar, and feminist. Her perception of the lakes is framed by her leanings as an educated women. The way in which she approaches the beauty of the lakes is also informed by her social ideals. But underneath her social ideas lies a simple appreciation for the Great Lakes. William W. Stowe writes, “There can be no question about Fuller’s enjoyment of the natural world and her philosophical interest in the idea of nature. Her letters testify to her outdoor pleasures and her interest in the ‘correspondences’ between nature and the consciousness“ (Stowe 25). Fuller’s social and philosophical ideas play into her enjoyment and metacognition about nature, specifically the Great Lakes. Her social views cause her perceptions about the lakes to be constantly changing and growing once she is presented with new information. Fuller’s viewpoints are subject to criticism as well; after all, this text was written in a different time and is therefore bound to have problematic elements that come from moving into a more modern period. Though some elements are dated, Fuller’s preoccupation with the lakes is still a relatable piece of this text.
            Fuller’s interest in the lakes preludes her writing in order to set the tone for the rest of the text. A selection in the text reads, “From water Venus is born, what more could you have? It is the mother of Beauty, the girdle of earth, and the marriage of nations” (Fuller 12). Here we see water being praised for its aesthetic and spiritual value, along with being established as a connector of lands and cultures. By associating water with the goddess of beauty Venus, water is recognized as the epitome of all things beautiful. This raises the aesthetic significance of water so that is must be revered and worshipped. Furthermore, relating water to the beginnings of water of Earth stresses that it is a constant space that has been here before humans have, and therefore should be respected. Finally, recognizing that bodies of water connects continents and people together stresses the cultural and social importance of water to people and how they interact with one another. Fuller’s writing on the different but equally important aspects of water reveals how important this text is to thinking about how water can function in a variety of ways. The author understands that water is always in flux and therefore its significance can take on diverse aspects.
            Fuller continues to analyze the complexities of bodies of water. She focuses on the technical and mechanical aspects of performed labor on the lakes. In one selection, she scrutinizes the language of seamen, “There can be no plodding, groping words and motions on my water as there on your earth. There is no time, no chance for them where all moves so rapidly, though so smoothly; everything connected with water must be like itself, forcible but clear. That is why sea-slang is so poetical; there is a word for everything and every act, and a thing for every word. Seamen must speak quick and bold, but also with utmost precision” (Fuller 13). This selection talks about sea-faring language like it is narrative prose; it talks about the functions and artistry that is associated with it. Furthermore, it establishes it as a legitimate form of communication between people, as if it is its own language. The precision of maritime language is connected to the idea that every act carried while on the water is important and must be done quickly. The language must also reflect the grace of the water itself because they are inextricably bound by the reverence carried by the water itself. The aesthetics of the lakes are not the only things that are valued in this text; the complexities of the language surrounded it are also stressed as significant to an understanding about how Fuller thinks these lakes function. Examining the varied meanings of water beyond aesthetics is important to understanding how water functions in maritime narratives. Fuller offers an introduction to this type of discourse in this selection, therefore marking this book as vital to a maritime literature discussions.
            Fuller also examines how water can affect the lives of the people who live around it and rely on it for trade and other goods. The lakes are beautiful, but they also provide a means of service, trade, and consumption. As a result of this, the lives of people living by the lakes is tied to the lakes themselves and often their moods can be affect by it.  As demonstrated by Fuller’s observation of people by the pier in Milwaukee, it is often familial and social ties that connect people to the lakes if they are not on it for labor purposes, “The boats come in and out every day, and still afford a cause for general excitement. The people swarm down to greet them, to receive or send away their packages and letters. To me they seemed such mighty messengers, to give, by their noble motion, such an idea of the power and fullness of life, that they were worthy of carrying messages from king to king. It must be very pleasant for those who have an active share in carrying on the affairs of this great and growing world to see them approach and pleasant to such as have dearly loved friends at the next station. To those who have neither business nor friends, it somehow gives a desolating sense of insignificance” (Fuller 58). The people by the pier are all significantly affected by the coming and going by the boats because they either bring them goods or they are providing close ties to family. The lakes are a place where family and social bonds are maintained, therefore making the importance for this body of water something greater than its aesthetic value. This particular lake is a place where people are connected. Moreover, a lack of social and familial ties can change the way someone views the pier. The perception of the lake can be changed based on certain circumstances, as a result making the overall function of water malleable. The lakes can mean different things to different people while still being the same body of water that it always will be. The perception of the lake is also bound to its importance as a sacred piece of nature, as evidenced by Fuller’s assentation that those who travel by boat and deliver gifs and goods to lands must be significant because of their job being on the water. This perception refers back to the earlier connect of water of Venus and the beginning of civilization. Water is sacred and revered in this text, even subtly. Those who work, live, and speak a language tied to the lake are treated with respect and significance because of their connection to the cradle of civilization that is water. Additionally, those who are removed from it, by lack of familial bonds or because they do not perform labor associated with the lakes, live insignificant or sad lives, according to Fuller, because they are not bound to this magical place where everything began. This is an example of Fuller using her philosophical metacognition to theorize about the lives and functions of people who live around the lakes. Her ability to do this makes this narrative a special piece of text that is very human; it is about the lakes and the people who encounter them, and how they’re lives are changed or bettered because of their dwelling by the lakes.
            Therefore, Summer in the Lakes is a text that has the lakes serving as a back drop to the human interactions between nature and the self. This does not diminish the importance of this text to the maritime literature canon. It is because of this emphasis on people’s interaction and connection to the lakes, to nature, that makes this text so vital to a further understanding about the function of water to our overall understanding of our place amongst any body of water we encounter. In order to think about how people interact with water, it stands to reason that we read about people encountering it firsthand. Furthermore, Fuller’s own perception of the lakes, their beauty, and their function is important to analyze in order to understand how her own perceptions might color our own. Fuller connects the water all the way back to Venus, the goddess of beauty, and therein establishes water as the most beautiful thing you can come across. Maritime literature scholars can question where Fuller’s standards of beauty might come from and how they come into play in describing the lakes. Summer in the Lakes by Margaret Fuller is a rich narrative that provides seemingly endless opportunities for discussion about the Great Lakes and water in general. As David Greven writes, “The loose, capacious text allows Fuller to roam about not only geographically, but aesthetically, temporally, and textually” (Greven 41), further proving that Fuller’s text is rife with a variety of thoughts about the lakes from different trains of thought. Because of this diversity, Summer in the Lakes is an excellent addition to the maritime literature canon.


Works Cited
Fuller, Margaret. Summer in the Lakes, in 1843. Boston: Roberts Brothers. 1874. Web.
Stowe, William W. "'Busy Leisure': Margaret Fuller, Nature, And Vacation Writing." Isle: Interdisciplinary Studies In Literature And Environment 9.1 (2002): 25-43. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.
Greven, David. “New Girls and Bandit Brides: Female Narcissism and Lesbian Desire in Margaret Fuller’s Summer in the Lakes.” Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers 29:1 (2012): 37-62. Web.

Summer on the Lakes link: http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/tp/id/45084
            

Picturing Change: A Photographic Look at the Development of Manitowoc- Andrew Nelson ENGL 451

Picturing Change: A Photographic Look at the Development of Manitowoc
Growing up in Wisconsin one is bound to hear the name Manitowoc at some point. It blends in with the myriad of other Native American named cities of the state, the Sheboygans, Oconomowocs, and Milwaukees. There is no doubt that essentially the entire state has been shaped by the maritime tradition with its western border being the Mississippi river and its eastern being the second largest body of fresh water on the planet, not to mention the countless tributaries and smaller lakes that dot the countryside. With this in mind, it is obvious that many of the cities of the state owe, at the very least the beginning of their existence to various maritime pursuits. Some of these cities were greater effected by the maritime tradition, and in return had a greater effect on it, and none more so than Manitowoc. Located on the shore of Lake Michigan Manitowoc had long been a hub of maritime activity since before the settling of the ‘new world’ and it continues to be so to this day. The Wisconsin Historical Society’s photo collection titled “Manitowoc-Two Rivers History Showcased - Image Gallery Essay” provides a fascinating look at the way in which the city of Manitowoc grew into the city again, and how this grown was greatly dependent on the maritime tradition.
In the language of its original settlers, the Ottawa, Patawatomi, Menomonee, and Ojibwe tribes “Manitou” means spirit and it became the place of the good spirit, and a good spirit it has indeed been for the state, and for maritime trade on Lake Michigan as a whole. Starting out as a fishing community established by Native Americans who were later joined by French and Canadian settlers, Manitowoc soon began to grow as the fishing and fur industry grew until soon the traditional small two man mackinaws used by those who lived in the area simply were not enough.  It was at this time that a resident of Manitowoc named William Wallace Bates would found a ship yard and developing the Great Lakes Clipper Schooner, which was larger, faster, and more able to navigate the sometimes treacherous waters of Lake Michigan than earlier boat designs which is why he “is credited with establishing it as the definitive shipbuilding center on the Great Lakes.” (Wisconsinhistory.org) The success and popularity of this design and the boat yard brought many immigrants to the city to work in the boat yard of on the docks. In the 1860’s the Burger Boat Company was established by Hennery Burger which built large steam ships and schooners; an offshoot of the company started by Hennery Burger’s nephew which produced smaller watercraft still operates to this day, though under different ownership, producing custom luxury yachts. During World War II Manitowoc’s maritime resources were turned toward the war effort with Burger Boat constructing wooden submarine chasers and Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company obtaining a contract from the government to construct twenty eight submarines. The launching of the first of these submarines, the USS Peto, which was completed 288 days ahead of schedule can be seen in the photo collection.
Manitowoc is a very important city within the Great Lakes maritime tradition because it is near impossible to talk about it without Manitowoc being a central focus. A plague commemorating Mantowoc’s Maritime Heritage erected by the Wisconsin Historical Society reads “The Challenge, believed one of the first clipper ships produced on the Great Lakes, was built by one of the shipyards that lined the river banks. The Cora A., launched here in 1889, was the last schooner built on the Great Lakes.” (hmdb.org) Manitowoc’s residents used the lake freely as did all native peoples at the time, and as settlers began to move in and the fishing and fur trading shifted to a more commercial purpose they were once again at the forefront of the trend, designing and building some of the very first large European style ships to ever sail the Great Lakes. As time passed and the demands of shipping and lake faring changed so did the city, creating new kinds of ships incorporating new technologies to stay at the forefront of the ever changing maritime world. Having the last schooner to be build being constructed within the city is also conveniently symbolic, showing that the city was there from the beginning to the end of that particular age of maritime history; the fact that they also constructed over two dozen submarines for the US navy also showed that they would allow the last schooner be the last ship build in their storied shipyards.
Clearly the city of Manitowoc owes its existence to its location and its involvement with the trade throughout the Great Lakes and its tributary rivers, and nowhere is that more clear than in this birds eye view map of Manitowoc from 1883 from the gallery.
While most cities would likely have spread out into the surrounding countryside, Manitowoc remained centralized around the mouth of the Manitowoc River. In the places that it does begin to spread away from the central location of the harbor the most heavily populated areas spread away from the harbor either along the lake shore or else following the winding curve of the Manitowoc River. The city fills in between these areas, but the farther away from the river mouth one looks the less densely packed everything is and the less populated therefore. In a city where agriculture is a major source of sustenance for the citizens you would expect to see neatly portioned off farming fields spreading through the open areas near the town. Instead we see only ragged and wild groves of trees for the most part, a sign that little to no effort has been made to tame the surrounding area for agricultural use. This clearly shows both the dependence that the city had on its trade on Lake Michigan and its boat building, and just how profitable that trade was that there appears to not have been any real desire on the part of the citizens to search else ware, like farming, for a livelihood.
 Another very interesting aspect of this photo that adds to its historical context is the steam ship present in the bottom right hand corner of the image and a smaller one exiting the harbor. Had this been done twenty years earlier the only visible ships would have been the wooden sailing ships but this image comes from near the beginning of when ship construction on Manitowoc moved from wooden schooners to steel steam ships. Still, there are two visible steam ships in the image and more than twice as many wooden sailing ships. We can see illustrated a fact of history that some, especially casual observers who rarely think on history, don’t often think about, the transitional periods of history. Often times when speaking about history it is said that this empire was replaced by that empire of X date, or it was in X year that we moved from sails to steam power as the more reliable source of population. Giving specific times like this leads to the mental image that one day everybody simply woke up and where there had once been wooden hulled sailing ships docked in the harbor there were not steel steamers ready to bring their cargo to distant ports. This is of course obscured if you think about it, but it is still too easy a trap to fall into when thinking casually on the past and this image dispels is nicely.
Also contained within the collection are maps of the harbor area of the stretching across several decades and the remarkable fact about these maps is that they change very little over time, because even the earliest map has the area jam packed. The area is so densely settled that there was simply no room for any new buildings to go up without tearing down old ones and so the general layout of the area remains largely the same. It’s not surprising that the city is as densely packed as it is in even the earliest maps since they are from the 1850s, long after the city was founded and by that time all the best real estate would certainly have been claimed. Some of the maps do show larger sections of the city proper and those sections do grow larger as the years pass, further demonstrating how the city is so closely centered around the mouth of the Manitowoc River.

This collection of photographs and maps of Manitowoc and Two Rivers shows a fascinating look into the past of a very significant city within the maritime tradition of the Great Lakes areas and in doing so shows how the city evolves as time passes. The passing time also shows how the city becomes more important on a global scale when it is called into service to create submarines for the war, something that many people would not think would have been done within the Great Lakes, especially one of the most landlocked of the Great Lakes. These glimpses into the past can help those who see them, especially those who have grown up on and around the Great Lakes, truly appreciate just how much our worlds have been shaped by the maritime tradition of the Great Lakes, even and especially in ways we’d never imagine. 

http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Content.aspx?dsNav=Ntk:All%7cP_City%3amanitowoc+OR+P_City%3aTwo+Rivers%7c5%7c,Ro:0,N:1136&dsNavOnly=Ntk:All%7cP_City%3amanitowoc+OR+P_City%3aTwo+Rivers%7c5%7c,N:1136

"Arizona Water Rights": Catherine Brown, "The Water Rights of Native Americans";



The Water Rights of the Native Americans
The piece I have chosen for my archive assignment is titled “Arizona Water Rights” This piece contains numerous letters to the President, Gerald Ford, and magazine articles arguing for the regulation of water supplied to those that rightfully deserved it, the Pima-Maricopa Indians, the Papagos, and Mohave-Apaches, in Arizona.
The first piece of text in this collection is a letter addressed to the President of the United States at the time, President Gerald Ford, from Dorothy Wicker Re. This woman was an advocate for the Native Americans and their rights to the rivers they required to sustain their way of life. Wicker Re states
The Indians have been mistreated for too long a time. It is one of Americas saddest errors. We cannot expect to maintain our freedoms and our way of life, our high standard of living, if we do not insure it for those whom we have conquored and now assimilate. (Wicker Re)

Wicker Re argues that the treatment of Native Americans has been wretched and it is up to the United States Government to right this wrong by creating a bill that returns the Native Americans rights to the water ways they once had full access to. The use of terms “conquored” and “assimilate” suggests that this woman is one that is very aware of the suffering of these Native American tribes, as well as the treatment they receive from her fellow Americans in power. Her  Wicker Re finds a way to be both demanding and complimentary in her letter to the President. She managed to push the issue of the Native Americans and their need for water, as well as professed this treatment to be one of the “saddest errors” of the United States. Yet, Wicker Re maintains a level of decorum and respectability throughout the letter, even defending the President and the unfortunate nature of his work, having to “do battle within [his] own party after [his] excellent performance as President” (2). She also suggests that the support of the Native Americans in need may indeed be beneficial to his backing at the Republican Convention and earn him more votes. In applying all of these things in such a short letter, Dorothy Wicker Re maintains her stance in support of the Native Americans and their right to the rivers that are rightfully theirs to control, yet still managed to butter up the President in her compliments of his handsome appearance in dancing with the Queen of England. While Wicker Re’s flattery can be viewed as sucking up, the fact that she expresses concern for the Native Americans and their livelihood, which is at no cost to her own, represents her ability to care for others as well as her willingness to get in touch with those in power in hopes of making the necessary changes to the system. This piece should be part of maritime literature because while it may only seem to be a letter to a President from a concerned American citizen in 1976, it represents the struggles that were being recognized then, as well as the struggles we still face today in regards to water rights.
The article that Wicker Re references and sends to the President in 1976 is titled “An Arizona Indian Asks Congress to Enact a Water Rights Bill” which was written by Gerald Anton, was president of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Native American Community. This article gives more of a background to the issue that the Native American tribes in Arizona faced at this time, as well as draws attention to the underlying problems that were caused by this lack of access to water. The article first begins by giving the reader a bit of background information on the ways in which the irrigation system aided them in the growing of food for many years. Due to redirection of these rivers, the tribes that had always had access to the waters needed to support the growth of food and cotton no longer had the ability to sufficiently do so. The author is arguing that the Native American tribes deserve to once more gain their independence from government-provided welfare and be able to function in an autonomous manner. The author also argues that while he and others have worked diligently to push a bill through the system that would give them their legal rights back, they are ignored and have nowhere to turn to gain the rights they deserve.
The interesting part of this argument is that these Native American tribes are making a case for why they would be better benefitted to gain their rights to the rivers, which would in turn help the government by releasing them from providing state funding to the tribes. Anton states
[t]he United States Supreme Court in 1908 held that Indian tribes were entitled to enough water to make their reservations viable. However, the Interior Department, charged by law to serve as trustee of Indian water rights, has in the past actively participated in collusions to violate the law and rob the central Arizona tribes of their water (Anton ).
Anton argues that the United States government declared these tribes only needed enough water to sustain their reservations, but by no means allow them to thrive. An unfortunate fact that can be noted here is that a settlement was put into works of a very similar kind in Arizona in 2004. David H. Dejong, author of “Navigating the Maze: The Gila River Indian Community Water Settlement Act of 2004 and Administrative Challenges,” states that “[c]enturies- old BIA policies create and sustain the obstacles that hinder Indian growers. These administrative challenges have the potential to undermine the intent of the AWSA. Land fractionation, leasing difficulties, and financing limitations are significant challenges” (Dejong 75). These policies put in place centuries ago still impact the ways in which certain community’s access water, and therefore, affects said community’s ability to be self-sufficient in their growth. This article supports the importance of this archive piece because it reinforces the notion that the problems of the Native Americans in Arizona in the 1970’s is not a problem left in the past, but is one of the on-going issues today.
The article written by Gerald Anton points to the not only ineffective and inefficient regulations on waters that should be accessible to Native American tribes, but also the unfairness and inequality with which these peoples are being treated. Anton states
Hearings on the Kennedy bill were scheduled before the Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee. The five central Arizona tribes were invited to testify next week. Suddenly everything has been called off. Once more we are denied our constitutionally protected right to petition for redress of grievances. Where can we turn when both the President and Congress fail us? (Anton)
Here Anton reiterates the lack of respect for these Native American tribes and their wishes. They were meant to testify to the unjust treatment and neglect they have received, as well as fight for the compensation they deserve, and yet that moment was ripped away from them without any consideration, just as they have been treated thus far. This reiterates the importance of this piece and why it belongs in the canon of maritime literature: it brings to light why the legally rightful water supplies are so important and yet so easily neglected in terms of these Native American tribes. In the article “Stepping onto the Yakama Reservation: Land and Water Rights in Raymond Carver’s ‘Sixty Acres’,” Chad Wringlesworth references the writings of Raymond Carver due to his focus on the impact of governmental involvement and management of water. Carver discusses the impact these regulations have on locals in Yakima Valley. Wringlesworth states
The federal reclamation of land and water has left behind a long history of injustice throughout the Yakima Valley and larger Columbia River Basin, actions that culminated in 1957 with the completion of The Dalles Dam, a vision of progress that inundated Celilo Falls, the oldest and most productive salmon fishery on the Columbia River. “Sixty Acres” comments on the consequences of this period of land and water reclamation… (Wringlesworth 56)
Here Wringlesworth is arguing that for a very long time the governmental involvement has considerably impacted the lives of those that exist in the mentioned areas, especially in regards fishing and salmon production. He remarks that the text “Sixty Acres” comments on this and how the effect of the government’s involvement is a large part of this. This piece demonstrates the importance of the knowledge of governmental involvement in these cases and why it is so important that the proceedings are fair. This piece deserves to be part of the catalog of maritime literature because it gives representations of authors that are writing works to support the argument for the fair water rights of Native American tribes, as well as focusing on the injustices that have been experienced by those that must suffer due to the lack of proper water availability.
            This archive piece contains a letter to the President that was redirected, an article clipped from a newspaper, and several other letters to different authority figures in regards to the unfair disregard to the water rights of the Native Americans. Due to the lack of concern for their accessibility to adequate water they lost the ability to function as a community in a self-sufficient manner, which is not only ineffectual for the Native Americans but for the nation as a whole. This piece shows that there were those that were not close to the situation that supported the Native American communities in Arizona and attempted to give the problem the attention it deserved. The secondary articles I have used support this argument as well, but also point to the different areas in which this problem of water rights touches. On one hand we see the same issues being disputed many years later in the same nation, and on another we see a writer using his literary skills in attempts to draw attention to the problems of water rights and the involvement of the government. Using these secondary articles in conjunction with the archive piece I located I have worked to address the reasons why I find this piece deserves to be part of the canon of maritime literature. 

 http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0142/1103354.pdf

The Map of Forest Lodge on Lake Namakagon: Britney Gomez, "The Path Less Traveled"


The Path Less Traveled

            The Map of Forest Lodge on Lake Namakagon is a beautifully colored government survey map which has wonderful colors of blues, reds, and golds depicting an image of Lake Namakagon and the immediate Wisconsin area. The survey was performed in July of 1924 by Otto Goble and illustrated by George Resler in 1930. Within Resler’s painting he has depictions of animals, both on land and in lake; however the animals in the lake are unlike any other animal. There are images of mermaids, a sea monster, and the water god Neptune. These depictions are rare because of the large religious movement sweeping across the nation due to the Depression; however, Resler pushed forward and created a beautifully illustrated survey map of Lake Namakagon.

            George Earl Resler was an American artist born November 12, 1882 in Waseca Minnesota and died January 16, 1954 in Rochester Minnesota. When Resler was a child his family moved from Waseca to St. Paul, where is spent most of his life. He has many artworks within the Minnesota Historical Society which has amassed a collection of over 200 pieces. Resler’s artwork is located in the Fine Arts Collection and many of his paintings are still on display, some of his artwork includes: The Marsh, A Mermaid (vertical), A Mermaid (horizontal), Willows, William and Mary, and The Bird House. Most of Resler’s work depicts everyday life in Minnesota, which during the late 1920s to late 1930s, most of his work depicts life during within the Great Depression.

            Resler’s illustration of The Map of Forest Lodge on Lake Namakagon has two beautiful images of mermaids. The mermaids are located north and northwest of the Burgundy Peninsula. The first mermaid, located north, is of a female swimming through the water, her left arm extended above her head, her right arm bend at the elbow by her side. Although, the image appears to be floating in the air rather than swimming through the water because there is a lack of water ripples surrounding the mermaid, unlike the mermaid that is northwest of Burgundy. This mermaid seems to be lying down, resting the weight of her upper body on her extended right arm. Her left arm is bent and the mermaid seems to be running her fingers through her hair. This mermaid who is lying has water ripples where her body meets the lake, which is unlike the “floating” mermaid.

            There is also a sea monster located within Resler’s map. The sea monster is seen southeast of Burgundy Peninsula and is depicted swimming above a man in a canoe. The serpent-like creature has a streamlined head followed by three humps. The sea creature is also depicted as having two fins located on the back of the animal. The fins resemble spiny dorsal fins found on fish like Bass and Blue-Gill. The serpent-like creature is depicted as moving swiftly through the water due to the direction and closeness of the water waves it is creating.

            There is also a god depicted within Resler’s The Map of Forest Lodge on Lake Namakagon. The god Neptune or Poseidon is seen in the left-middle side of the map. He is seen with his crown, trident, and holding a fish. Neptune is the Roman God of the Sea and Poseidon is the Greek God of the Sea, both are relatable to each other, both are protectors of the sea (for the sake of this piece Neptune will be used). Neptune is the Roman God of water who protects all living things within his domain. He can call upon the winds and create catastrophic storms for any person showing disrespect to any body of water or creature.

            Neptune, the mermaids, and the sea monster are all depictions that are not typically seen on a survey map or any map created in 1930. This is because there was a strong presence of God and the bible throughout the nation. There are many psalms and prayers which ask the Lord for assistance, forgiveness, and protection while out at sea. This is see within Psalm 107, which states:

They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;

These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.

For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.

They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.

They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end.

Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distress.

He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. (verses 23-30)

And also within the Book of Common Prayer, stating:

O most glorious and gracious Lord God, who dwellest in heaven, but beholdest all things below; Look down, we beseech thee, and hear us, calling out of the depth of misery, and out of the jaws of this death, which is ready now to swallow us up: Save, Lord, or else we perish…Hear, Lord, and save us, for the infinite merits of our blessed Saviour thy Son, out Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (76)

Within the psalm and prayer men would pray to the lord to protect them and carry them through to land. They would ask the Lord to calm the weather to make their passage safe. They would pray to the lord to control the wind and sea and to protect them from death. This is in conflict with the Roman god Neptune because he is depicted as the god of the sea within mythology. People would pray and make sacrifices to him for a safe passage across any body of water. Thus, Resler’s illustration of The Map of Forest Lodge on Lake Namakagon, holds a figure which is in direct conflict with the Lord and many individuals during the time of the Great Depression.

            During the Great Depression many families and individuals had lost their jobs and income. With this devastating loss, families where left with nothing and their health and home lives where made more difficult. To help with the loss during the Great Depression, the population flocked towards churches, leading to a large influx of practitioners. The citizens of the nation had no other place to turn, so their efforts were focused on an aspect they could control…religion. During this time people’s religious beliefs were focused around the bible and the teachings of the word of Christ; thusly, removing the belief in multiple gods, Neptune. Neptune and other Roman and Greek gods were placed on the sidelines and forgotten. It is Resler’s illustration of Neptune which should make his contribution of The Map of Forest Lodge on Lake Namakagon as an iconic image rather than an unseen archive.

            George Earl Resler created a beautiful image of Lake Namakagon with animals and land masses. It is his contribution to the world, he added the fictional mermaids and sea-monster but also the god Neptune, which was against most of the population’s belief in the Lord. Resler stepped outside of the normal to deliver a beautifully rendered image of a Wisconsin survey. He took artistic license to add what others had forgotten about, making his work on the 1930 survey, The Map of Forest Lodge on Lake Namakagon, unique and controversial. His work now sits in the Wisconsin Historical Society Archives; however, I believe that this work should be viewed by all, for his determination and endearing depiction of images forgotten during a time of great depression.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Image: The Map of Forest Lodge on Lake Namakagon by George E. Resler
 

Works Cited
 
PBS. “”Great Depression transforms religious landscapes.” WGBH Educational Foundation. 11 Oct. 2012. Web. 27 Oct. 2015

Raban, Jonathan. “The Book of Common Prayer.” The Oxford Book of the Sea. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. 75-6. Print.

---. “Psalm 107.” The Oxford Book of the Sea. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. 55. Print.

Resler, George Earl. The Map of Forest Lodge on Lake Namakagon. 1930. Wisconsin Historical Society: Map Collection, Map or Atlas. Image 115968. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

"Constellation" vs "La Vengeance": Andrew Potter, "Importance and Error in the History of Naval Communications"

Andrew Potter
Teresa Coronado
English 451
29 October 2015

Importance and Error in the History of Naval Communications
This paper examines the non-published, archival text of “Constellation” vs “La Vengeance,” as well as the context in which it was written. This text is historically significant not only because of the people, vessels, and circumstances involved, but also as an example of naval communication and interaction. Inspecting the information it holds in relation to the added contextual information of outside sources is useful in understanding the customs and shortcomings of naval strategy and procedure of the early eighteen hundreds, specifically related to those concerning the recently liberated United States and the recently revolutionized France.
The text is taken from letters addressed to the Secretary of the Navy, and is in large part an excerpt from Thomas Truxton’s personal journal. It records the events of February 1st – 2nd in the year 1800, when the American frigate Constellation pursued and traded fire with the French frigate La Vengeance. This conflict was part of the "Quasi War" (1798-1801), an undeclared war between America and France, and was largely naval in nature (CONSTELLATION). The war was sparked when the French demanded that the United States pay off its due financial debt, but the United States argued that the debt had been owed to the French Crown pre-revolution, not the newly appointed Republican France. France ultimately responded by capturing hundreds of American merchant ships for compensation, causing substantial losses to the United State’s shipping and trading industries. The United States retaliated with a well-armed, patrolling fleet of its own, including the USS Constellation (Siggurdsson).
            Named after the former half of the stars and stripes banner, the Constellation is one of the most well known ships in all of United States naval history. It was the very first among the initial six vessels commissioned in the United States Navy, the first to be put to sea, as well as the first to engage, defeat, and apprehend an enemy vessel. This distinction makes it one of the most important ships in the history of the United States, as well as a milestone marker for the country’s development (CONSTELLATION).
            The ship was under the command of Commodore Thomas Truxton, who had been a privateer during the Revolutionary War. After the war, he received commendation from President George Washington in acknowledgement of his services, and he later became recognized as an extremely capable merchantman, navigator, and protector of vessels and their contents. In 1794, the Constellation was constructed under his supervision in Baltimore, and he later captained it on its first armored cruise during the Quasi War. On February 9, 1799, he once again proved his merit when using the Constellation to defeat the French frigate L'Insurgente in a crushing victory (The Quasi-War with France).
            The letters are an example of naval strategies used at the time, made especially valuable as they are firsthand accounts from a commanding naval officer, explaining the reasoning and motivations behind his actions.  As the Quasi War conflict began when French vessels started preying on the defenseless United States merchant ships, they usually avoided combat situations with other armed vessels, and an initially successful strategy on the part of the United States was to lure them in with fighter ships posing as merchant ships (The Quasi-War with France). The French were not without their deceptive tactics as well. When the Constellation first spoted the La Vengeance, the French ship is sporting English colors as a means of slipping through without occurrence. Truxton attempted to hail the mysterious ship with his vessel’s own English flag. It was only after La Vengeance began to flee from the Constellation with the use of its studdingsails that its identity was deduced and the Americans began to pursue the enemy frigate (Siggurdsson).
            During the chase, the continued interaction between the two ships is a valuable historical account of the period’s forms of naval communication. Truxton recounts preparing a speaking trumpet (the equivalent of today’s megaphones) in order to demand La Vengeance’s surrender. The attempted demand was cut short when the French vessel opened fire with its stern chasers, ensuing in the nocturnal battle between the two ships. After the lengthy exchange of fire and continued pursuit, La Vengeance raised its colors as a signal of surrender. It is interesting to note that La Vengeance had reportedly surrendered earlier in the night, but due to the darkness, this signaling went unnoticed by the crew of the Constellation. It was only at this second surrender did the United States vessel take note of its victory. However, one of France’s preferred strategies in naval warfare was to concentrate fire at the rigging and masts in hope of crippling enemy ships. This method was indeed employed by Le Vengeance during the battle, which paid off in the last minute. As the Constellation moved in to secure its prize, its main mast gave way, killing several crewmen and severely reducing its speed and maneuverability. Francois Pitot, Le Vengeance’s captain, recognized this and took full advantage of the situation, sailing off into the night without fear of further pursuit by the disabled United States frigate. Due to the damage received by both ships, each captain erroneously assumed the other had sunk as a result, until they were later notified to the contrary (Siggurdsson).
            While the United States still considered this battle a victory in defending its right of safe passage on the seas for its merchant vessels, it was unable to secure the French ship, which included eighty passengers (two of which were generals) and thirty-six American prisoners of war. This battle could have turned out differently if the Constellation had recognized the initial surrender before its mast was damaged. Had this been the case, lives would likely have been saved and the crew, passengers, and prisoners of the French frigate would have been taken into custody, resulting in a full-on victory. This exemplifies the importance and margin of error in naval communication at the time, as without today’s technology, messages could far more easily be misunderstood or unnoticed between boats at sea, especially taxing in times of conflict.
            Communication was limited not only by clarity, but by factors such as speed and weather as well. Truxton’s letter was written on February 3rd, one day after the battle ended. However, It wasn’t received in New York until February 25th. This is a demonstration of how even the most important correspondence of the time could be greatly deterred and determined by the limitations of technology, resources, and fair weather. Even the fact that the account itself was taken from a journal excerpt is a telling indicator on how military operations were carried out and conveyed, positively archaic by today’s hyper-thorough communication and documentation standards.
            As made evident in the text, communication was imperative to nautical and especially naval operations during the eighteen hundreds. This remains true to this day, but at the time, the possibility of error or failure in communication was much greater. With the power to shift history and alter lives, these occurrences and their likelihood are important in understanding our history and those that helped shape the world we live in today.  In demonstrating this, this document stands as a valuable piece of history.



Works Cited
“CONSTELLATION -- A STELLAR HISTORY.” ussconstellation. The USS Constellation CVA/CV 64 Association. Web. 28 October 2015.
“The Quasi-War with France, 1798-1800.” marinersmuseum. The Mariner’s Museum and Park. Web. 28 October 2015.
Siggurdsson.USS Constellation Fights La Vengeance to Draw, But French Ship Escapes.” burnpit.legion. 3 February 2014. Web. 28 October 2015.



http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Naval_History/800NC351.html