Sunday

Word of the day: extirpation : to pull up by the roots; totally do away with, destroy

Good day in Savannah yesterday, which got me thinking about other U.S. cities I need to get to sometime over the next decade:
1. New Orleans. Why: Bourbon Street, the French Quarter, too many highlights to mention.
2. Birmingham. Why: the zoo, the monuments and centers for African American heritage, Vulcan Park, McWane Center.
3. San Francisco. Why: Golden Gate Bridge, the hills, art museum, Berkeley, Alcatraz.
4. Phoenix. Why: Desert Botanical Garden/Arboretum, the Zoo, the Apache trail, the Art Walk in Scottsdale, South Mountain Park.
5. Portland. Why: why not?
6. Anchorage. Why: Tony Knowles coastal trail, Flattop Mountain, Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, Cook Inlet.
7. Santa Fe. Why: Native American ruins, Randall Avery Audobon Center, San Miguel mission, the pueblos, Georgia O'Keeffe Museum.
8. Houston. Why: to see Dan and Sally and the kids, of course! Also, for the historic district, the aquarium, the zoo, maybe see a Texans or Rockets game.
9. Boston. Why: self-explanatory.
10. Boulder. Why: the shopping, the canyon falls, the mountain parks, the museums.

I was reading an article in Smithsonian that mentioned a few famous Native American names and I was a bit ashamed that all I really knew about them were the names. I had forgotten (if I ever knew to begin with) the tribes they were in and why they were famous. So, in a crow-eating act, I have put down the name of famous Indian chiefs and other household Native Americans and why exactly they are well-known.

- Sitting Bull. Sioux. The Sioux were constantly scooted and ran off their land - even after they had been given the Black Hills - but fought back, killing Custer at Little Big Horn. Eventually, the Sioux came back form Canada, where they had fled, and Sitting Bull was a prisoner of the government for two years. Was in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Led Indian dances that scared the white men. Killed by white men in 1890.

- Squanto. Patuxet. When he was a teenager, Squanto traveled to England with white men. He met up with Captain John Smith, who wanted Squanto to accompany him to the New World to help him in his dealings with Indians. Squanto was taken by the cruel Captain Hunt, who hauled Squanto back to Spain, where he worked for a few years. Eventually, Squanto made his back to New England, where he discovered his entire tribe was destroyed and his place of birth was no longer, now a new village, Plymouth. He, of course, met up with the Pilgrims and shared a Thanksgiving feast with them.

- Tecumseh. Shawnee. A warrior chief who dreamed of uniting all the Indians from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes, Tecumseh was continually at odds with future president William Henry Harrison, the governor of Indian Territory, about land disputes. Tecumseh and his men fought with the English during the War of 1812. Tecumseh was ultimately killed by Harrison.

- Seqouyah. Cherokee. He fought with the U.S. under Andrew Jackson during the War of 1812. He created a writing system for the illiterate Cherokees, introducing syllabary. Within months, many Cherokee were literate; this led to bi-lingual newspapers, translated documents and pamphlets.

- Geronimo. Apache. A military and spiritual leader who constantly led raids against both Mexicans (Spanish troops from south of the border killed his wife and three children) and white settlers, he constantly fought against encroached-upon tribal lands. In fact, he was the undisputed leader of the last serious fighting force against the U.S., always eluding capture; many thought he had magical powers. He was finally caught and died as a prisoner-of-war, unable to return to his homeland.

Today's bird? The Bahama mockingbird. A little bit larger than the northern mockingbird, with two mustache-like stripes, it is found in Cuba, Jamaica, the Bahamas - in palm trees and coastal vegetation. It's not a mimic-er like the northern hummingbird; the Bahama is mostly grey all over, with white tips to its tail. This bird can be seen in Florida too, deep along the southeast coast, munching on spiders, small reptiles, and fruit.

Coming tomorrow: a book review or two...