Traveling Tuesday: Nome, Alaska

Traveling Tuesday: Nome, Alaska 

Fifty years after the California gold rush, prospectors flocked to Nome, Alaska for one of the biggest rushes in the far north of North America. The Klondike or Yukon is also often referred to as an Alaskan rush, but in reality, that rush occurred in Canada. 

Nome is located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on the Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. The city has a subarctic climate, experiencing long, very cold winters, and short, cool summers. Because of its location on the coast, the seasons are somewhat moderated and less severe than in the interior. The coldest month is January, averaging five degrees Fahrenheit. Average high temperatures remain under freezing from late October until late April. July is the warmest month with average temperatures in the low fifties Fahrenheit and rarely reaching eighty degrees. 

Home to the Inupiat natives for several millennia, the area was quickly overrun by thousands of gold seekers from all over the United States. The rush is said to have started as a result of the discovery made by “Three Lucky Swedes” in Anvil Creek in September 1898. (Technically, one of the “Swedes” was Norwegian, but with the amount of money he was making, he didn’t refute the nickname.) 

 

By the following summer, gold was found in the beach sands for dozens of miles along the Nome coast

bringing even more prospectors. Gold seekers only needed a shovel and a sluice box to mine the copious nuggets from the gritty shoreline. Reports about the ease of extracting gold attracted women and the less hearty to the Alaskan goldfields. The spring of 1900 saw even more people pour into the area aboard steamships from Seattle and San Francisco. Word reached as far as Australia, and it wasn’t long before a schooner set sail from the continent. Additional mining was done in the creeks, however, the process was slow and cold. A layer of permafrost lies just below the surface, requiring equipment to thaw the ground and suck up the gravel. 

 

With the amount of wealth coming from the area, it’s not surprising that corruption reared its head. In 1900, North Dakota politician Alexander McKenzie managed to secure appointments for his hand-picked candidates for a federal judge, federal district attorney, and other positions. He then traveled to Nome where crooked Judge Arthur Noyes took mines and claims from their rightful owners and appointed McKenzie as the receiver to operate the mines. The closed court of appeals was in San Francisco, a two- to three-week voyage by boat, but the owners made the trek. 

 

After several months, the appeals court reversed Noyes’s decisions and ordered McKenzie to return the gold he’d received. However, the politician refused and continued removing gold from the mines. The claim-jumping scheme was finally stopped when the court had him arrested, them found him guilty of contempt of court. He was sentenced to one year in jail, of which he served three months. President William McKinley pardoned him in May, 1901. 

 

Most of the gold had played out by the end of summer 1909, and the prospectors trickled away. The 1910 census reported only 2,600 residents, down from the 20,000 that had called the area home for the prior decade. Fire and storms over the subsequent years destroyed most of the rush-era buildings.

 

Intrigued? Immerse yourself in the Gold Rush Bride series, a multi-author collection of stories about the U.S. and Canadian gold rushes in the 19th and early 20th centuries. 

About Gold Rush Bride Hannah, Book 1:

 

A brand-new widow, she doesn’t need another man in her life. He’s not looking for a wife. But when danger thrusts them together, will they change their minds...and hearts? 

 

Hannah Lauman’s husband has been murdered, but rather than grief, she feels...relief. She decides to remain in Georgia to work their gold claim, but a series of incidents makes it clear someone wants her gone...dead or alive. Is a chance at being a woman of means and independence worth risking her life?

 

Jess Vogel never breaks a promise, so when he receives a letter from a former platoon mate about being in danger, he drops everything to help his old friend. Unfortunately, he arrives just in time for the funeral. Can he convince the man’s widow he’s there for her protection not for her money?

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3H1YVBn

Traveling Tuesday: Green Bay, Wisconsin in the Early Days

Traveling Tuesday: Green Bay, Wisconsin in the Early Days 

What do you think of when you think of Wisconsin? Milk? Cheese? Lakes? Football? When I decided to set my upcoming release Vanessa’s Replacement Valentine in Green Bay, I knew I had my work cut out for me. What I knew about the state fit on the head of a pin. Join me for a virtual trip to this fascinating and beautiful area of the United States. 

 

Located at the mouth of the Fox River, Green Bay is considered a sub-basin to Lake Michigan. Because of the water and rich soil, the area is abundant in fish, waterfowl, and wildlife. Native Americans lived in this area for thousands of years prior to the arrival of European explorers. 

The earliest documented contact between the Native Americans was in 1634 when Frenchman Jean

Nicolet came. Twenty years later fur traders Pierre Esprit Radisson and Medart Grosellieres arrived followed by missionaries Claude Allouez and Jacques Marquette. Another century would pass before the first permanent white settlers, the de Langlade family, set up their home. Unfortunately for them, a short time later the British defeated the French and took control of the area until 1783 when the Americans won control in the American Revolution. 

 

Fort Howard was built in 1816 to guard the entrance to the state, and a community quickly grew up around the fortress. With its diverse geography, the state attracted immigrants from the British Isles, Scandinavia, and Eastern and Western Europe. Wisconsin’s first newspaper, the Green Bay Intelligencer was founded in 1833. Created in 1838, the borough of Green Bay is the center of the present-day city which was incorporated in 1854. 

Green Bay’s early history was dominated by the fur trade, but after gaining statehood in 1848, there was a shift toward lumbering. The population grew exponentially with census records showing 2,275 inhabitants in 1860, 4,666 in 1870, and 7,464 in 1880 (which is larger than my village here in New Hampshire). By the turn of the century, there were nearly twenty thousand residents of the city. 

 

In 1871, great fires encompassed Brown County and the surrounding counties of Door, Oconto, Shawano, Kewaunee, and Manitowoc kill at least one thousand people and rendering thousands more homeless and destitute. Contributions of money, food, clothing, and tools came from all over the world. 

 

Trains displaced steamboats as the main form of transportation during the 1870s, and the city became a manufacturing hub with five iron furnaces, and numerous lumber and paper mills. In addition, the

marshes along the bay consisted of huge beds of wild rice and wild celery that attracted large numbers of waterfowl. Men known as market hunters paddled through the marshes and flats hunting the birds which were sold to local meat markets as well as Milwaukee and Chicago. 

 

Do you find it surprising that Green Bay was such a hotbed of industry? 

____________________________

About Vanessa's Replacement Valentine (releasing February 10, 2021, and now available for pre-order):

She’s running toward the future. He can’t let go of the past. Will these two hurting souls experience love in the present? 

 

Engaged to be married as part of a plan to regain the wealth her family lost during the War Between the States, Vanessa Randolph finds her fiancé in the arms of another woman weeks before the wedding. Money holds no allure for her, so rather than allow her parents to set her up with another rich bachelor she decides to become a mail-order bride. Life in Green Bay, Wisconsin seems to hold all the pieces of a fresh start until she discovers her prospective groom was a Union spy and targeted her parents during one of his investigations. Is her heart safe with any man? 

 

Eight years have elapsed since the Civil War ended, and Miles Andersen has almost managed to put the memories of those difficult years behind him. He’s finally ready to settle down, but the women in town are only interested in his money. A mail-order bride seems to be the answer until the woman who arrives brings the past crashing into the present. 

 

Can two wounded hearts find healing in the face of doubt, disappointment, and distrust? 

Vanessa’s Replacement Valentine: A Christian Mail-Order Bride Romance is a heartwarming addition to the Brides of Pelican Rapids and easily read as a standalone.

Pre-order Link: https://amzn.to/3sbWfts

The Great State of Texas During WWII

The Great State of Texas During WWII

When World War II began, Texas held fewer people than New York City. According to one source, less than 40% of the population had a high school diploma, and only one in five owned a car. Furthermore, only one in ten had access to a telephone and one in six owned a radio. Folks were probably too busy operating the farms and ranches that peppered the state.

How quickly things change!

By the end of the war, there were 175 major military installations and dozens of smaller ones. Over one and a half million trainees made their way through the state. Texas was also home to sixty base and prisoner of war camps.

Manufacturing quadrupled to nearly two million dollars by 1944. From Port Arthur to Corpus Christi, a multitude of petrochemical plants dotted the Gulf Coast, producing millions of gallons of fuel for military equipment. The Gulf Coast also boast extensive shipyards in Beaumont, Port Arthur, Houston, Galveston, and Corpus Christi. Aircraft factories went up in Garland, Grand Prairie, and Fort Worth. The paper and wood-pulp industry was revitalized. The largest tin smelter in the world was in Texas City, and steel mills popped up in Houston and Daingerfield. Like many other states, Texas produced munitions by the truck-load. More than 500,000 Texans (men and women) moved to the big cities to work in these manufacturing plants to do their bit.

Dennison, Texas is proud to be the birthplace of one of WWII’s greatest leaders, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and the National WASP WWII Museum in Sweetwater tells the story of the more than one thousand women who were the first females to fly military equipment.

Over 750,000 Texans served in the armed forces during the war, over 22,000 of whom gave their lives. Thirty-three Texans were awarded the Medal of Honor (including Audie Murphy and Samuel Dealey, the most decorated army soldier and naval officer respectively). Born in Killeen, Oveta Culp Hobby, studied law before beginning a career in journalism. She went on to become the first secretary and first female secretary to the newly created Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and later the first director of the Women’s Army Corps.

Many wartime facilities still exist such as those at Fort Sam Houston and Fort Bliss, while other sites have been abandoned or forgotten that were once air bases, factories, enlistment centers, and USO canteens.

Have you visited any WWII sites in Texas?

Traveling Tuesday: New Jersey During WWII

Traveling Tuesday: New Jersey During WWII

I’m a native Baltimorean, but spent a large portion of my “growing-up” years in New Jersey, first in Edison, then in West Milford. Despite living in the state for so long, until recently I knew very little about the contributions New Jersey made to WWII. Here is just a bit about my “adopted” home:

War Production: Already a heavily industrialized state and home to countless factories, New Jersey manufacturing plants produced shells, cartridges, fighters and bombers, propellers, gyroscopes, tanks and tank destroyers, trucks, cannons, machine guns, sub-machine guns, motors, fuses, ball and roller bearings. (A full list of items produced by GM can be found here)

Picatinny Arsenal ran three shifts of over 18,000 employees to turn out bombs and artillery shells. In addition, research at the facility was responsible for the invention of a delay fuze for skip bombing and special bombs for dams and oil fields. In 2012, during renovations at the Arsenal murals were uncovered in one of the buildings. You can see photos here.

The Curtiss-Wright Corporation produced 139,000 aircraft engines (more than any other firm in the U.S.) Shipyards in Camden and Kearney built destroyers, and Bethlehem Steel and Todd Shipyards repaired over 8,000 ships. According to one website the number of people employed in New Jersey doubled from 1939 to 1945!

Troop Training Centers: Fort Dix served as a reception and training center for 1.3 million soldiers (at the end of the war, the facility was converted to a separation center). In addition, Fort Monmouth trained over 21,000 members of the Army Signal Corp. Hotels at Atlantic City were used to house Army Air Corps members while they trained on New Jersey beaches. New Jersey was also home to pilot and aircrew training centers at Fort Dix, Millville Army Airfield, Newark Army Airfield, and the Linden Airport.

Internment: After the attack at Pearl Harbor, citizens of Japanese descent were rounded up and sent to detention camps, most located in the western and southwestern United States. The Charles Seabrook Company brought thousands of them back. A major supplier of food to the military, the company needed to fill the hundreds of positions vacated by enlisted/drafted soldiers, sailors, and airmen. Initially, about 1,000 internees were relocated to Seabrook from the camps, and by the end of the war nearly 3,000 Japanese Americans worked for fifty-five cents an hour harvesting and dehydrating produce for the food processing division. Many of these families remained in New Jersey after the war.

Some famous and not-so-famous NJ citizens:

• Newark Evening News war correspondent Warren Kennet, referred to as “Newark’s Ernie Pyle.” He was the first journalist ashore at Normandy.
• William Foley, a rifleman in the 94^th Division whose wartime sketches (seen here) led to a post war career as a professional artist.
• Albert Meserlin was a combat photographer for most of the war, then he became Eisenhower’s personal photographer during the final months which allowed him to witness Germany’s surrender in May 1945.
• Sergeant Curtis Culin’s idea of attached steel prongs to tanks created the “Rhino Plow” that enable troops to cut through dense Norman hedgerows.

And not to be forgotten are the over a half million men and women who served in the armed forces throughout the state, 12,507 of whom lost their lives.

Traveling Tuesday: West Virginia During WWII

Traveling Tuesday: West Virginia During WWII

West Virginia is the only state in America to form by seceding from a Confederate state. (Wikipedia has an interesting article about how that occurred). Nearly eighty years after joining the Union, West Virginia played a large role in World War II. Factories, mills, and mines expanded their workforce to produce huge quantities of materiel for the U.S. military and its Allies. Interwoven Hosiery manufactured socks for the army and navy, while other companies made tires, planes, jeeps, trucks, and parachutes. The railroad was kept busy transporting goods and servicemen and women.

The state is proud of the fact that it provided the fifth highest percentage of soldiers: nearly 220,000. Additionally, more than 1,000 of its women donned uniforms to serve in the auxiliary services.

Here are some of West Virginia’s award recipients: 

Hershel Williams

• Hershel Williams received the Medal of Honor for his bravery on Iwo Jima.
• Harrison Summers took out thirty-one German soldiers during exceptionally heavy fighting.
• Foster Feathers searched for landmines on Normandy.
• George Roberts, the Army Air Corps first black cadet was a combat pilot.

Now the Greenbrier Valley Airport, the field was used by the Army Air Force during the war. Other air fields include Cumberland, Elkins, Moundsville, and Buckhannon.

And what about those enemy alien diplomats?  Rather than immediately shipping them home, the U.S. interned the Germans and Italians at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs. Diplomats from Hungary also stayed at the Greenbrier. The Japanese were sent to The Homestead Resort in Virginia. One article I found indicated that despite being allies in the war, the Germans and Italians did not get along (read: acrimonious), and the Italians were moved to the Grove Park Inn.

Children of German Diplomats
at the Greenbrier

Reasoning for a “high-end” experience for these individuals was the idea that if they were well-treated, U.S. embassy personnel would receive the same treatment. Internment was only supposed to last a couple of days, but instead dragged on for seven months because of red tape. Prisoners were exchanged during the summer of 1941 by way of Madagascar, South America, and other locations.

In late 1942, the Army purchased the property and converted it to the 2,000 bed Ashford General Hospital. Opening in October 1943, the facility served over 25,000 casualties before closing in 1946.

Thank you for your service, West Virginia.

Traveling Tuesday: The Great State of Washington During WWII

Traveling Tuesday: 

The Great State of Washington During WWII

Despite a wartime population of only 1.7 million (which equates to 28 people per square mile), Washington State more than “did its bit” for the WWII war effort. From the manufacturing and production of war materiel to housing POWs and providing food for the armed forces, Washington was a busy place to live!

Manufacturing: Fifteen shipyards peppered the coastline and rivers of Washington, producing thousands Liberty ships, aircraft carriers, LSTs, transport, and cargo ships. The Pacific Car and Foundry manufactured hundreds of Sherman tanks, the mostly widely used medium tank by U.S. and Western Allied troops. Then there was the Boeing Company that made thousands of B-17 and B-29 bombers. According to one report, floor space of Seattle based aircraft companies increased from 800,000 square feet to 4.1 million square feet by the end of the war.

War Materiel: In the eastern part of the state, Hanford designed the plane and refined the plutonium for the bombs that were dropped on Japan in 1945. Additionally, at the beginning of the war the state had no aluminum production, but by war’s end, Washington was the third largest producer of the metal. Lumber was also in huge demand, and the state stepped up. Billions of board-feet were milled to build barracks, minesweepers, barges, training planes, and much more.

Food: The fishing industry had always played a large part in the state’s economy, and continued to do so. In addition to salmon and halibut many other seafood was harvested. The army and navy purchased nearly all the tinned salmon the state could produce. Washington was also a leading agricultural state. Improvements in dehydration processes, allowed the state to ship dried fruit, vegetables, milk, and eggs to troops worldwide. An estimated four hundred million pounds of dried eggs left the state annually!

POWs: Nine POW camps at various locations around the state housed thousands of enemy troops. The state’s remoteness and fair treatment of prisoners resulted in very few escape attempts. One story is told about a prisoner who snuck out by hanging on the underside of a truck as it was leaving camp. The man lived with a woman for two weeks, but after an argument turned himself in. Prisoners performed a variety of jobs and paid eighty cents an hour for their efforts.

Internment Camps: After the implementation of Executive Order 9066, Seattle’s “Japan Town” was emptied and by all reports, never recovered. Many Japanese-Americans operated farms, and the strawberry industry was severely impacted when these families were moved out of Bellevue. Three “enemy alien” internment camps were created. McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary held Japanese individuals, Seattle INS Detention Facility held Italian and Japanese, and Fort Meriwether German, Italian, and Japanese.

Washington State also sent its sons and daughters to serve, and more than 6,200 lost their lives.

Have you ever visited this beautiful state?

Traveling Tuesday: Ohio Does its Bit

Traveling Tuesday: Ohio Does its Bit

I recently read Tamera Lynn Kraft’s Red Sky Over America, a novel about Oberlin College, and the role it played during the Civil War. The book’s Afterward included lots of information about the college and Ohio’s stance on slavery. Fascinated, I got to wondering about how Ohio contributed to WWII, another war that heavily impacted the U.S.

The war hit Ohio immediately when it took dozens of its citizens during the attack at Pearl Harbor. Three Ohioans were posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for their heroism during the incident, including Rear Admiral Isaac Campbell Kidd, Machinst’s First Mate First Class Robert R, Scott, and Seaman First Class James Richard Ward. About twelve percent of the state’s population served in the armed forces during the war. Of that number approximately 23,000 lost their lives, making the ultimate sacrifice.

Like many other states, Ohio’s manufacturing plants were converted from civilian to defense industry production. (Click for photos of a Tire Plant Conversion). One of those businesses was Willys-Overland Motor Company, now famous for its Jeeps.

In 1940, the government asked over 130 automobile companies to submit designs for a lightweight vehicle that could travel over numerous types of terrain. The challenge included a deadline of just forty-nine days. Willys-Overland was the second of two companies that succeed in making a submission. The government initially chose Bantam as the winner, but Bantam’s facilities were too small and unable to meet the demand. Given Bantam’s design, Willy-Overland made modifications that included a larger engine. These changes enabled them to win the contract. As a result, they produced almost half of the 700,000 jeeps manufactured during the war.

Goodyear Aircraft Company located in Akron also participating in producing wartime materiel by manufacturing 104 airships for the military. The plant also manufactured the F4U Corsair for the Navy. From its humble beginnings of thirty-nine employees, Goodyear grew to over thirty-five thousand employees by 1942.

During the war, the US Army Air Force created numerous airfields in Ohio to train pilots and aircrews of fighter planes and bombers. After the war, some were converted to municipal airports, while others reverted to agricultural fields. Others remained as installations during the Cold War.

As with citizens all over the country, Ohioans collected scrap, grew victory gardens, and lived with rationing. They purchased war bonds, operated Red Cross and USO centers, and performed myriad Civil Defense duties. Their men went to war or worked in the defense industry, and their women joined the ranks of the employed, doing their bit to ensure the future of freedom.

Traveling Tuesday: Idaho is more than potatoes

Traveling Tuesday: Idaho is more than potatoes

When I was growing up, there was a TV commercial that touted Idaho potatoes were the best in the world. There's even a museum! The ad must have run incessantly, because I have never forgotten its claim. However, during WWII, Idaho did more than just raise produce to “do its bit.”

Pilot and air crew training: With three Army Air Force bases located in the southern part of the state: Gowen, Pocatello, and Mountain Home, Idaho trained thousands of airmen how to fly, navigate, and handle fighter jets and bombers. Because of its remoteness, Mountain Home was used for bombing practice. The presence of the bases brought diversity to the state when, according to one site, it nearly doubled the state’s African-American population of 595. Gowen was one of the bases where Women’s Air Service Pilots served.

Japanese-American Internment: Like other western states, Idaho was home to War Relocation Centers where Japanese-Americans were imprisoned during the war. Many of the inmates were brought to the camp from California, Oregon, and Washington. The center at Minidoka housed more than 10,000 inmates, many of whom worked as farm laborers, then on the irrigation project and construction of Anderson Ranch Dam. The Kooskia center was located at the site of a former Civilian Conservation Corp work camp. The internees were used to construct Highway 12.

Soldiers, sailors, and airmen: Like the other forty-eight states, Idaho’s men and women served in the military and auxiliary branches. Thanks to oral history projects these brave citizens’ stories have been captured. Visit http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/military/article112889748.html and http://idahoptv.org/productions/specials/homefront/wwii/interviews.cfm to hear memories of the war.

Museums: Idaho is home to two WWII museums: the Idaho Military Museum and the War Hawk Air Museum. With personal memorabilia and historic artifacts both facilities recount US involvement in the war, at home and overseas.

Traveling Tuesday: Montana During WWII

Home to Glacier National Park, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, and Yellowstone National Park, Montana is a combination of mountain ranges, prairies terrain, and badlands. Located in the northwestern United States, it is bordered by Idaho, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, and three Canadian provinces. Despite being the third least populous state in the union, Montana made significant contributions to World War II.

War Dogs: Dogs for Defense was a program started by dog fanciers (mostly members of the AKC). The program asked US citizens to volunteer to give their dogs to the military for use as sentry dogs initially. Ultimately, dogs were also trained  and sent overseas to be used for mine detection, delivering messages, and scouting out the enemy. If you want more information about this interesting segment of US WWII history, watch my podcast about Dogs for Defense on YouTube.

Camp Rimini is now a ghost town just outside of Helena, but was once a training camp for sled and pack dogs during WWII. Journalist Karen Fischer states in her article: “Rimini’s long winters and deep snow...were also ideal for training men and dogs in Arctic rescue and survival techniques, so the camp became the source of the teams and equipment used by the Arctic Search and Rescue Units of the Air Transport Command.”

Mining:  The need for copper, zinc, manganese, and other minerals skyrocketed during the war and revived the Montana mining industry. The metals were used to produce materiels such as weapons, vehicles, and other tools. Robert I. Nesmith was the chief photograph of the "Copper Commando" newspaper during the war, and he took hundreds of picture in Montana that displayed the work of everyday miners.

Because of the labor shortage as men went off to war, mining companies struggled to find employees, and the federal government pressured them to hire nontraditional workers, including women. The move met with resistance. Union officials and copper workers argued that women could not work in mines or smelters because they lacked the physical strength and stamina to do the job. Women worked in a variety of positions from picking up debris to bending wire to oiling machinery. Many of the women expressed pride that they could hold their own doing "men's work." Ursula Jurcich recalled that smelter work "wasn't any more strenuous than housework."

Fort Missoula: Built in 1877 by the US Army to protect settlers in Western Montana from possible threats from Native Americans, the fort was remodeled between 1908 and 1914 before becoming a military training center during WWI. Nearly abandoned, it was taken over by the Civilian Conservation Corp in 1933 then handed to the Department of Naturalization and Immigration in 1941 for use as an Alien Detention Center. The 1,200 Italians house here were primarily merchant seamen, World's Fair employees, and the crew of an Italian luxury liner seized in the Panama Canal. About 1,000 Japanese-Americans and a few German-Americans were also interned at the fort.

Have you ever visited this majestic and historic state?

Traveling Tuesday: Wyoming and WWII

Traveling Tuesday: Wyoming and WWII

Situated in the Mountain Region, Wyoming is the least populous state and the second least densely populated state. At 253,600 square kilometers, Wyoming is about half the size of Spain and slightly larger the UK. Bordered by Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho, the state had a population of about 250,000 people in 1940.  

About ten percent of the Wyoming’s men served in the Armed Forces, but the state played many more roles during World War II.

Army Air Bases: The Army Air Force (the Air Force separated from the Army in September 1947) established numerous airfields for training fighter and bomber pilots and air crews. The two major fields were located in Casper and Cheyenne. The fate of the bases is varied. Some became municipal airports while others were retained by the Air Force. Some were left to go back to the agricultural fields they had been. Meanwhile, the hundreds of “temporary” buildings still survive.

Camp Douglas POW Camp: From 1943 to 1946, the camp of 180 buildings housed Italian and German prisoners-of-war. Very few of the buildings remain, but the Officer’s club still stands. Inside the walls are covered in murals depicting western life and folklore. Painted by three Italian prisoners, the murals are now on the National Register of Historic Places with the National Park Service. The installation of the camp created a housing shortage for military personnel (not housed in the camp), so most residents of the city rented out rooms. In addition, because of the number of men who left to serve, there was a shortage of workers in the agricultural industry. Therefore, the some of the prisoners were used to fill the void. At its peak, the camp housed more than 3,000 inmates.

Heart Mountain Relocation Camp: Many people are aware of the internment of Japanese citizens from the west coast states, but did you know there was a large population of Japanese, Italian, and German folks in Wyoming? Forced to register and carry photographic identification cards after the attack on Pearl Harbor, many of these people eventually lost their jobs. According to one article, railroad employees were fired, but miners continued to work. (Did no one else want the job? Did the government decide they couldn’t do any harm working deep in the mountains?) Eventually the Japanese were evacuated to the Heart Mountain Relocation Center located between Cody and Powell. Japanese from California were also transported there. The camp closed November 10, 1945, more than three months after the end of the war.

Mining: Coal mining in Wyoming commenced in 1867 with the arrival the Union Pacific Railroad. Coal was necessary to power the locomotives. Working this hard, dangerous job thousands of miners lost their lives from explosions and fires. In the early 1900s laws were passed to ensure worker safety. Coal had many uses, and its demand skyrocketed during WWII. Wyoming also mined iron and produced oil for the war effort.

A beautiful state with a proud history. Have you ever visited?

Traveling Tuesday: What’s the Big Deal about the Suez Canal?

Traveling Tuesday: 

What’s the Big Deal about the Suez Canal?

The North African Campaign began in June 1940 and continued for three long years as the Axis and Allied troops pushed each other back and forth across the desert. Did you ever wonder why this area of the world was so coveted? The answer lies in transportation. Both forces wanted to control the Suez Canal, an artificial waterway that connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez.

Before its completion, seafarers would have to travel around the southern tip of Africa to get from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean. A huge project, the Canal was built between 1859 and 1869 and shortened the trip by 4,300 miles.

Although never a British colony, Egypt was occupied by United Kingdom troops beginning in 1882 and remained under British control even after formal recognition of Egyptian independence in 1922. In the mid-1930s the headquarters of the British Navy’s Mediterranean fleet was moved from Malta to Alexandria.

Fighting began when the Mussolini declared war on the British and French. Knowing his 500,000 men outnumbered the 50,000 British contingent, he sent his troops into Libya. A series of camps were set up but proved to be too far apart to support each other, and while the Italians waited for further instructions, British General Archibald Wavell took the initiative and performed a large-scale raid that led to the near collapse of Italy’s hold on North Africa.

By early March 1943, the British Eighth Army crossed into Tunisia and within eight weeks had crushed the Axis Powers who surrendered on May 13 yielding 275,000 POWs. Certainly a huge success for the Allies, the campaign came at the cost of nearly 400,000 men.

Traveling Tuesday: Bletchley Park

Traveling Tuesday: Bletchley Park

Winston Churchill once called Bletchley Park his “goose that laid the golden egg but never cackled.” Often referred to as Station X by those who worked there, Bletchley Park was a mansion located fifty miles outside of London. As the central codebreaking location of the Allies, the golden egg was the ability to decode the secrets of the German war machine, Enigma.

With 150 million million million (not a typo!) because of its lettered rotors, Hitler and his men were convince the machine was unbreakable. Enigma looked like an oversized typewriter with lights. Many experts feel the war was shorter by two to four years because of the Allies’ cracking of the code.

Ultimately, Bletchley would house more than 10,000 employees in a collection of small wooden huts who were a hodgepodge of personalities and skills. Many were mathematicians from Cambridge, but there those who were geniuses at chess, linguistics, and hieroglyphics. But one requirement was the same for all: they must be able to solve The Daily Telegraph’s crossword puzzle.

About 75% of the workforce was women, although few worked at the higher levels, instead operating cryptographic and communication machines, performing traffic analysis, translating Axis documents, and of course, doing clerical tasks. It was only after documents were declassified that the female analysts received recognition for their work.

Today, Bletchley Park is a heritage attraction and receives hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

Traveling Tuesday: Occupied Paris

Traveling Tuesday: Occupied Paris

I’ve done some traveling and enjoy exploring the differences offered by other countries. I had an interesting experience I had a few years ago was when we visited Collingwood, Ontario, Canada. To my surprise, it looked exactly like the U.S. It didn’t feel like we were in a “foreign country.” The same restaurant and grocery store franchises peppered the streets, and we could purchase all the brands we knew. The architecture was similar as was the landscape. The only difference was that everywhere we looked hung the Canadian flag. It was a bit disconcerting – my mind struggled to reconcile the situation.

In that same vein, I wonder how frightening it was for the French to see the Nazi flag hanging within their capital city. They couldn’t “go home.” They were home, and yet their enemy’s flag flapped in the breeze above their heads.

As with any historical event, there are multiple viewpoints about what happened, even among eye witnesses. With governmental papers coming to light or being declassified, some scholars are now purporting that the French, and especially the Parisians, were active rather than reluctant collaborators. Statements such as “the Germans could not have succeeded as well as they did in rounding up…illegals if it hadn’t been for the local police force.”

Frankly, I’m not sure how I feel about that statement. It seems easy to opine about someone’s behavior when one has not walked in their shoes. I’d wager that if people had to choose between saving their family member over someone else’s, the decision would be a “no brainer.”

Life during the occupation was incredibly difficult. Rationing was in effect, and distribution of cards was done according to age and food needs. No meat was provided, and most food available had little nutritional value. Supply of coal to the general public was non-existent, and the black market flourished. Jews who had not been sent to concentration camps were required to wear the yellow Star of David on their clothing. (They may as well have had a target painted on their back.) Car travel was only allowed by those favored by the Germans. Propaganda posters, films, and leaflets were everywhere. Many young and middle-aged men were in prison, concentration camps, or underground.

For Paris, nicknamed “The City of Light,” the occupation was a dark time.

Traveling Tuesday: Ellis Island

Traveling Tuesday: Ellis Island

I love discovering tidbits of history and then researching to dig up additional information. Recently, I read a post in one of my favorite blogs (Heroes, Heroines, and History) about Ellis Island and the fact that it was used as an internment camp during WWII. With all the research and reading I’ve done about the war, I was surprised I had never stumbled on this fact. When searching my own genealogy, I started with Ellis Island, but soon found that as some of the thousands of Germans who immigrated to the US, my family came through Baltimore. Perhaps I gave up my study of the Island too soon.

The history of Ellis Island goes back to before the colonial days of our country when much of the Upper New York Bay was oyster flats. Samuel Ellis acquired it at some point then tried to sell it without success shortly after the Revolutionary War. Eventually it was leased by the State of New York then ceded to the Federal Government in the early 1807. A fort was erected on it and used during the War of 1812 and remained until 1890 when it was converted to an immigration station.

Then, interestingly, and perhaps ironically the port became a detention center during WWII. 

Immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor, hundreds of German, Italian, and Japanese individuals were arrested and relocated to the Island. They were detained as being possible Axis spies, saboteurs, and fifth columnists. Many of those individuals were U.S. citizens, and it would be months before they could prove their allegiance and be released.

Ellis Island was designated as a permanent holding facility, and more than 8,000 foreign nationals were held during the war. Over 2,500 Germans and their American-born children back to Germany in “exchange voyages” made on Swedish ships. Personal accounts as well as government reports indicate that conditions were not good on the island. Overcrowding, poor food, and poor medical care were just three of issues associated with the detention center.

When the war ended, many of the internees were deported, while other remained awaiting their fate and submitting petitions to be allowed to stay in the U.S. The last German internee was released in 1948.