One of the best trail-riding cowboy stories of them all is this account of what happened when 12 Texas cowboys met a certain mule at a circus in Minneapolis back in 1881:
"It took us just exactly three months and twenty days to drive a herd of Southern "dogies" from Red River and deliver them at the Wyoming ranch. We rested a few days while the Wyoming outfit gathered a beef herd for market and delivered it to us, and then we continued our northward drive with the beef herd to a station on the Northern Pacific Railroad called Glendive, on or near the Yellowstone River in Montana. After we loaded our cattle on the railroad for Chicago, all the Texas outfit, numbering about twelve, took the cow trail for Texas by the way of Chicago.
Our first stop was at St. Paul, in Minnesota, to feed and water the cattle, and while the cattle were resting we all took the interurban street car for Minneapolis, about 12 miles from St. Paul, to see the Barnum & Bailey circus. We arrived at the circus, still wearing our trail garb, just a short time after the performance had begun. Of course we were 'feeling good' by this time, and just as we entered the clown had his trick mule in the ring and was offering anyone $5.00 that could ride him. Twelve Texas cowboys fresh from the range, thought that was easy money, and all wanted to win the $5.00, so, we selected one of our party to earn the money. (He is now one of the wealthiest and most prominent stockmen of Texas, but I won't tell his name.)
The clown let out his mule and we let out our Texas cowboy. One of the boys had a pair of Texas spurs in his pocket and we fastened them on the boots of the party that was to pull off the Wild West stunt. The mule was blindfolded and our man got on, and when the word was given one of our boys pulled off the blindfold, halter and all, and left the two in the ring ready for business. The rider fastened his spurs in the mule's shoulders and struck him in the flank with his Texas hat and that started the performance. There were thousands of people in the audience to witness the stunt. The mule made two or three jumps and roared like a mountain lion and our rider yelled like a Comanche Indian; the mule would pitch and roar, but our rider stuck to him like a postage stamp. As the rider could not be dismounted, the mule laid down on the ground and rolled over like a ball. Our rider stood by, and when the mule would get on his feet he would find our rider again on his back until, finally, the mule sulked and just stood in the middle of the ring with our rider still on him spurring and whipping him with his hat.
The audience went wild and uncontrollable and the police had to interfere and pull our rider off the mule. The $5.00 was given the rider, and after the performance we returned to St. Paul, reloaded our cattle and continued our journey for Chicago, where we delivered them and left for Texas.
I stopped at Sherman and went to school that fall and winter and the next spring I returned to the IS ranch in the Indian Territory. "
------ S.H. Wood, as recounted in "The Trail Drivers of Texas: Interesting Sketches of Early Cowboys and their Experiences on the Range and on the Trail during the Days that Tried Men's Souls — True Narratives Related by Real Cow-Punchers and Men who Fathered the Cattle Industry in Texas."
You are a taker, not a maker. All you’ve done your whole life is take from the makers of the world.
The zero-sum mindset you have is at the root of so much evil. Once you realize that civilization is not zero-sum and that it is about making far more than one consumes, then it becomes obvious that the path to prosperity for all is just let the makers make.
Regarding Tesla, the reality is that I have been given nothing.
However, if I lead Tesla to become the most valuable company in the world by far and it stays that way for 5 years, shareholders voted to award me 12% of what is built. Anyone who wants to come along for the ride can buy Tesla stock.
If Tesla “merely” becomes a $1.999 trillion dollar company, I get nothing. This is a great deal for shareholders, which is why they voted so overwhelmingly to approve this, for which I am immensely grateful.
And they did so by a margin far more than you won your political seat.
i came to the conclusion that this story is so awful that we have no way to punish it. to commit to an appropriate measure of justice is beyond our willingness to do it.
🇺🇸 Double Shot of Badass Americans: William J. Crawford
He was a janitor at the Air Force Academy for many years. The cadets who passed him every day had no idea they were walking among a living legend.
Born in Pueblo, Colorado in 1918, Crawford was drafted into the Army in July 1942.
By September 1943 he was serving as a Private and squad scout with Company I, 3rd Platoon, 142nd Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division in southern Italy.
On September 13, 1943, his platoon attacked German positions on Hill 424 near Altavilla.
After reaching the crest, they were immediately pinned down by machine gun and small arms fire from multiple enemy positions.
Without orders and completely on his own, Crawford moved forward alone under heavy fire.
He first located one machine gun dug in on a terrace directly in front of the platoon.
He crawled through open ground under fire, closed to within a few yards of the emplacement, destroyed the gun with a hand grenade, and killed three of the crew.
He kept going.
Crawford spotted a second machine gun position firing on his men.
Again moving alone and exposed, he advanced on the crew under fire. When he got close enough, he threw a grenade, destroyed the gun, and eliminated the crew.
He still wasn't finished.
He located a third German machine gun that was continuing to pin down his unit.
Once more he advanced alone through enemy fire, closed on the position, killed one of the Germans with rifle fire. Two other Germans who were there fled.
Crawford, the badass he was, grabbed the German machine gun, turned it around, and fired on them as they were running down the hill.
Crawford had single handedly taken out all three machine gun nests that were holding up his entire platoon.
A few days later he was captured by the Germans. His fellow soldiers thought he had been killed.
He would spend the next 19 months as a prisoner of war.
Because the Army believed he was KIA, the Medal of Honor for his actions was awarded posthumously and presented to his father in 1944.
When the war ended and Crawford was returned home, he had technically already received the nation’s highest award, but he was never formally presented with it.
He would stay in the military until the 1960's, retiring as a Master Sergeant.
He then took a quiet job as a janitor at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
For many years he mopped floors and cleaned the cadet squadrons without ever mentioning his service. Thousands of cadets passed by him over the years without the slightest clue.
Then, in the late 1970s, a cadet was reading a book about the Allied campaign in Italy and stumbled upon his name. He asked the janitor about it.
Crawford simply replied, “That was one day in my life and it happened a long time ago.”
They were shocked to find out their janitor was that same person.
The cadets spread the word and helped arrange for him to have the recognition he deserved.
On May 30, 1984, nearly 41 years after his actions, President Reagan personally awarded Master Sergeant William J. Crawford his Medal of Honor during the Air Force Academy graduation ceremony.
William J. Crawford is an American Badass 🇺🇸
"We take the stars from heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity, representing our liberty." —George Washington