Kingsley Bend Mounds

The Kingsley Bend Mounds are located a few miles east of Wisconsin Dells, and are sacred to the Ho Chunk Indians.  When we arrived, I thought that this hill might be a mound, but as it turned out, only the very top was man-made.

The mound on top of the hill can be more easily seen from this angle.

Next to the hill was this row of conical mounds.

Behind the hill and conical mounds was a downward bluff, and what I call a "modern intrusion".

A closeup of the sunlit side of the mound on the hill.

At another site near Wisconsin Dells, just off a back road, one of our archaeologist hosts tells us about raised garden beds, as he stands in the ditch between two of them.  During the 11th century, native people planted crops on the raised beds while allowing water to flow in the adjacent ditches.

Lizard Mound Park

I've spent most of the last week running around several Midwestern states, including taking a tour of archaeological sites in Wisconsin and Iowa.  Most of the places we saw featured effigy mounds, which are shaped to resemble various animals or in rare cases a human, and have a height of just a few feet.  Interspersed with the effigy mounds are circular ("conical") mounds and others shaped like a straight line.  The first place we visited was Lizard Mound Park, just north of West Bend, Wisconsin.  The park includes this pavilion and several informative signs.

Here's the "Welcome" sign, held by a frame that includes a beige outline of one common type of effigy mound shape.

Here's a close up of the "Welcome" sign.

This mound is long and straight, and is shown from one end thereof.

It's hard to tell that there's a mound here, because of the high grass growth.

Another mound is overgrown with grass and wild flowers.

Several trees have taken root in this long straight mound.

The footpath goes between two mounds.

No mounds here, just a nice place to break for lunch.  This is River Bend Park in Horicon, Wisconsin.

Of course, no placed named "River Bend" would be complete without a river.

For more information on Lizard Mound Park, go to Wisconsin Historical Markers.

House GOP Leader Loses In Primary

Eric Cantor (R-VA), the sitting House Majority Leader, has lost to a political newcomer in his party's primary election.  Dave Brat, who is currently a professor at Randolph-Macon College, will run as the Republican nominee against Democrat Jack Trammell, who is likewise....you guessed it....a professor at Randolph-Macon.  As the saying goes, you can't make this stuff up.

Read the story at USA Today, The Washington Post, Fox News and the National Journal.

D-Day Plus 70 Years

Today is the 70th anniversary of D-Day, when Allied forces landed at the beaches of Normandy, starting the liberation of France and the western advance into Germany.  Anyone familiar with this blog knows that I recently visited the area, including parts of Utah and Omaha Beaches, and even the site of an artificial harbor built by the British.  There isn't much I can add, but I found a "Your Questions Answered" page at the British site D-Day Museum & Overlord Embroidery.  Here's one example:

Which Allied nations took part in the fighting?

The majority of troops who landed on the D-Day beaches were from the United Kingdom, Canada and the US. However, troops from many other countries participated in D-Day and the Battle of Normandy, in all the different armed services: Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Poland.

To learn more, click on the above link and browse around.

D-Day Paratrooper Jumps Again

On June 6, 1944, paratrooper Jim "Pee Wee" Martin jumped out of an airplane and landed at Utah Beach, during an early phrase of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France.  Today, at age 93, he commemorated his feat by repeating it, but this time without any Germans shooting at him.

Read more at CBS News, Huff Post Politics and CNN.

From Smokie: Ronald Reagan Passed Away Ten Years Ago

From Smokie, one of my friends at BlogTalkRadio, at his blog Somewhere in Texas:

Ten years ago on June 5, 2004, Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, died, after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease. Reagan, who was also a well-known actor and served as governor of California, was a popular president known for restoring American confidence after the problems of the 1970s and helping to defeat communism.

Read the full story.

Some More Pictures From DC

Today I went back down to Washington to see if anything was going on with Operation American Spring.  My friend Movin Forward also showed up, but most of the organizers were not around.  As it turned out, they were moving from a camp where they were staying, somewhere outside of the District, over to another camp.  The meeting place, known as Camp Liberty, however, will stay where it is.

As a result of this situation, I got a chance to see some sights, and get some exercise.  Here are your tax dollars at work.  Near the Washington Monument, a new building is under construction.

This is the Vietnam War Memorial, with a good number of visitors.

Within the grounds of the World War II Memorial, this ensemble of young singers was performing.

Here's a "look down the Mall" shot from near Camp Liberty, showing the Washington Monument and at left, the Smithsonian "Castle".

This is the large fountain in front of Union Station.

Also in front of Union Station is this bell, which is similar to the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.

Son Of Notorious Abortionist Meets The 2nd Amendment

Via The Daily Caller:

Barron Alexander, son of recently convicted abortionist Kermit Gosnell, tried to burglarize a row house in the Philadelphia suburb of Mantua.  In the process, he woke two of the residents, one of whom had a gun.  To make a long story short, Alexander, who had changed his last name from Gosnell, is now in critical but stable condition.

Read the full story at CBS Philly.

More Movin Pictures From OAS

My friend who is calls himself Movin Forward took some more pictures of Operation American Spring, mostly from this past weekend.  It looks like some signs were again mounted onto frames made of PVC pipes.

Movin himself again poses in front of a sign.

This patriotic pooch had to take a break.

The Great American Revolt brought their bus, which included an "anonymous" mask symbol.

This woman, perhaps representing Lady Liberty, stood on top of the Great American Revolt bus.

This man came from Prince George County, Maryland.

Movin stands with another patriot.

A group of participants gets ready to move out.  The young man on the left looks on with curiosity.

This group looks like they're returning from a march, as they walk eastward back to Camp Liberty.

Thus ends the photographic contribution from my patriotic friend Movin Forward.

Ann B. Davis 1926-2014

Ann B. Davis, known to the world as the housekeeper Alice on the TV sitcom The Brady Bunch, died this morning after hitting her head in a fall, in a bathroom in her home in Texas.  She reportedly suffered a subdural hematoma, and did not regain consciousness.  According to Page Six:

Davis lived with another couple and was described by one of her roommates as “pretty healthy for an 88-year old woman.”

Davis was born in Schenectady, New York and graduated from the University of Michigan.  Before becoming the Brady family's housekeeper, she had risen to fame in 1955 for her role as Charmaine “Schultzy” Schultz on The Bob Cummings Show, which ran until 1959.  She later played the roll of gym teacher Miss Wilson on The John Forsythe Show, which lasted only a year starting in 1965.  Besides playing the role of Alice from 1969-1974, when The Brady Bunch was originally broadcast, Davis reprised the role for later TV movies and spin-offs.

Read the story at TMZ, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap and the above-mentioned Page Six.