John Cletheroe's
USA and Canada Holiday Hints
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People - Some Significant Figures In US and Canadian History, Entrepreneurs and Personalities
Introduction
This page contains very brief biographies of some significant figures in US and Canadian history, plus a few entrepreneurs and current personalities. It also includes some well known fictional characters. I have not included figures such as television and film stars and politicians who are likely be well known to British and other foreign visitors. This list is obviously far from complete and ranges from the sublime to the, well, shall we say... rather less sublime.
In most cases more detailed information on an individual person is readily available from a variety of sources such as encyclopedias.
Where no dates are given, I have so far been unsuccessful in my attempts to discover them.
Ansel Adams
1902 - 1984. A photographer, most of whose works feature the American Southwest. Many of his photographs, possibly all, are in black and white.
Louisa May Alcott
1832 - 1888. Author of books for children, the most famous being "Little Women".
Ethan Allen
1738 - 1789. The leader of Vermont's Green Mountain Boys, who defeated the British at Fort Ticonderoga during the American War Of Independence.
Othmar Ammann
Swiss-American engineer, whose works include the Bayonne Bridge, the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, the George Washington Bridge and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
Susan B Anthony
1820 - 1906. Led the movement for women to have the right to vote. See also Susan B Anthony Dollar.
Johnny Appleseed
Around 1774 - 1845. Real name John Chapman, who obtained his nickname due to planting apple seeds and tending nurseries of apple seedlings in large areas of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. A character whose exploits grew into folktales, many set around the time of the War Of 1812.
Benedict Arnold
1741 - 1801. At the start of American War of Independence Arnold was involved in several battles, making several valuable contributions on the side of the United States. After his marriage he adopted a lavish lifestyle and being desperate for money supplied military information to the British. In 1780 he arranged to surrender West Point to the British in exchange for both payment and a commission in the British Army. The plot was discovered and Arnold fled to the British side.
The expression "a Benedict Arnold" is still used in the USA to refer to any traitor.
Mike Naylor kindly sent me this comment:
While everything you say is fairly accurate, in the
Hudson Valley area of NY, north of West Point, many students first introduction to Benedict Arnold is not as a traitor, but as the heroic general who sacrificed his leg to rally the troops against the British at the Battle of Saratoga.
John Jacob Astor
1763 - 1848. Fur trader. Astor entered the fur trade in 1786 and built up a fortune within a few years. He established the American Fur Company in 1808. He founded the town of Astoria, Oregon in 1811. Astor's company was further developed between 1812 and 1834.
John James Audubon
1785 - 1851. A naturalist, ornithologist and artist, Audubon is famous for his realistic paintings of many examples of American wildlife, especially birds. His best known work, "The Birds Of America", was published in 1838 and includes pictures of 1065 birds. The National Audubon Society was founded in his honour.
William Baffin
1584 - 1622. An English explorer who undertook several expeditions in search of the northwest passage. In 1616 he sailed to nearly 78 degrees north, a record which held for 236 years. Baffin Island and Baffin Bay are named in his honour.
Charles and William Bent
The brothers who, together with Ceran St Vrain, built the trading post of Bent's Old Fort in southeastern Colorado.
Black Elk
1863 - 1950. Oglala Sioux medicine man and mystic. See Native Americans: Quotations.
Black Hawk
1767 - 1838. Chief of the Sac (or Sauk) Native American tribe. Black Hawk led the opposition to the treaty of 1804 whereby the Sac and Fox agreed their lands east of the Mississippi River to the US for an annual payment of $1000, claiming that the Europeans had made the Native American drunk before the signed the treaty. Black Hawk fought on the side of the British against the United States in the War of 1812. In 1832 the Sac and Fox returned to their original territory to plant crops, having suffered in the less fertile territory west of the Mississippi. The Europeans shot a peaceful emissary sent by Black Hawk. This began the Black Hawk War. After being defeated several times Black Hawk eventually surrendered.
Although some sources spell Black Hawk's name as two words, Jason Salisbury emailed me to say that he thinks it should be spelt as one word, Blackhawk.
Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville
1796 - 1878. Bonneville was born in Paris; his family later emigrated to the United States. Bonneville graduated from the US Military Academy in 1815 and entered the army where he served at various frontier posts. In 1832 he led an expedition into the Rocky Mountains. He spent the next four years fur trading and exploring. Lake Bonneville in Utah is named in his honour, as presumably is Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.
William H Bonney
1859 - 1881. Outlaw, better known as Billy The Kid. He committed his first murder at the age of twelve and went on to a life of robbery and murder. He was eventually fatally shot by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, shortly after escaping from jail while awaiting a death sentence.
Major Jim Collins of the USAF sent me these interesting comments:
Lincoln County, New Mexico was the area that "Billy the Kid" operated in, and was eventually killed. If you read up (probably the best single work is "Billy the Kid, a Short and Violent Life") on the area you'll definitely enjoy a visit. Most of the original buildings are still there - in fact a relative of the Murphy family still runs the local store. It's only about 60 miles or so, if memory serves from Alamogordo.
"Billy the Kid" (who was never really called this, except by dime-novelists) got involved in what became known as the "Lincoln County War". This involved two factions, the Murphy-Dolan (also known as the Santa Fe Ring)] and the Tunstall faction. Billy got a job as a ranch hand working on the Tunstall property - ergo he was a Tunstall partisan. The conflict really settled on who was going to control the beef contracts for the army and the Indian reservation, and the sundries concession for Lincoln County.
American Myth portrays Murphy/Dolan as evil monopolists bent on exploiting the humble farmers, while Tunstall is seen as an idealist trying to bring American healthy competition into a corrupt territory. Actually Tunstall wanted a monopoly similar to Murphy's - he just wanted the money for himself.
John Chisum sort of supported Tunstall, but never offered to supply men or weapons. Another persistent myth is that Billy worked as a hired gun for Chisum - also not true. It's likely they never met. Two movies describe the characters and the Lincoln County War: "Chisum" with John Wayne and "Young Guns". Of the two, "Young Guns" is probably the more accurate.
"Billy the Kid" was known in New Mexico Territory as either "William Bonnie/Bonny" or "Kid Antrim" or just "Kid".
There are only five murders that can be directly linked to him. Of those two could be considered justifiable homicide, i.e. self-defence. Twenty-one dead, "one for every year of his life", is a creation of the novelists of the time. (And, no, he never notched his gun, no one did - that story was created when a collector asked Wyatt Earp, then a sports editor for a New York paper, for one of his weapons. Earp bought a standard Colt .45 revolver and cut some notches in the handle as a joke.) Having said this, Bonny was respected as a fantastic shot, contemporary accounts note that he was always practising both revolver and carbine on foot, horseback, and at different ranges. In the context of the time, this was a major compliment, as marksmanship was an essential component of "manliness" in the West. Also, cartridges were fairly expensive then, as they are today, so his constant practice cut into his income. An indication of how important he thought it was.
He did break out of jail two times. The jail he escaped from in Lincoln County is still there today. (You can see the bullet holes made by Bonny as he ran down the stairs and out the back door.)
Unlike Clay Allison, Jesse James and others who were socially maladjusted, Billy the Kid got along well with the people of Lincoln County, especially the Hispanic population. The community in general considered him to be an easy-going, polite, quiet young man who didn't swear or drink.
He typically carried .41 calibre and .32 calibre Colt Revolvers, plus a Winchester .44 carbine. I would suspect that the reason he didn't use a .44 or .45 revolver is due to his small hands he would have trouble controlling them. (My frame is larger than Bonnie's and I have some difficulty managing the recoil of these two weapons). The Colt .32 was a pocket pistol, easily hidden in a vest "waistcoat" or jacket.
Daniel Boone
1734 - 1820. Boone played a significant role as a pioneer in the exploration and settlement of Kentucky. He established the route of the Wilderness Road. The town of Boone, North Carolina is presumably named in his honour.
Jim Bridger
1804 - 1881. Bridger was one of the first Europeans to explore the northern Rocky Mountains, including what is now Yellowstone National Park and the Great Salt Lake. He founded Fort Bridger in southwestern Wyoming in 1843. He is remembered as a trader, explorer, scout and one of the best known of the "mountain men".
Dee Brown
Author of the influential book "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee" which tells the story of the persecution of the Native Americans by the Europeans.
John Brown
1800 - 1859. The abolitionist whose efforts to bring slavery to an end precipitated the American Civil War. His most famous act was the raid on the US Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, now in West Virginia, in 1859.
Étienne Brûlé
1592? - 1632. A French explorer. He was a member of the 1608 expedition led by Samuel de Champlain which founded the city of Québec. In 1610 Brûlé was sent by Champlain to live with the Huron. In 1615 he was a member of Champlain's expedition which discovered Lake Ontario. Later he explored the Susquehanna River and is generally thought to have been the first European to discover most of the Great Lakes.
Paul Bunyon
A fictional character in American folklore. See separate article.
Theodore Burr
Inventor of the Burr Truss, a design of wooden covered bridge.
John Cabot
Circa 1450 - 1499. Cabot was probably born in Genoa but moved to Venice in his youth. Around 1484 he moved again, to Bristol. In 1497, following reports of Columbus' voyage, Cabot sailed from Bristol on the Matthew. He landed, probably on Cape Breton Island, and then sailed along the Labrador, the island of Newfoundland and New England coasts. Like Columbus, he thought he had reached Asia. He undertook a second voyage in 1498, which is thought to have reached Greenland and maybe as far as Chesapeake Bay. He died soon after this expedition returned to England. The Cabot Trail which runs along part of the Cape Breton Island coast is named in his honour.
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
? - 1543. A Portuguese explorer. In 1520 Cabrillo sailed from Spain to Mexico and with the conquistador Hernán Cortés helped complete the conquest of Mexico. In 1540 he joined an expedition to the west coast of Mexico and discovered San Diego Bay, Santa Catalina Island and Monterey Bay. California's Cabrillo Highway is presumably named in his honour.
Kit Carson
1809 - 1868. Carson was a hunter, trapper and scout. He was employed for a time at Bent's Fort, Colorado. He acted as guide to John Frémont. He served in the Mexican War and in the American Civil War.
Rachel Carson
1907 - 1964. A marine biologist and author of widely read books on ecology. Her best known book is "Silent Spring", which expressed concern at effects of using of chemical pesticides.
Jacques Cartier
1491 - 1557. Cartier was a French explorer and mariner. He discovered the Saint Lawrence River. His first expedition discovered the island of Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, the Gulf of the St Lawrence and the New Brunswick mainland in 1534. His second expedition reached the site of the present-day city of Montréal. On his third expedition he made an unsuccessful attempt to set up a colony in Canada.
Samuel de Champlain
1567? - 1635. A French explorer. He made his first voyage to the West Indies and Spanish America in 1599 and later suggested the idea of the Panama Canal to the King of France. He made his first voyage to North America in 1603 and explored the St Lawrence River. In 1604 he explored the Bay of Fundy and the New England coast. In 1608 he founded the first European settlement on the site of what is now the city of Québec. He helped forge friendly links between the colonists and the Native Americans. In 1609 he sighted the lake that now bears his name. In 1611 he founded a trading post at what is now Montréal. In 1615 he and Étienne Brûlé explored Lake Ontario.
William Clark
1770 - 1838. Clark was joint leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known was The Corps of Discovery. He later became governor of Missouri Territory.
John Colter
1775? - 1813. A member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Colter later explored the area of Yellowstone and the Grand Teton National Parks in Wyoming. The geothermal areas of Yellowstone were at the time often referred to as "Colter's Hell", a name based on his vivid descriptions. Colter Bay on Jackson Lake in the Grand Teton National Park is named for John Colter.
James Fenimore Cooper
1789 - 1851. James Fenimore Cooper's most famous book is "The Last Of The Mohicans". This forms the second of a series of books called the Leatherstocking Tales featuring the character of Natty Bumppo and his adventures in the American wilderness. The other books in the series are "The Pioneers", "The Prairie", "The Pathfinder" and "The Deerslayer".
Davy Crockett
1786 - 1836. One of the most famous of the American frontiersmen, Crockett started life as a Tennessee backwoods hunter. After serving in the army he became a member of the Tennessee state legislature and later a member of the US Congress. After suffering an electoral defeat he left Tennessee for Texas in 1835. Crockett was killed at the Alamo.
Jefferson Davis
1808 - 1889. The only president of the Confederate States Of America, from 1861 to 1865.
Richard Dawson
1932 - . Television personality. Original presenter of "Family Feud", the American version of "Family Fortunes", from 1976 to 1985. In recent years the show has been revived with a new presenter, although according to one source Dawson himself hosted a revival in 1994. At one time Dawson was married to Diana Dors. Dawson also appeared in Hogan's Heroes and Laugh-In. Excerpts from Richard Dawson's Family Feud programmes sometimes appear on British television programmes such as "It'll Be Alright On The Night".
Stephen Decatur
1779 - 1820. An American naval officer who was engaged in exploits during the Tripolitan War (1801-1805) and the War Of 1812. Roads in many US towns and cities are named after him, as are towns in some states including Alabama, Georgia and Illinois.
Jeremiah Dixon
Astronomer and surveyor. See Mason-Dixon Line.
Leif Ericsson
Circa 975-1020. The Icelandic explorer thought to have discovered North America.
Febold Feboldson
A character in American folklore. Fictional, as far as I know.
John Frémont
1813 - 1890. Frémont is best known for his explorations of the American West. In 1838 Frémont was a member of an expedition to the region between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. In 1842 Frémont led an expedition to Oregon Territory, mapping most of the Oregon Trail and climbing the second highest peak of the Wind River Mountains in Wyoming, which is now named in his honour. In 1843 Frémont led an expedition guided by Kit Carson which explored the Oregon Trail to the mouth of the Columbia and returned via the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In 1845 Frémont led an expedition to the Great Basin and the Pacific coast. In the late 1840's Frémont led an expedition searching for a suitable route for a railway between the upper Rio Grande and California. The Fremont River which flows through Capitol Reef National Park in Utah is named after Frémont, as are cities in California, Nebraska and Ohio.
John Hancock
1737 - 1793. The first person to sign the American Declaration of Independence, having previously held the post of presiding officer of the Continental Congress. Hancock was also the first governor of Massachusetts. A skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois is named in his honour.
John Henry
A character in American folklore. Fictional, as far as I know.
Sam Houston
1793 - 1863. Houston led the fight for Texas independence from Mexico and later its admission into the United States. He was born in Virginia and later his family moved to Tennessee. When he was about fifteen years old Houston ran away from home and lived with the Cherokee for about three years. He fought in the War of 1812 under Andrew Jackson. In 1827 he was elected governor of Tennessee. In 1829 he resigned as governor and returned to live with the Cherokee. In 1832 he was commissioned by Andrew Jackson (then president) to negotiate treaties with the Native Americans in Texas, which at that time belonged to Mexico. Houston decided to settle in Texas. In 1835 he became commander in chief of the Texan army in the war against Mexico. His capture of the Mexican president Santa Anna at San Jacinto won Texas its independence. Houston became president of the Republic of Texas in 1836. When Texas become a US state in 1845 Houston served as one of its senators. The city of Houston, Texas is named in his honour.
Casey Jones
A famous engineer (train driver) in American folklore. I don't know if the story has any basis in fact.
Ray Kroc
1903 - 1984. For many years Ray Kroc worked as a travelling salesman for a company which manufactured milkshake mixers. In 1954, at the age of fifty-one, Kroc visited a hamburger stand in San Bernardino, California, to discover why its proprietors had purchased eight of his company's mixers instead of the usual one or two. The hamburger stand was run by two brothers called Maurice and Richard McDonald. So impressed was Kroc by the efficiency of their operation that he bought the right to franchise other branches working to an identical system. Over the next few decades he developed and built up the McDonald's empire.
Lafayette
1757 - 1834. Full name Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. Lafayette was a French military leader and statesman who fought on the side of the colonists during the American Revolution and was later involved in the French Revolution. His name is commemorated in that of several towns and is also a popular street name in American towns.
Meriwether Lewis
1774 - 1809. Lewis was joint leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known was The Corps of Discovery. He died in mysterious circumstances near Hohenwald, Tennessee. Lewiston, Idaho is named in his honour.
Wink Martindale
Television personality. Some years ago Martindale presented "Tic-Tac-Doe", a game show based on noughts and crosses (called tic-tac-toe in America). Some older readers of this page may remember a similar show called "Criss Cross Quiz" hosted by Barbara Kelly in the early days of Britain's ITV. Martindale now presents a game show called "Get Out Of Debt" in which contestants have the chance of having all their debts paid off for them.
Charles Mason
Astronomer and surveyor. See Mason-Dixon Line.
Stephen Mather
1867 - 1930. In 1917 Mather became the first director of the American National Park Service. Mather played a significant part in the establishment of the Grand Canyon National Park, the Grand Teton National Park, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Rocky Mountain National Park and Yosemite National Park. There is a plaque at Yosemite's Happy Isles commemorating Stephen Mather, which includes the words "No end will come to the good he has done".
John Muir
1838 - 1914. An explorer, naturalist and conservationist, one of the first "eco-warriors" and a prime mover in the creation of the American National Park Service. Muir fought to preserve many areas of wilderness in America, including Yosemite National Park. Muir Woods National Monument near San Francisco is named in his honour, as is the John Muir Wilderness in the Sierra National Forest south of Yosemite and Muir Glacier in Alaska. John Muir founded the Sierra Club, a highly influential conservation organisation.
Pecos Bill
A character in American folklore. I do not know if the stories have any basis in fact.
Regis Philbin
The host of the American version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire". The format of the US version of the programme is almost identical to that of the UK version, including the set, the graphics, the music, the banality of most of the questions and the general ignorance of most of the contestants on all but the popular culture questions. Regis Philbin is considerably more varied and rational in his presentation than Chris Tarrant. He also moves things along rather faster. When the US version of "Millionaire" first started it used a premium rate phone number for prospective contestants as in Britain but it now uses a toll-free 800 number, all costs being met through advertising. I believe Philbin also hosts a breakfast programme on one of the major television channels. In the summer of 2000 there were a number of programmes on other US television networks which used variations of the "Millionaire" format but by Apr-01 is seemed that only the original had survived. However, in that month the US version of "The Weakest Link" started, hosted as in Britain by Anne Robinson but with a maximum prize of $1 million.
Zebulon Pike
1779 - 1813. Pike led an expedition in 1805 to discover the source of the Mississippi and in 1806 a second expedition to explore the territory obtained by the Louisiana Purchase. Pikes Peak, Colorado, sighted but not climbed by the second expedition, was named after Zebulon Pike. Pike was killed during the War of 1812.
Pocahontas
1595? - 1617. Pocahontas was born in Virginia, the daughter of a Native American chief. According to tradition, Pocahontas saved the life of Captain John Smith in 1608. In 1612 she was captured by the English and taken to Jamestown and in 1614 she married John Rolfe. In 1616 the family went to England but on the eve of her return to Virginia she died of smallpox.
John Wesley Powell
1834 - 1902. Powell's chief claim to fame was as leader of the first exploration to navigate the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in 1869. A song by the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, "Mr Powell", was inspired by this adventure. The expedition used wooden boats and by this time Powell had lost one arm during the American Civil War. Powell was extremely interested in both natural history and geology. He also published the first map of Native American languages. Lake Powell, formed by the Glen Canyon Dam, is named in his honour.
Punxsutawney Phil
See Groundhog Day.
Fred Rogers
1928 - 2003. Presenter of the children's television programme "Mr Rogers' Neighbourhood", which ran for thirty-five years.
Betsy Ross
1752 - 1836. According to tradition, Betsy Ross made the first American Flag. The story has little basis in historical fact, it seems.
Sacajawea (sometimes spelt Sacagawea)
1787? - 1812 or 1884. Sacajawea acted as a Shoshone Native American guide to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. She was probably born in Idaho. She was captured by another tribe in 1800 and sold to Touissaint Charbonneau, a French trapper hired as an interpreter and guide by Lewis and Clark. Sacajawea provided invaluable assistance to the expedition through western Montana and Idaho. Her date of death is uncertain. For British readers the pronunciation is "Sar-car-gar-wee-ah" and for US readers it is "Sah-KAH-gah-wee-ah".
Pat Sajak
Television personality. The main presenter of the American version of "Wheel Of Fortune".
Ceran St Vrain
The partner of Charles and William Bent, who with them built the trading post of Bent's Old Fort in southeastern Colorado.
Martha Stewart
A "lifestyle guru" (whatever that is), somewhat similar to Britain's Delia Smith. Now discredited and possibly facing years in jail for insider share dealing.
Dave Thomas
1932 - 2002. Founder of the Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers chain.
Alex Trebek
Television personality. The presenter of Jeopardy!, a quiz show with a format and host of somewhat similar style to that of Britain's "Fifteen To One", though with different rules to the game.
Sam Walton
1918 - 1992. Founder of the Wal-Mart discount department store chain. The first Wal-Mart opened in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas.
Vanna White
Television personality. Co-presenter of the American version of "Wheel Of Fortune".
Marcus Whitman
1802 - 1847. Whitman was a Protestant missionary. He established the Whitman Mission near present-day Walla Walla, Washington State. He encouraged settlement of the Pacific Northwest and travel on the Oregon Trail. He and his wife were killed by hostile Native Americans.
Walt Whitman
1819 - 1892. Whitman was a poet. His best known work is the collection "Leaves Of Grass".
Wiarton Willie
See Groundhog Day.
History
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