HOUSTON ODYSSEY
Thursday we drove to Houston and hit the 620 bypass at 4:00 and took 45 minutes to get to the Hampton Inn at the Medical Center area. Lou did fairly well but had to make several pit stops. We got to bed early and got up at our regular time Friday morning. We ate the free hot breakfast and Lou ate some food for the first time in several days. Two other regents were staying there and we had breakfast with them.
We drove to the TWU building and missed driving up to the 3rd floor so the guard told us to park in a handicapped spot on the ground floor. When we left we had a ticket but the office said they would take care of it. Lou attended the Regent's meeting and I read The CHEROKEE NATION HISTORY by Robert Conley. I got past the photos pages and was surprised to see that all of the early Chiefs were dressed in suits and ties and all had a lot of facial hair. I had always grown up with the concept that American Indians had little facial hair.
Conley gives an interesting view of the history from the Indian viewpoint. He detailed the Trail of Tears story in more detail than I had read before. It is interesting how the various factions within the Cherokee culture continue their feuds from back in their past related to giving up their land in the East and moving to Oklahoma Territory. The Cherokees were one of the most civilized tribes with a government, homes, farms, a written language with a newspaper, but the Europeans still took their land with treaties that were continually broken. As with the other tribes especially in the East they were decimated by the diseases that the Europeans brought with them. Many tribes had up to 90 percent wiped out by smallpox and other new diseases.
In 1809 Tecumsah tried to get all of the Indian tribes to form a national consortium to work together to drive the Europeans back. When they wouldn't cooperate, he said he would go back home and stamp his feet and the earth would shake. In 1811 the Madrid Fault did shake the Georgia area but the Cherokees who had moved to Missouri were shaken so badly that they moved down to Arkansas. Another prophet predicted a hail storm that would destroy everyone if they didn't follow his advice. When the storm didn't come the day he predicted they didn't follow him. They were never able to form a concentrated front to oppose the white invasion. Later the plains Indians had the same problem. They were so used to fighting each other they couldn't combine forces to oppose the invaders. Conley's book is very well researched with a lot of references and a glossary with each chapter to explain Indian names. He even uses entries from Bibles in his family to supplement the history. If you want to know more about the Cherokees, read this book.
We left Houston at 3 p.m. and drove the 313 miles getting home at 9:15 to find our children and some grandchildren plus two great grandsons here and going to bed or in bed. We got to bed and had a good night's sleep. Lou ate a good breakfast this morning and seems to be getting over the chemo somewhat.
Thursday we drove to Houston and hit the 620 bypass at 4:00 and took 45 minutes to get to the Hampton Inn at the Medical Center area. Lou did fairly well but had to make several pit stops. We got to bed early and got up at our regular time Friday morning. We ate the free hot breakfast and Lou ate some food for the first time in several days. Two other regents were staying there and we had breakfast with them.
We drove to the TWU building and missed driving up to the 3rd floor so the guard told us to park in a handicapped spot on the ground floor. When we left we had a ticket but the office said they would take care of it. Lou attended the Regent's meeting and I read The CHEROKEE NATION HISTORY by Robert Conley. I got past the photos pages and was surprised to see that all of the early Chiefs were dressed in suits and ties and all had a lot of facial hair. I had always grown up with the concept that American Indians had little facial hair.
Conley gives an interesting view of the history from the Indian viewpoint. He detailed the Trail of Tears story in more detail than I had read before. It is interesting how the various factions within the Cherokee culture continue their feuds from back in their past related to giving up their land in the East and moving to Oklahoma Territory. The Cherokees were one of the most civilized tribes with a government, homes, farms, a written language with a newspaper, but the Europeans still took their land with treaties that were continually broken. As with the other tribes especially in the East they were decimated by the diseases that the Europeans brought with them. Many tribes had up to 90 percent wiped out by smallpox and other new diseases.
In 1809 Tecumsah tried to get all of the Indian tribes to form a national consortium to work together to drive the Europeans back. When they wouldn't cooperate, he said he would go back home and stamp his feet and the earth would shake. In 1811 the Madrid Fault did shake the Georgia area but the Cherokees who had moved to Missouri were shaken so badly that they moved down to Arkansas. Another prophet predicted a hail storm that would destroy everyone if they didn't follow his advice. When the storm didn't come the day he predicted they didn't follow him. They were never able to form a concentrated front to oppose the white invasion. Later the plains Indians had the same problem. They were so used to fighting each other they couldn't combine forces to oppose the invaders. Conley's book is very well researched with a lot of references and a glossary with each chapter to explain Indian names. He even uses entries from Bibles in his family to supplement the history. If you want to know more about the Cherokees, read this book.
We left Houston at 3 p.m. and drove the 313 miles getting home at 9:15 to find our children and some grandchildren plus two great grandsons here and going to bed or in bed. We got to bed and had a good night's sleep. Lou ate a good breakfast this morning and seems to be getting over the chemo somewhat.
posted by Dr. Rodenberger at 8:43 AM
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