Chimney Rock, Landmark Along the California, Mormon and Oregon Trails

 Followed the Mormon Trail in western Nebraska when we went t Salk Lake this last weekend.  

Springfield, Illlinois: Old Capital Building and Lincoln Law Office

 The current State Capital in Illinois is not the original.  The old State capital served from 1840-1876.

The law office where Abraham Lincoln worked was across the street.

Route 66 Rest Area Stop Bloomington, Illinois

  Rest area including a couple Route 66 displays and history marker

Bloomington-Normal Illinois
The first settlement in this area in 1822 was called Keg.  By the time a post office was established in 1828 the settlement was known as Blooming Grove.  McLean county was organized the following year and Bloomington, which was laid out in 1831 just north of Bloomington Grove on 22 acres of land donated by James Allin, was selected as county seat.  It was incorporated as a town in 1843, and a city in 1850.  In 1853 Illinois Wesleyan University was chartered here and in 1857 Normal University , first state-supported school of higher education in Illinois, was established in North Bloomington which soon changed is name to Normal.  The state Republican party was formally organized in Bloomington in 1856 at a convention called to protest the Kansas-Nebraska bill, which made possible the westward extension of slaver.  It was at this convention that Abraham Lincoln delivered his "lost speech" so called because no record of it was kept.  Several of Lincoln's close associates were local residents, including Jesse Fell, credited with the founding of Normal, Leonard Swett, lawyer and campaigner for Lincoln, and David Davis, appointed to the United States Supreme Court by Lincoln (1862-1877), and later United States senator.  Other distinguished residents include governors John M. Hamilton and Joseph Fifer; Adlai Stevenson I, vice president under Cleveland and Adlai Stevenson II, governor, twice presidential candidate, and United Nations Ambassador.

Finding Lincoln in Atlanta, Illinois

 There is a finding Lincoln plaque in Atlanta, Illinois

Who Is In the Statues Outside of the Illinois State Capital

 

President Abraham Lincoln

John M Palmer !5th governor of Illinois, Civil War general and presidential candidate. 1817-1900

Richard Yates Sr. 13th governor of Illinois, congressman and senator.  Governor during Civil War, 1815-1873

Everett Dirksen U.S. representive 12 years and senator 18 years. Senate minority leader 1859-1869.  Instrumental in pssage of Civil Rights Acts 1964 and 1968.  1898-1969.

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King

Native American Biography: Jordan Marie Brings Three White Horses Daniel

 Jordan Marie is a runner, fourth generation Native American runner.  She is Lakota Sioux and was born in Brule, South Dakota.  AS a child her family moved to Maine.  She took up running in honor too her ancestors, and was introduced by her grandfather.  

She uses her running as a platform for advocacy.  In the Boston Marathon of 2019 she brought attention to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW).  aShe did this by painting a hand over her mouth which is the symbol of this organization.

I have taken information from Notable Native People by Adrienne Keene and Wikipedia and her own website.

Native American Biography: Sergie Sovoroff: Maker of Iqyax Models

 Sergie Sovoroff was Aleaut from Umnak Island, Nikolski Village.  His people used Iqyax (Aleut kayak) to hunt sea otters.  However when he was nine, sea otter hunting was made illegal by the U.S. government.  He turned to making models of the Iqqyax to keep knowledge of them alive.  He would often make three person kayaks with a Russian Orthodox Priest in the middle seat.

As an adult, during WWII, the Aleuts were evacuated to southern Alaska.  This was for fear the Japanese would attack.  They lived in unsanitary conditions and many died from the forced removal, lack of medical care and unsanitary conditions.  They all were removed without opportunity to bring more than a suitcase of items.  The lived in these squalid conditions for three years.  All were scared physically and emotionally.  When they returned home items had been looted and vandalized.  Some communities were abandoned forever.  Sovoroff ws able to return home, but his coal stove was missing.

Sovoroff taught youth about the Aleut ways, how to gather food and be able to livee without starving.  How to build a traditional sod house to keep from the elements.  Eventually the making of Iqyax was revitalized and the Sovoroff models were invaluable.  Sovoroff preserveed the blue prints and plans to build the kayaks.  His models are in museums around the world including the Smithsonian.

Information gleaned from Wikipedia, Notable Native People by Adrienne Keene and The Wartime Interment of Native Alaskans.