The dénouement .....

Hard to believe that just 4 days ago I was standing on "the green" in Lexington, MA, reflecting on the events of 1775, and now I am at West Yellowstone, MT, reflecting on the events of 1877. Both locations are the gateways to great National Park experiences (Minuteman National Park and Yellowstone). Both sets of events are about freedom.

In the events that followed those at Lexington in 1775, some Americans gained their liberty and rights as individuals. In the events that followed those here in Yellowstone in 1877, some Americans lost their rights and freedom. I am talking about the Nez Perce War of 1877, commonly know as the Chief Joseph War. If you are interested you can learn more from this Google Earth piece. It is part of the work I did for the Nez Perce National Historic Trail Foundation, I am making a presentation on it here later today.

It is interesting to see where America had progressed to 100 years after it started its journey to independence.

This blog - Will be working on the blog from time to time to add post scripts, edit, and link in a few more Google features. Also will be updating a few of the existing Google components so that they integrate with other Google tools, spreading the blog's potential reach on the web. Have also hooked this blog to Google Analytics so that we can track usage/clicks over time, along with other things like where in the world people are that are reading these words.

We chose to write this blog about a trip so that the events would have a beginning and an end, rather than become like a journal, which keeps rolling along ..... like history. That said, we will be checking in from time to time, and if you want to leave a comment or thought anywhere, please do so. We appreciate the feedback, and you can become part of the "trip" as well.