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Another of Nevada’s remaining World War II veterans has passed away.  Charles Tremain was born on July 20, 1927 in Yankton, South Dakota and raised in Beatrice, Nebraska.

He served in the United States Marine Corps during the Second World War and as a captain during the Korean War. Chuck, as he was known, later graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1951.

That same year, he married his college sweetheart, Marian Stapleton.  They returned to Beatrice, Nebraska where they raised three children on a farm and bred cattle.

In 1972, the couple moved to Reno, where he began his 35-year career as an insurance and investment consultant.  He was among more than 30 other veterans in northern Nevada’s inaugural Honor Flight to Washington D.C. in October 2012.

Jus’ last week Jack Streeter died at the age of 91. He was a native Nevadan and longtime Reno Resident and attorney.

Jack attended Sparks High School, graduating in 1939.  He then attended the University of Nevada Reno and was a member of the ROTC and Pacific Golden Gloves Champion in the light heavyweight division.

During World War II, Jack became the most decorated Nevadan of the war, being awarded four Silver Stars, two Bronze stars, four Purple Hearts and the Legion of Merit.  He served as an officer in the First Infantry division, participating in the D-Day invasion, the assault across the Rhine and the Battle of the Bulge.

After the war, he attended Hastings Law school then moved back to Reno where he was Washoe County District Attorney from 1951-1954.  The newest tower at the VA Hospital in Reno bears his name in honor of his service.

You can read about Jack’s wartime exploits, title, “Outside of War and Food, We didn’t Have Too Much,” in the 1995 book, “War Stories; Veterans Remember WWII.”

Jedediah Smith was a mountain man. With the middle name Strong, he epitomized the word.

As a fur trader and prolific explorer he survived a grizzly bear mauling and hostile encounters with natives. Born on January 6, 1799 on the East Coast in Jericho, N.Y., he spent the better part of his 32 years looking Westward.

Smith was the first white man to travel into California from the East. And in 1827 he was the first to cross the Sierra Nevadas.

Smith, in his lifetime, covered more land than the famed Lewis and Clark. On April 10, 1828, Smith and his 20-person crew began their trip past the Sacramento Valley that would eventually bring them into Del Norte County.

While on their trek north, Smith encountered the Trinity River and traveled along its banks for many days. He was so impressed by its size that he named it after himself.

This designation, obviously, did not stick.

Smith followed the Trinity until he encountered the Klamath River, camping along the banks of tributary creeks. It was here that Smith had his first meeting with the Yurok Tribe.

Trading razors and beads, Smith was able to buy canoes from the Yurok to help his party cross the Klamath. The Yurok again assisted Smith and his men when they were nearly starved.

The Yurok visited Smith’s camp multiple times with loads of berries, lamprey eel and blubber for trade. Smith said of the Yurok’s propensity for capitalism: “They were great speculators and never sold their things without dividing them into several small parcels, asking more for each than the whole were worth. They also brought us some blubber, not bad tasted but dear as gold dust.”

It was around this time that Smith reached Crescent City, resting at South Beach and Pebble Beach, then traveling north through Jordan Creek and Lake Earl. Smith and his fellow trappers encountered the Tolowa in this area, trading with them for fish, clams, strawberries and camas root.

On June 20, 1828, Smith headed east, crossing Howland Hill and first glimpsed the flowing waters of his official namesake river. Three days later he crossed into Oregon and followed the coastline until reaching the Umpqua River, the eventual location of his groups demise.

While cooking breakfast on July 14, 1828 over 100 Indians attacked Smith’s camp. Everyone was killed save Smith and two others – Arthur Black and John Turner.

The three men escaped through the mountains until they reached Fort Vancouver in Vancouver, Washington.  Smith spent the next two years, 1829 and 1830, trapping animals along the Wind River in Wyoming and Montana.

On May 27, 1831 Smith ended his explorations of the West. He was going to Santa Fe when he was ambushed by the Comanche.

He shot their chief in hopes of scaring away the group. He died with a Comanche lance in his back.

Smith is the namesake of both the Smith River and the Jedediah Smith State Park. The latter of which is home to some of the “noblest” trees Smith ever saw – the redwoods.

George Vancouver, the man probably best known for his naming rights to the island in British Columbia, was attempting to sail around the world, until he ran into California in April 1792. Vancouver was heading east from the Sandwich Islands, now known as Hawaii, when he first encountered the state, just south of Cape Mendocino.

He veered northward traveling along the coasts, passing Del Norte County, Oregon and Washington.

While on this journey, Vancouver sent one of his lieutenants, William Robert Broughton, to explore the Columbia River. Broughton then discovered and named Oregon’s Mt. Hood.

As Vancouver traveled further along the coast he found Puget Sound, spending nearly a month traversing the channels and islands, and continued on to Vancouver Island. In 1794, after sailing along the Pacific Coast, Vancouver decided to return to England.

This trip, around Cape Horn, concluded his circumnavigation of the world and his career. He retired to Petersham, a town outside of London, to prepare a journal of his travels for publication.

The manuscript, which was a half a million words long, was near completion when Vancouver died, May 12, 1798 at 40 years-old. He is credited with naming Vancouver Island, Vancouver, British Columbia and Vancouver, Wash.

The British schooner Columbia anchored in Trinidad Bay in 1817, passing Del Norte County’s waters during its voyage. Not long after the anchors dropped, the vessel was surrounded by canoes.

As a precautionary move, boarding nets were pulled up, all ports but one closed and the canoes were swept to the port. Trading followed and the Britons obtained a few furs in exchange of pieces of six-inch iron hoop.

The Native Americans also brought aboard red deer and berries. In the afternoon several Native American women appeared, and despite offers of blankets and axes, did not come aboard the Columbia.

It was clear to the British that the Natives had little experience with Europeans, “as they did not know the use of firearms; nor have they any iron among them.”

Ashore the British found the cross Bodega erected 37 years before. After purchasing all the pelts the Native Americans had for sale, the British weighed anchor on July 24.

The vessel experienced much difficulty beating her way out to sea.

Initially, I started writing a series of articles on the war between a band of Modoc Indians and the U.S. Army after reading Terry Johnston’s 1991 novel, “The Devil’s Backbone: The Modoc War, 1872-3.” It was an interesting subject as my step-dad and I used look for arrowheads in those lava fields and outside what he told me and what I’d read, this piece of Northern California history had been skipped-over when I was in school…

Also known as the Modoc War, or the Modoc Campaign, the Great Lava Bed Wars was an armed conflict between the Native American Modoc tribe and the United States Army in southern Oregon and northern California from 1872 to 1873. The Modoc War was the last of the Indian Wars to occur in the region.

During the Modoc War, the Modoc had no more than 53 warriors engaged in the fighting. Including the four Modoc executed at Fort Klamath, Captain Jack’s band suffered the loss of seventeen warriors killed.

The casualty lists for the US Army are as follows:  7 Officers killed and 4 wounded; 48 Enlisted killed and 42 wounded; 16 Civilians killed and 1 wounded; and 2 Indian Scouts killed.

In the First Battle of the Stronghold, January 17, 1873, there were about 400 Army troops in the field. The troops included U. S. Army infantry, cavalry, and howitzer units; Oregon and California volunteer companies, and some Klamath Indian Scouts.

Lt. Col. Frank Wheaton commanded all troops.

In the Second Battle of the Stronghold, April 17, 1873, about 530 troops fought. These included U. S. Army infantry, cavalry, and artillery, and Warm Spring Indian Scouts.

The volunteer companies had withdrawn from the field. However, the Army employed a small number of civilians runners and packers.

Col. Alvin C. Gillem was in command.

The Modoc War cost the United States over an estimated $400,000; a very expensive war in terms of lives and dollars, considering the small number of opposing forces. In contrast, the estimated cost to purchase the land requested by the Modoc for a separate reservation was $20,000.

Captain Jack led 52 warriors in a band of more than 150 Modoc people who left the Klamath Reservation. Occupying defensive positions throughout the lava beds south of Tule Lake, for months those few warriors waged a guerrilla war against United States Army forces sent against them and reinforced with artillery.

In April 1873, Captain Jack and others killed General Edward Canby and another peace commissioner, while wounding others. After more warfare with reinforcements of US forces, finally some Modoc warriors surrendered, leading to Captain Jack and the last of his band’s capture

Jack and five warriors went on trial for the murder of two peace commissioners; He and three of his warriors hanged after being found guilty and two others received life sentences. The remaining 153 Modoc of the band ended up being sent to Indian Territory, where they were held as prisoners of war until 1909.

Some at that point returned to the Klamath Reservation, but most, including their descendants stayed in what was by then the state of Oklahoma. As a result, there are federally recognized Modoc Tribes in California, Oregon and Oklahoma today.

A meteorite causing severe damage and injuring 1,200 people in the Russian Urals, has created a stir, especially since it took place as an asteroid zipped by Earth within 17,000 miles. However, it’s not the first time a meteor has made itself known as it slammed through the atmosphere.

Henry Cutting was living in Candelaria, Nevada, when witnessed the explosion of a great meteor, which passed directly over the town, about 10 at night, February 1st, 1894. The meteor, he said, came from the west, exploding with a blinding flash, followed after a short interval by the sound of the explosion, and finally passing out of sight to the east.

Cutting was in his house, when an explosion shook the building; he thought a powder magazine had exploded, and ran out of doors. Once outside, he saw nearly every resident of the town in the street looking towards the sky.

He describes seeing a bright light overhead, and hearing a roaring sound reverberating like thunder, “but more metallic,” which lasted for a number of minutes. The blinding flash was so intense the sagebrush on hills several miles distant could be clearly seen and in houses with shutters tightly closed, the smallest objects were visible.

People compared notes about the time which elapsed between the first flash and the sound of the explosion, and most agreed it was nearly thirty seconds. Assuming that the explosion took place vertically over the town, this would place the meteor, at the moment of explosion, at a height of about six and a half miles.

Some thought that the meteor fell a few miles to the east, and several groups went out to Nevada’s Summit Springs in search of it, but it was never found. Others in the town of Silver Star didn’t hear the explosion, and only one person in the town of Benton claimed to have heard a faint noise; concluding the explosion was nearly directly over Candelaria.

It should be noted that the meteor was seen passing north of San Francisco and to the south, by folks living in Belmont, Nevada. This suggests it continued at least fifty miles east of Candelaria.

Of interest to the meteor of Candelaria is the meteorite of Quinn Canyon, as it may be a part of the same event. The meteorite was found in late August 1908 by a prospector in the foothills of the Quinn Canyon range in Nye County, about 90 miles east of Tonopah.

New Jersey Democrat Senator Frank Lautenberg’s decision to retire from the Senate in 2014 election means the upper chamber will soon say good-bye to its last veteran of World War II. However, the war lives on in the House, as Congressman Ralph Hall, a Republican from Texas, and Democrat John Dingell of Michigan, are still leading the charge.

In 1972, there were 22 World War I veteran’s still serving including Michael Mansfield , a Democrat from Montana, who at 14 dropped out of school and lied about his age to enlist in the U.S. Navy. He went on several overseas convoys on the USS Minneapolis, until discharged when the Navy discovered his real age. He was the last known congressional veteran of the war to die before reaching the age of 100, which was in 2001.

As for the last surviving World War I vet to have ever served in Congress, that is Navy Lt. Cmdr. Edouard Izac from 1937 to 1947. He passed away January 25th, 1990 at 100 years of age.

Incidently, the California Democrat received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the “war to end all wars.”

As a rule I try to keep things simple when it comes to gift-giving holidays. But at times, the snowball-effect takes control.

Every holiday, my wife says, “Don’t get me anything.” And every holiday, I go look at the bathroom mirror to see if the word ‘stupid,’ is stenciled on my forehead.

It’s not.

This Valentine’s Day, I found a nice card for my wife, and then realized – her sister is visiting, so I got an appropriate card for her too. Then it occurred to me our room-mate might feel left out if I didn’t get her a card too.

With three cards in hand, I returned home only to find, our roomie had purchased roses for my wife and her sister and a box of candy for me. Furthermore, my wife got me even more candy and a card and my sister-in-law gave me a music CD.

*Sigh*

So now I’m sitting here, contemplating simplicity, rocking out to my CD and eating chocolate bon-bon’s until I slip into a sugar coma.

The outage began Monday evening and left thousands of AT&T customers in Northern Nevada without internet, cell phone and some landline phone service. Calls to 911 were also among those affected.

The effected area stretched from Ely to Reno and Sparks. The company says a computer software problem in AT&T’s Reno central office triggered the problem.

Crews restored nearly all service late Tuesday night but ended up working overnight to get the final few back on-line. Many complain that while next-door neighbors were able to use the Internet, service to some home’s and businesses didn’t return until early Wednesday morning.

It’s enough to cause conspiracy theorist’s to have a stroke.

Melancholia is the label often given to the state of a person’s lingering sadness in the 19^th century. In fact, it’s said President Abraham Lincoln “dripped of melancholy.”

This lingering sadness was common as intelligence, confidence, honesty or a lack thereof. Both Mark Twain and O. Henry lived with the condition.

And they both used it to their advantage when writing. It was simply a part of their personalities.

Today, it’s generally known as severe depression or even bipolar disorder.

Many of us are in this state, severe or not, for one reason or another. Therefore, dragging one’s self out of the affliction is part of most folk’s daily routine.

Humor is an important part of this process – seeing the funny side to a situation – including an unimaginably horrible one. Many stand-up comedian’s make a living using this technique, twisted or not..

After all even a newborn baby responds happily to laughter.

Before Colin Kaepernick, there was Glenn Carano. The Reno Silver Legacy’s Director of Marketing was a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys for seven seasons, from 1977 to 1983, including two Super Bowls and a championship ring.

Carano was with the Cowboys when they pounced on the Denver Broncos, 27-10 during Superbowl XII January 15, 1978. He returned to the big show for Superbowl XIII, January 21, 1979, where Dallas lost a heartbreaker to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 35-31.

He was a highly touted player coming into the NFL. Carano was a star at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and was a second-round draft pick by the Cowboys, being picked between running back Tony Dorsett and wide receiver Tony Hill.

Carano appeared in 36 games in his NFL career completing 21 of 57 passes with three touchdowns and one interception. He made one start in December 1981, filling in for an injured Danny White, leading the Cowboys to a 37-13 win over the Baltimore Colts.

With that single start, Carano exited the NFL an undefeated quarterback and I’ve been unable to find any other player who can make the same claim. In 1984, he signed with the Pittsburgh Maulers of the US Football League and played one season before retiring.