I just might be the only galoot in town who notices that every year, we have just almost exactly 100 days of hot weather. It usually starts on July 4 and goes to about Oct. 15.
Of course, some years, the heat visits a little earlier or a little later. But it almost always works out to 100 days. That smidgen of meteorological cocktail party trivia aside, we’ve a most interesting trek ahead, dear sadddlepals.
There’s a presidential daughter marrying poorly, a visit from Jim Rockford and a look at some wascally wabbits who ended up in a pickle. We’ve got murderers, movie stars and mayhem ahead, so make sure those saddles are cinched properly as we head into yesteryear ..
. WAY, WAY BACK WHEN POLKING AROUND — It’s funny how a breeze can affect something thousands of miles away. In the 1840s, James K.
Polk ran for president on one issue and one issue only: Manifest Destiny. Polk said that if elected, he would bring much (if not all) of the North American continent under American rule. He essentially annexed a good chunk of Canada (he wanted more, up to the old 54/40 line) and Mexico.
He also set out to obtain Mexican-owned California. Eventually, Polk would send the rapscallion adventurer, John C. Fremont, to help conquer the western slice of the land mass.
The explorer and his 100 “geographers” were sent to start a rebellion here. Fremont even passed through Newhall several times (the Newhall Pass for nearly a century was known as Fremont Pass). Polk never liked Frem.