WHAT’S PAST IS THE PROLOGUE – MAGIC REVEALS

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“HISTORY – an account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools.” 

Ambrose Bierce from The Devil’s Dictionary

“To remain ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain a child.  For what is the worth of a human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?” 

Cicero from Orator

“What’s past is the Prologue”

William Shakespeare

Welcome to my blog

Lake Bled with Bled Castle across the Lake – same picture as on the first Lonely Planet volume on Slovenia

Blogs tend to focus on specific subjects. My focus tends to encompass my own learning as I make my way about in the World. Living in Portland, Oregon, there tends to be a quite a few stories regarding the Pacific Northwest. Show what you know?

My years have allowed me to visit many places around the world. Travel can push you to learning a lot about that world. The ‘learning’ doesn’t end with the travel. One story leads to another and so it is here on this site. There is a wide array of topics already covered. Easiest way to navigate through the topics is to use the sitemap here. I hope you find some of the entries as entertaining as I did in writing (and maybe visiting). Good journeys.

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MYSTICISM ABOUNDS IN THE MAGICAL REALM OF ELOWAH FALLS

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The majesty of Elowah Falls Basin - Mount Hamilton and Table Mountain soar across the Columbia River in Washington.
The majesty of Elowah Falls Basin – Mount Hamilton and Table Mountain soar across the Columbia River in Washington.

Recent posts have dealt with history for the most part – military history, mostly – World War 1 and the American Civil War. There are several more to come dealing with the later, so I thought to break it up a bit.

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AUSTRIA AND FRANCE IN THE HAPSBURG FINALE

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Very similar to the Italian episode of 1918 in France, Austria-Hungary sent several divisions to help her Central Power ally Germany in the last summer of the Great War.  Unlike the Italians, there are no monuments or military cemeteries marking their presence on the battlefields.  The only evidence of their participation is a lonely memorial and the few graves left behind in several German military cemeteries.  You must look closely to find them.

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ITALY IN FRANCE – THE SECOND CORPS ON THE ROAD

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Graves of soldiers sent by Italy to fight for France in 1918 at the Italian military cemetery.

In covering the countryside of France in the region where elements of the American Expeditionary Force took part in the Second Battle of the Marne on a corps level, I ran across two Italian military cemeteries. Certainly, the appearance of these cemeteries came as a surprise to me. The story of how the Italians got here and their battles do not show up in many histories of the war.  So, here is a quick rundown of Italy in France.

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CHICKAMAUGA – STORIES TOLD IN GRANITE ON THE RIVER OF DEATH

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Monument to the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment and the Field Headquarters of General William Rosecrans 20 September 1863 at Chickamauga.
Monument to the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment and the Field Headquarters of General William Rosecrans 20 September 1863 at Chickamauga.

The second deadliest battle of the American Civil War, Chickamauga is nowhere near as well-known as other battles such as Gettysburg, Antietam, or Vicksburg.  The first two were fought by the Army of the Potomac, the main Federal army fighting in the eastern theater of the war centered on Virginia.  If this army had been destroyed, the Federal cause would have been defeated.  Neither Gettysburg nor Antietam were large-scale Federal victories.  They both were emphatic ending notes to the two invasions of the Northern States in 1862 and 1863 by General Robert E. Lee and his Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.  Vicksburg meant the Confederate States were split into two as Federal control over the Mississippi came into being.

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STONES RIVER – “BRAGG’S A GOOD DOG, BUT HOLD FAST’S A BETTER!”

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Graves of men of Hazen's Brigade killed at the Battle of Stones River.
Graves of men from the 41st Ohio Infantry of Hazen’s Brigade killed at the Battle of Stones River.

A three-day affair to end 1862 and begin the new year, the Battle of Stones River – also known as the Battle of Murfreesboro – resulted in the highest percentage of casualties of any major battle of the American Civil War.  32.7% of the 78,400 who fought died, became wounded or went missing or captured after the battle’s end.  Four brigadier generals died either outright or from mortal wounds from the battle – two on each side.  Braxton Bragg’s newly renamed Army of Tennessee moved first on the morning of 31 December rolling through the Federal lines.  But true to his nature, Bragg would find a way to turn victory into a tactical defeat.  Much of Tennessee remained under Federal control as 1863 began.

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CHANTERELLE MELODIES – MAGIC OF THE FOREST

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Pacific Golden Chanterelles - State Mushroom of Oregon.
Pacific Golden Chanterelles – State Mushroom of Oregon.

Cantharellus – cibarius in Europe and formosus here in the Pacific Northwest – the Golden Chanterelles, holds down one of the top three spots among edible mushrooms to be foraged from the forest duff. Along with porcini, morels and maybe matsutake, the chanterelle remains one of the most sought-after mushrooms for those seeking additions to their dining tables. There are certainly more than waterfalls awaiting you out in the forests of the Northwest.

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DOBERDO – HUNGARIAN SACRIFICE RECAPTURED IN THE KRAS

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Headstone in the Austro-Hungarian military cemetery in Bovec, Slovenia bedecked with a faded Hungarian tri-colored ribbon.
Headstone in the Austro-Hungarian military cemetery in Bovec, Slovenia bedecked with a faded Hungarian tri-colored ribbon similar to graves in cemeteries in Doberdo.

In 2018, as part of centenary observances of World War 1, a monument unveiled at Fiume Road Graveyard in Budapest.  This became the first national memorial erected commemorating the efforts Hungarians undertook during the Great War.  Government officials noted the memorial was in line with a fundamental theme of the nation: to restore historical continuity broken during the Nazi and Communist occupations.

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RAVELNIK AND ČELO – MEMORIES OF THE GREAT WAR IN THE BOVEC BASIN

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Ravelnik lies at the head of fields extending east of Bovec – Svinjak rises high in the distance.

Ravelnik and Čelo are two open-air museums allowing visitors a chance to visit spaces where soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army defended the Bovec basin from invading Italian troops from the end of May 1915 until the end of October 1917. The two sites restored by locals and the Slovene government are different in what they offer as well as their original purpose with regard to their roles in holding off the Italians.

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WATERFALLS MAGIC HIDDEN IN THE CENTRAL OREGON COAST RANGE

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Drift Creek Falls from the bridge - notice the large rock to the left of the bottom of the falls. The rock cleaved off the cliffs just above the falls at the top and to the left.
Drift Creek Falls – one of the waterfalls of the central Oregon Coast – from the bridge – notice the large rock to the left of the bottom of the falls. The rock cleaved off the cliffs just above the falls at the top and to the left.

Lincoln County is home to the Central Oregon Coast. If you can get away from the beach, magnificent Drift Creek Falls awaits deep in the woods. A couple other waterfalls are better visited on the way to the central Oregon Coast or on the way home. By no means a conclusive list of waterfalls, but here are three worth your time.

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INFANTRY REGIMENT 97 – DIFFERENT HISTORIES IN THE REDEEMED LANDS

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Men of Infantry Regiment 97 leaving from the Trieste train station for the Galician front.

Stuck away on the east side of multiple train tracks at the train station in Trieste is a small monument.  It stands forlornly nest to a like sized monument dedicated to rail workers who died in World War 2.  The monument in question reads: “In riccordo di cittadini del littoral Austriaco partiti da questi binary nell’agosta del 1914 per lontani cmapi di battaglia” – “In memory of citizens of the Austrian Littoral who left from these tracks in August 1914 for battlefields far away.”  The sign is fixed on a large stone on which also is placed, a cap design for the Imperial and Royal – Kaiserliche und Königliche (K. und K.) – Infantry Regiment 97.  The K. und K. Infantrie Regiment 97 entrained from here to the battlefields of Galicia from which many of the men, locals from Trieste and the surrounding region, would never return.

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