On July 25, 1850, Gold was discovered in Oregon, on the Rogue River.
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On this day in 1853, Joaquin Murrieta, the famous Californian bandit known as “Robin Hood of El Dorado”, was killed by California Rangers.
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And on July 25, 1797 Horatio Nelson lost more than 300 men and his right arm during the failed conquest attempt of Tenerife, Spain.
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I just heard of the passing of wrestler and actor Hulk Hogan [1]. He was an outspoken conservative, and in his later years, an outspoken Christian [2].
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Just one more day! In honor of the birthday week of Samuel Colt, we are running a special sale at Elk Creek Company [3]. Many antique and percussion replica gun prices have been reduced — including all of our Colts — and I’ll include the bonus of an autographed hardback copy of my novel Expatriates with the first 10 orders. The sale will end tomorrow at 9 PM Pacific Time, Saturday, July 26th, 2025.
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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest
Today we present another entry for Round 119 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest [4]. The prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
- A Gunsite Academy [5]Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course [6] (a $1,095 value),
- A Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” [7] variety of 60 servings of premium freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners in individual meal pouches — a whopping 21,970 calories, all made and packaged in the USA — courtesy of Ready Made Resources [8] (a $350 value),
- American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) [9] is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses [10]. Their course catalog now includes their latest Survival Gunsmithing course [11].
- HSM Ammunition [12] in Montana is providing a $350 gift certificate. The certificate can be used for any of their products.
Second Prize:
- A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training [13], that has a combined retail value of $679
- A $269 retail value survival-ready power package from Solar Power Lifestyle [14]. This includes two Solar Power Lifestyle 25W Portable Solar Panels [15], plus a $150 gift card to use for any purchase at solarpowerlifestyle.com [16].
- Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord [17] (in-stock colors only) from TOUGHGRID.com [18] (a $287 value).
- A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company [19], toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of gun purchasing privacy!
Third Prize:
- A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters [20] (a $305 value),
- Two sets of [21]The Civil Defense Manual, [22] (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
- A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC [23] that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.
- A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company [19], toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.
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More than $960,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 119 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail [24] us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics [25]. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.