Category: Note

While salmon fishing near the Klondike River in Canada’s Yukon Territory on August 17th, 1896, George Carmack reportedly spotted nuggets of gold in a creek bed. His lucky discovery sparked the last great gold rush in the American West. His two companions later agreed that Skookum, Jim–Carmack’s brother-in-law–actually made the discovery. — Today we present a guest article. Unfortunately, it was too short to qualify as an entry for Round 96 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. By the way, Round 96 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a …

Some Observations on Afghanistan From JWR: Some of the “experts” predicted that Afghanistan might fall to the Taliban within 18 months after Creepy Joe Biden’s April 14th pull-out announcement. But now it is looking like 18 weeks is a more accurate prediction. The latest headline: Afghan president flees country as Taliban move into Kabul. You may recall that back in April, Biden set September 11th as the deadline for withdrawing all U.S. forces. It now appears that there could be a full change of government to Taliban control before then! A side note:  Whenever someone of the caliber of Biden’s …

On August 15, 1961, two days after sealing off free passage between East and West Berlin with barbed wire, East German authorities began building a wall–the Berlin Wall–to permanently close off access to the West. For the next 28 years, the heavily fortified Berlin Wall stood as the most tangible symbol of the Cold War–a literal “iron curtain” dividing Europe. The wall has now been torn down for longer than it stood, but the scars in memory are still there. — Auction ends tonight! Through a friend with an FFL, I’m auctioning a stainless steel Seecamp LWS .380 ACP made …

Today is the birthday of British folk-rock singer Maddy Prior. She was born August 14th, 1947. August 14th, 1945 was Victory In Japan (“V-J”) Day. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 96 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 …

Today is the birthday of sharpshooter, entertainer, and folk heroine Annie Oakley (1860–1926.) — I had a couple of inquiries about the percussion revolvers that I have listed at Elk Creek Company. To clarify, in addition to the one that I currently have listed, I have several more Ruger Old Army .44 revolvers available, mostly in stainless steel. They have not yet been listed at our online store. Their prices range from $800 to $1,500 FRNs. I can show any of my antique gun inventory to you in detail via Skype video if you have Skype. SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today …

This is the birthday of country singer/songwriter Buck Owens (1929–2006). His songs typified what has been called “The Bakersfield Sound.” — From my personal collection: Through a friend with an FFL, I’m auctioning a stainless steel Seecamp LWS .380 ACP made in Milford, Connecticut, new in box with three factory magazines, and extra factory springs. As a modern gun, it would require delivery to or through an FFL. This scarce Seecamp pistol has a current market value in excess of $1,000. Please consider bidding. Not only will you help support SurvivalBlog, but you’ll end up with a gun from my …

On August 11, 1857, N. H. Wolfe and Company, the oldest flour and grain company in New York City, failed. This failure shook investor confidence and began a slow selloff in the market which continued into late August. Several other failures followed, and this cascaded into what was later called the Panic of 1857. — In honor of gun designer James Paris Lee’s birthday, we are running a two-week sale at Elk Creek Company. I’ve set sales prices with discounts from 5% to 25% on nearly all of our inventory. Get your order in soon, while the selection of antique …

On August 10th, 1984, Red Dawn, the first PG-13 rated movie, starring Patrick Swayze was released. The movie (the 1984 original, not the 2012 remake) is a favorite of both JWR and HJL. This fine John Milius movie embodies the independent, indomitable spirit that created this country. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 96 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. …

August 9th, 1831was the birthday of James Paris Lee (August 9, 1831 – February 24, 1904). He was a Scottish-Canadian and later American inventor and arms designer, best known for inventing the bolt action that led to the Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield series of rifles. But most notably, Lee was the inventor of the spring-loaded detachable box magazine that has become standard in the vast majority of modern rifles and pistols, worldwide. Starting today, in honor of James Paris Lee’s birthday, we are running a two-week sale at Elk Creek Company. I’ve set sales prices with discounts from 5% to 25% …

August 8th is the birthday of Terry Nation (August 8th, 1930 – March 9th, 1997), who was a Welsh television writer and novelist. Nation wrote two series, Survivors and Blake’s 7, in the 1970s. Survivors was re-made a few years ago. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today, we begin Round 96 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can …

August 7th, 1933 The birthday of Jerry Pournelle (August 7, 1933 – September 8, 2017.)  He, along with Larry Niven, authored the survivalist classic Lucifer’s Hammer. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 96 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a …

On August 6th, 1945 at 8:16 a.m. (Japanese time), an American B-29 bomber– the Enola Gay– dropped the world’s first war-time atom bomb over the city of Hiroshima. Approximately 80,000 people were killed as a result of the blast, with another 35,000 injured. At least another 60,000 would be dead by the end of the year from the effects of the fallout. History is always written by the victors, so the reasoning and justification for this will be argued for years to come. But one thing is for sure: this action officially ushered in the nuclear age in war and …

August 5th is the sad anniversary of the Mann Gulch Fire in Montana that took the lives of 13 firefighters (including 12 smokejumpers and one former smokejumper), in 1949. The intense, fast-moving forest fire took place in what later became the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness. The events of that fire were chronicled in the book Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean and immortalized in the haunting lyrics of the ballad Cold Missouri Waters by James Keelaghan. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today, we begin Round 96 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: …

On August 4th, 1944, 15-year-old Jewish diarist Anne Frank and her family were captured by the Nazi Gestapo. The Franks had taken shelter in a small space in a sealed-off area of an Amsterdam warehouse along with another Jewish family and a single Jewish man. They were aided by Christian friends who brought them food and supplies. Her diary survived the war, overlooked by the Gestapo, but Anne and nearly all of the others perished in the Nazi death camps. — Two of my recent gun auctions at GunBroker.com ended very satisfactorily. But oddly, the third one got no bids. …

On August 3rd, 1914, Germany and France both declared war on each other, formally beginning the First World War. August 3rd, 1846 is the day that the Donner party found a note warning the emigrants that their expected route through the mountains ahead was nearly impassable. Hastings, an unscrupulous trail guide had created his own “short cut” route and wasn’t even at the planned meeting place at Fort Bridger, but had left word for the party to continue on. Hastings had claimed easy passage through the rugged Wasatch Mountains, but had left a note attached to a forked stick for …