Drew Christie

Sam Strom was a Norwegian immigrant who was an early settler and miner in Monte Cristo, WA. According to this website as constable, Sam took on the “entire Darrington contingent of the Ku Klux Klan at least twice. Once when they tried to lynch a young Indian boy and another time when they tried to burn a cross in the yard of a Catholic schoolteacher there. He was said to be involved in something like 14 to 17 shootouts during his life” and was a proud member of the Western Federation of Miners. Audio accompaniment provided by Stanley G. Triggs from his Folkways album Bunkhouse and Forecastle songs of the Northwest.

Partially inspired by the book The Coffee Chased Us Up: Monte Cristo Memories by Elof Norman and also from photographs I took of Monte Crsito while hiking there with my Dad. Monte Cristo, WA was a mining boom town in the 1890’s but that all ended with the Panic of 1907. John D. Rockelfeller’s syndicate Colby and Hoyt took over the mines in 1891. The road to Monte Cristo washed out in 1980 and it is now a ghost town. Audio accompaniment provided by Alan Mills. Here is the Monte Cristo Preservation Society.

A charcoal drawing I did 2 years ago somehow wound up on the streets of Seattle and was found a couple days ago by Lindy West of the Stranger. Here’s the post on the SLOG about it. I’m still trying to figure out how the picture got to the sidewalk on 11th and Pine- I suspect it flew out of my car. I will also use this incident to post one of my favorite songs about the Mckinley assassination. The song is called Zolgotz and is performed by Bascom Lamar Lunsford. To download all the variations of this song head here.

Audio accompaniment for this post provided by Robin Williamson from his magnificent (and out of print) 1981 album Songs of Love and Parting (on Flying Fish Records). The song is Gwydion’s Dream and you can hear it here. Gwydion was a magician in Welsh Mythology and appears in the poem Cad Goddeu, which appears in the ancient Welsh manuscript, The Book of Taliesin (also the name of an awesome Deep Purple record my sweetie gave me for Christmas). In the Poem, Gwydion brings the trees to life to fight as his army.

Inspired by the book The World Was Going Our Way :The KGB and the Battle for the Third World
Here is a review of the book
Audio accompaniment for the post is a Russian Pagan Folk Song and you can hear it right here.

Soundtrack provided by Jody Stecher & Krishna Bhatt. The Song is Called Russian Two-Step and it is Amazing! Listen here.