Monday

Re: Monday

Wasn't there a tobacco company with this name that painted sides of barns all over the country?

Re: Monday

Was this the mail carrier with a unique mode of transport? One, I see every day at work?

glc

Re: Monday

He was the very first Fed Ex guy. Their motto at that time was "When it absolutely has to be there in a month".

T.

Each of you is correct in what

was delivered, but what did he use as the delivery mode?

Gary... Remember where I work?

A winter recreation area.

glc

Re: Gary... Remember where I work?

I do. And I thought about you mightily when I thought about this question. I figured it wouldn't last long with you. This person was something.

Train?

I'll guess the first mail train?

T.

Re: Monday

My first inclination is to suggest something described as "a horse designed by a committee." Or, another tobacco product whose mascot is named "Joe." I do know the military was experimenting with this animal in that era in the dryer parts of the west.

Fred

Under gray skies in Eastern Missouri

Think of companion other than

an animate object.

My last WAG

Was he the first Ice Man who cometh?

Tom

Re: Freedom stamps

Wonder if he purchased his shoes from LL Bean? Thanks for the question.

Re: Monday Answer

Hard to believe but The answer today is skis. Dale was very close with the snowshoe (see below) but Gary was first and, if I remember correctly had the answer. He'll have to say for sure since he is at the resort in the area. The man was Jon Torsteinson-Rue or known locally as John �Snowshoe� Thompson. He was from Norway but he made his own oak skis as no one had ever heard of such a thing (there). Seems odd, but I can find no earlier reference than he to skis. His weighed in at 25lbs. and ten feet long. Go to: www.tahoecountry.com/oldtimetahoe/snowshoe.html. Or alternatively, look up �Viking of the Sierra�. He took mail in a back sack that could weigh 100 lbs., (pony express riders carried less/about fifteen lbs.) over the high Sierra Mountains in winter and ole John got paid nothing for his service. He took no firearm. Three days out and two days back, bitterly cold, achingly slow uphill to about 50 miles per hour downhill. As tough a man as they come. Below is from a Johnny Horton song in the 1950�s. You may remember �Battle of New Orleans�, �North to Alaska�, and �Sink the Bismarck� were other �history� songs sung by Horton.

In 1855 in old California

a man was a looking in the paper one day

Uncle Sam needs a postman to carry the mail

Through the High Sierra Mountains over God forsaken trails

Snow Shoe Thompson told 'em he knew he was their man

I'll get through them mountains if anybody can

He took a pair of snowshoes he took a pair of skis

And lit out through the mountains where the normal man would freeze

He was cautious as a mountain cat fleet as a deer

Tough as a grizzly bear he knew no fear

He lived a life of danger bringin' mountain people news

Cause Snow Shoe Thompson packed the mail on through

In the High Sierra Mountains it was 32 below

Blue blizzards fairly whistled bringin' 40 feet of snow

No one dared to venture on the slippery mountain trails

But Snow Shoe kept a comin' he was packin' US mail

His face was weather beaten from his many rugged miles

But he knew it was worth it when he'd see the people smile

His deeds are not forgotten listed in the Hall of Fame

They're changing old Squaw Valley to Snow Shoe Thompson's name

Note: That name change never happened because in a sort of miscarriage of justice, West Virginia named their ski resort �Snowshoe�.

Re: Monday Answer

I did indeed mean skis, on an average work day I see hundreds if not thousands of skis and skiers. Snowshoe Thompson operated a few hundred miles south of where I live, but we have our own "legendary" mail carrier. John Templeton Craig died in December of 1877 carrying the mail, on snowshoes, from McKenzie Bridge to Camp Polk (Sisters, Or.). a distance of 40 plus miles over a 5335 foot pass.

Those were true Iron men.

glc