Fort Pitt Provincial Park

Fort Pitt was a fort built in 1830 by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) that also served as a trading post on the North Saskatchewan River in Rupert's Land. It was built at the direction of Chief Factor John Rowand, previously of Fort Edmonton, in order to trade for bison hides, meat and pemmican. Pemmican, dried buffalo meat, was required as provisions for HBC's northern trading posts.
In the 1870s the abundance of buffalo in the area had been severely diminished through the overhunting necessary to meet the growing demand from the HBC for both furs and pemmican. One academic journal states "with the disappearance of the buffalo, pork had replaced pemmican altogether", showing the drastic effects of the HBC on the local buffalo population.
Fort Pitt was built where the territories of the Cree, Assiniboine and Blackfoot converged. It was located on a large bend in the river just east of the present day Alberta–Saskatchewan border and was the major post between Fort Edmonton and Fort Carlton. In 1876, it was one of the locations for signing Treaty 6. It was the scene of the Battle of Fort Pitt during the North-West Rebellion of 1885. The site was designated a national historic site of Canada in 1954.
In 1986, approximately of land surrounding the remains of Fort Pitt was designated as Fort Pitt Provincial Park by the government of Saskatchewan.
History of Fort Pitt.
Fort Pitt (1829–1890) was a prairie trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company on the North Saskatchewan River about 10 miles east of the Alberta border. It was on the north bank of the river on a flat above a bluff. It traded mainly in pemmican and buffalo robes with the Blackfoot, Cree and some Métis. There was a fair amount of agriculture and horse-rearing. It was named after Thomas Pitt, a member of the HBC governing board from 1810 to 1832.
Bison and the establishment of Fort Pitt.
In 1690, Kelsey Henry from the Hudson Bay Company became the first newcomer to North America to walk the prairies of Western Canada and see the abundance of bison. For thousands of years dating back to the Western Archaic and the Avonlea Periods, First Nations Peoples have stalked hunted and followed the migration of bison along the Prairies. Prior to European contact on North America, the bison was the most numerous of all grazing animals. Estimates of their numbers are only speculative, but may have ranged from 30,000,000 to 75,000,000. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the production of pemmican on the plains had become an industrial-scale operation. For many years, prairie bison also provided Saskatchewan with pelts, hides, and other food. In the early 1800s, various fur-trading companies began strategically placing numerous trading posts on the maze of northern waterways. The Saskatchewan River provided access to the South-eastern area of the North and to the Sturgeon Weir River, which led to the Churchill River. These vast water highways spanned the province from East to West. In 1830, Fort Pitt was established on the North Saskatchewan River by the Hudson Bay Company in what was at its time known as the heart of buffalo country. The fort was built by Chief John Rowand in order to meet the provisions necessary for the Hudson's Bay Company, such as buffalo meat, hides and pemmican.
The fort was established in September 1829 by HBC company clerk, Patrick Small, the son of North West Company partner, Patrick Small, the brother-in-law of David Thompson and John MacDonald and the son-in-law of David Hughes. During the first winter Small and his men had to live in tents, and building was not completed until the spring of 1831. It was closed in 1832 for fear of attack by surrounding Cree and Blackfoot, though it reopened in the fall of 1833.
In 1843, John Rowand, the son of John Rowand of Fort Edmonton, became master. In 1854, the elder Rowand, on his way to retirement, visited his son. While attempting to break up a fight between two voyageurs, he had a heart attack and died. Artist Paul Kane visited the fort in 1848.
Depletion Of bison.
In 1873, the bison market came to an abrupt end when Fort Pitt, once one of the most reliable sources of provisions in the Saskatchewan District, all but collapsed. Between the years of 1868 and 1881 an estimated 31,000,000 bison were killed as a result of the trade. The demands of numerous HBC and NWC trading companies along Saskatchewan waterways in the 1800s quickly depleted the once well established bison population. Despite every exertion being made by the officer in charge of the post, who sent staff to follow up and traffic wherever Indians or Buffalo could be found, parties returned from the South Branch territories empty handed". After the bison were gone, almost five-sixths of the provisions brought to the post had to come from the hands of independent parties who were forced to travel staggering distances to obtain such resources. Purchases of these crucial resources soon became "a heavy expense" on the post. Meanwhile, the rest of the upper Saskatchewan posts were still able to meet the demands of the HBC. The economic and social impact the depletion of bison left on indigenous tribes was devastating. As food supplies and resources dwindled, many of the HBC leaders adapted a "submit or starve" technique as an attempt to force indigenous peoples into signing treaties that heavily favoured the Hudson Bay Company.
Impact on indigenous peoples.
After the disappearance of bison in the lands surrounding Fort Pitt, Indigenous Peoples attempted agriculture to provide food for their families. Unfortunately, their initial farming attempts failed because when choosing reserve land, chiefs had shown a decided preference for rolling, heavily wooded terrain that was better suited for traditional pursuits such as hunting and gathering than raising crops. Government authorities attributed this sorry outcome to Indian idleness rather than environmental circumstance. The agricultural aid promised previous treaties such as implements, animals, and seeds was also slow in coming and inadequate. Ottawa expected the Indian adoption of agriculture to be an overnight success on the reserves and was more concerned with saving money than providing necessary assistance as the trade and resources dwindled surrounding Fort Pitt, the federal government came to resent its existing treaty obligations. In particular, they came to resent the cost of feeding starving Indians and balked at assuming additional duties. Many even questioned why money should be spent on keeping a dying race alive. As a result, the Hudson Bay Company leaders soon adapted a "submit or starve" technique as an attempt to force indigenous people into forfeiting rights and signing treaties that heavily favoured the Hudson Bay Company. This caused great animosity between Fort Pitt and indigenous leaders such as Big Bear.
Smallpox.
The emergence of smallpox had devastating consequences on Fort Pitt and the surrounding area. The plague of illness further taxed the already diminished recourses at Fort Pitt. The depletion of the buffalo, a fundamental food source, paired with lack of knowledge surrounding the smallpox virus would directly correlate to the 100 Cree lives lost in 1869- 1870. The 100 dead Cree was the second highest death toll due to smallpox of any recorded Cree population during this time. While these are recorded numbers some estimates are provided that the smallpox virus may have claimed the lives of half of all Cree. Some sources estimating upwards of 10,000 deaths were caused by the virus.""More than 100 infected Cree forbidden from entering the for, died outside the stockade. The dead laid for days until hungry wolves came from the forest and fought over the rotting bodies. Some sick Natives thought that If they could give the sickness back to the Canadians at Fort Pitt – where it had come from – they could stop the suffering themselves. So they hung around the fort, put their scarred faces against the pump handles and spat on the door knobs."
While smallpox had devastating effects on the population surrounding Fort Pitt its effects failed to penetrate the walls of the fort to any great extent. The Journal of American Medical Association states that as few as three people were infected inside the fort itself. The author of the article states " "I can only attribute this to the fact that Mr. John Sinclair had taken precaution early in the previous summer to vaccinate all of the persons residing there.""
Fort Pitt provided hope to the many infected making the journey to seek aid at the fort. Many Cree set up temporary settlements in the surrounding area in hopes that the fort would be able to provide aid to the ill. The large congregation of Cree surrounding Fort Pitt may have been one of the reasons that accounts of death due to smallpox where so high in the areas surrounding. When it became clear that the fort either could not or, would not provide medicine to the sick Cree ,the Cree changed their approach. There are many accounts of the Cree attempting to "give the illness back" feeling that if they could return the illness to the fort they would be free of its effects.
Tension with the Blackfoot.
As the relationship between Fort Pitt and the Cree began to grow so did the tension between the Members of Fort Pitt and the Blackfoot. The Blackfoot’s deemed any allies of the Cree to be enemies of the Blackfoot and thus open to exploitation and attack. "The Blackfoot considered the Hudson Bay Company to be in league with the Cree, so their relationship with the traders became tenuous. In 1863 the Blackfoot began to raid Fort Pitt itself" The fact that " "Many Cree’s had intermarried with Hudson Bay Company employees and were so friendly with them that the Black foot began to see the traders as their enemies as well" Increased trading with the woods and Plains Cree created fear amongst the Hudson Bay traders at Fort Pitt. The Hudson Bay Company worried that trading with the Cree would open the Cree as well as Fort Pitt itself up to raids by the Black foot "The arrival of the Cree caused fear at the post that they would attract Blackfoot raiders and a possible attack on the post. Fort Pitt at the time was understaffed, both staff and the local Metis being away hunting on the plains or with the boat brigade" The Blackfoot made many attempts to intercept trading parties en route to the fort, as well as making raid attempts on the fort itself.
Big Bear.
Big Bear's presence and position within the plains Cree was a defining factor in the relationship that Fort Pitt shared with the Cree nation. Big Bear was often described as an advocate for the peaceful negotiations between the indigenous population and the European settlers. Big Bear’s presence in the area would have helped facilitate a less hostile environment, and would have been a significant factor in how the Plains Cree acted during the rebellion of 1885.""Despite their impoverished state and stinging sense of disillusionment and betrayal, Indians had made a solemn vow during the treaty negotiations to live in peace and where not prepared to break this pledge and plunge the region into war. Instead Big Bear and other senior Cree chiefs patiently sought a peaceful resolution to their grievances"." The compassion that Big Bear showed for the value of human life is made evident by treatment of the Hudson Bay Company members at Fort Pitt during the Cree takeover in 1885. ""the absorption of the people of Fort Pitt into the camp, and of other people gathered from the surrounding country side suggest that Big Bear and the other Woods Cree leaders saw this as essential in order to protect those whose lives might be in danger. Their goal was to keep them out of harms way, not do harm to them. The great number of "captives" or "prisoners" had opted for the protection of the Cree camp upon the advice of aboriginal friends or leaders. This was difficult for the general non-Aboriginal public to comprehend"" Many Fort Pitt inhabitants were so comfortable with the relationship between them and the Cree they would walk uncontested into the Cree camps even after the hostilities that took place at the fort.
Big Bear and 14 of band members would stand trial in Regina for their participation in the events of 1885 including the capturing of Fort Pitt. Even though Big Bear not only did not participate in the violence but was an advocate against it he was still accused of treason for not abandoning the Plains Cree at the onset of the violence. He would ultimately be convicted of treason and serve three years at the Stoney Mountain Penitentiary.
Chief Sweet Grass.
Chief Sweet Grass
Even though Big Bear was a more powerful and recognized leader within the Cree’s and Saskatchewan area, Chief Sweet Grass played a large role in the securing of Treaty 6, as well as a leading role in dealing with the government. Due to Big Bears predisposed bad reputation with McDougall, Alexander Morris had arrived to begin negotiations with a predetermined favouritism towards Chief Sweet Grass. Despite Chief Sweet Grass only held 25 lodges compared to Big Bear’s 65, Sweet Grass was still seen as desirable because of the Government belief in his ability to sway his fellow council members into signing. In order to try to secure his people’s safety and well-being moving forward with the treaty, Chief Sweet Grass addressed the governors present as such:
"When I hold your hand and touch your heart, let us be as one; use your utmost to help me and help my children so that they may prosper. It is for that reason I give you my hand."
Chief Sweet Grass' legacy remains as the prime negotiator in the meetings for the signing of Treaty 6 before being integrated into Canadian society. Sweet Grass converted to Christianity in 1870, being baptized into Catholicism with the name Abraham. He later died as a result of being shot by his brother, by the pistol given to him for signing the treaty. His legacy lived on to current day, where Sweet Grass reserve is established in Battleford Saskatchewan.
Treaty 6.
Before the introduction of Treaty 6 into land stretching between Saskatchewan and Alberta, several numbered treaties had begun to appear as the Canadian government pushed West to inhabit the land. Due to a lack of provincial boundaries set in place before several of the numbered treaties existing, there has been an overlap in treaty/provincial lines. As situations got worse in Manitoba for the Metis and other Indigenous populations, they headed further west in order to salvage what they could of the diminishing buffalo population. In turn, as they had settled near Red River territory in Saskatchewan, it put even greater pressure on the population there.Therefore, this would leave the Indigenous people of Fort Pitt and other surrounding areas no other options other than to seek an agreement with the Canadian government, in form of a treaty, to protect their interests. The main inhabitants of the land at the time consisted of Cree, with some Assiniboine, Saulteaux, and Chipewyan, although the main intention of the treaty was focused on the Cree people.
Treaty 6 was noted as one of the only treaties in which provisions such as medical treatment as well as relief in case of national disease or famine. Despite Chief Big Bears resentment towards the signing of the treaty, due to his belief that it was unfair towards its people, it went on to be signed without him. The negotiations began on the fifth of September 1876. In exchange for their land, they were given horses, wagons, farming equipment as well as the promise of aid mentioned above. During the initial negotiations, Morris and company had declared that the people of Fort Pitt will be given the same treaty terms presented at Fort Carlton. After morris was given permission to establish the terms of the treaty to the Indigenous council, they met in council to debate and discuss the rest of the day. Days after initial negotiations had begun, the commissioners arrived to gather the final decision. Cree Chief Sweetgrass came forward from the council to accept the terms given to them by the government, but also a plea to keep the Indigenous population alive and prosperous, stating "When I hold your hand and touch your heart, let us be as one; use your utmost to help me and help my children so that they may prosper"(Ibid., 1873, No. 23, Morris to Howe, December 13, 1872). The treaty had consisted of annual cash payments to chiefs and their band members, ranging from $5 to $25, reserve lands, schools on the reserves, as well as farming equipment and tools such as wagons, horses, livestock, twine and ammunition.
Wandering Spirit.
Wandering Spirit was a "war Chief" in the Plains Cree under the leadership of Big Bear. Wandering Spirit's personality and ideals varied from Big Bear in many ways, he was more susceptible to the use of violence instead of the peaceful negotiations preferred by Big Bear. Wandering Spirit "had initiated the killing of nine White and half-breed men on 2 April at Frog Lake." this act of defiance against Big Bear and his peaceful negotiations would be a turing point in the Plains Cree's history. The war chiefs would soon take control of the Plains Cree ""ending Big Bear’s peaceful ten year struggle to obtain better conditions for his people"." One of Wandering Spirit's first movements after the "massacre at Frog Lake" was to proceed south east to the Hudson Bay trading post at Fort Pitt, where Wandering Spirit demanded the post be surrendered by the Mounted police guarding it. In return for a peaceful surrender the Mounted Police were allowed to leave unharmed. Wandering Spirit gave the employees of Hudson Bay company and their families the choice of leaving with the police or surrendering to the Cree. All of the Hudson Bay company employees chose to surrender instead of leave Fort Pitt with the police. Wandering Spirit ordered his men to raid the fort filling wagons full of food clothes and supplies. The Cree then returned to Frog Lake with 44 hostages from Fort Pitt, most of the hostages were placed under the control of the Woods Cree at Frog Lake.
In May 1885, Fort Pitt would once again be visited by Wandering Spirit and Big Bear's Cree. By this time, the Cree Camp had grown to an estimated 300 men, 700 women and children, as well as containing hostages, dogs, and horses. The Cree would once again take the recourses form the fort this time departing to Frenchman's Butte. Upon the departure the Cree would set fire to many of the buildings at Fort Pitt, this would be one of the most aggressive and destructive actions that were directed directly at Fort Pitt itself.
While Wandering Spirit showed more aggression than Big Bear he often still tried to avoid violence. The fact that he gave the option of surrender and departure to the Mounted Police at Fort Pitt emphasised that while he was not opposed to violence it was not his desired outcome. There is some debate about whether the release of the Mounted Police was Wandering spirits idea or due to the intervention of Big Bear.
Wandering Spirit was not opposed to the presence of the Hudson Bay Company in the Northwest Territories, however, he strongly opposed the Government. The police force at Fort Pitt was his target in May 1885 not the many traders and their families who worked for the Hudson Bay Company. Hostilities were never expressed towards the traders or their families and they would be welcomed into the Cree camps with open arms.
Wandering Spirit would eventually surrender with other members of the Cree at Fort Pitt where he and other Cree would be accused of their crimes and involvement in the violence that occurred in 1885.
Francis Jeffery Dickens.
In 1883, 25 North-West Mounted Police were sent to Fort Pitt under the command of Francis Dickens, the son of the novelist Charles Dickens. Dickens arrived "Several days late and was met by a large camp of Indians, many of them dissatisfied because they had not received their promised agriculture equipment" At this time, Fort Pitt was seeing an increase in the number of dissatisfied Plains Cree in the surrounding area. The lack of recourses and growing tensions throughout the prairies would be influential factors in the 1885 rebellion. Soon after the violence broke out at Duck Lake John Rae would request that Dickens track and ensure that Big Bear's Cree had remained in the Fort Pitt area. There was a growing fear that an increasing number of Cree would join the Metis and pose an even greater threat.
After failing to maintain control of Fort Pitt Dickens and his men would retreat to the safety Battleford effectively ending Dickens active duty with the Mounted Police. Dickens would be employed as a justice of the peace and preside over some of the preliminary hearings for the rebels. In 1886, he would leave the employment of government and move to the United States with the intentions of completing a lecture tour. Dickens would die on June 11 of a suspected heart attack before the tour began.
W.J McLean - Fort Pitt Supervisor During Uprising.
W.J. McLean was a Chief Trader who was responsible for the supervision of Fort Pitt beginning in 1884. He had previously served twenty years with the company at various locations. His wife Helen was born at Fort Dunvegan and was partly of aboriginal ancestry. There were eight McLean children, and in the spring of 1885 Helen McLean was expecting another child. The three eldest McLean sisters Amelia, Eliza and Kitty were all well educated, having attended school at Red River, but they could also ride, shoot, and were fluent in Cree and Saulteaux. Following the Massacre at Frog Lake, Fort Pitt's population dramatically increased as people from surrounding districts sought protection there, some with the assistance of Aboriginal associates. There were twenty-three NWMP stationed at the fort under the command of Francis Dickens (the son of the famous novelist Charles Dickens). These included many police members who were evacuated from Frog Lake. On April 14 when Big Bear and his Plains Cree party assembled on the banks overlooking the Fort, they specifically asked to speak to McLean who was on friendly terms with these people and believed that he did not have to fear for himself or his family. Lengthy discussions lasted 2 days however a violent encounter broke out when the Cree thought themselves to be under attack. In statements made later, McLean never hesitated to lay the blame for this on the poor judgment of Inspector Dickens, who, the day before, sent out two NWMP and one civilian to gather information on the whereabouts of Aboriginal groups. Their sudden appearance led the Cree to believe that they were under attack. Three Cree members were killed during the confrontation along with one of the NWMP members. During this event, all of the inhabitants of Fort Pitt except the remaining NWMP, agreed to evacuate the fort, and become part of Big Bear's camp.
North-West Rebellion.
here was a great deal of unease surrounding the European settlers and the indigenous population during the mid-1880s. Fort Pitt was no exception however, there are examples given that suggest that the relationship between the European settlers, and the Cree were different than the relations of the time in other areas. There was great deal of violence in the areas surrounding Fort Pitt however, this was not necessarily the case within the fort itself. Many accounts of the violence state that it was a ""settling of personal scores" and many of the land owners in the surrounding area were targeted due to their past relationships with the indigenous population. This resentment and anger was not directed at the European settlers as a whole but, rather specific members of the population, as well as government. Some historians state that "many of the killings were the settling of personal scores."" they also reference situations such as Bill Waiser In his book "A World We Have Lost Saskatchewan Before 1905". Waiser provides some insight into the events at Fort Pitt the author provides evidence supporting the theory that relationship between The Mounted Police force at Fort Pitt and the Cree we not as hostile as often thought. "Had "the plains Cree been truly hostile and intended on waging war, they would have attacked the fort almost immediately and not given the police any time to try and fortify their position. That they waited several days confirmed that the murders were unpremeditated and that this new action was largely motivated by the need for food and previsions for their large camp." Daschuk also states that "police officers at Fort Pitt we spared in recognition of their humanity"" further suggesting that the relationships may not have been as resentful as other areas.
The only loss of European life at the hands of the Cree during the capture of Fort Pitt came when the search party sent out by Dickens accidentally rode their horses through a Cree camp. The surprised Cree engaged in a brief fire fight fearing that this was an offensive attack on behalf of the mounted police. In the attack, David Cowan was fatally wounded, and Constable Lawrence Loasby was wounded but managed to escape only to be captured a short time later. A third Mounted Police officer was captured but not injured. This is one of the events that influenced Dickens to initiate his retreat leaving the fort vacant of mounted police and surrendering to the Cree's occupation of the fort with minimal resistance. There were also three Cree who lost their lives in this brief battle
Dickens was also persuaded by the threat that the Cree may simply set the fort on fire instead of attack it. "The indians told Mclean they wouldnt even need to attack the fort. They had brought 40 gallons of coal oil from Frog lake more than enough to set the small stockade and the building it contained ablaze"
On April 17, 1885 the members of the Mistahimaskwa Cree Nation effectively take control of Fort Pitt and successfully negotiate the evacuation of the North West Mounted police. The members of the Mistahimaskwa Cree Nation successfully maintained control of Fort Pitt until July 2, 1885 when they surrendered to the North West Mounted police.
After the police force was dispatched from the fort the reaming men, women, and children were given the choice to either leave the fort or stay as "hostages" the majority chose to stay. By most recorded accounts, they were treated with relative dignity and respect. This further promotes the idea put forth by Waiser that this movement on Fort Pitt was not intended as an act of pure aggression, but one created out of the necessity to feed themselves and gain adequate supplies.
During the second sacking of Fort Pitt on April the 9th the Cree under the orders of Wandering Spirit would raid the reaming resources and set fire to the fort Destroying all but one of the service buildings.
On May the 26th a mounted column would arrive at Fort Pitt to see the remains still smouldering in the aftermath of the cree raid. The members of the column were" "sobered by the discovery of the body of Constable David Cowan, His heart removed and placed on a nearby pole"" Fort Pitts location and the fact that it was situated at the divergence of many trails lead the column to reclaiming it setting up headquarters.
The actions of the Cree worriers at Fort Pitt as well as other locations such as Frog lake during the Rebellion of 1885 would be contributing factors in the governments creation of the Alberta Field Force on April 20th 1885. The Alberta Field Force consisted of one thousand men, and was tasked with ending the rebellion and returning peace to the land. They marched unimpeded from Calgary east meeting their first significant resistance upon arrival in the Fort Pitt region. The Alberta Field Force encountered and interrupted a group of Cree performing a "thirst dance" in which the Cree were searching for spiritual guidance. This was happening at the base of Frenchman's Butte. This encounter and the violent outbreak afterwards would be described as "one of the most indecisive skirmishes during the tragedy of 1885"
Frenchman's Butte is located 18 km Northwest of Fort Pitt and it is a significant historical site for the role it played in the Battle of Batoche. It was at this location that the Alberta field Force marched upon the some of Big Bear's Cree while they were participating in a Thirst dance after leaving Fort Pitt. The Alberta Field Forces interruption of the Thirst dance lead to the retreat of the Cree to the rifle pits throughout the plains "Big bears soldiers installed themselves in deep rifle pits above the surrounding plains" A short battle occurred but soon after it began the Canadian military realized that Big Bear's men had superior tactical position and they were forced to retreat to the safety of Fort Pitt, While Big Bear's men retreated in the opposite direction startled by the fire power of the Alberta Field Force.
Post North-West Rebellion history.
The next September, the fort was rebuilt by Angus McKay. In 1887, a branch post was built at Onion Lake about to the northwest. In 1890, everything was moved to Onion Lake, and Fort Pitt was closed.
In 1944, Fort Pitt was sold to Robert Hougham with the intent to cultivate the land for agricultural purposes. On the commencement of land cultivation Houghman discovered shallow graves located in close proximity to the remains of the original fort. It is unknown at this time the specifics surrounding the remains. Many of the tombstones and other identifying tools were destroyed during the fires and rebellion in 1885. Houghman worked the land for 16 years until his death in 1960. Robert Hougham would be buried on the property in 1960.
In 1954, Fort Pitt was designated a "National historical site" by the government of Canada. According to the Parks Canada Directory of Federal Heritage Designations the significance of Fort Pitt to Canadian Heritage come from; ""The Hudson Bay Company built the post to trade in buffalo hides, meat and pemmican; It was the site if the signing of Treaty No. 6 in 1876; and, it was burned during the 1885 rebellion by Big Bears followers after the police had withdrawn to Battleford"."
Fort Pitt Provincial Park.
In 1986, approximately of land surrounding the remains of Fort Pitt was designated as a provincial park by the government of Saskatchewan. Fort Pitt Provincial Park located roughly 5 km Northwest of Hewitt Landing in Western Saskatchewan. The Historical site itself consists of the architectural remains of two of the forts that were located in the area, they have been partially excavated and presented for interpretive purposes. The outlines of the First two forts are also visible, as well as one reconstructed building designed in accordance with the second fort.
It is a free to enter the park that has a picnic area as well as a pit toilet for the convenience of tourists. It also features geotracking as a recreational activity for guests. It is affiliated with RCMP, NWMP, Natural history, and Natural sciences, Settlement History, Provincial historical park, Roadside monument. Its certifications and affiliations include being a museum association of Saskatchewan member, and a provincial Heritage Property Designation.


Lucille Love, Girl of Mystery

Lucille Love, Girl of Mystery is a 1914 American action film serial directed by Francis Ford. It was the first serial by Universal. It was originally intended to be a short subject. The serial is now considered to be lost with only four episodes surviving.


Dayan (surname)

Dayan (דיין) is a Hebrew surname. It means a Jewish religious judge in a Beth din—a position conferring social prestige in a traditional Jewish community, and therefore one whose memory is likely to be retained as a family's surname even after the passage of many generations.
Notable persons with the surname include:
Notable persons with the given name Dayan (not always linguistically related) include:


Peri (name)

Peri is a given name and surname in various cultures.


Cora Durand

Cora L. Durand (August 23, 1902 - January 23, 1998) was a Picuris Pueblo potter. Durand started working as a potter later in life, beginning in the 1950s. She helped maintain the traditional hand-built method for creating micaceous pottery. Her work is utilitarian and was meant to be used.
Biography.
Durand was born on August 23, 1902 in Picuris Pueblo, where her father, Miguel Lopez, raised her. Durand married Roland Durand in the 1920s and the couple had four children. Before she started working as a potter, she held many different kinds of jobs, including working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Picuris Pueblo Day School, the Taos Pueblo Indian Hospital and in two different boarding schools in Towaoc, Colorado and Holbrook, Arizona. Her husband died in a car accident in the 1950s, which brought her back to Picuris. In Picuris, she began to work as a potter. Durand stayed active in the community, volunteering at the Picuris Catholic Church and involved in the Picuris Valley Home Extension Club.
Durand died on January 23, 1998. She was buried in the Picuris Cemetery. A historic marker in New Mexico celebrates her contribution to preserving traditional pottery methods.
Work.
Durand's pottery was intended by her to be used and was therefore utilitarian in design. She follows the tradition of the creation of hand-built, micaceous pottery which had been made for many years in Picuris and Taos. She sourced her own clay in the Picuris area. Durand's work had been influenced by potter, Juanita Martinez. Durand was part of a 1974 Smithsonian Institution exhibition, representing the Picuris Pueblo pottery tradition. She also exhibited at the Bond House Museum and Cultural Center in 1987. Durand's pottery was featured at the Arizona State Museum's 1994 American Indian Pottery Fair. Her work was featured in the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in 1996.
By the 1990s, Durand was one of the last of her people working as a potter. She passed on her skills to her grandson, Anthony Durand, who started learning from her when he was seven years old.


Serbian heraldry

The use of heraldry in Serbia or by Serbs is used by government bodies, subdivisions of the national government, organizations, corporations and by families. Serbian heraldry belongs culturally to the Byzantine tradition.
As in some other European heraldic traditions, the most prominent among the animals is the eagle.
The most prominent symbols is the Serbian eagle and the Serbian cross.
Background.
Medieval Serbian legacy.
The double-headed eagle and the Serbian cross are the main heraldic symbols which represent the national identity of the Serbian people across the centuries.
Habsburg and Austro-Hungarian heraldry.
Serbian nobility in the Habsburg Monarchy and Austria-Hungary, upon receiving noble status, adopted coat of arms, often influenced by the Illyrian Armorials.
History.
Revolutionary Serbia.
The war flags of the first and second Serbian uprisings (1804–1815) are in several types.
The seal of the Serbian parliament had the Serbian cross and the Triballi boar.
Serbian monarchy.
Principality of Serbia
Karađorđević dynasty
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Socialist Yugoslavia.
Derived from the traditional shield of arms of Serbia with 4 fire steels (but without the cross). The Serbian cross was removed for ideological reasons of socialist atheism. It was placed above a rising sun with a cog wheel symbolizing the workers and surrounded with a golden wreath of maize and oak leaves, oak being a sacred Serbian tree. A red ribbon with dates 1804 and 1941 which refer to the dates of the first Serbian uprising against the Ottomans and the national uprising against the axis powers in the Second World War.
Contemporary heraldry.
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and later Republic of Serbia.
Coat of arms of Serbia.
The modern coat of arms is derived from the Obrenović dynasty coat of arms, which drew influence from the medieval Nemanjić dynasty. The principal field stands for the Serbian state. It consists of a double-headed (bicephalic) eagle on a red shield; its body and wings in silver, and tongues, beaks, legs and claws in gold, between two golden fleurs-de-lys. The inescutcheon stands for the Serbian nation; in a red shield, a cross between four silver firesteels arranged in the quarters around it, all of them facing horizontally outwards.
Although Serbia is now a republic, the new coat of arms also features the crown of the former Serbian monarchy. While unusual for republics, it is not unprecedented, as can be seen with the Republic of San Marino (San Marino adopted a new crown to represent its sovereignty, and did not usurp a crown of a past sovereign).
Coat of arms of municipalities and cities.
Ada. A Hajduk.
Niš. The Serbian eagle and the Niš Fortress
Veternik. A World War I Serbian soldier.
Zemun. A deer, tree and lion holding sword.
Prijepolje. The Serbian eagle and Kotromanic crown.
Sremska Mitrovica. Latin inscription:
Common symbols.
The double-headed eagle and the Serbian cross are the main heraldic symbols which represent the national identity of the Serbian people across the centuries. Both the eagle and cross were adopted from the Byzantine Empire, and are today part of the Coat of arms of Serbia. The double-headed eagle was used by the Nemanjić dynasty.
Another common symbol is the Triballian boar, depicting the head of a boar pierced by an arrow. It was used for historical Serbia in numerous armorials dating between the 15th and 18th centuries. It was adopted by Karađorđe into the seal of the Revolutionary Serbian government, alongside the Serbian cross.
St. George and the Dragon, a symbol of courage and valor and the triumph of Good over Evil, is used in the coat of arms of Srpski Krstur. The severed Turk head, in reference to the wars with the Ottoman Empire, is used on the coat of arms of Kikinda and Vršac.
Popular elements in modern heraldry include the Serbian tricolour, nature, such as oak, olive, wheat, plum, grape; weapons, such as sword, cannon, gun, arrows.


Lala (website)

Lala was an online music store created by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Bill Nguyen. The service allowed members to legally create online shareable "playlists" (formerly known as "radio stations") of their own uploaded music which could play full length songs for other registered Lala members, purchase MP3s, stream music on a one-time basis or as inexpensively purchased "web songs," buy new CDs from the Lala store, leave blurbs on other members' pages, and participate in the community forums. Lala contracted with major labels and offered a large catalog of albums to stream or purchase. Their home page claimed over 8 million licensed songs available.
Apple Inc. acquired Lala on December 4, 2009. On April 30, 2010, Lala announced it would be shutting down its service on May 31, 2010. They also announced they were "no longer accepting new users" and that users with credit would receive credit in Apple's iTunes Store instead.
Lala shut down as scheduled on May 31, 2010. However, it still served for a while as the music engine for Billboard.com, providing full-length previews of songs on the Top 100 chart. After that, Billboard.com used MySpace Music as its provider.
History.
La La media, Inc. was based in Palo Alto, California and was venture funded by Bain Capital and Ignition Partners, as well as a recent $20 million investment by Warner Music Group Corp. It was founded by serial entrepreneur Bill Nguyen, along with Billy Alvarado, Anselm Baird-Smith, and John Cogan III.
Initially the business focused on CD trading, allowing users to send CDs to other members. Lala kept track of the trades, so that each user could expect to get as many CDs from others as they had sent out themselves. The site launched in an invite-only beta phase on March 6, 2006. It officially launched in open-beta on June 8, 2006. By December 2006, there were around 300,000 members registered on Lala and over 500,000 CDs traded since the company's launch. The company had a staff of 23 people.
In 2007, La La media, Inc. introduced Lala 2.0, which moved the website's focus from trading used CDs to uploading MP3s and listening to free, legal, on-demand streaming of full length songs and albums. The listening feature was quietly discontinued a few weeks later without explanation to the site's user base.
The next version of the site, referred to as Lala 3.0, transitioned from closed beta testing to a general site rollout in open-beta mode in June 2008. The site was openly divided between trading members and non-trading members with different access to certain site features. Registered Lala members could stream songs or albums in their entirety once at no cost. Individual tracks could be purchased in MP3 format for 89 cents, or, for ten cents, members could purchase the right to stream a song from the website as many times as desired (referred to as a "web song"). All members could also upload their MP3 song libraries for personal web access from any computer.
In December 2009, Lala made the decision to close their trading service.
Lala.com was purchased by Apple, Inc. on December 4, 2009.
On April 30, 2010, Apple announced that it would be shutting down Lala.com entirely on May 31, 2010.
Original business model.
The original primary function of the website was brokering trades of CDs between users. After a few years, the company shifted its main focus to uploading MP3s, listening, and buying instead of trading.
For the trading function, Lala made money by charging a fee for each disc a trading member receives (this fee was $1 per disc since the website's inception). Upon signing up for the trading service, a user would provide a credit card number which was used for subsequent monthly billings. New traders received a packet of prepaid shipping envelopes and protective cardboard sleeves; new envelopes were provided as required while the user was expected to re-use the disc sleeves from discs they received.
Limits were placed on the number of discs a trader could have in transit in either direction at a given time. This protected not only Lala.com, but the recipients and shippers as well.
The website had a "buy new" feature which allows users to purchase new CDs directly from the Lala store at low prices (often at wholesale) through a partnership with retailer Newbury Comics.
Lala.com also had a gift feature through which people were able to purchase CDs for other members directly from those members' want lists. The recipient was sent an email letting them know that a gift had been purchased for them, and the CD was automatically added to the recipient's Have list.
Shipping costs.
Unlike other sites which facilitate direct sales between users (such as Half.com), Lala.com paid shipping costs, which were recovered as an additional fee to the trade brokerage fee.
As the site initially launched, members used envelopes pre-stamped with traditional postage (a $0.65 postage stamp) and a $0.49 shipping charge was added for each received disc. In addition to the gap between the actual cost of envelopes and postage and the fee charged, this approach represented a significant potential for lost revenue, as members in possession of these envelopes might not use them or could misplace them, with the postage having already been spent. Another drawback to this system was that members often had to add postage if they were including CD cover art along with the CD they were sending.
Starting in July 2006 (August 2006 for existing members), Lala.com revised its shipping guidelines and began charging $0.75 per trade for shipping in addition to the $1 fee. The envelopes were charged postage only when mailed, similar in design to Business Reply envelopes. The new shipping rate also allowed for members to send CD artwork without worrying about having sufficient postage.
Legal issues.
Lala.com's terms and conditions included a provision warning the user that it was illegal to retain MP3 files of a CD once it had been traded. If a user no longer owned the CD, he or she no longer had rights to derivatives of the CD.
In April, 2006, Omnilala owned trademark protection for its mark "LALA" for use in music-streaming services and web-based entertainment. La La Media filed a lawsuit to cancel Omnilala's "LALA" trademark (see Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Cancellation No. 92048521). The suit was being successfully defended before the Board, but Omnilala decided to let go of its mark in return for a $90,000 payment.
In late May 2008, Lala.com blocked international users from accessing their already purchased content. Refunds were issued when requested. However, users from other countries could still access their songs if they used an American-based web proxy.
Lala.com and WOXY.com.
Nguyen and his website were highlighted in the news in October 2006, when Nguyen announced his investment in Internet-based Cincinnati, Ohio radio station WOXY.com.
The investment allowed WOXY.com to go back on the air after a brief suspension of broadcasting. Both sites cross-promote the other; Lala.com promotes the station, and WOXY advertises music that is for sale (or trade) produced by some of the independent artists that WOXY features. In February 2009, LaLa sold Woxy.com to Future Sounds, Inc., an organization that aired programming on WOXY.com.


Sita Marhi Natyashala

Sita Marhi Natyashala, in the Sita Marhi archaeological site in Sarguja district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, is believed to be the oldest theatre in the world. It is found in a cave-like structure.
As a matter of fact that can be seen a scripture carved on rock that is said to be created by the court poet in admiration of the court dancer, and thus claims to be one of ancient most public expression of the most basic human sentiment-love.


Wandering Stars (novel)

Wandering Stars (Yiddish: "Blonzhende Stern" or "Blundzhende Shtern") is a novel by Sholem Aleichem, serialized in Warsaw newspapers from 1909 to 1911. In it, Leibel, the son of a wealthy shtetl family, falls in love with cantor's daughter Reizel, and both fall for a traveling Yiddish theatre group. Separating and becoming successful performers in the West, under the names of Leo Rafalesco and Rosa Spivak, they eventually find each other again in America.
Two English translations of the novel exist: a 1952 abridged version by Frances Butwin ("Wandering Star"), and a 2009 unabridged version by Aliza Shevrin (with a foreword by Tony Kushner).
Yiddishpiel, a Yiddish theatre in Israel, adapted a musical-stage production based on the novel, with book by Aya Kaplan and Joshua Sobol and direction by Aya Kaplan. The production opened in January 2016 and closed by March 2016.


Elisa Zulueta

Elisa Zulueta (born on September 14, 1981, in Santiago) is a Chilean television, theatre and film actress who studied at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Formerly, she worked for TVN where she made little works in telenovelas and series. In 2008 she gained fame with the role of Julia Amigo in the telenovela "Lola" of Canal 13. In 2009, Elisa Zulueta and Emilio Edwards were the main roles for the Chilean film "Tanto Tiempo", directed by Claudio Polgati, this film won two prizes in the eight version of the Festival Internacional de Cine Chico de Canarias.


Star Music discography

This article lists albums that were released or distributed by Star Music and its sub-labels.


Coteau-du-Lac canal

Coteau-du-Lac Canal is an 18th-century military canal in Canada located at the junction of the Delisle and Saint Lawrence Rivers in Quebec. The canal was the first work of its kind in North America, and is a National Historic Site of Canada, which also includes the remains of a fort and reconstructed blockhouse. It is located in the town of Coteau-du-Lac in Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality.
History.
The American War of Independence (1775–1783) revealed a number of serious flaws in the British defence system. The western frontier of the Canadian colony was protected by the military outposts on the Great Lakes. However, these outposts were all the more vulnerable for being difficult to reach. Troop and merchandise transport via the Saint Lawrence River was seriously slowed by the rapids located upstream from Montreal. In particular, the rapids at Coteau-du-Lac were the most difficult to get past and skirting the rapids by going inland prolonged supply times. To accelerate shipment of military supplies westward, Governor Frederick Haldimand ordered for a canal to be dug at Coteau-du-Lac.
The construction of the canal at Coteau-du-Lac began in 1779 under the control of Captain William Twiss. The King's Royal Regiment of New York were mobilised to dig the canal.
When construction was completed On February 15, 1781, the lock system was approximately long and wide. Each of the three locks was long and wide, with draft measuring . Taken together, these locks compensated for a drop of about between the head and the foot of the rapids. It was superseded by the original Beauharnois Canal.
Today, water no longer flows around the site or through the canal owing to a drop in water levels due to the building of hydroelectric dams, the building of newer dams, and other modern development.
Legacy.
On 28 June 1985 Canada Post issued 'Fort at Coteau-du-Lac' one of the 20 stamps in the "Forts Across Canada Series" (1983 & 1985). The stamps are perforated 12 ½ x 13 and were printed by Ashton-Potter Limited based on the designs by Rolf P. Harder.


Her Official Fathers

Her Official Fathers is a 1917 American silent film that was co-directed by Elmer Clifton and Joseph Henabery. It was produced as a starring vehicle for Dorothy Gish, and she may have directed some parts of the film.
"Her Official Fathers" was never registered for a copyright and is technically in the public domain. It is thought to be a lost film.
Plot.
Gish plays Janice, a wealthy girl whose fortune has been entrusted to two trust company vice presidents (the "official fathers" of the title). One of the vice presidents proposes marriage to the girl, but Janice also finds herself accepting the proposal of the other vice president's son. Confused over who she prefers, she retracts her acceptance of both proposals and becomes engaged to a bank teller. When the true motives of her three would-be suitors come to light, Janice makes the right decision about whom to marry.


Traces of a Dragon

Traces of a Dragon (; aka "Traces of a Dragon: Jackie Chan and his Lost Family") is a 2003 documentary film directed by Mabel Cheung. The film analyzes the life and background of Jackie Chan.
Overview.
The world knows him as Jackie Chan. His Chinese fans know him by the stage name Sing Lung. The official record gives his birth name as Chan Kong Sang. But two years ago Jackie Chan found out from his father that his ‘real’ name is Fong Si Lung/Fang Shilong. This revelation came with the uncovering of a previously hidden family history, a chronicle of lives scarred by war, poverty and separation.
Jackie Chan was born in Hong Kong on 7 April 1954. His father Chan Chi-Ping worked at the US Consulate. Mr Chan had met his wife-to-be Lily in China, years before, amid the turmoil of the Japanese invasion and the chaos of the civil war between Nationalists and Communists.
Chan Chi-Ping (at that time going by his real name Fang Daolong) first became an economic migrant in the 1930s, moving from his native province Shandong to the more prosperous areas along the Yangtze River. Mr Fang met his first wife in Anhui and married her in Wuhu; they had two sons, Shide and Shishen. But his wife fell ill with cancer when their elder son was only seven. She died in 1947. Mr Fang had already worked in many jobs (apprentice draper, river trader, and strong-arm man for the Nationalists’ Intelligence Bureau); he made his way to Shanghai and headed the underworld ‘Shandong Gang’ until the city fell to the Communists in 1949.
Jackie was an exuberant and well-liked boy who didn't enjoy school but at the age of seven found his niche in a Peking Opera Academy run by Master Yu. His father pledged him to a ten-year apprenticeship with Master Yu, learning acrobatic stagecraft and other performing skills. His classmates included his lifetime friends and future collaborators Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao; all three of them were members of the academy's performing troupe, the Seven Little Fortunes.
Jackie's career did not take off at first, and the endless succession of bit parts and stunt jobs led him to consider emigrating to Australia to rejoin his parents. But Canberra offered only work on construction sites and in kitchens, and in 1976 he responded enthusiastically to the offer of a contract with the newly founded Lo Wei Film Company in Hong Kong, which starred him in a series of low-budget martial arts adventures. He then became a local superstar in two movies directed by the now-legendary Yuen Woo-Ping, "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow" and "Drunken Master", both made in 1978.
Meanwhile, his parents in Australia were taking advantage of China's stabilising political situation to set about tracing the long-lost children they had been forced to leave behind when they fled to Hong Kong. Lily found her daughters with no great difficulty, and Guilan emigrated to Australia to look after her mother when she fell ill. Chan Chi-Long eventually traced his two sons with the help of the Chinese Ambassador to Australia (a fellow native of Shandong), and had a reunion with them in Guangzhou in 1985. Both had suffered victimisation in Mao's Cultural Revolution of the mid-1960s, and both were having difficulty in adjusting to life in the era of Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms. Eventually, in the late 1990s, Chan Chi-Long was able to convene a gathering in Anhui of his extended family. He revised and restored the Fang family register, proudly adding the name of his Hong Kong-born son Jackie: Fang Shilong.
Production notes.
Director Mabel Cheung (Yuen-Ting Cheung) recalled in January 2003:One day, back in 1999, Jackie Chan heard from his father that he was at last ready to tell him some family secrets – to clarify the mysteries which had been preoccupying Jackie for some time. Jackie was well aware of all the rumours surrounding his origins and background: that he was not in fact the biological child of his parents, that he had elder siblings in China, even that his real surname was not ‘Chan’.
He asked Alex Law and me if we would be interested in filming his belated discovery of his real family background. We were of course intrigued, and agreed to fly to Australia with him to meet his father. I had never made a documentary before, and had no real idea of what to expect. We didn’t even have any clear idea of what we would do with the material we shot. Since Jackie’s mother Lily was in failing health, we decided that it would make (if nothing else) a nice souvenir for the Chan family!
After talking with his father over a few days, though, we found the story to be much more interesting than we’d expected it to be. We heard the story of one family and realised that it could stand for the stories of almost every Chinese family caught up in the turbulent history of China in the 20th century. We later flew to Anhui Province in China to interview other members of the family. We also interviewed some of the father’s friends and colleagues from the 1950s in Hong Kong. It was an enlightening process, almost like witnessing the history of modern China and colonial Hong Kong through the eyes of these people.
While working on my feature film "The Soong Sisters", I watched many documentaries and a lot of archival footage on modern Chinese history. Many of the images were stunning, and they’d lodged in my mind. And so while we were editing the interviews for the documentary we began looking for appropriate historical footage to intercut with the story of Jackie Chan and his lost family.
"Traces of the Dragon" has ended up as a combination of the hard, brutal facts of war with intimate, touching glimpses of a family and its joys and sorrows. While we traced the story of Jackie the dragon, we also found ourselves tracing the story of modern China, the land of the dragon..


New Jersey lunar sample displays

The New Jersey lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon specimen brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions and given in the 1970s to the people of the state of New Jersey by United States President Richard Nixon.
Description.
Apollo 11.
The New Jersey Apollo 11 lunar sample display commemorative podium style plaque consists of four "Moon rocks" rice-size particle specimens that were collected by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969 and a small New Jersey state flag that was taken to the Moon and back.
The four "Moon rocks" weigh about 0.05 grams total. They are encased in a clear plastic button the size of a coin and mounted to a wooden board approximately one foot square on a small podium pedestal display. The small podium plaque display also has mounted on it a small New Jersey state flag that had been to the Moon and back that lies directly below the "goodwill Moon rocks". The small podium plaque display was given to the people of the state of New Jersey as a gift by United States President Richard Nixon. Similar lunar sample displays were also distributed to all the other states of the United States and all the countries (at the time) of the world. New Jersey was the last state to receive its Apollo 11 "goodwill Moon rock" commemorative display.
Apollo 17.
The New Jersey Apollo 17 lunar sample display commemorative style plaque, measuring 10 by 14 inches, consists of one "Moon rock" particle specimen that was cut from lunar basalt 70017 and a New Jersey state flag. The basalt 70017 was collected by Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt on the Moon in 1972. Once lunar basalt 70017 was brought back to Earth from the Moon, the basalt Moon rock was cut up into small fragments of approximately 1 gram. The specimen was encased in a plastic ball and mounted on the wooden plaque along with the New Jersey state flag which had been taken to the Moon and back by the crew of Apollo 17. The plaque was then distributed in 1973 by President Richard Nixon to the state of New Jersey as he did that year to the other 49 states (the same as for the Apollo 11 plaque gifts). This was done as a goodwill gesture to promote peace and harmony.
History.
In March 1976 NASA astronaut Paul J. Weitz came to Trenton, New Jersey to personally present the New Jersey Apollo 17 commemorative plaque display with the 1 gram "goodwill Moon rock" to Environmental Protection Commissioner David Bard, Assemblyman Charles Yates, and Senator Anne Martindell on behalf of governor Brendan T. Byrne, who was in Arizona attending a conference. The 10 by 14 inch podium-style plaque display with the acrylic ball at the top portion had a small yellow New Jersey flag in the center that covered the plaque almost edge to edge widthwise. At the bottom of the display was a label that explained the 1 gram "goodwill Moon rock" was a fragment of a larger stone from the Taurus–Littrow lunar valley. The Governor's office requested that the display be placed on public showing soon thereafter. This order was never fulfilled.
Weitz remarked later that he was recruited to help distribute the Apollo 17 commemorative plaque displays to their respective states. He pointed out the displays were not intended to remain in a governor's office like a trophy or tucked away in a drawer. The idea was to place them on public showing so everyone in the state could see them and enjoy them. But apparently, the Apollo 17 display with the "goodwill Moon rock" was mishandled by the New Jersey state bureaucracy and lost. As of 2012, nobody knows where it is.
The Apollo 11 "goodwill Moon rocks" commemorative podium plaque display is currently housed at the New Jersey State Museum. David Parris, museum curator since 1971, is quoted as saying about the missing New Jersey Apollo 17 lunar sample display: "If it had come to the State Museum, I would surely know. I’ve been the principal geologist here since 1971".


Madame E. Toussaint Welcome

Madame E. Toussaint Welcome (born Jennie Louise Van Der Zee; January 10, 1885 – July 22, 1956), was an African American visual artist associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Van Der Zee, who referred to herself as "the foremost female artist of the race," is recognized as being one of the only African American women filmmakers from the silent film industry.
She and her husband, Ernest Toussaint Welcome, were also known as the husband-and-wife team of their time. Working closely together, they established their own art school, photographic studio, and film organization; they produced films and paintings that recognized the African American soldiers of World War I. The film, a 12-part documentary, was titled "Doing Their Bit".
Early life.
Van Der Zee was born in Lenox, Massachusetts, to John Van Der Zee and Susan Brister. Before moving to Lenox, Massachusetts, her parents were maid and butler in New York to President Ulysses S. Grant. Jennie attended Lenox High School and took private lessons in art and music in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Early in the 20th century, she moved to New York with her father and brothers (one of whom, James Van Der Zee, became a famous photographer).
She married Ernest Toussaint Welcome, an inventor and entrepreneur, on January 10, 1910, and they moved into in a brownstone in New York City, where they established the Toussaint Conservatory of Art and Music. The first ad for the conservatory appeared in the first issue of the NAACP's journal "The Crisis". Van Der Zee stood out during her time because she was the African American owner of a business in Harlem.
The couple made films and pictures that recognized African American contributions to War World I. Under the banner of the Toussaint Motion Picture Exchange, they made "Doing Their Bit" in 1916. Between 1917 and 1918, The Toussaint Pictorial Company published "A Pictorial History of the Negro in the Great War," a memorial book that featured Jennie's work. It also included pictures from governmental sources and a few uncredited photos.
Later life.
The Toussaint Pictorial Company published one million patriotic postcards of African American soldiers. After the war ended, the War Savings Stamp Committee accepted Van Der Zee's painting, "Charge of the Colored Divisions," for use as a poster. Van Der Zee and her husband copyrighted the work in August 1918. No physical copies are known to exist.
Van Der Zee died in 1956.


From the Life of the Marionettes

From the Life of the Marionettes () is a 1980 television film directed by Ingmar Bergman. The film was produced in West Germany with a German-language screenplay and soundtrack while Bergman was in "tax exile" from his native Sweden. It is filmed in black and white apart from two colour sequences at the beginning and end of the film.
Set in Munich, the film charts the disintegration of the relationship of Katarina and Peter Egermann, based on the unhappy couple of the same names briefly featured in Bergman's 1973 miniseries "Scenes from a Marriage". In a reimagining of the characters, Peter and Katarina's unhappiness and unfaithfulness culminates in Peter's murder of a prostitute.
Plot.
Peter Egermann visits and murders a prostitute named Ka, committing an act of necrophilia. The coroner interrogates Peter's friends for an explanation. Mogens Jensen tells the coroner he is shocked by the murder, claiming there were no signs this could happen. Peter is married to career woman Katarina; they have no children. In fact, Peter had confided in Jensen that he was plagued with homicidal thoughts, primarily aimed against Katarina. Jensen considered the thoughts likely not serious, but advised Katarina to leave town. Katarina dismissed the warning as preposterous, and given it was a busy season for work, she decided it was impossible for her to leave.
Before the murder, Peter considered suicide by throwing himself from a building, and Katarina called a friend to calm him down. Peter came back inside, where he quarreled with Katarina. The two shared an open relationship, as Katarina seeks other lovers. Peter claimed he is the one who knows how to sexually satisfy Katarina. Katarina responded she sometimes had orgasms with Peter, but also that she sometimes faked them and left the bedroom to masturbate, and that on other occasions she only had small convulsions.
The interrogator questions Tim, a homosexual. Tim is a business partner of Katarina and her friend, and by extension, he also knew Peter. The interrogator asks if Tim ever had an affair with Peter; Tim hesitates before replying no. Agitated, Tim reveals he had desires for Peter, and is suffering a guilty conscience after having introduced Peter to Ka. Ka was one of Tim's friends. Tim blames his homosexuality for bringing Peter and Ka together, saying he had difficulties with Katarina and liked the idea that Peter would cheat on her with a prostitute. Slowly, he thought, he would lure Peter to him.
When Peter met Ka at a Munich peep show, Ka told Peter her real name was Katarina, the same as his wife. He tearfully murdered her. Jensen concludes that Peter, having grown up under an aggressive mother and then lived with a similarly aggressive wife, was unaware of his own latent homosexuality and that meeting Ka disrupted Peter's daily routine and triggered an emotional blackout. Peter is confined to a mental institute, where he cradles a teddy bear at night.
Production.
Development.
Ingmar Bergman wrote "From the Life of the Marionettes" after being arrested in Stockholm in 1976 and subsequently leaving for West Germany. He stated:
He based the lead characters after Peter and Katarina in his 1973 miniseries "Scenes from a Marriage". Bergman's initial conception for the project was titled "Love for No Lovers", but in the rewrite culminating in "From the Life of the Marionettes" Peter and Katarina were reimagined as a German couple distinct from the Swedish characters in "Scenes from a Marriage". Bergman explained the final title:
In casting, the filmmakers recruited all actors from the Residenztheater.
Filming.
The film was shot in the Bavaria Film Studios in Munich, and at Tobis Film Studios, beginning in October 1979. Bergman's regular cinematographer Sven Nykvist returned for the project. Nykvist and Bergman mainly shot in black-and-white, but at the insistence of television broadcaster ZDF, some colour was added and a red tint was given to the prologue for fear the black-and-white would lose viewers.
German composer Rolf A. Wilhelm wrote the score, making use of timpani and glass harmonicas.
Release.
The premiere took place in July 1980 at a minor festival in Oxford, with Tobis Film as the main distributor. The film was originally made for television and had its TV premiere on German ZDF on 3 November 1980; it went to German theatres on 6 November. It was subsequently released in Swedish theatres on 24 January 1981.
On 28 January 1981, "From the Life of the Marionettes" screened on SVT1. The Criterion Collection released a Blu-ray on 20 November 2018, along with 38 other Bergman films, in the set "Ingmar Bergman's Cinema".
Reception.
According to author Birgitta Steene, Swedish critics were generally "respectful but not enthusiastic". Janet Maslin credited Bergman for a "forceful" work despite what she found to be "less articulate or analytical" characters, praised Nykvist's shots in dream sequences, and positively reviewed Christine Buchegger and Robert Atzorn's performances. David Denby wrote "I wish [Bergman] had dramatized more and explained a whole lot less". "People" staff criticized it as "banal" with "no suspense". In his "Movie Guide", Leonard Maltin gave the film three and a half stars, describing it as "Powerful, provocative".
The film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film of the year by the U.S. National Board of Review. It currently holds a 60% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 10 reviews. It is one of film-maker Wes Anderson's favourite movies.


4 Clowns

4 Clowns is a 1970 documentary compilation film written and directed by Robert Youngson that studies the golden age of comedy through a compilation of rare silent film footage of the works of Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Charley Chase and Buster Keaton. It was the last feature film project of producer, director, and writer Robert Youngson.
Synopsis.
The film is divided into three sections. The first section deals with early silent film works of Laurel and Hardy prior to the two becoming a team as well as their later work as a team. The second section deals with the career of Charley Chase. The third section deals with Buster Keaton, The film is a compilation of excerpts from some of these actor's more notable projects.
Cast.
Narrated by Jay Jackson, the film concentrates on the works of Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Charley Chase, and Buster Keaton.
Included in film's excerpts are actors Jean Arthur, Lori Bara, T. Roy Barnes, Bartine Burkett, Rosalind Byrne, Erwin Connelly, Jules Cowles, Doris Deane, Hazel Deane, Ruth Dwyer, Snitz Edwards, Connie Evans, Eugenia Gilbert, Edna Hammon, Marion Harlan, Jean C. Havez, Barbara Kent, Judy King, Frances Raymond, Viola Richard, Constance Talmadge, Pauline Toller, and Billy West.
Post-production.
After Robert Youngson completed "4 Clowns", distribution rights were acquired by 20th Century-Fox in May 1970, and a release date was set. After its 1970 release, the film also aired commercially in the United Kingdom in 1992 and 1995 on Channel Four.
Reception.
Leonard Maltin stated that the film was one of the best of Robert Youngson's compilations, and as it contained excerpts from "some of the best silent comedy ever", it was "a must for viewers of all ages."


Nikulden


Florence Gould

Florence La Caza Gould (1 July 1895 - 28 February 1983) was American writer and salon-holder who became involved in a money laundering plot before creating a legacy as a patron of the arts at institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She held a salon under the Nazi Occupation of Paris entertaining Nazi officers, and narrowly escaped high treason charges in 1945.
Personal life.
Gould was born in America to French parents; her father was Maximilien Lacaze, a French publisher. She married once. Her second marriage was as the third wife of Frank Jay Gould in 1923.
Fortune and notoriety.
Gould hosted salons in their French residence through the 1920s, as she and her husband collected French Impressionist paintings. They also kept an open marriage, which allowed her to take lovers such as Charlie Chaplin.
The couple owned a gambling casino and several hotels and restaurants. These allowed them to move money from Nazis, which caused her to be charged but never found guilty of treason by the US government.
She also founded the following prizes:


The Sphere (newspaper)

The Sphere: An Illustrated Newspaper for the Home and, later, The Sphere: The Empire's Illustrated Weekly, was a British newspaper, published by London Illustrated Newspapers weekly from 27 January 1900 until the closure of the paper on 27 June 1964.
Background.
The first issue came out at the height of the Boer War and was a product of that conflict and the public appetite for images. At the time, it was in direct competition with "The Graphic" and "Illustrated London News", and evidence of this rivalry can be seen in the latter's publication shortly after of a new illustrated paper entitled "The Spear" in an attempt to confuse readers. During World War I, the weekly issues were called 'war numbers' and over two hundred appeared between 1914 and 1919. In all, it totalled 3,343 issues, plus a special supplement issued in January 1965, entitled "Winston Churchill: A Memorial Tribute".
"The Sphere" was founded by Clement Shorter (1857–1926), who also founded "Tatler" in the following year. It covered general news stories from the UK and around the world; much of the overseas news features were reported in detail as the title was targeted at British citizens living in the colonies. It was similar to the "Illustrated London News", another paper containing many graphic illustrations.
Those featured in "The Sphere" were by renowned artists including W. G. Whitaker and Montague Dawson. Other illustrators included Sidney Paget, Henry Matthew Brock, Fortunino Matania, Ernest Prater, Edmund Blampied, Victor Coverley-Price and Claude Grahame Muncaster (1903–1974); photographers included Christina Broom (1862–1939); and writers included Bryher, Eleanour Sinclair Rohde, and Michael Wolff. Thomas Hardy's short story "A Changed Man" was first published in "The Sphere", in two instalments in the 21 and 28 April 1900 editions. During World War I the newspaper was bought by the shipping magnate John Ellerman. "The Sphere" was very popular during World War II.
The British Library and the National Library of Scotland hold copies of the entire publication run of this newspaper. The Sphere is searchable on the British Newspaper Archive.


Last Mountain Lake Bird Sanctuary

Last Mountain Lake Bird Sanctuary is a National Historic Site of Canada, located in the rural municipality of Last Mountain Valley No. 250 in Saskatchewan. The migratory bird sanctuary was the first established in North America. The area is within the Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area, an International Biological Program site, and includes adjacent uplands.
The site is used as a staging or nesting area by numerous migratory and colonial bird species, including the sandhill crane and the endangered whooping crane. The lake has rich spawning grounds used by numerous fish species, including the vulnerable bigmouth buffalo.
It was recognized as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1987, its centennial anniversary, for its undisturbed natural areas, among them the wetlands, shoreline, forest, and adjacent grasslands, and for being the first bird sanctuary in Canada.
History.
In 1887, Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West Territories Edgar Dewdney recommended the establishment of an area to protect wild fowl. On 8 June 1887, an Order in Council established the Dominion bird reserve at Last Mountain Lake. It was the first bird sanctuary established in North America. A parcel of land of about was reserved as a breeding ground, encompassing the northernmost of the lake's shoreline. In 1917, it was officially named Last Mountain Lake Bird Sanctuary, and was managed and operated by the Fish and Game League. In 1921, it was protected under the federal Migratory Birds Convention Act.
Description.
Last Mountain Lake Bird Sanctuary is located in the Northern mixed grasslands, It is characterised by mud flats used by shorebirds and marshes used by waterfowl at the north end of the lake, whose water level is managed "within a series of basin" by control structures built by Ducks Unlimited Canada. A dam at the south end of the lake is used to control overall water depth.
The shoreline is primarily sandy, interspersed with rocky or gravelly tracts, and features numerous peninsulas forming bays between them. The shallow marshes also feature potholes and saline wetlands that support the reeds lining the shore. Throughout the lake are several natural islands. The surrounding uplands consist of native prairie and low-lying grassland, much of it alkaline.
Access to the migratory bird sanctuary is permitted, with seven roads connecting to the site. The site is subject to the federal "Migratory Bird Sanctuary Regulations", which prohibits hunting migratory birds, or destroying, disturbing, or removing migratory bird nests and eggs. Permitted activities include hiking, fishing (subject to provincial regulations), and boating.
Fauna.
The autumn North American bird migration sees as many as 400,000 anatidae and 75,000 sandhill cranes stopping at the site. The lake's islands also support various prairie bird and waterfowl species that nest in colonies. The whooping crane, an endangered species, has been recorded to use the lake as a staging area during its migration.
Numerous fish species inhabit the lake, which "provides some of the richest spawning and nursery grounds in Saskatchewan", including the vulnerable species bigmouth buffalo, a filter-feeding fish. The land surrounding the lake is inhabited by various prairie mammals, and is used by deer as a wintering site.
National Historic Site.
On 24 June 1987, the Last Mountain Lake Bird Sanctuary was officially recognized as a National Historic Site of Canada. The dedication ceremony was presided by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The designation was granted primarily because it was the first sanctuary "to afford protection to migratory birds" that had been established in Canada. Among the elements cited for the designation are undisturbed natural features, including the wetlands, water and shoreline, forest, and adjoining grasslands. Also cited were managed features, including the dam and other water control features, and nearby crop fields that lure birds.