Ezra Meeker (December 29, 1830 – December 3, 1928) was an American pioneer who traveled the Oregon Trail by ox-drawn wagon in 1852, migrating from Iowa to the Oregon Territory with his wife and newborn son. The entire Meeker party survived the difficult six-month journey. In 1862, he settled at the present site of Puyallup, Washington, where he grew hops for brewing beer, and served as Puyallup's first mayor. An infestation of hop aphids in 1891 took much of his fortune. He made four trips to the Klondike during its gold rush, bringing groceries in an unsuccessful attempt to recoup his losses. In 1906–1908, convinced that the Oregon Trail was being forgotten, Meeker retraced his steps along the Trail by wagon despite being in his late 70s, seeking to build monuments in communities along the way. He reached New York and Washington, D.C., where he met President Theodore Roosevelt. He wrote several books, and traveled the Trail several more times, including by airplane in 1924.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Meeker

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1890:

Sioux Wars: The United States Army killed 250 to 300 Lakota men, women and children at the Wounded Knee Massacre, beginning the Ghost Dance War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wounded_Knee_Massacre

1911:

Sun Yat-sen was elected the provisional president of the Republic of China in Nanjing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yat-sen

1959:

American physicist Richard Feynman gave a speech entitled "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom" at Caltech, anticipating the field of nanotechnology. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_Plenty_of_Room_at_the_Bottom

1996:

Peace accords were signed under the leadership of President Álvaro Arzú and guerrilla leader Rolando Morán, ending the 36-year- long Guatemalan Civil War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemalan_Civil_War

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

succour: 1. (transitive) To give aid, assistance, or help. 2. (transitive, military) To provide aid or assistance in the form of military equipment and soldiers; in particular, for helping a place under siege. 3. (transitive, obsolete except dialectal) To protect, to shelter; to provide a refuge. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/succour

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Winnow the chaff of a hundred creeds Beyond these systems, hollow as reeds, Turn unhorizened to where Truth leads, To be unhoused, O my soul!   --Kuvempu https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kuvempu