A FEW VIP COMMENTS: Office of British Prime Minister Tony Blair (11-26-02): "The Prime Minister has asked me to thank you for your recent letter and the enclosed book Curious Facts About Famous People I." Direct Communications Unit, S. Aust** White House, President George W. Bush (4-29-03): "On behalf of President Bush, thank you for the copy of your book. He appreciates your kind gesture and thoughtfulness. The President sends his best wishes." Special Assistant to the President, Desiree Thompson** Governor of New York, George Pataki (11-8-02): "I am especially interested in the section about Teddy Roosevelt. T.R. is a personal hero of mine... Your kindness in sharing this book with me is greatly appreciated, and will make a welcome addition to my collection."** Governor of Indiana, Frank O'Bannon (11-28-02): "Thank you for the first edition copy of Curious Facts About Famous People I... During my time in this office, I have been privileged to see first hand special individuals with great talents...Thank you for providing another opportunity for me to see the talent of our citizens."** National Aviation Hall of Fame (2-25-03): "I would like to thank you for the interesting tidbit book Curious Facts About Famous People, vol. 1, which we have placed in our permanent library. The Howard Hughes portion of the book was a fascinating read. In fact, I had no idea he tried his hand at farming!" Sarah Shivler, Web & Research Coordinator** Patrolmen's Benevolent Assn. (Indiana), President Jeff Burkholder (11-23-02): "Your Dillinger chapter is wild! You did a good job." *******************************************************************     WILD NOTES (Brief Preview) John Dillinger: Playing "Cops & Robbers" with a bank executive. J. Edgar Hoover: Canadian visitor says FBI agents look "chubby" compared to the Canadian Mounted Police. Hoover adopts ideal height/weight insurance chart criteria, choosing the LOWEST listing. Ex-football players with large frames must weigh as light as small frame men. New York City agent dies at desk due to crash diet. Howard Hughes: At age eleven, teaches self Morse Code and builds Houston's first wireless broadcast set to talk to ships in the Gulf of Mexico. Teddy Roosevelt: Refuses to shoot roped bear in Mississippi during hunting trip, which inspires creation of the "Teddy" bear. *********************************************************************** Free Book Offer Questions: In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from the French and asked Meriwether Louis and William Clark to form a group called the Corps of Discovery and explore the area. We will send you a free copy of our original Curious Facts About Famous People I via 1st class mail to anywhere in the world if you can correctly identify the two women who saved Louis & Clark and the Corps of Discovery (1804-1806) from destruction by the Indians. On two occasions, the Corps of Discovery faced certain death from Indian tribes when women intervened and saved the group. Tell us via email (Kekiongavillage@aol.com) the names of these two Indian women. [Be sure to write "Book Offer" in the topic area.] Other Questions: Who was President Abe Lincoln's first choice to head the Union Army during the Civil War? Under what general did Clara Barton's father serve fighting Indians? What three black regiments teamed-up with Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War to charge up San Juan Hill? **Answer ANY of these questions to win** Note for foreign mail destinations: We will send the volume via U.S. Customs with 1st class postage. Additional costs which your postal service may charge for delivery are yours. ********************************************************************* The John Dillinger book A Respectful Son Breaking Out the Gang Running A Bank Robbery Business Raiding Police Stations Dillinger Paranoia Police Screw Ups Bluffing 20 Guards with a Wooden Gun Law Enforcement Orders: KILL Dillinger Nervous Purvis & the College Cops FBI's Little Bohemia Fiasco           WILD NOTES Playing Cops & Robbers J. Edgar Hoover Writes "Thank You" Note "Baby Face" Nelson Kicked Out of Gang "Pretty Boy" Floyd Executed by FBI Johnny's Women A Florida Vacation Source Notes: 99    The Howard Hughes book World Class Accomplishments Early Genius Dropping Out The Hollywood Years World's Largest Private Air Force Hotdog Hughes From Riches to Rags Movie Censors Ban Large Breasts Saving Robert Mitchum's Acting Career Pioneering Aviation The "Spruce Goose" The CIA's Best Friend        WILD NOTES An Electronic Kid The Feds Help WWII Enemies Watching James Bond Movies The Rat Pack Secret Charity Source Notes: 74   The J. Edgar Hoover book    (Now combined with     Dillinger) Stupid Bureau Rules No Left Turns in FBI Vehicles Minorities & Women Not Good Enough Harassing His Own Agents Told To Run 100 Miles A Day Fatal Height/Weight Requirements Media Hog Ripping-Off The Taxpayers An Alcoholic by Any Standards Four Limos to go Gambling Ignoring Pearl Harbor Attack Warning    Wild Notes Reading Sherlock Holmes Stories "Voluntary" Unpaid Overtime An Adult Infantile FBI Laboratory Stolen From Chicago Outdated Index Card Filing System Source Notes: 92    The Teddy Roosevelt book     (Now combined with      Hughes & Brief      Biographies) A Sickly Child Helping the Confederates First Love Worst Day: Valentine's Day, 1884 A Bar Fight in Montana The Rough Riders From Governor to President A Celebrity President Putting Judo Hold on Swiss Minister Wild White House Fun The Old Kid Falls Apart    Wild Notes Saving the Environment The "Teddy" Bear Churchill's Rude Visit "Good to the Last Drop!" Ahead of His Time       Brief Biographies Clara Barton / Walt Disney / Charles Goodyear / Abe Lincoln / Charles "Lucky" Luciano / "Mad" Anthony Wayne & Chief Little Turtle        Appendix Story of Nazi camp math genius Jakow Tractenberg Source Notes: 143 ********************************************************************** (From "Brief Biographies")        [Source Notes: 25, not included here]                   "Mad" Anthony Wayne                          (1745-1796)    A Pennsylvania-born American officer in the Revolutionary War, serving under General George Washington. Called "mad" because of his bold and daring battle maneuvers, like the surprise re-capture of Stony Point, New York, from the British in 1779, considered the most daring of the war***Became a Major General and Commander in Chief of the army in 1791, fighting Indians and establishing forts in the Northwest Territory***In 1795, he secured the Treaty of Greenville, acquiring huge tracts of land for the United States from the Indians.    President George Washington sent three generals to destroy the Miami Nation at Kekionga, where three rivers converge, in the old Northwest Territory. For over 100 years the capital of the Miami Nation flourished where the St. Mary's and the St. Joe rivers form the Maumee. Kekionga was the Miami word for the area, meaning "blackberry patch". It was here that Miami Chief Little Turtle presided over the seat of Indian power for the region. Indians from the Ohio River to Hudson Bay, from Niagara Falls to the Mississippi, formed a coalition to deal with invading U.S. armies. Sixteen tribes held council in the Miami Confederation: Chippewa, Delaware, Fox, Huron (Wyandot), Illinois, Kaskaskia, Kickapoo, Miami, Mingo, Ottawa, Peoria, Piankashaw, Potawatomi, Sac, Shawnee, Wea.    President George Washington sought to establish a stronghold in the middle of Indian Country and in 1790 sent General Josiah Harmar to do the job. But the Indians quickly sent him home crying.    The following year President Washington sent General Arthur St. Clair with a larger army and eight cannons to take over Kekionga and claim it for the United States. This time, the Indian victory was so complete that Congress wanted to give up and explored the idea of granting them everything north of the Ohio River and sent negotiators to discuss the matter with them.    General St. Clair had a 1,400 man army when the Miami Confederation prevented him from establishing a fort at Kekionga. U.S. Army losses were 647 dead, 271 wounded; Indian losses, 21 dead, 40 wounded. This was the greatest military defeat the army would ever suffer from the Indians. Eighty-five years later in 1876, Lt. General George Armstrong Custer would suffer a lesser defeat by the Indians at Little Big Horn, Montana. There 225 of the 650 man army were killed in the battle known as Custer's Last Stand.    In 1792, President Washington succeeded in getting Congress to authorize more money for the army and sent 3,500 men and the commander in chief of the army himself, Major General Anthony Wayne, who President Teddy Roosevelt would later call the best fighting general in American history. On his way to Kekionga, General Wayne built three forts: Defiance, Greenville, and Recovery. His last fort would be in the Miami Nation.    Chief Little Turtle knew that Wayne's army was larger, better equipped and trained than St. Clair's and that "Mad" Anthony couldn't be caught by surprise--an element crucial to Indian attacks. Little Turtle called Wayne the "Chief who never sleeps...nights and days are alike to him." Anthony Wayne was a reading general who carried books on war strategies with him in the field. He would sleep very little on this mission for fear that either the Indians or his own men would do him in. At Kekionga, a third enemy would be out to get him also: the Great Indian Spirit. The heroic American general would flee from this last enemy.    A huge pow wow was held among the Miami Confederation concerning Wayne's approaching army. Chief Little Turtle proposed that they use stalling tactics and avoid direct battle. Previously, he had gone to British Fort Detroit to acquire guns to fight Wayne's army with but had returned empty-handed. He knew that those with guns will gain mastery over those without guns and so proposed that the Indians make peace with the United States to avoid destruction.    Shawnee warrior Blue Jacket disagreed and advocated a head-on attack with Wayne's army, mocking Little Turtle's passive plan. Blue Jacket's exaggerated confidence in Indian power was the dominant feeling among the tribes and Little Turtle stepped back to allow Blue Jacket to run the show, vowing to lead his Miami tribe in accordance with council decisions. The loss of Little Turtle's overall leadership skills and his clever war tactics left many Indians with little confidence.    War Chief Blue Jacket planned an attack with 1,700 warriors (70 of which were Canadians dressed-up as Indians) at a place on the Maumee River (now Toledo, Ohio), where a tornado had struck a few weeks earlier. The Indians lacked precision of battle plans and prematurely revealed their hidden positions to Wayne's army. During the ensuing forty-minute battle, the Indians retreated in confusion, giving Wayne the technical victory, as the casualty count was nearly equal (40 Indians killed; 31 soldiers). The skirmish became known as the Battle of Fallen Timbers.    General Wayne then implemented a scorched earth policy and burnt Indian crops of corn, pumpkin, and squash for 50 miles in the Maumee Valley. At the Three Rivers, Wayne burnt 500 acres of Miami villages plus those of the Ottawa up the St. Joe, the Delaware up the St. Mary's, and the Shawnee huts down the Maumee. "Mad" Anthony built his fort at Kekionga September 24 to October 22, 1794. Lt. William Clark, later to become part of the famous "Lewis & Clark Expedition" to the Pacific Ocean, was there helping to build the fort, complaining about the large trees Wayne wanted to use when, in his opinion, smaller ones would've sufficed.    Anthony Wayne's experience at Kekionga would not be a pleasant one. Many factors would combine to make the place intolerable to him: extreme violent and cold weather, wild and unruly soldiers, and some kind of spiritual haunting because of their violent trespass on sacred land.    The weather at Kekionga wasn't to Wayne's liking. He noted in his journal that it rained violently and the wind blew harder than he had ever experienced before; that the frost was thicker than he had ever seen, being three-fourths of an inch of ice in their kettles. Falling trees vexed the American general as well. One night, a severe storm sent a large tree crashing down just a few feet from his tent. A few days earlier, he had been struck by a falling tree.    The site of the former Miami Nation had a lingering aura about it, like a spiritual curse for soldiers and settlers alike. Wayne's men exhibited unusual behavior there: fights became commonplace, desertions ran rampant. Many of his men became drunk and disorderly. Discipline ranged from court martial and execution to 100, 75, and 50 lashes with a whip. Some type of insanity seemed to infect everyone there, from Wayne himself to buck privates and wagon loaders.    The first American settlers who came to the Three Rivers, who spent months and years of effort and enormous expense to get there, had a COMPELLING DESIRE to be away from the place. Anthony Wayne stayed only long enough to get his fort completed and then rode off to his previous fort in Greenville. Making his ordeal even stranger was President Washington's decision to name the cursed place in his honor: Fort Wayne.    In Greenville (Ohio), the following summer, Wayne held treaty talks with the Indians. Everyone, U.S. government officials and Indians alike, expected Wayne to hold the negotiations at the fort named in his honor. For 12 years the U.S. government had tried to establish a fort at Kekionga and had lost two major armies trying to do so. Now that they had achieved their goal, the conquering general refused to return to the place. "Mad" Anthony would never return to Fort Wayne again, not even to inspect his troops there.    The Treaty of Greenville, August 1795, was attended by 1,100 Indian chiefs and warriors, who were given $25,000 and the PROMISE of annual allowances for 25,000 square miles and 16 tracts of land. Today this amounts to half of Indiana, three-fourths of Ohio and the areas of Chicago, Defiance, Detroit, Mackinac Island, Peoria and Toledo.    Anthony Wayne complained to the War Department during negotiations that Chief Little Turtle had a "highly developed sense of litigation" and was making it hard to get a good treaty for the United States. "Mad" Anthony overcame this obstacle by creating mistrust of Little Turtle among the other chiefs via lies and falsehoods, resulting in a poor deal for the Indians.    It is curious to note that after this treaty, President Washington honored Chief Little Turtle by presenting him with a sword and a medal with the chief's portrait engraved on it and called him the greatest Indian of all time.    In December following the treaty, 90 vulnerable Indians (elderly men and women and small children) came to Fort Wayne looking for food because Anthony Wayne had chased off their young people and the new treaty made the United States responsible for their welfare. The soldiers at the fort gave them five day's provisions and told them that they wouldn't have anything more to spare until the Spring. ****************************************************************************************************