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The New American Digest

For Followers of Gerard Van der Leun's Fine Work

  • About American Digest
  • About New American Digest
  • “The Name In The Stone”
  • Remembering Gerard Van der Leun
    • from the website: Through the Looking Glass
    • from the website: Barnhardt
    • from the website: Neo’s Blog
  • Articles
    • The Overland Stage
      • The Holladay Overland Stage: 1 – The Central Route
      • The Overland Stage – 2 Company Operations
      • The Overland Stage – 3 Exploring The Route – An Overview
      • The Overland Stage: 4 – South Platte/Julesburg/Ft Sedgwick
        • Jack Slade
      • The Overland Stage: 5 – Julesburg to Junction Station (aka Ft Morgan)
      • The Overland Stage: 6 – Junction Station to Latham
      • The Overland Stage: 7 – Latham Crossing to Fort Collins
      • The Overland Stage: 8 – LaPorte to Virginia Dale
      • The Overland Stage: 9 – Virginia Dale to Cooper Creek
      • The Overland Stage: 10 – Cooper Creek to Pass Creek
        • Fletcher Family
      • The Overland Stage: 11 – Pass Creek to Bridger Station
      • The Overland Stage: 12 – Bridger Pass to Duck Lake
      • The Overland Stage: 13 – Duck Lake to LaClede
      • The Overland Stage: 14 – LaClede to Almond
      • The Overland Stage: 15 – Almond to Rock Springs
      • The Overland Stage: 16 – Rock Springs to Fort Bridger
      • The Overland Stage: 17 – Fort Bridger to Weber Station

I find I don’t wish to explore new lands, but to explore again those I have already passed through, trying to see what I’d missed in the first hectic rush … Gerard Van der Leun

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Changing Bad To Good

The New American Digest Posted on October 17, 2026 by DTOctober 17, 2026

submitted by ghostsniper via Comments

I have a teeny story about this I’ll relate at the bottom.

Henry Gross, a tremendous vocalist
“Simone” from 1973.

Henry Gross – Simone 1973

Simone though I know
How you’ve tried not to show
That you’ll leave me on my own some day
Here in my heart I can say

Simone we’ve begun
And darling you’re the one
I’ve been saying up these words to say
All my life, for today

Oh my darlin’, come and heal me
‘Cause I need to be your loving man
Oh my darling can you feel me
‘Said I’m giving you the best I can
Oh darling, take my hand

Simone I believe
In a while you will see
How very fine our love can be
Come build your dreams, next to me

Oh my darling, come and heal me
‘Cause I need to be your loving man
Oh my darling can you feel me
‘Said I’m giving you the best I can

==================

It was a Friday night and I didn’t have a date so I was driving around in my 66 Mustang convertible with the top down and the radio playing. There was a 6 pak of Bud on the seat and I was throwing the empties over my head and I was 18 years old.

The radio just played Henry Gross’s “SkinKing” song, which I never heard before but liked it, and then they came on with the question, “Who was the singer on the song “Nantucket Sleigh Ride”?*, which I happened to know. If you were the 3rd person to call in with the correct answer you’d win Henry Gross’s “Yellow” album.

I was driving down Highway 41 and was passing the Villa’s and lo and behold there was a phone booth out in the middle of know where. I dropped that dime and was the 3rd caller and got the answer correct. 53 years later I still have that album.

*BTW: Lesley West, Mountain.

henrygross
Mountain – Nantucket Sleighride
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Reply

Mental Illness

The New American Digest Posted on October 17, 2026 by DTOctober 16, 2026

I may not be evil but wicked, mean, and nasty are not unknown.
More often than not, I’m against the death penalty. But there are some situations where no doubt exists – “the sooner, the better“.

If someone is so mentally defective as to commit heinous crimes, rather than let said defective soul return to society – “not guilty by reason of insanity“, or even a “life sentence in a mental institution“, the charge should be “guilty by reason of insanity” and such defective soul should be culled from the herd.

Such a soul desperately needs God’s judgement. But if one believes in Heaven, one necessarily believes in Hell. And Hell wouldn’t exist if all were forgiven.

There seems to be so much of it lately, such acts seem to be no longer be hidden, but celebrated.

In such cases as that below, as well as that Satan spawn that’s filled the news lately, and the apparent copycat, it’s society’s obligation to send such to God for judgement.

The only “right” such a criminal has is the choice of means of execution. Or perhaps the way the KGB supposedly did … while walking down the hallway, a sudden shot rings out …

It took a few generations to get into this mess, it’ll take generations to ‘fix” the illness that has been allowed to affect the country. I don’t think we have generations … I’m not sure we have 3 months.

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Replies

Here We Go Again

The New American Digest Posted on October 16, 2026 by DTOctober 16, 2026

Hate to say it …

Hate even more it’s necessary …

It ain’t “politically correct” …

Which usually means it IS correct …

Here goes …
Don’t even need to guess …

NEVER, EVER trust a black woman you don’t know … and maybe not even then.

A special cup was no longer available.
Which seems to be sufficient justification for such activity.

A shop in Salt Lake City, Monday this past week:

There was more damage outside the shop.

There are two words a white man is not allowed to use: Both apply in this case.
That thing was arrested shortly thereafter.

Ol’ Remus and Scott Adams :
“Don’t be there“
“Don’t be near them“

Need to cull the herd.

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Replies

Ericameria nauseosa

The New American Digest Posted on October 16, 2026 by DTOctober 15, 2026

aka: Rabbitbush

A prominent bush round these parts, getting on the end of bloom season. Mixes in well with sage. Marking a transition from fall to winter, the flowers will give way to fluffy seed pods during the winter. Wide-spread from the western Great Plains to the Sierra/Cascades, from British Columbia to Mexico, from sea level to 9,000 ft in the Rockies, the plant is a source of natural rubber – although not in economically-feasible quantities.

It has been used as a source of dyes and medicine; sometimes smoked, sometimes a food source.

As “western” a plant as sagebrush or mesquite, it is a source of food for birds, antelope, rabbits, and other small mammals throughout the winter.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Reply

I-70 Utah Spotted Wolf Canyon

The New American Digest Posted on October 15, 2026 by DTOctober 13, 2026

submitted by illinoisbeekeeper via email

Best shot I have from the observation point
second runaway ramp visible
several million cu yds of rock moved in the building of I-70

photo by illinoisbeekeeper
looking east towards Green River

From a highway marker at 38° 56.025′ N, 110° 28.347′ W

They call it the San Rafael Reef, a 30-mile-long stone barrier, a sawtooth ridge at the eastern edge of nowhere. For centuries, only the most intrepid travelers found their way through its narrow slot canyons and on to the Green River crossing. The early Spanish explorers detoured 20 miles north to avoid the forbidding wall. In 1883 the Denver and Rio Grand Railroad also avoided breaching the Reef, laying track just east of its sheer walls, north to Salt Lake City. In 1957 the decision was made to increase the nation’s interstate highway system and I-70 was engineered to bisect the San Rafael Swell. Here, at Spotted Wolf Canyon, workers could stand and touch both walls of the canyon before construction began in October 1967. Engineers and surveyors used body harnesses and ropes to work as high as 400 feet above the canyon floor. Crews excavated 3.5 million cubic yards of rock from the area at a cost of $4.5 million for eight miles of road. On November 5, 1970, the Utah Department of Transportation opened the 70-mile section from Fremont Junction to Green River for two-lane traffic. Two more lanes were added in the mid-1980s.

The two lanes were added later but until they built the other two lanes, a large road cut, visible for miles, sat with no road through it.

DT:
A long time ago when I travelled quite a bit between the eastern Sierra and the West Slope, I-70 was still essentially a 2-lane highway with no services between Green River and Salina where 70 ended at a pile of dirt at the Salina exit (as US50 west from there), a bit over 100 miles. My travel eccentricities caused me to “camp” off the road a bit and – as a “normal” 2-lane road, I could find a place to pull off and head out into the dirt a half-mile or so and crash for the night.

Can’t do that anymore – I-70 became civilized with fences, limited access, rest areas, and paved parking. But that 100-miles of road is still one of my favorite stretches of Interstate in the country; far different than the eastern end (in Baltimore).

I-70 now is complete and heads south from Salina, essentially nullifying US89 between Salina and Sevier, to end at I-15 at Cave Fort. US50 still splits off from I-70 at Salina heading west across Nevada to its end at I-80 in Sacramento.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Replies

Have you seen Harvey?…

The New American Digest Posted on October 14, 2026 by JeanOctober 13, 2026

posted by Jean Aug 27, 2011

“I’ve wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I’m happy to state I finally won out over it.“
Elwood P. Dowd (Jimmy Stewart) in Harvey, 1950.

To see some trailers, go here.

“Years ago my mother used to say to me, she’d say, ‘In this world, Elwood, you must be’–she always called me Elwood– ‘In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.’ Well, for years I was smart.
I recommend pleasant. You may quote me.
“
Elwood P. Dowd (Jimmy Stewart) in Harvey, 1950.

Best.Movie.Ever.

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Replies

Hey ghost …

The New American Digest Posted on October 13, 2026 by DTOctober 13, 2026

if you’re still around.

A few weeks ago, I posted a song “Wrath” credited to Rager with a note to myself “aka ghostsniper”.
Was that you?
If so, where did I get a copy of that tune?
I thought it good enough to add to my collection but I didn’t make a note as to where or when.

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Replies

Tunesday: Two Steps From Hell – Blackheart

The New American Digest Posted on October 13, 2026 by DTOctober 3, 2026

A sample of some obscure – and maybe not obscure – tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.

Today’s selection: Two Steps From Hell – “Blackheart” 2012

Two Steps From Hell is a manufactured group, formed in 2006 by a pair of Norwegian composers who had moved to LA for the purpose of providing music for film trailers. Their compositions have been described as “epic music” and have appeared in trailers for movies such as Star Trek and Harry Potter. Fans of the music requested the compositions be released for purchase so the composers began releasing albums. This composition is from their 4th album, “Skyworld”, which is the first to contain music created for public release instead of film soundtracks.

The pair separated in 2024, ending “Two Steps From Hell”.

Posted in tunes, Uncategorized | 2 Replies

Safety Tips

The New American Digest Posted on October 12, 2026 by DTOctober 12, 2026

“Amid surge in crime across state“: Too many from “tolerance” locations moving in.

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Replies

Snot

The New American Digest Posted on October 12, 2026 by JeanOctober 9, 2026

posted by Jean, Sept 14, 2026 at Pondering

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Replies

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Rules

Contact: dt@newamericandigest.org

Gerard Van der Leun
12/26/45 - 1/27/23

“This is the day which the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”
Psalm 118:24


Gerard's Last Post
(posthumous): Feb 4, 2023
"So Long. See You All a Little Further Down the Road"

When my body won’t hold me anymore
And it finally lets me free
Where will I go?
Will the trade winds take me south through Georgia grain?
Or tropical rain?
Or snow from the heavens?
Will I join with the ocean blue?
Or run into a savior true?
And shake hands laughing
And walk through the night, straight to the light
Holding the love I’ve known in my life
And no hard feelings

Avett Brothers - No Hard Feelings

The following was posted along with the announcement of Gerard's passing.
Leonard Cohen - Going Home

For a 2005 interview with Gerard


October 2026
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Most Recent Comments

  1. sparkee on Hey ghost …October 17, 2026

    here 'tis https://newamericandigest.org/2026/09/22/rager-wrath/

  2. GrayDog on Changing Bad To GoodOctober 17, 2026

    Fun story. Glad you're back Ghost!

  3. ghostsniper on Mental IllnessOctober 17, 2026

    Suppose you're standing there smoking a joint in a place where it's legal to do so and a dood you…

  4. Joe on Mental IllnessOctober 17, 2026

    We as a nation have become so docile, so cowardly at calling out evil and it is my opinion that…

  5. DT on Here We Go AgainOctober 17, 2026

    Posted


Blogroll
The New Neo
Jean's Blog - Pondering
The Feral Irishman

Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man,
play a song for me
I'm not sleepy
and there ain't no place I'm goin' to

Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man,
play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning,
I'll come followin' you

Take me for a trip upon
your magic swirling ship
All my senses have been stripped
And my hands can't feel to grip
And my toes too numb to step
Wait only for my boot heels to be wanderin'

I'm ready to go anywhere,
I'm ready for to fade
Unto my own parade
Cast your dancing spell my way
I promise to go under it


Men who saw night coming down about them could somehow act as if they stood at the edge of dawn.


From Gerard's site. The picture always caught my eye.

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