Lloyd A Hall
Dr Lloyd A Hall , Pioneer in food chemidtry, Born Illinois, 1894
Johanna July
1850 – 1930. July was born to a family of Seminole Indians and former African American slaves who had left Florida and settled in northern Mexico after the Seminole War ended in 1842. By 1871 the group had crossed the U.S. border and arrived at Eagle Pass, Tex., a town on the Rio Grande. In 1871, they agreed to clear troublesome Indians from the U.S. side of the river for the U.S. Army. In return, the black Seminoles received a tract of land at Brackettville.
An old pioneer, Adam Wilson, taught July to ride when she was a girl. July preferred to ride bareback, with only a rope around the horse’s neck. With her ropes of beads, gold earrings, and colorful clothes, July was soon famous throughout the area as an expert horsewoman. She became a horse breaker after her father died and her brother moved away because it was one of the few ways she could earn a living. July tamed wild horses for soldiers at nearby Fort Duncan by riding bucking horses into the Rio Grande. She kept them there until they calmed down. The horses, nervous at being in the water, were usually grateful at being led onto dry land again. They tended to obey July after that.
When she was 18, July married a Seminole scout named Lesley and went to live with him at Fort Clark. However, July was unhappy with domestic life and yearned to be with her horses. Not long after the wedding, July left Lesley and returned to her mother’s house near the Rio Grande.
George Monroe
1834-1886
One of the two black men who carried the mail on the famous Pony Express was George Monroe, son of an early California gold miner. His record as a reputable stagecoach driver led Monroe to the honor of driving Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes along the dangerous S-curves of the Wanona Trail into Yosemite Valley. According to one description of his driving prowess, “he would throw those six animals from one side to the other to avoid a stone as if they were a single horse.
Crack went his whip every once in a while and down would go the team in a canter, around sharp curves and over plank culverts and up again on a clean run.” After Monroe’s death, Monroe Meadows (now Badger Pass) in Yosemite National Park was named in his honor. Today, television commercials for Wells Fargo Bank depict George Monroe driving a stagecoach.
George Bonga
George Bonga one of the most successful and famous of the black voyageurs. He was the son of Pierre Bonga who joined the North West Company in 1803. George was educated in Montreal where he learned English. He spoke French and several Native languages. Like his father he married a Chippewa lady. As a voyageur, he was known for his massive size and incredible strength. He was said to carry a load of 750 pounds for a quarter of a mile. By contrast the average load carried by a voyageur was 250 pounds. He was an acknowledged expert in the songs of the French Canadian voyageurs, and a master of the art of negotiation.