Wes Modes
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Fits and Starts
I’m struggling with how to describe our strange fits-and-starts launch on the Sacramento River at Red Bluff. I’ll tell you right up front like a postmodern mystery novel that the culprit was Bad Gas.
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Sara Jane Hall, BBC producer joined us on the first few days of the expedition @bbc
Sara Jane Hall, BBC producer joined us on the first few days of the expedition @bbc
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Dave: “You got water in your fuel, Chief.”
Dave: “You got water in your fuel, Chief.” Not a little bit either. Note the line between clear and cloudy liquid. But how did so much water get in our fresh gas in a fresh tank? Sabotage?
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Amy, who finds herself homeless after being laid off as a dental tech, was excited about the tiny house possibilities of the shantyboat
Amy, who finds herself homeless after being laid off as a dental tech, was excited about the tiny house possibilities of the shantyboat
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Sara Jane Hall interviews Sheriff Chad about Red Bluff history
Sara Jane Hall interviews Sheriff Chad about Red Bluff history
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The saddest boat trailering experience ever. Sad face
The saddest boat trailering experience ever. Sad face
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We are camped under beautiful cooling oaks and sycamores in 135 degree heat 50 feet from the Sac River
We are camped under beautiful cooling oaks and sycamores in 135 degree heat 50 feet from the Sac River
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Secret History exhibit at the Sacramento History Museum through July
Secret History exhibit at the Sacramento History Museum through July
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Okay, we’re off
After months of prep, a month-long fundraiser, weeks of long hard work days on the shantyboat, months of research, tons of help from from friends, and help from our sponsors, we are finally off on the road toward the river.
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Sac River maps arrived at the last minute! So fun to see every little slough, channel, and marina
Sac River maps arrived at the last minute! So fun to see every little slough, channel, and marina
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Important last minute printing tasks. Leave your river story at the Secret History exhibit at the Sacramento History Museum in July
Important last minute printing tasks. Leave your river story at the Secret History exhibit at the Sacramento History Museum in July
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Jeremiah puts the finishing touches on the new instrument panel
Jeremiah puts the finishing touches on the new instrument panel
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Miah wires up our homemade wiring post for gauge panel
Miah wires up our homemade wiring post for gauge panel
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Making big holes in the motor well to bolt on the new motor. @mercurymarine
Making big holes in the motor well to bolt on the new motor. @mercurymarine
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After years of effort to make sure our motor well was sealed I am cutting a huge hole in it
After years of effort to make sure our motor well was sealed I am cutting a huge hole in it
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Steering: check. Throttle: check. Shift: check. Battery: check. Controls: check. Freddy2 ready for action. @mercurymarine
Steering: check. Throttle: check. Shift: check. Battery: check. Controls: check. Freddy2 ready for action. @mercurymarine
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Oh nothing much. Just routing cables within Freddy2’s guts
Oh nothing much. Just routing cables within Freddy2’s guts
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Are We Going To Die on the Sacramento River?
There are a few things that worry me. Because of the very wet California winter, water levels are high and I’ve heard flow rates are intense. Additionally, the Sacramento River is full of hazards including snags, sweepers, strainers, rocks, stump fields, and eddies.
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A Secret History of American River People in Sacramento
The Sacramento History Museum is proud to present a compelling new exhibit titled A Secret History of American River People opening on Saturday, July 1, 2017. The special art and history project is part of a larger effort that spans many years and covers multiple rivers.
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Making holes in a perfectly good boat with a clever jig
Making holes in a perfectly good boat with a clever jig
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James and Wes rewiring (turns out unnecessarily) the new MerController
James and Wes rewiring (turns out unnecessarily) the new MerController
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MerControl2 wired up for new power. Good day of work w Benzy, James & Miah
MerControl2 wired up for new power. Good day of work w Benzy, James & Miah
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What River is Next?
People ask us all the time, “What river will we be on next?” We put a lot of thought into which river we’ll spend our summer fieldwork. So far, it’s been mostly year by year. And there are a lot of considerations in choosing.
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Setting in supplies thanks to a pretty sweet sponsorship
Setting in supplies thanks to a pretty sweet sponsorship
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Working Working Working
Less than two weeks before we launch. We’ve been doing a ton of work and there is still a ton of work to do. Here’s an update on stuff done:
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Studying up on the new Mercury parts from our Official Engine Provider
Studying up on the new Mercury parts from our Official Engine Provider
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Dirty, covered in paint and epoxy after a full day of working on the shantyboat
Dirty, covered in paint and epoxy after a full day of working on the shantyboat
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Benzy works on her thesis among the chaos of shantyboat work
Benzy works on her thesis among the chaos of shantyboat work
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We had a problem with the hold doors on the shantyboat always creeping open. Magnets
We had a problem with the hold doors on the shantyboat always creeping open. Magnets
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Decommissioning the old MerControl on the shantyboat
Decommissioning the old MerControl on the shantyboat
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The untidy state of the shantyboat between journeys
The untidy state of the shantyboat between journeys
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Not seen the new Secret History trailer yet? Check it out!
Not seen the new Secret History trailer yet? Check it out! http://peoplesriverhistory.us/blog/trailer2017/
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Only 5 days left: $3230 still to go! Great rewards.
Only 5 days left: $3230 still to go! Great rewards. Project full of https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1245766964/a-secret-history-sacramento-river-expedition
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Weird things afoot – cutting into the shelves for a crossbeam to support the extended loft
Weird things afoot – cutting into the shelves for a crossbeam to support the extended loft
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Yesterday moved half a ton of brush to make room for the shantyboat
Yesterday moved half a ton of brush to make room for the shantyboat
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River Voices – 2017 Trailer
After 3 years of fieldwork, 1000 river miles, 15,000 road miles, 85 interviews, and now 1 month of combing the archive, and innumerable editing hours, we are extremely excited to present the new trailer.
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Wes futzes with the shantyboat electrical system
Wes futzes with the shantyboat electrical system (photo by @dudicusmaximus)
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Another day spent under the decks of the shantyboat-full system shutoff relay
Another day spent under the decks of the shantyboat-full system shutoff relay
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Miah replaces aging bike tube shelfkeepers. Now stuff won’t rain down on us constantly @dudicusmaximus
Miah replaces aging bike tube shelfkeepers. Now stuff won’t rain down on us constantly @dudicusmaximus
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Only 2 weeks left of the Secret History @Kickstarter & still long way from goal. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1245766964/a-secret-history-sacramento-river-expedition
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The continuing Surprising Things The Mouse Ate series
The continuing Surprising Things The Mouse Ate series
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Yeah, I guess our mouse visitor really wanted olive oil to go with their other snacks
Yeah, I guess our mouse visitor really wanted olive oil to go with their other snacks
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Draining the water tanks to revamp the water system. #secrethistory
Draining the water tanks to revamp the water system. #secrethistory #shantyboat via Instagram http://ift.tt/2rHlWCd
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Won’t be sorry at all to see our leaky unreliable hand pump faucet go
Won’t be sorry at all to see our leaky unreliable hand pump faucet go
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Trying to break the shantyboat into California
After 3 years of fieldwork, 1000 river miles, 15,000 road miles, 85 interviews, and now 1 month of combing the archive, and innumerable editing hours, we are extremely excited to present the new trailer.
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@gooddoghazel watches the Secret History media cabinet
@gooddoghazel watches the Secret History media cabinet
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Great rewards – Check out the Kickstarter
The work we do with the Secret History of American River People has never been more important. At a time when underprivileged voices are being silenced, it is critical that these stories be heard.
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How shantyboats helped build a culture
A great video about the project by Kirsten Dirksen “I do not know much about gods; but I think that the river Is a strong brown god—sullen, untamed and intractable” “Dry Salvages”, T.S. Eliot Long before Wes Modes began planning a journey down the Mississippi, he started building a traditional barge-bottom houseboat in a California…
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Fair Companies: How shantyboats down the Mississippi helped build a culture
Long before Wes Modes began planning a journey down the Mississippi, he started building a traditional barge-bottom houseboat in a California backyard out of rustic reclaimed materials (e.g. old fences and chicken coops). Once his shantyboat was complete he hatched a plan to transport it across the country from Santa Cruz to Minnesota to begin…
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Laughing Squid: Artist Rides Rivers in a Homemade Shantyboat to Learn About the People Who Live on the Banks
Wes Modes, an artist and lecturing professor at UC Santa Cruz and a crew full of creative mates built a shanty boat out of found materials and trash and rode down both the Mississippi River and the Tennessee River over the course of the past two summers.
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Outfit the Shantyboat
As part of our upcoming fundraiser to support our summer fieldwork, you can help outfit the shantyboat.
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Ask Me Anything!
We did a Reddit AMA. We’ve done AMAs in 2014 and 2015. They were fun and people asked us good and sometimes funny questions. Hope you can check out this year’s and ask a question or two.
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Looking Back at the War Against the Dakota People in Minnesota
I was reminded of these interviews recently, and how little I know when I heard a radio story about the U.S.-Dakota War.The conflict engulfed the very area in which I interviewed the Dakota men. I hadn’t asked Arthur or Art directly about the conflict, though we alluded to it when we talked about the Ft. Snelling Indian concentration…
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Miah marveling at the amazing generous gifts flooding in
Miah in total amazement at the amazing generous gifts flooding in from fans of the Secret History project. Thanks Frank for the new water system
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People ask all the time about how the shantyboat was built
Now, all of the shantyboat build process is available on the Secret History website. From hull framing, sheeting, fiberglass, to cabin framing to finish
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Gerty Tonjum, boathouse owner, talks about river time
Gerty Tonjum, boathouse owner in Winona, MN along the banks of the Mississippi River summer 2014. This is part of a longer interview in the Secret History archive.
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Secret History shantyboat clean-up day and mouse habitat exploration
Secret History shantyboat clean-up day and mouse habitat exploration
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Freddie’s Dead
You may remember that our 1978 20 hp Mercury outboard that we call Freddie Mercury had some engine problems while we were in the middle of Lake Kentucky. A while after we returned home, we took Freddy to one of our few local outboard repair shops. We didn’t hear from him and we didn’t hear…
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A sad mouse casualty aboard the shantyboat. He may or may not have died of natural causes
A sad mouse casualty aboard the shantyboat. He may or may not have died of natural causes
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What surprises await us in the Secret History installation media cabinet?
What surprises await us in the Secret History installation media cabinet?
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This Summer’s Expedition on the Sacramento River
In previous years, Modes has exhibited the project in the Midwest on the Mississippi River and in the Southeast on the Tennessee River. This year, he brings his project “home.”
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Secret History shantyboat nestled in the redwoods in California
Secret History shantyboat nestled in the redwoods in California
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Tribune-Courier: Floating Artist
In general, when people are posed with the question, ‘What is art?’ the answers align with ideas of paintings created by the greats like Vincent Van Gogh or fantastic photographs that capture space and time in unique ways like the work of Ansel Adams. The answer might vary a bit and turn into a deep…
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Shantyboat home in Felton California
Shantyboat home in Felton California. Benzy has to lift the telephone wires on the little road up to where the shantyboat nestles in the redwoods
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Shantyboat in the Paducah Labor Day Parade
Shantyboat in the Paducah Labor Day Parade. Nathan Lynn playing banjo while Wes tries to make banjo sounds that are not too disharmonious. Photo by Mitch Kimball
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Looking through the Mary Wheeler collection at the Paducah Library
Looking through the Mary Wheeler collection at the McCracken County Library
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Secret History talk at River Discovery Center, Paducah
Secret History talk at River Discovery Center, Paducah
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Rev Kempton Baldridge one of a few chaplains for more than 4000 towboats
Rev Kempton Baldridge one of a few chaplains for more than 4000 towboats and riverboats on American Rivers
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Shantyboat On display
Shantyboat On display today and tomorrow. Open House 10-2pm Saturday at the River Discovery Museum on Water St in Paducah
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Bruce Walker king of the bar-b-Que in north Paducah
Bruce Walker king of the bar-b-Que in north Paducah at A&J’s BBQ. We had a great conversation about the neighborhood and then he made the most delectable ribs I’ve had all year
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Paduca Sun: Artist-in-residence Modes slated to discuss journey of shantyboat
Paducah Arts Alliance artist-in-residence Wes Modes and his 1940s-era shantyboat landed recently in Paducah for two weeks to discuss his ongoing project, “A Secret History of American River People.”
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David Nickell talks about his family history in the Land Between the Rivers
David Nickell talks about his family history in the Land Between the Rivers, an intense story of government betrayal and intrigue
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Merryman Kemp founder of Merryman House
Maryman Kemp founder of Maryman House, a shelter for survivors of domestic violence. Interview in Anita’s garden
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Louie Kirchhoff baker in Paducah for 75 years
Louie Kirchhoff who has lived in Paducah for 75 years, much of the time running his families bakery on 2nd Street since 1873
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Nathan Blake Lynn, musician, historian, and amateur folk musicologist
Nathan Blake Lynn, musician, historian, and amateur folk musicologist. Interview at Paducah riverfront at dawn
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African glass beads at the Paducah Farmers Market
African glass beads at Melanie and Erileigh’s stall at the Paducah Farmers Market. So much good stuff, fresh veggies and fruit. Shantyboat parked at edge of market