Trade Embargoes -- A Blast From The Past -- Nothing About The Bakken -- November 2, 2018

Trenton, ND, bull rider to compete in world championships next week, Las Vegas. From myndnow:

The best bull riders in the world are competing next week in Las Vegas and one of the best comes from North Dakota.

"I found I can make a living doing what I love," said Stetson Lawrence, Professional Bull Rider. Stetson Lawrence grew up in Trenton, North Dakota and spent a lot of time at the rodeo grounds.

His father was a bull rider and even as a young boy he knew that was going to follow in his footsteps. "I dreamed of being where I am today," said Stetson. After competing for years, Stetson eventually became a professional bull rider. He worked his way up the ranks and survived a number of injuries - but he says it's all worth it. And why now? He's ranked number 24 in the world. 

And what a great name for a bull rider: Stetson.

Trenton is just a short ride from Williston. When I was last there a new casino was just being completed.

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The Blast From the Past

At the turn of the century -- that would be the 19th century -- these were the "Big Three" cities in the US: New York City, Boston, and Salem.  Boston would lose out to New York City later, but at the turn of the century, Salem lost and lost big.

From The Peabody Sisters, Megan Marshall, c. 2006.

The Embargo Act, which prohibited any bound for a foreign destination from leaving port in the United States, had been designed to strike back at France and Britain for an escalating series of trade restrictions that encouraged the capture of American cargo by privateers ...

... But rather than force the hands of the French and the British, the 1807 Embargo Act abruptly decimated commerce in all the major ports along the Atlantic seaboard. By the summer of 1808, the harbors were willed with dismantled vessels; thousands of seamen were thrown out of employment ...

... In Salem, virtually all of the 225-vessel merchant fleet was tied up at dock until the embargo was lifted a year later for all trade but that with Britain and France. Even then, although merchants rushed to send their ships on voyages to the Caribbean, the Baltic, and the Far East, their ships and sailors remained in serious jeopardy from French and British privateers.

Jefferson's successor, James Madison, declared war on England in 1812 in an effort to put an end to the hostilities and gain Canada in the bargain -- much to the chagrin of Salem's shipowners, who had long held France accountable for the worst of the damage. Reluctantly Salem dedicated 40 of its fleet to the cause, losing 26 ships before the war ended in 1815, in a peace agreement that did not include the annexation of any Canadian lands. By the, of the 225 vessels registered in Salem at the start of the war, only 57 were left, the rest becoming the casualties of harsh economics.

Salem would never regain its leadership position in foreign trade, ceding it to the deeper harbors of Boston and New York. Salem's merchant class shrank to an aristocracy that lived on past glory and interest income ...

Later, maybe we'll see how Boston fell way behind NYC.