Caryn
My niece, Lacey Killinger has had a year of ups and downs. There is really no other way to say it. The hardest of the downside of the year, was losing her mother, Alena Stevens to cancer on April 23, 2025. It doesn’t seem right to bring sadness into a birthday story, but my sister was very close to her children, and I know they all miss her terribly. Kids expect that their parents will be around for many years of their lives, but for Lacey, that was not to be. Her mother left her when Lacey was just 32 years old, and that makes me very sad for Lacey…and for her dad, siblings, and the rest of their family and extended family.
While the Spring was a hard time of this year, there is light at the end of the tunnel for this family. Lacey married the love of her life, Chris Killinger on October 28, 2023, and became a stepmom to his kids, Brooklyn and Jaxon. Now, 
they are going to grow their little family by adding a new baby in early August 2026. When Lacey told her aunts, my sisters, Cheryl Masterson, Caryl Reed, Allyn Hadlock, and me that she was pregnant, we were all so excited. Lacey said, “Thank you! We are super excited, but starting this journey without my mom has been really hard. Still, I know we have a supportive family.” I know they wish Alena could be here, because she would be so excited, but she is watching from Heaven, and we know she is very happy too. While she is now with us in person, she is in spirit, and this is her family too. We don’t know what this baby will be yet, or even if they will reveal the gender, but that doesn’t matter. This baby will be very loved…is already loved. We’re all very excited.
Lacey has been a wonderful stepmom to Brooklyn and Jaxon, and they love her very much. Lacey is a cosmetologist by profession, and the kids get to enjoy the bounty that brings. They can have just about any hairstyle they choose, or want to experiment with, and they know it will turn out great. It saves a lot of money too, on both sides. Much of Lacey’s work is makeup and hair for weddings, and she is becoming quite well known. The shop she owns is called Lux Lou, and Lacey is usually pretty busy. She and Chris are building a good life, and the future is very bright for them and their little family. Today is Lacey’s birthday. Happy birthday Lacey!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
It’s so hard for me to believe that my youngest great grandson, Cristian Petersen is one year old today. It seems like just yesterday that he arrived. Cristian is all smiles and personality. He has the ability to turn on that charm and steal your heart in a minute. His big blue eyes light up when he sees the people he loves, especially his older brothers, Justin and Axel. Cristian thinks his brothers are the greatest. They love to make him laugh and when the three of them get going, it’s like a giggle festival. Cristian hates to take a nap, because he might miss something, so he fights it as long as he can.
Now that Cristian can crawl and walk along the furniture, he is pretty much everywhere at once. Keeping up with him is a full-time job for anyone “in charge” of him. Cristian thinks he is the one in charge, you know. When he is planning 
to do something he knows he isn’t supposed to, he quickly crawls toward his target, stops and turns to look at you, to see if you are going to stop him, then grins and quickly move toward his target. He seems to think his charm alone will keep him out of trouble…and he could be right. He’s a hard one to be upset with. He really does know how to pour on the charm.
Cristian also loves to be chased. He will crawl as fast as he can, and if it seems like he got away, he will peek around the corner, just daring you to come after him. He loves playing “I’m gonna get you” with me. He loves being caught and tickled. He laughs and laughs!! Then, he takes off again to see if you’ll chase him again. Cristian loves to look at books, but doesn’t have time to hear the story yet. He prefers to look at the pictures, 
for now anyway. He loves listening to nursery songs and dancing along. Like his brothers, he will know the words before long. And Cristian loves to stick out his tongue.
He’s been getting very brave about letting go of the tables and chairs he is hanging onto these days too. I would expect that he will be walking within a month or so. He is very motivated. He knows that his brothers walk around, and he wants to do everything his big brothers do. He loves everything about his big brothers, but then Cristian is a very loving boy. The minute he sees people he loves, his face lights up. Today is Cristian’s 1st birthday. Happy birthday sweet boy!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
My husband’s aunt, Margee Kountz is the last of her siblings still alive. She came into this world almost 18 years after her oldest sister, Joann Schulenberg. In fact, Margee was just six months old when her sister was married. My father-in-law, Joann’s husband, Walt Schulenberg was very taken by Margee. He told my mother-in-law, that when they were married, he wanted to have a daughter, just like Margee. Their marriage actually produced four daughters and two sons, so I guess he got his wish. I know he was always a great dad and loved all his children very much.
Margee went on to marry, and have two children of her own, Dan and Sandy. She was there for them in every way…from early childhood, through the school years, and beyond. She’s been a hands-on mom, grandma, and great grandma. Life isn’t always easy…it has its ups and downs, and especially for kids, we need to guide them through it all. Margee was always supportive of her family, helping them through life’s tough moments and celebrating the good ones right alongside them. Then she celebrated with the grandchildren and is enjoying the great grandkids. It really is the reward we receive for having kids. 
Like most of us, I’m sure Margee thought her siblings would be around for years yet, but of course, with Joann being 18 years older, she knew that wouldn’t be. Nevertheless, when Joann was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, Margee stepped up to help out with her sister. She came for visits when Walt had to go to the doctor or other appointment. We couldn’t have managed all we needed without Margee’s assistance. We always knew she would be there for us. That time was so important, because even as her memory faded, having family around helped her hold on to what she could remember. Margee would talk with her about their childhood, their parents, and grandparents. Those conversations became gifts that Margee gave her sister, and a treasure to me, knowing how much they meant to my mother-in-law. The worst thing a family member can do to someone with Alzheimer’s is to only remember them as they once were and never visit. It doesn’t matter if they forget the visit later…what matters is that they knew at the time that there was a visit from a loved one. Kindness doesn’t get more perfect than that, and Margee visited her sister as often as possible. We knew she was always there for her, even when it was hard to be, but we knew it.
Margee also had another sister, Linda Cole, who lived in Winnemucca, Nevada. They didn’t get to see each other often, but they spoke on the phone as often as they could. Unfortunately, that came to an end too, when 
Linda passed away in September 2016. Years had gone by since her sisters last saw her, which made her passing even more heartbreaking. They always felt like there would be more time, but when it was gone, all that remained was the sadness of her absence. While Margee has dealt with much loss over the years, she has also managed to move forward with the life. While she misses her sisters and other loved ones, she is enjoying every day that she lives. Today is Margee’s 77th birthday. Happy birthday Margee. Have a great day!! We love you!!
My husband’s uncle, Bobby Cole, was born and raised in South Dakota. I’m not certain about all the details of how he met my husband’s aunt, Linda “Knox” Cole, but I know they crossed paths in Colstrip, Montana, where her parents were living at the time. I would imagine that Bobby was working at the coal mine there, when a certain girl caught his attention. Once he met Linda, he was smitten, knowing she was the love of his life…and as it turns out, he was right. They married on December 29, 1965, and shared their lives together until Bobby’s passing on May 30, 2014.
Bobby grew up on his parents’ farm, so the country lifestyle was second nature to him. Still, like many kids, the idea of a change of pace…and a little independence…was enticing. After high school, most kids either move out for work or head to college, and for Bobby, moving to Colstrip, Montana turned out to be the best decision he ever made. When he met Linda, everything fell into place. They dated for a while before heading to Las Vegas, Nevada to get married. After their wedding, they welcomed two children…a daughter, Sheila, and a son, Patrick…and later, their lives were further blessed with multiple grandchildren.
When their kids were young, Linda and Bobby moved to Kennebec, South Dakota, where they ran a hotel and welcomed a few guests…pretty good for such a tiny town. For us, visiting felt like staying at a bed and breakfast, though the other guests had to find breakfast elsewhere. Too bad for them!! Our trips were always so relaxing, filled with that unmistakable small-town charm I loved. I wouldn’t want to live in a small town full-time, but as an annual getaway, it was perfect. Maybe it was the break from daily life that made it so appealing. Since we didn’t see Linda and Bobby often, having unhurried time together was a rare treat. Visits were always filled with laughter and fun.
A few years later, their hotel was hit by lightning during a summer storm and burned to the ground. After the 
fire, they decided to leave both the hotel business and Kennebec. That’s when they moved to Winnemucca, Nevada, and for the most part, the annual trips came to an end. Winnemucca was just too far for a weekend getaway like Kennebec had been. I was always sad to see those trips stop…it felt like the end of an era. The only thing sadder was when Bobby passed away, and later, when Linda did. I’ll always miss them. They were a fun couple, and we really enjoyed visiting them. Today would have been Bobby’s 83rd birthday. Happy birthday in Heaven, Bobby. We love and miss you very much.
Sometimes, I am amazed by the eccentricity of people, especially when they are people in power. Eccentricity is putting it mildly when it comes to Roman Emperor Gaius, also known as Caligula. Emperor Gaius may have been a great leader, but that is not what he has been remembered for unfortunately. He is remembered for being…maybe a little crazy. Emperor Gaius was a kind enough man, both to people and to animals. He loved his horses especially…so much, in fact, that he made one of his favorite horses a senator within his government. His horse was named Incitatus, and Emperor Gaius made sure he lived in luxury, giving him a marble stall, an ivory manger, a jeweled collar, and even a house…for a horse!! Emperor Gaius also allegedly planned to make his trusty steed Consul before he was assassinated.
Gaius was born on August 31, 12 AD, to Germanicus, a well-loved Roman general, and Agrippina the Elder of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Soldiers fondly called him “Caligula,” or “little boot,” because of the tiny military boots he wore as a child. After his father’s death in 19 AD and the political chaos that followed, Gaius and his family endured many hardships, including the execution of several relatives under Emperor Tiberius, leaving a lasting impact on him. Caligula became emperor in AD 37 at just 24 years old, after the death of Tiberius. At first, he was well-liked and introduced reforms, including public works and building projects to help the people of Rome. But things soon shifted, as his reign grew marked by extravagance, cruelty, and demands to be treated like a god. He’s often remembered for strange behavior, like supposedly wanting to make his horse a consul, along with acts of violence against those he saw as enemies.
Caligula is still seen as a controversial figure, often remembered as one of history’s most notorious rulers, representing the extremes of power and the risk of tyranny in the Roman Empire. His life and reign continue to spark fascination and debate among historians and scholars. Caligula’s reign lasted only four years. The eccentric Emperor met his fate in a conspiracy involving the Praetorian Guard. After a serious illness, Gaius’ 
bizarre behavior and bold claims of divinity stirred unrest among the people. On January 24, 41 AD, he was assassinated by Cassius Chaerea, Cornelius Sabinus, and others, along with his wife and daughter. His rule had been infamous for extravagant spending, ruthless treatment of rivals, and even naming his horse as consul…a symbol of his unchecked power. this likely led to the unrest among the people. His death signaled the end of an era and stood as a warning to future emperors about the dangers of their actions and the threat of violent uprisings. It was a pivotal moment in Roman history, paving the way for his uncle Claudius to take the throne. While historical accounts often depict Caligula in a negative light, some modern historians believe many accusations against him were likely exaggerated or driven by political agendas. I suppose we will never know for sure.
John Moses Browning, often called the “father of modern firearms,” was born in Ogden, Utah, on January 23, 1855. He was the son of a talented gunsmith, Jonathan Browning. As was typical in the Mormon church community at the time, Jonathan Browning practiced polygamy, marrying three wives. He had 22 children, including John Moses, and also helped raise two stepdaughters with his wife Elizabeth Caroline Clark.
Browning started working in his father’s Ogden shop at just seven years old. There he learned basic engineering and manufacturing skills. His father also encouraged him to try out new ideas, thereby fostering his creativity. While still apprenticing under his father, Browning built his first rifle…a single-shot, falling block action design. In 1878, he teamed up with his younger brother to found the John Moses and Matthew Sandefur Browning Company, later known as Browning Arms Company. There, the brothers produced their own designs and other non-military firearms. By 1882, their half-brothers Jonathan, Thomas, William, and George had joined the business. Many legendary guns associated with the American West…like those from Winchester, Colt, Remington, and Savage…were actually based on Browning’s designs.
At 24, Browning earned his first patent for a rifle that Winchester produced as the Single Shot Model 1885. Impressed by his ingenuity, Winchester asked Browning to create a lever-action repeating shotgun. He did, but he soon realized a pump-action design would be more effective, leading to his first pump-action shotgun patent in 1888. At their core, all of Browning’s manually-operated repeating rifle and shotgun designs focused on one goal…making it faster and more reliable for shooters to fire multiple rounds, whether aiming at game birds or people. Lever and pump actions let the user fire a shot, work the lever or pump to eject the spent shell, load a fresh cartridge, and fire again in just seconds.
By the late 1880s, Browning had mastered the manual repeating firearm, but to make guns fire even faster, he needed to remove the slow process of humans operating the mechanisms. What could replace the effort of pulling a lever or pump? The answer came to him at a local shooting competition, where he noticed “reeds between a shooter and the target being blown violently aside by gases escaping from the muzzle.” Browing had the idea of harnessing that escaping gas to automatically operate the repeating mechanism. He started working on his idea in 1889, and by 1892 he had a patent for the first rough version of a fully automatic weapon. It worked by capturing gases at the muzzle to power a mechanism that reloaded the next bullet automatically.
I am amazed at the mind of this man. Over the years, he improved the design, and by the time US soldiers headed to Europe in World War I, many were armed with Browning Automatic Rifles and his powerful machine guns. Over a career lasting more than fifty years, Browning’s firearms evolved from iconic weapons of the American West to lethal instruments of world war. Remarkably, since his death in 1926, the modern firearm industry has seen no major fundamental changes. No improvements could be made, it seems.
On January 22, 1879, American soldiers chased Cheyenne Chief Dull Knife and his people as they made a desperate run for freedom. The clash ended in a devastating defeat for Dull Knife and his band, as the soldiers brought the so-called Dull Knife Outbreak to a crushing end.
Dull Knife, also known as Morning Star, was a prominent chief of the Northern Cheyenne tribe. He had long advocated for peace with the powerful Anglo-Americans moving into his homeland in the Powder River region of present-day Wyoming and Montana. But the 1864 Sand Creek massacre, where Colorado militiamen killed over 200 peaceful Cheyenne, made him doubt they could ever be trusted. Reluctantly, he led his people into a war he feared they couldn’t win. In 1876, many of his people fought alongside Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull in their victory at the Battle of Little Bighorn, though Dull Knife himself did not take part.
In the winter after Little Bighorn, Dull Knife and his people camped near the headwaters of the Powder River in Wyoming, only to be caught in the army’s winter campaign for revenge. In November, General Ranald Mackenzie’s forces found the village and attacked, costing Dull Knife many lives. Along with other Native leaders, he reluctantly surrendered the following spring. By 1877, the military had moved Dull Knife and his followers far from their Wyoming homeland to Indian Territory 
on the southern plains, in what is now Kansas and Oklahoma. Unable to hunt traditionally and reliant on scarce government rations, they suffered from hunger, homesickness, and disease. After a year, they rebelled, and in September 1878 joined another band in an epic journey back to Wyoming. Though Dull Knife declared peaceful intentions, the government saw them as renegades, and soldiers from across the Plains pursued them without success. Still, running for your life can take its toll.
When Dull Knife and his people reached Fort Robinson, Nebraska, near their Wyoming homeland, they surrendered to the government, hoping to be allowed to remain in the area. Instead, officials threatened to keep them captive at the fort unless they agreed to return south to the Indian Territory. Refusing to give up when his goal was so close, Dull Knife led about 100 of his people in a final desperate bid for freedom in early January. Soldiers from the fort pursued the already weak and starving group of men, women, and children, and on January 22, attacked and killed at least 30, including several members of Dull Knife’s immediate family.
Wounded and weary, most of the survivors returned to Fort Robinson and resigned themselves to their fate. Dull Knife escaped and eventually found refuge with Chief Red Cloud on the Sioux reservation in Nebraska. Allowed to stay there, he died four years later, filled with bitterness toward the White Man he had once hoped to live alongside in peace. That same year, the government finally granted the Northern Cheyenne a permanent reservation on the Tongue River in Montana, close to their ancestral homeland. At last, Dull Knife’s people had returned home, though their great chief did not live to see it.
As a girl, I loved hanging out with my uncle, Bill Spencer. We always just clicked. He was a favorite of all my sisters too. Uncle Bill was my dad, Allen Spencer’s older brother…older by two years. The brothers did everything together. Uncle Bill was always protective of his little brother, keeping an eye on him and teaching him all the things boys of the Great Depression era needed to know to get along in life. They were close, and they were “partners in crime” or at least in the antics of little boys. Being farm boys, they played with and in the things of a farm, one of them being the wood pile. The thought of the boys playing there makes me cringe a little, but they survived, so I wonder in the wood pile was smaller than I imagined or solidly stacked. Uncle Bill told me once about a time they were playing on that wood pile. When he looked over to check on his brother, who was 3 or so, my dad was sound asleep…standing up but leaning against the wood pile. The story might seem incredulous, but I’ve seen my great grandson, Axel Petersen asleep standing up, leaning over my coffee table. It still makes me laugh, so I can imagine what Uncle Bill did. 
Being farm kids, my aunts, Laura Fredrick and Ruth Wolfe, as well as my uncle and my dad knew how to work the hay, gardens, wood piles, and how to remove stumps…with dynamite!! These were just boys, but they had been trained since they were little. So, by the time they were old enough to stay home alone while their mom, Grandma Anna Spencer went to town for supplies, they were also old enough to get into mischief, and so they did. They decided one day to see what would happen if dynamite was set off on the top of a gatepost. Well, they found out alright. When that dynamite went off, that gatepost sunk several inches into the ground. Now, they had a dilemma. The gate wouldn’t close, and their mom would know. So, the boys got busy repositioning that gatepost so the gate would close before her arrival…and then to act like nothing happened. It was a typical antic the brothers pulled off, with their mother none the wiser…or if she was, she never let on. I suspect my grandmother knew more that the brothers thought, but they were good boys, so she gave them some latitude.
My Uncle Bill and my dad always had a little bit of the mischievous boy in them. It was a permanent part of who they were, and probably one of the things that endeared them to us the most. They really were the little 
boys who would never fully grow up, and that was ok with all of us. I think that if they had been too serious, we would not have had so much fun when we were around them. These days, they live in Heaven with their parents, siblings, and even their spouses. Uncle Bill had been divorced for many years, but as neither he nor Aunt Doris had ever remarried, I believe they always loved each other, and I believe they are good friends in Heaven too. I look forward to seeing all of them in the future. Today would have been my Uncle Bill’s 104th birthday. Happy birthday in Heaven, Uncle Bill. We love and miss you very much.
Anyone familiar with the Civil War knows the Union emerged victorious, but that doesn’t mean they won every battle. Few wars see completely one-sided battlefield results, and the Battle of Fredericksburg was a clear example. On December 11, 1862, Ambrose Burnside, newly appointed commander of the Army of the Potomac, set out to cross the Rappahannock River in Virginia with more than 120,000 troops. Delays meant the crossing wasn’t completed until December 13th, when they faced Robert E. Lee’s 80,000…strong Confederate Army at Fredericksburg. With 200,000 soldiers engaged, it was the largest troop concentration of the Civil War…and a devastating loss for the Union. Nearly 13,000 Union soldiers were killed or wounded, compared to about 5,000 Confederate casualties.
People might think that Burnside was not much of a commander, but it should be mentioned that this was the first time he had commanded an army. He was a graduate of West Point, had risen quickly up the ranks, and had seen action in several battles prior to this fateful day. Abraham Lincoln had approached him about taking control of the Union’s Army. He hesitated, partly out of loyalty to the current commander and former classmate, and partly because he was unsure of his own ability. In the end the prior commander’s failure assured that he was on the way out, and rather than have Major General Joseph Hooker, a fierce rival, pass him up, Burnside accepted the commission on November 7, 1862.
Knowing he needed the element of surprise, Burnside devised a plan to face Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia at Fredericksburg. His idea was to move his troops to the banks of the Rappahannock River, quickly assemble pontoon bridges, and cross over to catch the enemy off guard. Lincoln admired the boldness of the plan and approved it, though he doubted its chances of success. Burnside moved swiftly, arriving at the river by November 19, 1862. Whether the plan could have worked remains unknown, as some Union generals, including Winfield Scott Hancock, believed the river could be crossed without boats and failed to send them, urging Burnside to proceed anyway. Convinced the river was too swift and deep, Burnside refused. They ended up waiting a week for the boats…right under the watchful eyes of Confederate scouts.
The element of surprise was gone. As soon as they started building the pontoon bridges, the Confederate Army opened fire. Burnside responded with a massive bombardment of Fredericksburg, marking the first time a city was shelled in the Civil War. The Union held off the Confederates just long enough to finish the bridges and rush across the river. Two days later, Burnside ordered his left flank to strike Lee’s right, hoping to force Lee to shift troops south and leave the center and Marye’s Heights exposed. For a while, it seemed like the plan might work—General George Meade broke through “Stonewall” Jackson’s line…but the Union didn’t send enough reinforcements, allowing the Confederates to launch a successful counterattack. Lee kept James Longstreet’s men in place at Marye’s Heights, where they crushed Union forces. Burnside lost eight soldiers for every Confederate killed. Though he briefly considered another assault, the battle was over. The Union suffered nearly 13,000 casualties compared to fewer than 5,000 for the Confederates, and they had to regroup before making another attempt.
Burnside was an unpopular commander, partly because he tended to rush into action without much planning. His insecurities ultimately led to his downfall. While preparing his next attack, some of his officers went to President Lincoln with their concerns, prompting Lincoln to call it off. On January 20, 1863, Burnside was ready to try again, but delays with the pontoon bridges and worsening weather got in the way. What had been a dry month turned rainy, leaving roads nearly impassable. Troops who had once marched 40 miles a day to Fredericksburg now struggled to make even a mile. For three days, they slogged through what became known as the “Mud March,” taunted along the way by Confederate forces watching from dry ground. Five days after it began, the offensive was over…along with Burnside’s brief six-week command of the Army of the Potomac. Lincoln quickly replaced him with the very man Burnside had feared: Joseph Hooker.
Fredericksburg marked a low point for the North in the war, while the South celebrated. Burnside might have been better off sticking to his side career in weapon design, which he returned to after retiring in 1853. In 1856, he earned his first patent for a .54 caliber breech-loading firearm. Impressed by its performance, the U.S. Army gave the Bristol Firearm Company in Rhode Island, where Burnside worked, a $100,000 contract. But the deal was abruptly canceled under suspicious circumstances, allegedly due to a rival munitions company bribing the army ordnance department to change suppliers. Burnside’s misfortune continued the next year with a failed Congressional run, followed by a fire that destroyed the Bristol factory, forcing him to sell his patents. Others profited when, at the start of the Civil War, demand for his invention surged. By 1865, over 55,000 carbines had been ordered, making the Burnside one of the Union’s most popular weapons—second only to the Sharps carbine and my ancestor Christopher Spencer’s Spencer Carbine.
Burnside eventually found his claim to fame, but it wasn’t for war or weaponry. He sported facial hair in a style very unusual for the era…a bushy beard and moustache paired with a clean-shaven chin. Burnside’s distinctive whiskers were originally named for him…named “burnsides,” but over time, the name was flipped to become “sideburns.”
Over the history of the world, there have been many forms of “currency” or at least what was used for currency. In the Old West, doctors often took chickens or eggs for their medical services. During the gold rush, those who found gold dust knew that they could also spend the gold dust. Many other forms of currency have been used, but possibly one of the strangest was tulip bulbs. Nevertheless, it was a real thing for a short time. Tulpenmanie, tulip mania in English, was a period during the Dutch Golden Age. During that time, the prices for certain bulbs of the newly introduced and fashionable tulip soared to astonishing heights.
It’s strange to think of a flower bulb being so expensive that it could be used a currency, but the rapid rise began in 1634, only to collapse dramatically in February 1637. I guess they finally realized how strange it was. Tulpenmanie was seen as the first recorded speculative or asset bubble, it was more of an unfamiliar socio-economic curiosity than a major economic crisis. It had little impact on the prosperity of the Dutch Republic, which remained one of the world’s leading economic powers in the 17th century, boasting the highest per capita income from around 1600 to 1720. Today, the term “Tulip Mania” is often used to describe any large economic bubble where asset prices stray far from their intrinsic values.
Forward markets emerged in the Dutch Republic in the 17th century, with one of the most famous revolving around the tulip trade. A forward market is “an over-the-counter marketplace that sets the price of a financial instrument or asset for future delivery.” At the height of tulip mania in February 1637, some bulbs sold for over ten times the annual income of a skilled artisan. It was crazy!! Studying this period is tricky due to scarce and often biased economic records from the 1630s. Some modern economists suggest that price swings may have had logical causes rather than being pure speculation. For instance, other flowers like hyacinths also started with high prices that dropped as they became easier to grow. Prices may have been further boosted by expectations of a law allowing contracts to be canceled cheaply, reducing risks for buyers.
The 1637 event drew renewed attention in 1841 with the release of the book Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Scottish journalist Charles Mackay, who claimed that at one point, “5 hectares 
(12 acres) of land were offered for a single Semper Augustus bulb.” He wrote that many investors were ruined when prices collapsed, dealing a severe blow to Dutch commerce. While Mackay’s work is often cited, his version of events is debated, and many modern scholars think the mania wasn’t as devastating as he portrayed. We will likely never know, but rather there will always be merely speculation, mostly due to the era in which the mania occurred.
