CapeCodToday Blog Chowder

I'm on my second Kindle. The battery of the first one failed, and Amazon replaced it, no questions asked. I love this little device, even though the design (esp. the first generation) is clunky.

Lately I've taken to loading my Kindle books onto my iPod Touch, which is easier to carry around. One of the nice features is that the Kindle and iPod will synchronize with each other, so if I quit reading on the former and resume on the latter, I don't have to search for my place in the book. It takes me right to it.

Crusader,

I've heard similar theories, but I suspect the truth will never come out.

-- EJA

Trusuki,

You should read A Rose for Mary, however the author is related to Sullivan and whitewashes her character and background. But there is detail about her Hyannis life. I highly recommend The Boston Stranglers, which presents in my mind a more realistic picture of Mary Sullivan. Sounds as if she left your brother and the Cape seeking adventure.

-- EJA

As I recall, I cobbled this story together from disparate accounts in the Yarmouth Register and the Barnstable Patriot of 1898.

Other than that, I haven't seen it anywhere else.

-- EJA

Not sure what you mean. In my review I wrote about the scene where Moralas confronts the alleged killer thus:

"In addition to murder and thrills, Mystery Street also comes with some biting social commentary about conditions on Cape Cod in the 1950s. When Moralas serves a search warrant on a Hyannis man whose family had been living in Barnstable bbefore there was a United States,' the Yankee sniffs, 'But from the way you talk, you haven’t been around here long.' Moralas ignores the comment, and continues his search, but finds nothing. As he leaves, the Cape Codder tells him, 'You know, I’m used to respect. People looking up to me.' 'So am I,' Moralas answers as he starts out the door. 'And my family hasn’t even been in this country for one hundred years.'”

I can't say that I've ever been accused of "political correctness" before ...

Ahem. Crusader, the reason I didn't mention who the killer was because that isn't revealed until halfway through the movie. That's called a "spoiler." By revealing it, one is "spoiling" the movie for people who haven't seen it. Reviewers, as a rule, try not to directly mention these things. You'll notice I also didn't write about the train station, or how the landlady ends up in bed, or the parrot.

I don't believe the producers or screenwriters based the movie on any specific events. I think they were looking for an interesting location. According to the commentary that accompanies the movie, after World War II travel restrictions had been lifted and Hollywood was looking to get out of town and shoot more exotic locales.

If you are a NetFlix subscriber, definitely add it to your queue.

Good luck on your endeavor. It's bigger than you think. There are nine villages, not five:

Buzzards Bay
Bournedale
Sagamore Beach
Sagamore
Bourne Village
Gray Gables
Monument Beach
Pocasset
Cataumet

And that doesn't include the base!

-- Josh

Nice piece, Jack. A couple of facts about the case I always found interesting:

The motive for the murder was that Sutcliffe had learned that Louise, his second wife, was sleeping with his best friend. Sutcliffe claimed he knew nothing of the affair.

Sutcliffe took a lie detector test 11 months before. According to his attorney, he passed with flying colors; according to Dinis, the test was inconclusive.

Almost a year after the acquittal, Sutcliffe published an important article describing the marine biomass, which some scientists later said was so plentiful, if it could be harvested it could feed the world.

-- Josh

Hey, Mike,

I've been trying to find the same thing for the very same reason (two books on Thompson at the same time--who'da thought?). Perhaps between the two of us we can track them down. The Century Co. doesn't exist, but they haven't owned the rights since the book went out of print. Also, be wary that Houghton Mifflin apparently claims rights to Thompson's autobio, but they are selling something they do not own.

E-mail me (ejalbright AT gmail DOT com) if you want to continue the conversation, but just know I am a competitor.

-- Josh

wôpanâshqâ,

I think you misunderstand me. The only point I'm questioning is the assertion that "townhood" was forced upon the Mashpees in 1870. The rest of the history you discuss--the conditions of the Mashpees in the 1700s (first under England and then under the US),the circumstances that spawned the wood riot in the 1830s--is history well known to me.

Some 15 years ago or so I proposed to write a book on the history of civil rights on Cape Cod. No publisher was interested, but my research was eventually broken into several articles published here and there.

My point of view with regard to the Wampanoags has been more "glass half full" than others. One of the themes of my proposed book was how the Mashpees consistently rose to the challenge when "white Charlie" oppressed them, and how they managed to maintain tribal customs even though they were assimilated into white society or intermarried with other ethnic groups (slaves from the South and Cape Verdeans in the 19th century).

-- Josh

wôpanâshqâ,

I'm not near my notes, but as I recall there were influential factions within Mashpee that wanted it to become a town. That the Legislature, in fact, was acting upon a petition from the Wampanoags.

During the 1970s land suit, a new version of history appeared, that the Mashpee Wampanoags had actually opposed the formation of a town. I seem to recall (although this was 15 years ago) I tried to find some document or account in which the tribe protested the formation of a town dated before the 1960s (when large parcels of land in town were eventually sold) and couldn't produce one. Instead, I found article after article where tribal members expressed tremendous pride at being a town and running their own affairs.

If you can point me to where I can find a source describing any kind of protest against forming a town that predates the 1960s, I'll check it out. I'd love to be corrected on this.

Feel free to write me offline about this, albright AT capecod DOT net.

-- Josh

Peter,

I can't speak to what happened at the Pow Wow regarding Bermuda. There were Wampanoags that were sent to the Carribean, but not Mashpees.

How did they lose their land? Members of the tribe sold it. In the 1870s, as I recall, Mashpee petitioned to become a town, not an Indian protectorate. With that change, it became legal for Wampanoags to sell their tribal lands. They refrained for almost a century, but eventually sold large tracts.

As for the pirating of wood, the land remained with the Wampanoags, but the overseer of the Mashpee plantation had the right to sell wood rights, if I recall correctly, to help offset the costs of running the plantation. The Rev. Fish went overboard, and the Mashpees rioted and won greater protections from the Legislature.

-- Josh

Peter, I agree with your sentiment, but you're mixing your Indian histories.

The Mashpee Wampanoags have actually received some of the greatest legal protections of any tribe in the United States. The laws of the land actually prevented many of the abuses you describe, particularly in the period from the 17th century up to the 20th century.

One reason for the largesse given the tribe was their refusal to participate in the King Philip's War. The Mashpees were not involved. In fact, their fellow tribe of so called "praying Indians" at what is today Bourne's Herring Pond may have been slaughtered en masse by the rebelling tribes their refusal to fight (a mass grave was found in the 1920s).

The victimization of Indians that you describe in some respects does a disservice to the Mashpees and their history of self-government and of fighting for their rights.

-- Josh

Hey, Solon. You heard correctly, but it's an apocryphal story, the Yucatecan version of "buying Manhattan for a handful of beads."

I have been unable to verify exactly what Thompson paid, but it was far more than $50, Mexican or US. He could have afforded that or even $500, but he needed the help of Allison Armour to purchase the land.

It is possible that the transaction as it appeared on tax logs was $50; even today in Yucatan land purchases are made in cash and the figure reported to the tax man is almost always far less than the actual price.

-- Josh

Sorry, Crusader. I know little about him. Sounds like Peter knew him, so maybe he can chime in.

He wrote for the Cape Cod News (now defunct), and through his relationship with Bernie Flynn, got the skinny on Ted Kennedy and Chappaquidick. This got him a book contract, but it never materialized. Instead Damore wrote a book about a Christian Scientist couple that were put on trial for murder because they refused medical treatment for their child. Then came In His Garden. He eventually did write the Chappaquidick book, mentioned above.

Here's an interesting bio of Damore (you have to delete the space):

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ USAdamore.htm

Click on the link to Mary Pinchot Meyer, which was what Damore was supposedly working on at the time of his death. Here's the link. Mind the gap:

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ JFKmeyerM.htm

Jack, Bernie supposedly knew where a lot of bodies are buried on Cape Cod, or at least claimed he did. Never spoke to him, either.

Mwalim, Good to hear from you, although as I recall the Zachary piece you wrote was not necessarily flattering of our coverage. Or is my memory tricking me? Life's been very good, although I miss newspapering on the Cape. I almost made it back a couple of times, but negotiations with publishers fell short. "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice ..."

keesuq, Thanks. My time in Mashpee was a particularly intense one as a reporter as it was during the second round of the David Mace shooting flap. Wrote a lot of stories about the Wampanoag.

-- Josh

Jack,

Bernie was one of the people out for Damore. As I recall he had sued him (successfully) for $50K for his help on the Chappaquiddick book. That was but one of a multitude of troubles Damore was having.

-- Josh

I come back and there are 27 comments. Wow. I don't think there are 27 comments in total for all the posts in my other blog. Walter keeps this place hopping, I'll give him that.

Of Christa Worthington, I have little comment. I tend to avoid what others are writing about. However, the investigation into her death got my book mentioned in TIME magazine. I guess that makes me no better than Flook or Peter Manso when his book comes out.

Figures, Peter, you would have a connection to Leo Damore. A few years ago I was getting ready to interview him when I heard about his death. Poor bastard. He was taking flak from all sides at the time.

-- Josh

Diana,

I disagree. Christa Worthington was solved because of media pressure. The Frances Carriere murder in Bourne was solved a quarter-century later because the Cape Cod Times took a renewed interest in the case.

Buzz mentioned the Cotuit housekeeper. I assume he means Herbert Reed, who was shot outside the Cotuit house he was caretaking in 1994. I think that is one case that deserves renewed attention.

The Costa book was quoted at length in "In His Garden," by Leo Damore. The book is out of print, but available through www.bookfinder.com.

-- Josh

Buzz,

Because of potential libel issues, I focus on crimes more than 50 years old. This blog is probably a good place as any to discuss some of those crimes of more modern vintage.

With regard to the trifecta of crimes you mention, there isn't enough space in these talkbacks to go through all of them. I'll add them to the list. Maybe between all of us we can solve the ones that are still open. Nobody else seems to be able to do it.

--Josh

Probably not, Diana.

-- Josh

Thanks, Jack.

-- Josh