On February 3, 1959, Buddy Holly, along with Ritchie Valens, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, and pilot Roger Peterson, died in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa. The musicians had chartered a plane after experiencing heating problems with their tour bus. The single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza crashed shortly after takeoff, and all four were killed instantly due to head trauma.

* The Day the Music Died:

The crash became known as "The Day the Music Died" and was later immortalized in Don McLean's song "American Pie".

* The Flight:

Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper were on their way to Moorhead, Minnesota, for the next stop on their "Winter Dance Party" tour.

* Weather Conditions:

The weather conditions were poor with snow and gusty winds, and the pilot, Roger Peterson, was not adequately briefed on the worsening weather.

* Crash Site:

The plane crashed in a cornfield, and the impact ejected the musicians from the aircraft, while the pilot was found within the wreckage.

* Cause of Death:

The county coroner stated that all four fatalities were due to severe head trauma.

* Pilot Error:

Investigations pointed to pilot error, including inadequate weather information and potential spatial disorientation due to unfamiliarity with the aircraft's instruments.

* Impact:

The crash had a profound impact on the music world, marking a tragic turning point for rock and roll and leading to various tributes and memorials.

Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

This French Ontarian remarked how he never saw U.S. residents on this remote stretch of Canadian highway. I was the first! So, I made him famous.

Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

A trip to Canada would not be complete without a dip in mighty Lake Superior.

Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

I came across the monstrosity after getting a private tour of the Agnico Eagle Goldex facility in Val-D’or. Photos of the Goldex mine are found below, where they are mining a mile beneath the surface. A job not for the claustrophobic (read: The Crotty).

Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

The Rosario captures The Crotty ranting on the absence of pickup pickleball in Gotham. Inexcusable.

Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Here is the story, infused with Hegelian dialectic and “beautiful” singing by Crotty. Connie Connors did the packing. Production by the esteemed Michael Rosario, the legendary “Puerto Rican Man.”

Thank you to the inimitable Michael Kassner for granting me a port in the storm of Manhattan long past its cool date. My time was well spent. From the confines of my groovy Manhattan bachelor pad, I launched Crotty’s Kids, where I taught urban kids to become academic athletes through the power of speech and debate, and dated the great Apryl Miller, doyenne of color and style. Watch and enjoy.

Thanks for reading the Crotty Farm Report! This post is public, so feel free to share it.

Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Zephaniah Kingsley was a slaver. He bought and sold slaves. His unique selling proposition was that he upgraded his offerings—teaching them English, an applicable agricultural trade—thereby dramatically increasing the price he received at auction.

Slaving was the primary focus of the Zephaniah plantation on Fort George Island, deep in the bayous of Jacksonville, Florida. The plantation was only accessible by water. A series of alligator-infested bayous awaited any slave who tried to escape.

However, Zephaniah discouraged escapes by treating his slaves better than most slaveholders. The work was hard and unrelenting, but slaves were given plenty of family time when the day was done. Zephaniah did not believe slaves were inferior. His wife was a slave who bore him four mullato children, all of whom earned their freedom in 1811, and in the strange paradox of slavery, went on to become slavers themselves.

Besides the dark practice of cultivating valuable slaves, Zephaniah’s plantation was primarily engaged in the production of Sea Island cotton, prized by Europeans for its long, silky fibers. Of the plantation's 750 acres, most was devoted to cotton production. An overgrowth of trees has since reclaimed it.

Zephaniah also became involved in the brutal practice of sugar cane cultivation, as well as a small amount of indigo, but the Kingsley plantation was primarily engaged in cotton production.

The grounds of the Kingsley estate include the oldest plantation house still standing in Florida, and its collection of slave cabins constructed from tabby is one of the best-preserved in the United States. It is considered "the oldest surviving antebellum Spanish Colonial plantation in the United States." It is a must-see in any tour of Jacksonville.

Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

The estate that came to be known as “Mar-a-Lago,” sea to lake, was constructed for the socialite and business executive Marjorie Merriweather Post between 1924 and 1927, during the Florida land craze. The daughter of C.W. Post, she was best known as the owner and director of Postum Cereal Company, which acquired some of the nation's top brands, including Hellmann’s Mayonnaise, Jell-O, Maxwell House, and Birdseye, pioneering the development of frozen food. The company was later renamed General Foods Corporation. At the time of her death in 1973, Post bequeathed the property to the National Park Service, with the hope that it could be used for state visits or as a Winter White House. Sure enough, it became a Winter White House. Though who knows if Post would have approved of the eventual owner!

Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

It was long drive from Omaha. But I achieved what I sought: multiple sightings of gator plus the added bonus of impressive Everglades bird life. Look below.

I highly recommend a day trip to the Everglades.

Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe