Should You Believe Everything You Read Online ?
Home Growers Corner
Cannabis
Should You Believe Everything You Read Online ?
The Mountain Man knew ... Just Say ’ n ! by Jay Richardson , contributing writer
The Mountain Man
My column this month needs a warning and a disclaimer like the ones you sometimes see at the beginning of a TV show or movie . WARNING : The following article might contain things that disturb you or that you may not particularly agree with . Since you are reading this magazine , I guess you are pretty cool and open-minded . Since marijuana is a substance that could expand your mind , I am also going to take a wild guess and predict that you are the type of person who likes to have your mind expanded .
I will tell you upfront that we are going to explore religion a little bit , and we are also going to discuss history . Religion can be controversial and make people angry . I ’ ll try not to make you angry , and I promise not to preach to you . I won ’ t try to change your beliefs , and I won ’ t try to convert you . History can be boring , and I hate boring , so I ’ ll try not to put you to sleep . I want to discuss how history and some wise words I found in the Good Book relate to today ’ s legal cannabis industry .
For our history lesson , let ’ s explore the California Gold Rush . As many of you probably know , James Marshall discovered gold in a California creek in 1848 , and word quickly spread . People everywhere have a great deal in common . No matter where you are from or what time period that you live in , most of us want the same thing . We want to get rich and would prefer not to put very much effort into achieving our goal . The popular comedian Kevin Hart said it best : “ Everybody wants to get rich , but nobody wants to do the work .”
36 January 2025
Things were no different in 1848 than they are today . People from all over the world stormed into California , and the Gold Rush was on . There have been many kinds of rushes throughout history . There have been gold rushes and land rushes , and I just had a head rush . It ’ s always the same . A few people always strike it rich , but most of the people walk away empty-handed .
Sometimes , people will become rich in surprising ways that don ’ t involve finding gold . A man named Levi Strauss got rich in California by selling the gold miners blue jeans . Have any of you ever worn a pair of Levi ’ s ? Well , old Levi was the guy who invented them . Right now , things aren ’ t much different . I speculate that the person who invented grow lights makes more money than those using them .
There were many different ways to profit from the Gold Rush , and sometimes , you didn ’ t even have to go to California . The people headed west to seek their fortune needed maps and books to help them find their way and guide them to the safest route to get to their destination . There were many dangers on the journey . There were impassable mountain ranges , rivers that could drown you , and hostile Native Americans . The Native Americans had every right to be hostile . Hordes of strangers were coming onto their land and were using extreme violence in an attempt to evict them from their homes and land .
There was a problem with many of the maps and much of the information . The books and maps contained fraudulent information and claims made by people who had never traveled to California . They just used whatever random information they could find and made up the rest . These mapmakers were just happy to sell the maps and never really worried about what happened to the people who used them . This is where the religious part of my article comes in . It ’ s The New Testament where I quote Mathew 7:15-20 . “ Beware of the false prophets , who come to you in sheep ’ s clothing , but inwardly are ravenous wolves .” I ’ m not trying to preach religion . I ’ m suggesting that you should be careful where you get your information .
If someone wanted reliable map-related information , the best place to get it was from a Mountain Man . Those guys were fur trappers living in the mountains for decades and knew many ways to get to California safely . The Mountain Men were known to be honest and generous because , in their world , being a liar or a thief was a good way to get a man killed . They were generous — when someone needs help , you give them help . Mountain Men knew , “ What goes around comes around .”
The Mountain Men were glad to help the newcomers in their quest for gold just because it was in their nature . They didn ’ t ask for much in return for the information they shared and often gave it away for free . The main goal of these old timers was to make sure that people had reliable maps and got safely to where they were headed . The Mountain Men could spot a counterfeit map without looking at it because they actually knew where the mountains and rivers were and didn ’ t need a map to find them . The Mountain Men preferred peace and quiet and their old way of life but understood the world