These Mysterious Hills

01/13/2026

Resettting the board to 12:15, 1/13/2026

01/13/2026

Getting close to the goal

My cousin, Biagio Kauvil, was the purest soul and a kind person to everyone… Myles Levardi needs your support for Support for Biagio Kauvil’s Family & Funeral

01/13/2026

Berkshire Eagle 40 years ago today [Jan 13, 1986]

01/12/2026

The East Lee flood of 1886 was among the worst mass tragedies - but it would have been even more catastrophic if not for two brothers who ran to warn the village, in the downhill footrace of their lives.

This week's bonus content for subscribers is now up on Patreon. Check your inbox or follow the link in the comments to read.

01/11/2026

Jan 11, 1881- the state representative from Lee MA dropped dead on the state house steps in Boston from a heart attack, on this day in history. Alexander Hyde was new in the legislature, having just been elected in 1880.

Hyde is known for his role in founding Lee's high school, which for many years bore his name, and served as first president of the Berkshire Historical Society (now at Arrowhead).

On the less savory side, he was known for his role assisting in the forced assimilation of Native tribe members from the Plains region, as part of the avid Berkshire summer exchange program with the Hampton Institute. Through Hampton (and other such institutions) indigenous students were "Americanized" and assimilated through the denigration and stripping of their own cultural identity. In the summer, the inmates (some POWs who opted for this over prison sentences) worked as unpaid labor on Berkshire farms, with coordination by Hyde.

01/10/2026

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-biagio-kauvils-family-funeral?

My cousin, Biagio Kauvil, was the purest soul and a kind person to everyone… Myles Levardi needs your support for Support for Biagio Kauvil’s Family & Funeral

01/10/2026

The very first killing in this whole county of the U.S. was Samuel Howk, slain by the bayonet of federal officers in a crisis they created, near where the Family Dollar now stands. Oct 7, 1819.

His bones lie interred in our land (probably in downtown Pittsfield) with no headstone. No marker or museum placard tells of his murder, no mention in Smith or Boltwood or any other book of Berkshire history. A community memory erased save for this tiny flicker of a flame that some carry- and if you've bothered to read this, now you carry it, too.

01/09/2026

Biagio Kauvil specifically asked that someone screenshot his final public communications to the world, posted to insta shortly before he was killed Wednesday

01/09/2026

Today's press conference w the DA:

News Conference after Hinsdale officer-involved shooting

01/09/2026

A press conference is scheduled for noon today about the tragic shooting in Hinsdale on Wednesday. More updated info will be posted when available.

Current info posted in the comments. (There seems to be a lot of misinformation circulating in social media.)

01/09/2026

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” -George Orwell, 1984

01/08/2026

BREAKING UPDATE: Another child in Massachusetts has died from the flu, with two of the four deaths being kids under the age of 2, officials say.