September 1 is the anniversary of the Death of The Last Passenger Pigeon in 1914. Passenger pigeons were once so numerous that they darkened the sky.

They were killed because they were tasty, and flew in large flocks, making them easy to kill in mass numbers. The invading white settlers did exactly that, and slaughtered them by the millions. Efforts were made to save the birds. Potawatomi Chief Simon Pokagan had this to say:

I would most prayerfully ask in the name of Him who suffers not a sparrow to fall unnoticed, what must be the nature of the crime and degree of punishment awaiting our white neighbors who have so want only butchered and driven from our forests these wild pigeons, the most beautiful flowers of the animal creation of North America.

But of course, these words were ignored by the invaders, and today the world is bleaker with the absence of one of our most beautiful birds. All in the name of capitalism.