Editor’s note: In the style and spirit of Silence Dogood and in acknowledgement of the upcoming United States Semiquincentennial, we share this first missive by our own Dustin R. Strong, who looks at history through the eyes of the fictional Albert Louder and others. April 12, 1775 Sir, It is with great trepidation that I feel compelled to sound a warning to our citizenry, and by doing so, put my fortune, and not least, my very neck, at risk to the Crown’s petty whims. It has been nearly 12 years since the French have been driven from our shores and their native cohorts subdued in some measure as to allow for the King’s colonies to expand westward upon this great continent.