As anyone can imagine, there wasn't much entertainment in rural America—hard work, sweat and toil, boredom, yes, but entertainment? “This was the...
Alagazam!!!!!
read more
Jana Bommersbach
Jane Sanford Left a Legacy, Too
History mostly remembers the Sanford name for Leland Sanford—a governor of California who was president of the Central Pacific Railroad and drove...
Whitman’s Chocolates are 174 Years Old
Amazing but true—the familiar gold boxes of chocolates were debuted in Philadelphia in 1842. That discovery raises the question, what about other...
America’s Youngest Explorer Sees the World
He was a newborn, born February 11, 1805, when he was strapped on his mother's back for a “Journey of Discovery” with Lewis and Clark. He was the...
Rubble on Route 66
Rubble was all that was left of one of the most famous trading posts in the nation—a must stop on Route 66 “where real Indians trade.” A fire in...
“Aunt Clara” Brown, Angel of the Rockies
She was Colorado's first black settler, a prosperous entrepreneur who devoted her time and money to helping others. She was honored throughout the...
Another Reason To Love “Buckey” O’Neil
William “Buckey” O'Neill is one of those western heroes who has a long list of accomplishments behind his name: lawyer, judge, miner, school...
What Do the Donkey, the Elephant and Santa Have in Common?
All were visualized by a man who immigrated to America in 1846 as a six-year-old boy from Bavaria. Thomas Nast became a political cartoonist...
A Square Deal for the Women of Arizona
The women of Arizona Territory spent a quarter-century seeking the right to vote in all elections. They'd been given the vote in school elections in...
Betting the Farm in Arizona Territory
What topic could bring one of every five citizens of Phoenix on a hot August night in 1900 to a meeting in the downtown Dorris Opera House? A guess...
The Night I Discovered Pluto
Just what would one expect Clyde W. Tombaugh to do the night of Feb. 18, 1930 when the 24 year-old amateur astronomer ended decades of speculation...
Hitching Your Wagon to a Star
What that phrase meant in the mid-1800s—was the “camel of the prairie,” the small wooden wagon carrying some 400,000 people west, the Conestoga...