Travel & Preservation Archives

Wagon Train Rediscovers America

by Bill Markley | Mar 1, 2009

The discovery of gold in 1874 by Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer’s expedition ignited a stampede. Mining camps sprang up in the Dakota Territory’s...

Alaska’s Quiet Gold Rush

by Mike Coppock | Mar 1, 2009

He said his name was Tommy. In his 60s, he had driven his compact pickup truck from Mississippi all the way to Alaska. Arriving in Homer, he spent...

Staycations & Vacations

by TW Editors | Mar 1, 2009

This past winter, when I finally made my way to Mystery Castle at 800 E. Mineral Road in Phoenix, Arizona, I was glad to hear I was not the only...

What’s in a Name

by TW Editors | Feb 1, 2009

GENE AUTRY If not for his job as a telegrapher at the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway, Gene Autry may not have become famous as the Singing...

Phantom Rides Still Rollin’

by TW Editors | Jan 30, 2009

The floor swings beneath your feet. Steam whistles toot. Train wheels clatter over the rail joints of a track. Your body rocks in the train...

Ride Green

by Darley Newman | Jan 29, 2009

Don’t consider yourself an environmentalist? If you’re a trail rider, you’re more eco-friendly than you realize. Horseback riding is an...

Florence, Arizona

by Meghan Saar | Jan 29, 2009

In his teens, in the 1950s, Tom Smith found himself atop the "world's wonder horse"—or rather, the second Champion. After a long day at the Junior...

Following Thomas “Broken Hand” Fitzpatrick

by Candy Moulton | Jan 29, 2009

Irish immigrant Thomas Fitzpatrick signed on with William Ashley to head out West in search of beaver in 1823. He traveled up the Missouri River,...

Lander, Wyoming

by Meghan Saar | Jan 15, 2009

Author George Eliot (actually a pseudonym for Mary Ann Evans) wrote that "No man can be wise on an empty stomach." I agree. Which is why, if I lived...