Born in 1839 in New Rumley, Ohio, George Armstrong (or Autie, as his sister called him) Custer attended Alfred Stubbins Young Men’s Academy. He...
Following Custer’s Guidon
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Travel & Preservation
Warped Planks and Rattlesnakes
Tombstone, Arizona, survived. Scabtown, Texas, didn’t. Then, there are the other burgs, those that boomed, died and yet, in a way, still live. We...
Following the Nez Perce Trail
The words are as moving today as they were when Chief Joseph spoke them on a cold fall day in 1877: “I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are all...
On the Trail of Wild Bill Hickok
May 27, 1837: A son, James Butler, the fifth child was born to William Alonzo and Polly Butler Hickok of Homer (later Troy Grove), Illinois. 1856:...
“I Will Laugh No More While Living”
In 1835, a small group of Cherokees traded the tribe’s land east of the Mississippi River for land in the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma)....
“I Will Laugh No More While Living”
In 1835, a small group of Cherokees traded the tribe’s land east of the Mississippi River for land in the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma)....
On the Trail of Wild Bill Hickok
May 27, 1837: A son, James Butler, the fifth child was born to William Alonzo and Polly Butler Hickok of Homer (later Troy Grove), Illinois. 1856:...
Forging a Road to Zion
In 1847, Brigham Young, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, organized a pioneer party and struck out west from the...
Cowboy Up America
When a Cowboy’s in a pinch, he just tightens up the cinch, spurs his horse and rides right through it ’cause that’s the way the Duke’d do it. He’d...
Spittin’ Against the Wind
In the 1830s, Davy Crockett opened a window aboard a train, which was a serious taboo because sparks from the smokestack could blow inside and cause...
Gettin’ Along on the Texas/Chisholm Trail
Jesse Chisholm was no cattleman, and the trail he blazed didn’t enter Texas but stretched from the Red River in present-day Oklahoma to Wichita,...
Ancient Pueblo Culture Comes Alive
A tourist at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado isn’t impressed. Isn’t impressed by the torched scenery. Isn’t impressed by the history. “I was...