History > American History

From the mountains of Wyoming, a river flows across Montana, scattering seeds along the way. Somewhere on the eastern plateau of the Great Northern Plains, the last of the seeds wash up onto the river bank. There, in a foreign habitat, they take root and grow into tall, white-barked trees crowned by yellow leaves. Indian legend calls it the Spirit Grove. In 1879, homesteader Silas Rye, discovers the unlikely grove and claims the land on which they stand. Weathering years of drought and hardship, he creates Aspen Grove Ranch. His granddaughter, Fanny, struggles to hold onto the ranch through two World Wars, the Vietnam conflict, and the attack on 9/11. Drawing her strength from the mystic ...

This is the diary kept by Azel D. Hayward in 1861/62, prior to joining the 72nd Illinois Infantry Regiment, letters he wrote home during his service, and letters to his mother written by his friend and fellow officer after his death. There are clues to an African Descent Infantry Regiment forming somewhat before any published history records it, to another A.D. regiment participating in an unrecorded skirmish prior to its first recorded engagement under a new designation, insights into lives well lived, and even some humor in that terrible time of war.

This book is a partial chronology and a list of reflections about some of the people, events, activities, and experiences that shaped my life, the lives of my 13 siblings, and numerous cousins. It is also a brief history of our journey.

Conceived in the best of times, executed in the worst of times, Chicago’s Century of Progress Exposition, 1933-1934, was highly criticized, but none-the-less a phenomenal success. First proposed in 1928 to celebrate Chicago’s centennial, the new exposition was meant to return Chicago to fair fame after a succession of dull Beaux Arts expositions in San Francisco, St. Louis, and Philadelphia. The 1933 Chicago exposition was to be financed by the continuation of the 20’s boom years of industry and stock market gains, but the national economic crash of 1929 stopped. That such an event could happen, the fact that even the idea could survive, let alone be planned, financed and built duri ...

My wife and I have been to over 400 ghost towns in Arizona. This is 193 of those towns. This book has little history and no photos. It was created with coordinates to each town for easier finding. If the town has one or more cemeteries, they are listed and the coordinates to them as well. Each town has the dates of their Post Office, elevation, population and what topo map you can find it on. This book is 200 pages, 6X9, perfect bound. It lists the towns alphabetically. For photos, you can join "Finding Arizona's Past" on Facebook. Enjoy, and be careful out there.

What was it like to live in northeast Ohio in the nineteenth century? To be an emancipated slave, walking hundreds of miles through mountains and forests in the hope of starting over. Or a solitary passenger on a Great Lakes steam ship, drenched and seasick in stormy weather. To be a doctor visiting an ill patient via horse and buggy in the dark of night, or the editor of a local newspaper, writing and handsetting the lead type for the next week’s edition.   FULLY EQUAL TO THE SITUATION reclaims the stories of a dozen women who all lived and labored in the rural village of Wellington, settled in 1818. Pioneers, cross-country travelers, social reformers, educators, entrepreneurs, and wa ...