WHY DO YOU CARE ABOUT JOHN CHARLES FREMONT? You don't, if you're not into the west. Or care about how Kit Carson guided the way [he was born in Kentucky]. Before Brigham Young founded Salt Lake City [what a great place to name a city]. And he used Fremont's notes to get there! Before Mexico [...]
Category: American History
I remember the Riots, and much more from the 1960s
I REMEMBER THE RIOTS, AND MUCH MORE FROM THE 1960s It was the time of the Vietnam War. A time when a nation was struggling to understand the truth behind what its leaders were saying. When the measure of victory was the nightly body counts. We must be winning. More of them are dying. [...]
A KENTUCKIAN, TWO FRANCISCANS, THE MORMON MIGRATION, JOHN WESLEY POWELL, THE HOPI TRIBE, THE NAVAJO NATION, AND ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSTON
A KENTUCKIAN, TWO FRANCISCANS, THE MORMON MIGRATION, JOHN WESLEY POWELL, THE HOPI TRIBE, THE NAVAJO NATION, AND ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSTON Early travelers could only cross the Colorado River in Arizona, in two places. At "The Crossing of the Fathers," and later, at Mormon pioneer John D. Lee's Ferry at the mouth of the Paria [...]
When Radio Ruled
WHEN RADIO RULED When I came of age, television had invaded our lives. Ed Sullivan showed us the Beatles, and the nightly news showed us the daily body counts of the dead in Vietnam. Civil Rights, and the Women's Movement. Revolution in our culture. Rebellion in our generation. But change had had preceded us. [...]
SURROUNDING: Munfordville!
SURROUNDING : Munfordville Kentucky. In the center of that Commonwealth. At the crossroads. The Green River running west, and Interstate 65 north and south. You have driven passed Munfordville many times. Why didn't you stop? Confederate General Braxton Bragg and Union General Don Carlos Buell stopped there. Fought there. For there is where the Louisville and [...]
Three Rivers in the Civil War
THREE RIVERS IN THE CIVIL WAR Why is it called "Civil?" It was anything but. Still isn't. And to me, no buts when it comes to the carnage. Lives torn away from homes and families. Then bodies. And, in Kentucky, armies lined up along three rivers. The Cumberland, Green, and Tennessee Rivers. When Confederate [...]
The Historical Geography of Boston
Bunker Hill! Well, Breed's Hill, actually. And not really part of Boston, then. It lay across the Charles River on a peninsula that looked like an island. That is where Charlestown was established. Now it is a nice, upscale residential area with the Bunker Hill monument in the middle. The USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides" (which [...]
The Story of the Horse in America
YIPEEI-YO-KIY-YAEEI! That's Gene Autry in the 1935 science fiction western serial entitled, "The Phantom Empire." He was one of the first actors in movie serials to play himself. You see, Autry wasn't a trained actor. And he couldn't ride very well either. But director William Witney could. And he taught Autry how to handle a horse. The great horsemanship [...]