Articles written by Mary Trotter Kion

Mountain Man Rendezvous, 1832: Fur Trappers and Traders Meet at Pierre's Hole, Idaho

Moses Austin starts a colony in Spanish Missouri, then travels to Texas and obtains a Spanish land grant there. more...

Mar 27, 2007

General Pierre Beauregard: First Hero of Confederacy During Civil War

The Mountain Man rendezvous of 1832 was held at Pierre's Hole. Hundreds of mountain men, trappers, Indians and fur company traders met to sell furs or trade for supplies. more...

Mar 13, 2007

Category: US Civil War

General Pierre Beauregard, a Confederate general during the American Civil War, saw action at Fort Sumter, First Bull Run, First Manassa, Shiloh, Corinth, and Petersburg. more...

Mar 3, 2007

William L. Sublette: Mountain Man, Indian Fighter, Entrepreneur

Ancient Home of the Menehunes: Wiamea and Lihue on Kauai, Hawaii

William Sublette, in 1822, makes his first fur-trading trip up the Missouri with William Ashley. With him are future mountain men Jedediah S. Smith and David E. Jackson. more...

Mar 1, 2007

The Compromise of 1850: California Seeks Statehood as Free State

On Kauai, Menehunes build a watercourse to irrigate King Ola's taro patch, and a pond for their queen that can still be seen today. more...

Feb 25, 2007

Missouri Compromise of 1819: Missouri Seeks Statehood as a Slave State

California desires to become a free state. Henry Clay proposes the Compromise of 1850 between North and South including a stronger fugitive slave law. more...

Feb 21, 2007

Captain Benjamin L. E. Bonneville: Fur Trader of the Rocky Mountains and Far West

Missouri proposes to enter the Union as a slave state, instigating the Missouri Compromise. Maine enters the Union as a free state. more...

Feb 19, 2007

Raiders of Mountains and Plains: Blackfoot Encounters with Bozeman, Lewis, and Clark

Captain Benjamin Bonneville's adventures in the fur trade of the Rocky Mountains and far West. Hudson Bay's depletion of beaver in Oregon Country. more...

Feb 10, 2007

Ma Rainey Gets Discovered: Only Her Words and Music Mattered

The Blackfoot Indians practiced the Sun Dance and had Vision Quests. Their enemies were the Crows, Sioux Shoshones, Flatheads, and the Kootenais, as well as the whites. more...

Feb 7, 2007

Black Blues Are Born: Call and Response in the Cotton and Cane

Ma Rainey, in the early 1920s, begins recording her music in New York and Chicago. Soon she is seen covered in diamonds. more...

Feb 5, 2007

Blacks Weren’t the Only Slaves: Native American Slaves and Chinese Prostitutes

In the fields of America's south slaves develop a work-singing rhythm known as Call and Response. Ma Rainey marries Pa Rainey. more...

Feb 3, 2007

Blacks Free to Protest: From Rosa Parks to Doctor King

African Americans weren't the only slaves in America. Native Americans were made slaves and Chinese girls were sold into prostitution. more...

Jan 30, 2007

African American Revolts: Four Centuries of Protests

The Ku Klux Klan holds national meeting. Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat. King and Malcolm X are assassinated. Watts Riots begin. more...

Jan 29, 2007

What Killed Richard Randolph?: A Recipe For Death, Perhaps

Slave revolts through four centuries include Prosser, Turner and Vesey. Captured Blacks mutiny aboard the slave ship Amistad. Some 500 slaves revolt in Louisiana. more...

Jan 26, 2007

Nancy Randolph Acquitted: Forced into Servitude by Relatives

Murder is, once again, suspected when Richard Randolph dies. His wife, Judith, is suspected but she accuses Nancy Randolph. more...

Jan 24, 2007

A Mysterious Night at Glenlyvar: Did Nancy Randolph Miscarry or Murder?

Nancy Randolph and Richard Randolph are acquitted of murder, however Nancy's life thereafter in the Randolph home is reduced to less than that of a servant. more...

Jan 22, 2007

Nancy Randolph: Sex, Incest, Infidelity, and Murder in Old Virginia

At a gathering of Randolphs, Nancy Randolph appears to be having hysterical fits in the night. A slave sees a dead infant being placed on the woodpile. more...

Jan 20, 2007

Nancy Randolph, cousin to John Randolph of Roanoke and related to Thomas Jefferson's daughter, commits adultery with her sister's husband. more...

King For Civil Rights: From Boston to Boycotting

King meets and marries Coretta Scott. He is jailed during race riots in Montgomery. The King home is bombed. He receives the Spingarn Medal. more...

Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Man of Peace and Equal Rights

Category: African History (general)

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King was assassinated by James Earl Ray. In striving for civil rights for Blacks he was jailed and received the Nobel Peace Prize. more...

Jan 8, 2007

Confederate President Davis: Buena Vista and Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

The Loves of Jefferson Davis: Sarah Taylor and Varina Howell

During the Mexican War, Jefferson Davis becomes known as The Hero of Buena Vista. The American Civil War begins and he is made President of the Confederacy. more...

Jan 6, 2007

Making the Star-Spangled Banner: Mary Pickersgill’s American Flag

Jefferson Davis' first wife dies shortly after their marriage. Some years later, he marries teenaged Varina Howell. more...

Dec 31, 2006

Mary Pickersgill’s American Flag: The Star-Spangled Banner

Some 350,000 hand-sewn stitches were used in making the wool bunting flag that would fly over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. more...

Dec 30, 2006

The Cow or the Buffalo: The West Not Big Enough For Both

Mary Pickersgill, during the War of 1812, is commissioned to make an American flag to fly above Fort McHenry more...

Dec 18, 2006

The Gold Rushes: Gold Discovered in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Nevada

Traffic along the westward trails increase. Buffalo killed to subdue the Indians. Towns established in the west. more...

Dec 16, 2006

They Headed West: America’s Westward Expansion

Gold is discovered in Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, and Montana. Forts along Bozeman Trail cause Indian uprise. more...

Dec 14, 2006

USS Nevada Faces Severe Fate: USS Arizona Spewing Burning Oil

America's Westward Expansion is triggered by Lewis and Clark and continued by mountain men, missionaries, and explorers. Gold is discovered in California. more...

Dec 4, 2006

Hawaii: Sorrow’s Island: Death and Destruction at Pearl Harbor

The Nevada is forced to run aground to avoid being sunk in the channel. Arizona spews burning oil and Pennsylvania hit again. more...

Dec 2, 2006

A Hawaiian Boy Becomes a Man: Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941

While John Garcia is helping in the rescue mission after Pearl Harbor is bombed, at home a personal and related tragedy occurs. more...

Nov 30, 2006

Japan Starts Pearl Harbor Attack: Bombers Headed for Oahu

A sixteen year old Hawaiian boy is caught in the middle of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. more...

Nov 28, 2006

Bernard Kuhn, A Spy of Many Faces: Susie Ruth Uses Charms for Spying

December 7, 1941, Japanese bomber planes are launched from aircraft carriers. Their aim: Bomb Pearl Harbor! more...

Nov 26, 2006

Prelude to War: Japan Negotiates and Prepares for Attack

Bernard Kuhn presents many different identities to his friends. Susie Kuhn uses her charms on military men to get information. more...

Nov 24, 2006

Bombing Pearl Harbor: A Day of Infamy

An embargo is place on Japan by the United States, depriving her of much needed natural resources to carry on her war with China. more...

Nov 22, 2006

From Poverty to Painter: Audubon Paints Portraits and Riverboats

On December 7, 1941, Japan succeeds in a devastating attack upon Pearl Harbor, Oahu in the Hawaii Islands. However, major events were a prelude to this attack. more...

Nov 20, 2006

The True Story of the Pilgrims: Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower

John James Audubon moves to Kentucky but lands in debtors' prison. He travels to Natchez and New Orleans. more...

Nov 17, 2006

This is a review of "Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower," a History Channel © production. more...

Pilgrims Coming to America: An Interview with Lisa Q. Wolfinger

In an interview with Producer Wolfinger, she talks about the actors who play key roles in "Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower." more...

Interview with Producer Wolfinger: Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower

The First Thanksgiving: Did the Pilgrims Have Turkey for Dinner?

This is an interview with Ms. Lisa Q. Wolfinger, Producer and Director of The History Channel's "Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower." more...

Nov 15, 2006

Gabriel’s Insurrection: A Slave’s Plot for Freedom

The first Thanksgiving feast, attended by Pilgrims and Indians probably consisted of turkey, venison, fish, corn, and fruits and berries. more...

Nov 13, 2006

Salem Witch Trial Index: A Continuing List of Articles

Gabriel, a Virginia slave, begins to recruit other slaves for a revolt. more...

Nov 10, 2006

The Witch Hunt Spreads: Validity of Spectral Evidence Doubted

This is the fourth in a series of five indexes concerning the Salem Witch Trials. more...

Nov 8, 2006

The Hanging of George Burroughs: Minister Convicted of Witchcraft in Salem

More people are hung for witchcraft. The hunt spreads to other communities. Mather doubts the "validity of spectral evidence." more...

Nov 6, 2006

Burroughs Accused of Witchcraft: A Witch’s Church in Salem Village

George Burroughs is sentenced to hang for witchcraft along with other accused and sentenced witches. more...

Nov 4, 2006

The Reverend George Burroughs: Life Before the Salem Witch Trials

Another woman confesses to witchcraft, revealing that there is a Witch Church in Salem Village with George Burroughs as its minister. more...

Nov 3, 2006

Martha Cory Jailed for Witchcraft: Some Thirty-Nine Accused

The Reverend George Burroughs, years prior to the Witch Trials, becomes pastor at Salem Village Church. When his wages are withheld he leaves. more...

Nov 1, 2006

Tituba’s Amazing Evidence: Hairy Creatures and Threatened Decapitations

Martha Cory is jailed for bewitching Ann Putnam, Sr. Some thirty-nine people are accused for witchcraft and sent to jail. more...

Oct 31, 2006

More for the Salem Dungeon: The Devil and a Little Yellow Bird

Tituba is questioned concerning witchcraft and tells of hairy creatures, winged women, and being urged to cut of Ann Putnam's head. more...

Oct 30, 2006

The Salem Inquisition Begins: Sarah Good Denies Guilt

Tituba swears that Osborne and Good bewitched the girls and wanted her to cut off Ann Putnam's head. more...

Oct 30, 2006

Sarah Osborne of Salem Village: Third to be Accused of Witchcraft

The Salem Witch questioning begins with John Hathorne grilling Sarah Good, in hopes that she will confess to witchcraft. Her own husband gives the damning statements. more...

Oct 29, 2006

Sarah Osborne of Salem Village, having gone from prosperous to poverty is accused of witchcraft. more...

The Reverend Samuel Parris: The Pious Puritan Preacher of Salem Village

The Reverend Samuel Parris of Salem Village beleaguers his parishioners to love him and bring him free firewood. He is obsessed with always seeing evil. more...

Samuel Parris Points First Finger: Tituba and Mary Sibley Blasted from the Pulpit

The Salem Bewitchings Begin: Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams Under a Spell

Parris points the way towards the Salem Witch Hunt by blasting Tituba, Mary Sibley, and others for baking a witch cake. more...

Oct 27, 2006

Telling Fortunes in Salem: The Spectra of a Coffin

Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams begin having violent fits. A doctor declares that they have been bewitched. more...

Oct 26, 2006

Bridget Bishop Bewitching Men: Was She Witch, Woman, or Just Devilish?

Salem Village girls are telling fortunes with egg whites until one white takes on the form of a coffin. Tituba tells them Bible stories laced with voodoo. more...

Oct 23, 2006

Bridget Bishop of Salem: The Witch with the Scarlet Bodice

Bridget Bishop is accused of coming to men's beds and bewitching them. more...

Oct 21, 2006

Category: Colonial America

Bridget Bishop of Salem: Accused of witchcraft, practicing black magic, bewitching men and children, making money disappear. more...

Oct 20, 2006

The Haunting Month: A Continued Index of Bewitching Articles

The Girls of Salem Village: Scarlet Bodice, Bright Turban, And The Charter

This is part two of an index of articles concerned with the Salem Witch Trials and the supernatural. Also there are some links to some spooky articles about the Wild West more...

Oct 19, 2006

Cursed Be the Salem Poor: Getting Familiar with Dogs and Cats

Salem Village talk concerns a scarlet bodice, a bright turbans, and the charter. Young girls begin gathering in the Parris' kitchen. more...

Oct 17, 2006

The Devil Walked Among Them: Puritans, Witches, and Demons in Salem

Upon becoming a witch, the person is given an animal as a familiar, and can kill or harm both humans or animals. more...

Oct 15, 2006

Sundays in Salem, Massachusetts: Droning Sermons and Hard Benches

The people of Salem, Massachusetts, like centuries of populations before them well believed in the power of witchcraft. more...

Oct 12, 2006

Cotton Mather Condemns Witches: Salem and Boston

For the children of Salem Village Sundays consisted of sitting still on hard benches through two three-hour sermons. They had to work hard, pray, and have no fun. more...

Oct 8, 2006

Sam Colt’s Exploding Raft: Crowd Treated to Mucky, Muddy Avalanche

Cotton Mather, during the Salem Witch Trials, urges the acceptance of spectral evidence. George Burroughs is hanged for witchcraft. more...

Oct 3, 2006

A Motherless Boy: Sam Colt Becomes an Indentured Servant

Sam Colt's exploding 4th of July raft becomes a disaster. His father packs him off to school but it seems Sam is still not through exploding things. more...

Oct 2, 2006

Sam Colt's mother dies. His father's business fails. Sam is hired out as an indentured servant. He realizes a dire need for a repeating firearm. more...

Alligators and Catholics: A Bad Time on the River

An alligator makes repeated visits to the Roosevelt's barge. A French Catholic couple robs them of their sleep. more...

Disaster in Natchez: Indians and Illness on an Idyllic Voyage

Near Natchez some Indians come aboard the Roosevelt’s barge and demand whiskey. Sick fever strikes those aboard, and the barge nearly sinks. more...

Lydia Latrobe Roosevelt: In Love With a Much Older Man

Lydia Latrobe met her future husband, Nicholas Roosevelt, when she was a child and he was 25 years her senior. She would become the great grand aunt of Theodore Roosevelt more...

Nearing the Falls of the Ohio: Birth Aboard the Boat

Lydia Roosevelt gives birth aboard the New Orleans. They make preparations to take the boat over the Falls of the Ohio. more...

New Madrid Earthquake: A River Gone Mad

Sudden tremors begin shaking the New Orleans. Islands in the river disappear, new ones appear. Riverbanks give way and trees fall into the water. more...

Kansas Charley Escapes: Stay of Execution or New Trial

Kansas Charlie gets a reprieve, and takes part in a jail break. more...

Kansas Charley A Legal Victim: Hired Texas Killers Go Free

The governor declines a stay of execution for Kansas Charley. The Johnson County War is halted. The hired Texas killers are set free. more...

Death Sentence for Kansas Charley: Appeal, Suspension of Sentence, and Jail Breaks

Dining at the Cheyenne Club: Oysters, Olives, and Men Only

Kansas Charlie: sentenced to hang for murder, breaks out of jail twice. more...

Sep 20, 2006

Fine dining could be had at the Cheyenne Club at Cheyenne, Wyoming. Political and Socially elite dined there on meals prepared by a European chef. more...

Cattlemen Condemn Kansas Charley: Boy Murderer Makes Fine Example

Kansas Charley doesn’t stand a chance at his trial according to the prosecution and the opinion of the cattle barons who want to make an example of him. more...

Kansas Charley Tried for Murder: Defense Overpowered by Prosecution

Kansas Charley murder trial: newspaper reporter swears to statements and words that Charley probably never used and court allows the testimony. more...

Kansas Charley Becomes Victim: Gang Activity in the 1800s

Kansas Charley becomes the victim of a gang rape. To protect himself in the future, he buys a gun, then heads westward. more...

Moving West in Ancient Times: Did Woden-lithi’s Men Go West?

This article explores the possibility that the Mandan Indians of ancient times intermingled with white visitors to America. more...

King Woden-lithi Comes to America: Ancient Writing in Stone Still Exists

Scandinavian King Woden-lithi visited North America in about 1700 B. C. He left behind numerous writings carved in stone that can be seen today. more...

Kansas Charley is Arrested: Boy Murderer Turns Himself In

Kansas Charley becomes remorse over the double murder he committed. He turns himself over to the authorities. more...

The Arrest of Kansas Charley: Charley Miller Confesses to Double Murder

Kansas Charley confesses to the double murder and turns himself in. more...

Kansas Charley Commits Murder: A Deadly Double Deed is Done

Kansas Charley, having gone without food for nearly 24 hours, drinks nearly a whole bottle of whiskey, then commits a double murder. more...

Kansas Charley Gets a Dirty Deal: Riding the Rails again for Cheyenne

Emerson and Fishbaugh buy a gun and some whiskey, then attempt unsuccessfully to get rid of Kansas Charley. Charley shares his food with Emerson and Fishbaugh. more...

Kansas Charley Admits Murder: Does Masturbation Cause Insanity?

Kansas Charlie's attorney attempts to get the jury's sympathy. Charley admits his guilt on the witness stand. more...

James Madison and a Second Term: Treaty of Ghent and New Orleans

During James Madison’s presidency the Treaty of Ghent is signed, ending the War of 1812. Andrew Jackson wins a victory at New Orleans. more...

Home to Montpelier: James Madison Retires to Virginia

James Madison retires to Virginia but returns to politics when John Adams and his Federalists threaten the freedoms that were guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. more...

Madison and Hamilton: A Revised Articles of Confederation

James Madison and Alexander Hamilton stressed that an additional convention of states must be called to revise the Articles of Confederation. more...

Kansas Charlie's Unexplained Theft: A Crime Gone Bad and Forgiveness

Kansas Charley steals two watches from his landlady and is caught. more...

Kansas Charley Goes Tramping: Dime Novel Heroes Don’t Wet Beds

Kansas Charley discovers a liking for Dime Novels and their outlandish adventures. He steals some money and hits the road again. more...

Kansas Charley Becomes the Victim: Gang Activity in the 1800s

In St. Joseph, Missouri two young men are beginning a westward journey. There is a deadly meeting between them and Kansas Charley. more...

Kansas Charley on His Own: Charley Miller Takes New Name

Kansas Charley is dumped at the railroad by Mr. Booth. Charley has no money or food. He receives a letter from New York with enough money to get him back to New York. more...

Kansas Charley and Brother Fred: Running Away and a Guarding Angel

Kansas Charley runs away from the Booth farm. Mr. Booth threatens to beat him if he does not return. Charley wants to live in Kansas with his brother. more...

Life at the Orphanage: Kansas Charley Goes to School

Kansas Charley and his siblings are admitted to the New York City Orphan Asylum. In time, his brothers and sister are placed with families, leaving Charley all alone. more...

Kansas Charley Becomes an Orphan: Life at the Orphanage and Loss of Siblings

Kansas Charlie: plagued with bed-wetting, father commits suicide, not released from orphanage at age twelve. more...

Kansas Charlie’s Disease: An Incurable and Embarrassing Condition

Kansas Charley is a bed-wetter. He is beaten at the orphanage for this. It is believed that circumcision can cure what he is told is a 'disease.' more...

Maude Adams Experiences Tragedies: Her Mother, Grandmother, and the Sinking of the Lusitania.

Maude Adams looses her mother and grandmother. Her manager dies during the sinking of the Lusitania , all in 1915. more...

Maude Adams Returns to the Stage: New York, Here She Comes

Maude Adams, after four years of schooling, returned to the theater. She made her stage debut in New York City in the play The Paymaster with much acclaim. more...

The Cuban Missile Crisis: Attack by Air or Sea

United States President John F. Kennedy and his advisors determine that the Cuban missiles must be removed either by air strikes or by imposing a blockade around Cuba. more...

Cuban Blockade or Quarantine: The Cuban Missile Crisis

President John F. Kennedy's choice of quarantine instead of blockade is clarified by Roosevelt's Quarantine Speech of 1937. more...

The Good-bye Letter from Cuba: The 1962 Blockade of Cuba

Cuba and the Bay of Pigs: United States Prepares For a Takeover

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, unrest at a Naval base is quieted by the publication of one sailor's farewell letter to his wife. more...

Aug 2, 2006

Before Cuba and the Bay of Pigs: Beware of Castro and Khrushchev

The United States plans an invasion of Cuba and gives military training to numerous anti-Castro Cubans living in exile in the United States. more...

Aug 2, 2006

Following the 1959 Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro comes into power. The United States fears that he will establish a Communist government in Cuba. more...

The Indians of Delaware: A Native American Paradise

For the Indians of Delaware their land was a paradise. The waters abound with game, fish, and fowl, the woodlands with fruit, berries and nuts. Then the Europeans came. more...

They Came to Delaware: Immigrants Included Criminals and Farmers

Colonel Johan Printz, all 400 pounds of him, arrives to be governor of New Sweden/Delaware. He has some really big plans for the colony. more...

Colonial Delaware: Named For Virginia Governor Lord De La Warr

Henry Hudson discovers the Delaware River. Samuel Argall names the area Delaware for Virginia Governor Lord De La Warr. New Sweden is established. more...

Colonial Pennsylvania: The Making of a Quaker Colony

William Penn uses his own wealth and that of other Quakers to insure than his colony of Pennsylvania would surpass all other American colonies to date. more...

The Persecution of Quakers: Quakers Arrested in Salem

In and around Salem, Massachusetts the Quakers are harassed, beaten, deported, and sometimes even hanged for what they believe. more...

Religious Freedom in Pennsylvania: Huguenots, German Pietists and Mennonites

Pennsylvania becomes a religious haven for Huguenots, German Pietists and Mennonites as well as Quakers. Germantown is established. more...

Those Persistent Quakers: Puritans Deny Religious Freedom to Quakers

In spite of dire punishments handed out to Quakers in Massachusetts, the Quakers continue to migrate to America. more...

William Penn: The Quakers in America

Category: Colonial America

William Penn: Becomes a Quaker, and obtains a grant to establish a Quaker colony in Pennsylvania in America. more...

Lincoln's Words by Pony Express: Hurrah for the Central Route

March 4, 1861, Lincoln took the oath of office as President of the United States. The Pony Express carried Lincoln’s words, spoken in the east, to be read in the west. more...

Pony Express Riders Begin: San Francisco and St. Joseph

On April 3, 1860, the first Pony Express riders start from both St. Joseph, Missouri and San Francisco, California. more...

Pony Express Riders: Young, Skinny Orphans Preferred

Some 190 Pony Express stations are built between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California. Horses are bought and the hiring of riders begins. more...

Pony Express Rider Johnny Fry: The Route Westward Begins

Pony Express rider Johnny Fry, carrying 49 letters and some newspapers printed on tissue paper, begins the first leg of the journey west. more...

Maryland Steps Forward: Lord Baltimore is Granted Maryland

Maryland is established by Lord Baltimore as a haven for Catholics and freedom of worship for other Christian religions. more...

Dutch New York: New Netherlands

The Dutch buy Manhattan from the Indians. The King of England gives the Duke of York New York/New Netherlands if he can take it away from the Dutch. more...

John Fitzgerald Meets His Match: And His Career Goes Up in Smoke

John Fitzgerald attempts to run again for Mayor of Boston but some nasty rumors concerning himself and an actress/cigarette girl forces him to retire from politics. more...

Johnny Fitzgerald Comes Home: And the Show Goes On and On

John Fitzgerald is elected mayor of Boston and throws out many people in order to give his friends jobs. Many of those friends are saloonkeepers and bartenders. more...

John Fitzgerald for Mayor: But First He was Off and Running for the State Senate

John Fitzgerald is elected to Congress, then serves three years in the Senate. He returns to Boston to run for Mayor. more...

Infant America

British America stumbled along, making numerous mistakes. But, somehow, she managed to expand, creating one settlement after another. more...

More American Distension

Roger Williams is found guilty of crimes against the church. He is banished and establishes Providence Plantation in present-day Rhode Island. more...

Davenport and Halfway Covenant

Davenport’s congregation divides over religious issues causing a split that created the Third Church, later better known as the Old South Church. more...

America Takes Toddling Steps

America grew as new settlements were established. Most often the expansion was for economical reasons. All was regulated by British rule. more...

Jun 26, 2006

John Ringo 2

John Ringo, after arriving in Tombstone, joins the Clanton Gang of outlaws and cattle rustlers. more...

Jun 24, 2006

Anne Hutchinson

Anne Hutchinson finds that the staunch Puritans of New England and the Massachusetts clergy considered her words to be an attack on their rigid moral and legal codes. more...

Shootout at Kennewick 4

The lawmen find outlaws Lake and Barker in the Hobo Jungle. Lake threatens the lawmen and a gun battle begins. more...

Kennewick Robbers in Hobo Jungle: Lawmen Die in Washington Shootout

Following the robbery in Kennewick, Washington a bloody shootout occurs in Kennewick's Hobo Jungle. more...

Shootout at Kennewick, Washington: Lewis and Clark Arrived One Hundred Years Earlier

On October 31, 1906, prior to the shootout, Kid Barker and partner robbed two Kennewick, Washington stores. more...

Jun 12, 2006

Gun Battle in Iowa 2

After the bloody gun battle at the railway depot, the two remaining outlaws escape in a wagon. Lodine, Sundblad, and the wounded outlaw die. more...

Jun 11, 2006

John Ringo 4

Billy Claibourne accuses Buckskin Frank Leslie, of killing John Ringo. John O’Rourke, aka Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce, admits to doing the deed. more...

Jun 4, 2006

Maximilian’s Millions 2

Maximilian’s aids hire a gang of ex-Confederate soldiers as guides and guards with disastrous results. Maximilian loses his throne and life. more...

Western Outlaws at the Suite 1

Here is a list of western outlaws at Suite 101. They include Billy the Kid, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Daltons and Deadwood Dick. more...

Death of Bill Longley: Outlaw Leaves a Trail of Murders

Gunslinger Bill Longley: Avoids Wild Bill Hickok, has gunfights in Mexico, is finally apprehended and hung. more...

Lucky Bill Longley 4

Longley visits Mexico and does some killing, then returns to Texas where the killing continues. more...

John Wesley Hardin 3

Hardin goes on a cattle drive along the Old Chusim Trail to Abilene, Kansas. In Abilene he meets Wild Bill Hickok and kills a man. more...

John Wesley Hardin 4

John Wesley Hardin, at age 21, became a married man. But he still continued to kill and had sent some 40 men to their deaths. more...

The Proposition 8 Controversy and the LDS Church: Gays, Lesbians, Mormons, and (Re)Defining Traditional Marriage

Category: Gay/Gender Issues (general)

LDS Church members contributed more than just money to support Proposition 8. The Church and its members are taking heat for their role in defining Traditional Marriage. more...

Murder in Montana 2

On that fateful Tuesday Scott pulled his gun and fired at his wife, blowing away the side of her face and the back of her head. more...

Murrietta vs Captain Harry Love: The Severed Head

Joaquin Murrietta continues his outrageous outlaw life until Captain Harry Love, a noted Los Angles gunfighter, steps in to rectify the situation and heads rolled. more...

The Atrocities of Murrietta: Horse Thief and Killer?

Making A Stone Birdhouse: Use river rocks to create a quaint bird cottage

A lot of atrocities have been attributed to Murrietta and his men, so many in fact that there is some doubt that he or they performed them all. more...

May 29, 2006

Category: Crafts (general)

In a few hours, you can make a stone birdhouse everyone's guaranteed to coo over. more...

May 22, 2006

Cherokee Alphabet: Sequoyah Teaches His Tribe

Mayflower Passengers Continued: Cushman, Allerton, and Carver

Sequoyah, for many years, works on his alphabet. When it is finished it is so simple that everyone, including the children, in his tribe learns it. more...

May 18, 2006

Daniel Boone Goes to Kentucky: White Women Travel West

This lists some of the 1620 passengers aboard the Mayflower including Mary Allerton Cushman, Remember Allerton, and John Carver. more...

May 15, 2006

In 1773, Daniel Boone left North Carolina to discover what there was in Kentucky. A woman gives birth along the Oregon Trail. more...

Scalloped Oyster Recipe: Settlers Add Oysters to Diet

Oysters added to the diet at Jamestown. Here is a recipe for Scalloped Oysters. more...

Jamestown Settlers Expand Diet: Oysters, Sturgeon, Wild Herbs, and Tuckahoe Root

Wild herbs, fish, and oysters added to the Jamestown meals. more...

The Rowboat and the Iceberg: The End of Henry Hudson's First Voyage

A huge iceberg looms above Hudson’s tiny ship. A quick decision has to be made or all aboard will perish at sea. more...

Henry Hudson and Icebergs: Perils of Early Sailing Ships

Category: Colonial America

Henry Hudson and crew encounter huge and dangerous icebergs. They are nearly lost at sea. more...

Henry Hudson: Adventurer, Sea Captain, and Explorer

Category: Colonial America

Henry Hudson commands his first ship, the Hopewell, on an expedition in search of the Northwest Passage. more...

Apr 27, 2006

Stories and Nursery Rhymes: Was a Book of Stories by the American Mother Goose Ever Published?

Elizabeth, now a real Grandma Goose, entertains her grandchildren with song and stories, but ruffles her son-in-law's feathers. more...

Maryland for Lord Baltimore: Land Patent Given Great Seal of Approval

Lord Baltimore receives a land patent in America called Maryland, encompassing present-day Maryland, Delaware, parts of Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. more...

Refusal of Lord Baltimore: No Oath of Supremacy

Lord Baltimore is told by the Virginia council that to be allowed to stay he must take an oath of supremacy, but refuses. more...

The Lords Baltimore: George Calvert Begins His Political Career

Bradford of the Pilgrims: To Holland and America

In 1625, George Calvert owned a 2,300-acre estate in County Longford in Northern Ireland. He would soon be made the first Lord Baltimore. more...

Apr 24, 2006

Peter Jefferson's Land Claims: Shadwell Plantation Established

William Bradford immigrated to Holland from England. He and his wife were aboard the Mayflower with the Pilgrims when they sailed for America in 1620. more...

Apr 20, 2006

Jefferson: Reader and Surveyor: Surveys Boundary Between Virginia and North Carolina

Peter Jefferson's best friend, William Randolph, accidently buys land that Peter wanted. Randolph sell the land to Jefferson for a bowl of punch. more...

Apr 20, 2006

Peter Jefferson, father of Thomas Jefferson, studied at William and Mary College prior to surveying the Virginia and North Carolina boundary. more...

Squanto’s Capture: Thomas Hunt Brings Indians to Spain For Slavery

Squanto, along with other Indians, is captured by sea captain Thomas Hunt. Hunt transports them to Spain where he begins selling his captives into slavery. more...

Squanto Goes Home: Squanto Captured by the Pokanokets

The Mayflower Compact: Government in the New World

Squanto, after five years absence, comes home to find that his native land has undergone disastrous changes beyond any he could have imagined. Again, he is captured, this more...

Apr 17, 2006

The Mayflower Reaches America: Mayflower Moors in Provincetown Harbor

The Mayflower Compact is written and signed after the Mayflower is moored on November 21, 1620, in what would come to be called Provincetown Harbor, in present-day Massac more...

Apr 15, 2006

Washington Book Makes Money: Cherry Tree Incident Creates a Hero

The Mayflower moors in Provincetown Harbor, Massachusetts near Cap Cod instead of Virginia. To avoid a mutiny they decided to settle there. more...

Apr 14, 2006

Mayflower Passenger List: Alden, Mullins, Bradford, and Standish

Weems writes his biography of Washington for the money. He was a shrewd businessman and knew what the public wanted and needed. They needed a hero and bought one, a copy more...

Apr 11, 2006

On September 6, 1620, more than 100 passengers set sail for America aboard the Mayflower. Beginning here is a list of those people. more...

The Capture of Pocahontas: British Sea Captain Holds Indian Princes Captive

Category: Colonial America

By 1614, the Indians, having had enough of land-grabbing whites, start a war. Pocahontas marries Kocoum, is kidnapped, marries Rolfe and sails for England. more...

The Death of Pocahontas: Shakespeare, Royalty, and Illness in England

Pocahontas, in England, is presented to King James I, sees a Shakespeare play, is visited by John Smith, becomes ill and dies in London. more...

Powhatan and the Roanoke Settlers: Did the Disappearing Colonists Live With the Indians?

Powhatan was the chief of a federation of Algonquian Indian tribes who lived in the tidewater region of Virginia. His rule may hold a clue to the disappearance of the wh more...

Powhatan's Kingdom: Jamestown and Werowocomoco

Powhatan's first proven contact with whites came in 1607, when Jamestown was established a few miles from Powhatan's capital of Werowocomoco. He attempted to control the more...

Smith Hunts Whales and Explores: John Smith Writes About New England

John Smith is captured by Indians. A warrior is ready to kill but the chief's young daughter, Pocahontas, supposedly saves him. Smith hunts whales and scouts the eastern more...

John Smith Sails for America: No Hanging for Smith

Potatoes and Tobacco from America: Economics of the New World

John Smith, in Jamestown, is nearly hung until it is discovered that he is one of the counselors that had been appointed by the Virginia Company back in England to govern more...

Apr 3, 2006

Seeds of Rebellion in America: Colonies Asked to Finance European Wars

Sir George Weymouth captures five Native Americans. He takes them back to England. Potatoes and tobacco from the New World are introduced to England. more...

Apr 1, 2006

Starving Winter of 1609/1610: The Women of Jamestown

During the 1600s European countries were warring for control of America. Colonial settlements saw their profits demanded by European governments to finance these wars. more...

Mar 30, 2006

Category: Colonial America

Starving Winter of 1609/1610 in Jamestown, Virginia: Women and others ate dogs, horses, rats, mice, and snakes to survive. One man ate his wife. First wedding and births more...

Mar 29, 2006

First Women of Jamestown: A Wedding and a Baby

Early Exploration of California: 1540 to 1769

The first two women to arrive in Jamestown, Virginia were a Mrs. Forrest and Anne Burras. Burras, with others dined during the starving winter of 1609-10, on dogs, horses more...

Mar 27, 2006

Speedwell and Mayflower: 1620 Voyage to the New World

It is believed that the name "California" derived from a Spanish novel, Las Sergas de Esplandian, written in the 15th-century. The book told of a mythical island located more...

Mar 26, 2006

Category: Colonial America

The Pilgrims are forced to abandon the Speedwell and dangerously crowd some one hundred passengers aboard the Mayflower for their voyage to America. more...

Mar 24, 2006

Young George Washington: Early Family Life Near the Potomac River

Category: Colonial America

George Washington, first American President: Early life in Virginia on Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers. Great-grandfather known by Indians as Destroyer of Villages. more...

Mar 20, 2006

Native American Names: Werowances, Matoaka, and Texas

Category: Colonial America

Europeans at Jamestown misunderstand meaning of Native American languages. Pocahontas only a nickname. Caddos name Texas. more...

Mar 16, 2006

Mail Order Brides in Jamestown: First White Women Arrive in 1619

Brewsters Leave England: Puritan Beliefs Lead to Prison

Jamestown is prospering and growing but the men need women. That problem is soon solved. Then the Indians attack. more...

Mar 16, 2006

Category: Colonial America

William Brewster and the Puritans, in England they are persecuted for their believes. They migrate to Holland, returning to England prior to sailing for America. more...

Apr 16, 2007

The Battle of Pierre’s Hole: Mountain Men Fight Gros Ventres

Bleeding Kansas: Lawrence, Pottawatomie, Price, and Quantrill

Following the 1832 Mountain Man Rendezvous a battle breaks out between Mountain Men fur trappers and the Gros Ventres, a division of the Blackfeet Indians. more...

Apr 9, 2007

Category: US Civil War

Prior to the official start of the Civil War, bloody battle break out in Kansas Territory between Free State and proslavery groups. more...

Apr 4, 2007

San Francisco Earthquake of 1906: San Andreas Fault Slippage Felt Over 375,000 Square Miles

John Brown at Pottawatomie: Bloody Massacre in Kansas Territory

An earthquake struck San Francisco, California on April 18, 1906. This major quake struck at 5:12 A.M. with a magnitude up to 8.3, lasting nearly one minute. more...

Mar 30, 2007

Category: US Civil War

Abolitionist John Brown, in 1856, led the mob that massacred five suspected pro-slavery men at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas. more...

Mar 20, 2007

Slavery as an Issue for War: When Did the Civil War Really Begin?

Category: US Civil War

Roots of the American Civil War begin in 1619 when some Jamestown, Virginia residents buy twenty Africans. more...

Mar 5, 2007

Kansas-Nebraska Act: Slavery in Kansas Creates Bloody Violence

Category: US Civil War

Kansas-Nebraska Act sets stage for bloody violence between proslavery and free-soil fractions. Border Ruffians invade Kansas. more...

Mar 1, 2007

Menehunes of Kauai: Leprechauns of the Hawaiian Islands

Lillie Hitchcock Coit: Eccentric Lady and Honorary San Francisco Firefighter

Legend has it that on the island of Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands there lives Menehunes whose ancient ancestors were Leprechauns visiting from Ireland. more...

Feb 27, 2007

Free Soil or Slave State: California Gold and The Wilmot Proviso

Lillie Hitchcock Coit was an eccentric lady of San Francisco and an honorary firefighter. She gambled, bet on horses, and was engaged to two men at the same time. more...

Feb 23, 2007

An Unladylike San Francisco Lady: Lillie Hitchcock Coit, Gambling and Watching Fights

The Mexican War ends. The issue of Free Soil or Slave State in new territories arises. California Gold and The Wilmot Proviso. more...

Feb 21, 2007

Abraham Lincoln: His Ancestors, Origin, and Early Years

Lillie Hitchcock Coit arranges for a boxing match to be held in her room at the Palace Hotel. On her death she leaves $100,000 to San Francisco. more...

Feb 17, 2007

Blackfoot Confederacy: Their Origin, Societies, and Decline

Abraham Lincoln's family came from England. The first of the Lincoln family to arrive in America was his grandfather, Samuel Lincoln, who settled in Massachusetts. more...

Feb 9, 2007

Ma Rainey and Louis Armstrong: New Orleans and Storyville

The Blackfoot Confederacy controlled a vast portion of the Pacific Northwest extending to the Rockies. With horses and guns they hunted the vast herds of buffalo. more...

Feb 6, 2007

Ma Rainey: Mother of the Blues

Ma Rainey performs in New Orleans with Joe "King" Oliver and Louis Armstrong. She sings in dance halls and saloons in Storyville. more...

Feb 4, 2007

Why Just Black History Month: What About the Native Americans and Chinese?

Gertrude Pridgett, later known as Ma Rainey the Mother of the Blues, grew up hearing folk music played by jugs and combs as well as church music. more...

Feb 2, 2007

Category: Modern African History

Why do we only have a Black History Month? Shouldn't all other nationalities whose ancestors immigrated to America have a month dedicated to studying their history. more...

Jan 30, 2007

Home to Columbus: Ma Rainey’s Voice Heard For the Last Time

Happy Days for Nancy Randolph: Will they be Short Lived?

Ma Rainey returns to Columbus and becomes a theatrical businesswoman. On December 22, 1939, Gertrude Pridgett 'Ma' Rainey died. more...

Jan 27, 2007

The Death of Richard Randolph: Was it Murder by Wife or Lover?

Nancy Randolph weds Gouverneur Morris but his family attempts to interfere. They believe he should have consulted them before marrying. more...

Jan 25, 2007

Patrick Henry Defends Randolphs: Southern Grapevine Buzzes Murder!

After Nancy Randolph's murder trial her sister, Judith, continues to spy on Nancy and Richard, Judith's husband, to find out if they are continuing their love affair. more...

Jan 23, 2007

A Colonial Love Affaire: An Unwed Pregnancy

Nancy Randolph and Richard Randolph stand trial for the murder of their newborn child. Patrick Henry and John Marshall defend them. more...

Jan 21, 2007

Nancy Randolph’s Revenge: John Randolph Digs up Old Family Dirt

As Nancy Randolph's love affair continues with her brother-in-law, his wife and other family members begin to suspect that Nancy is pregnant. more...

Jan 20, 2007

Nancy Randolph's nephew convinces John Randolph that she is having a lewd affair. Morris' will leaves it to Nancy as to how much each of his relatives should receive. more...

King the Peaceful: From Gandhi to the Birmingham Jail

Martin Luther King urges peaceful sit-ins. He meets Gandhi. King leads a "nonviolent army" protesting discrimination in Georgia and is jailed in Birmingham Alabama. more...

King Moves North: Vietnam and War on Poverty

Category: African History (general)

Martin Luther King speaks out against Vietnam and about the War on Poverty. He combined his civil-rights campaigns with a strong stand against the Vietnam War. more...

Jan 7, 2007

Jefferson Davis and Slavery: The Southern Gentleman Planter

Jefferson Davis: President of the Confederate States of America

Jefferson Davis believes that slavery is necessary to establish the southern cotton trade and that emancipation will eventually come. more...

Jan 5, 2007

A Flag to Inspire a Poet: The Star Spangled Banner

Jefferson Davis, future president of the Confederacy, is born in Kentucky. Years later he attends West Point and fights in the Black Hawk war. more...

Dec 31, 2006

A New Wild West: Cowboys, Gamblers, Soldiers, and Soiled Doves

Francis Scott Key is inspired to write the "Star Spangled Banner" during the attack on Fort McHenry. more...

Dec 19, 2006

Bozeman Forts Burned: Immigrants Bring Cholera and Small Pox

In time, the west became dotted with cattle towns, homesteads, and ranches. A new kind of wild critter was inhabiting the west. more...

Dec 17, 2006

Indians and the Gold Rush: Forts Kearny and Leavenworth

The Bozeman Trail is created and the military builds forts along it. Red Cloud and Crazy Horse lead attacks against these forts. Immigrants bring in small pox and measles more...

Dec 15, 2006

Pearl Harbor: The Aftermath: Ship Losses, Repairs, and Replacements

Following the discovery of gold in California the Indians experience a full measure of white westward expansion. more...

Dec 5, 2006

The USS Arizona: A Memorial for all Times

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor some ships are repaired but numerous others are built as the United States enters World War II. more...

Dec 3, 2006

USS Pennsylvania Bombed: Japanese Bombers Strike Oahu

In Pearl Harbor, Battleship Row is destroyed. The USS Arizona is hit, sending some 1,000 to their deaths. more...

Dec 1, 2006

Attack on Pearl Harbor Begins: American Ships Meet their Doom

During the Pearl Harbor bombing the Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and many other US Navy ships are hit. more...

Nov 29, 2006

The Boy Spy: Pearl Harbor is Attack by Japanese

In the first few moments of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor several American ships are destroyed and numerous lives are lost. more...

Nov 27, 2006

New War Industry: Rent a Spy: Before the Pearl Harbor Attack

At Pearl Harbor the Kuhn boy visits American ships and asks questions. Pearl Harbor is attack. The Kuhns are caught spying. more...

Nov 25, 2006

Japan Favors War with America: U. S. Places Trade Embargo Against Japan

During World War II, prior to America being officially involved, Japan rents spies from Germany to watch Pearl Harbor. more...

Nov 23, 2006

To Liverpool and the Dakotas: John James Audubon Listens to Bonaparte

An embargo is placed on Japan by the United States, depriving her of much needed natural resources to carry on her war with China. more...

Nov 20, 2006

John James Audubon: Artist and Ornithologist

John James Audubon, artist and ornithologist, traveled America drawing birds of North America, of which were published in several volumes. more...

Nov 20, 2006

John James Audubon, artist and ornithologist, traveled America drawing birds of North America, of which were published in several volumes. more...

Mayflower's Desperate Crossing: Interview with Producer Wolfinger Continues

Lisa Q. Wolfinger, Producer and Director, tells us more about the making of "Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower." more...

Wolfinger on Native American Roles: Authenticity of Desperate Crossing

The Pilgrims Give Thanks: The Fruits of Their Labor and Turkey Too

Producer Wolfinger of "Desperate Crossing discusses the Native Americans used in the production. more...

Nov 15, 2006

Slave Revolt: Bloody Mayhem Planned

The first Thanksgiving feast, attended by Pilgrims and Indians probably consisted of turkey, venison, fish, corn, and fruits and berries. more...

Nov 13, 2006

Convictions, Hangings, and Pressin: A Salem Witch Trial Index

Gabriel's Plot to free slaves is halted by bad weather. Someone informs on them, causing leaders to be hung or sold. more...

Nov 11, 2006

Ann Putnam, Jr. Confesses Guilt: Fourteen Years Later

This is the fifth in a series of five indexes concerning the Salem Witch Trials. more...

Nov 9, 2006

The Conviction of Giles Cory: Torture to the Extreme in Salem

Fourteen years after the Salem Witch Trials, Ann Putnam, Jr. admits that she wrongly accused many for witchcraft. more...

Nov 7, 2006

Burroughs Suspected of Murder: Dead Wives Rise Up to Accuse

Giles Cory is accused of witchcraft. He refuses to be tried and is pressed to death in order to get him to confess. more...

Nov 5, 2006

Burroughs’ Debts Are Settled: But They Will Come Back to Haunt Him

George Burroughs is arrested for witchcraft. It is suspected that he killed two previous wives, and maybe more. more...

Nov 4, 2006

Death on Gallows Hill: More are Convicted for Witchcraft in Salem

George Burroughs has a dispute with John Putnam Senior over the ministers unpaid wages and other monies owed. more...

Nov 2, 2006

Hysteria and Terror in Salem: Flying Women and Spectrals Abound

Bridget Bishop, Elizabeth Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, and others are convicted of witchcraft in Salem and hung on Gallows Hill. more...

Oct 31, 2006

Proctor and Cory Accused in Salem: Ann Putnam, Jr. Calls Out More Names

After Tituba's amazing confession specters and flying women are seen throughout Salem. more...

Oct 31, 2006

More Salem Witch Denials: A Dark Ingredient Added to the Witch’s Brew

In Salem Village, more specters of suspected witches are seen. Ann Putnam, Jr. cries out against Elizabeth Proctor and Martha Cory. more...

Oct 30, 2006

Osborne Incurs Wrath: The Putnams of Salem Become Her Enemies

Tituba is questioned and reveals some startling evidence concerning the devil and a little yellow bird. more...

Oct 29, 2006

Sarah Good: Second Accused Witch of Salem Village

Sarah Osborne becomes the enemy of Thomas Putnam Junior, father of Ann Putnam, Jr. one of the bewitched girls. Osborne is accused of witchcraft. more...

Oct 29, 2006

Sarah Good, an ill-tempered woman living in poverty in Salem Village is accused of witchcraft and of bewitching several young girls. more...

A Ghoulish Index of Articles: Salem Witch Hunt and More

This is the third index of articles concerning the Salem Witch Trials and other ghostly articles. more...

More Bewitchings in Salem Village: Tituba and Others Accused of Witchcraft

A Witch Cake Baked in Salem: Urine Was the Telling Ingredient

More girls are bewitched and three women are accused and apprehended to be examined to determine if they are witches. more...

Oct 27, 2006

Tituba, the Salem Slave: Telling Fortunes and Baking a Witch Cake

Tituba, the Indian slave belonging to Samuel Parris, bakes a witch cake using the urine of two bewitched girls. It is then fed to the family dog. more...

Oct 25, 2006

Category: Colonial America

Tituba: Indian slave of Samuel Parris in Salem Village tells fortunes and bakes a witch cake. Two girls declared bewitched. more...

Oct 22, 2006

Witch Work of Bridget Bishop: An Attempt to Bewitch a Witch

The New Massachusetts Charter: Now Witches Can be Tried

Bridget Bishop is suspected of bewitching a boy and clothing witch dolls. A man attempts to bewitch Bishop. more...

Oct 20, 2006

October, the Bewitching Month: Devils, Demons, Witches and Salem! Oh My!

Increase Mather returns from London with the new charter. Now accused witches can be tried, rather than merely held chained to prison walls. more...

Oct 20, 2006

Are You a Witch?: Two Million Witches Hung

This is part one of an index of articles concerned with the Salem Witch Trials and the supernatural. more...

Oct 18, 2006

Possession by Demons: Which Witch Was It?

You might be a witch if you are afraid of water, or can't say The Lord's Prayer correctly. Witches say it backward. more...

Oct 16, 2006

Children Beware of Demons: Cotton Mather Gives Warning

The results of possession by the devil is explored. Puritans believe that misfortune is caused by witchcraft. more...

Oct 14, 2006

Growing Up in Salem, Massachusetts: Puritan Children Rebelling Against Adult Rule

The children of Salem Village lived a strict and restricted life, controlled by adults. Cotton Mather warns all to be aware of demons among them. more...

Oct 10, 2006

Category: Colonial America

Life in Salem Village for youngsters: Long Puritan church services, acting as adults, accusing others of witchcraft. more...

Oct 6, 2006

Cotton Mather: Witch Trials in Salem and Boston

Category: Colonial America

Cotton Mather: Investigated cases of witchcraft in Salem and Boston and orders execution of George Burroughs for witchcraft. more...

Oct 3, 2006

An Exploding Four-Barrel Gun: Sam Colt Gets Big Bang Out of Electricity

Samuel Colt the Boy: Have Cannon, Will Explode

Samuel Colt begins experimenting with batteries and electricity. He plans a big bang for July 4, 1829. more...

Oct 2, 2006

Sam Colt, at age four, causes his first explosion. It was far from his last one. There were many explosions to come before he invented the firearm that made him famous. more...

The Roosevelts Reach New Orleans: A Night in a Baton Rouge Barroom

The Roosevelts spend three bad nights in a Baton Rouge barroom before reaching New Orleans. Fulton and Livingston design them a steamboat. more...

New Era in River Transportation: Changes on the Mississippi

Lydia Roosevelt’s husband wants to take a steamboat all the way from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. Although pregnant, Lydia is determined to go also. more...

Fulton Designs Steamboat: Largest and Grandest on the River

Robert Fulton designs a steamboat for the Roosevelts. It will be called the New Orleans. Their steamboat voyage down the Mississippi begins. more...

Over The Falls of the Ohio: The Shaking Quaking Earth

The Roosevelts take the New Orleans over the Falls of the Ohio. A strange shaking of the earth is felt by country-folk. more...

Lydia in a World Gone Crazy: A Lady as Mighty as the River

Lydia Roosevelt survives the devastating destruction caused by the New Madrid Earthquake. The steamboat New Orleans reaches New Orleans. more...

Kansas Charley Turns Seventeen: Now Charley Can Die as a Man

While in jail, Kansas Charley turns seventeen. By law he is now considered a man. For the second time, Charley escapes from jail. more...

Kansas Charley Hanged: Johnson County War Makes Headlines

Kansas Charlie’s Day of Execution: A Fine Suit of Clothes At Last

Kansas Charley is apprehended after his jailbreak. The Johnson County cattle war breaks out. more...

Sep 24, 2006

The Cheyenne Club: A Place Where Major Political Decisions were Made

Kansas Charley is executed. He is given a new suit of clothes to wear. Now he can die in style. more...

Sep 20, 2006

The Cheyenne Club in Wyoming: Catered to the elite, high-ranking professionals, wealthy businessmen, prominent cattlemen, and state and federal legislators. more...

Kansas Charley Goes on Trial: Defense Attorney Still a Greenhorn

Kansas Charley goes on trial with a defense attorney with no prior murder case experience. The prosecution attorney is a slick character backed by the cattle barons. more...

Kansas Charley Admits to Murder: Charley Miller's Witness Stand Confession

Kansas Charlie's attorney attempts to get the jury's sympathy. Charley admits his guilt on the witness stand. more...

No Return Visit For the King: Bad Weather After 1700 B.C. Halts Travel

Ice Age halts further travel to America. Ojibwa Algonquian leaves ancient Basque writing. Ancient Irish skull found in America. more...

Ancient Writings Across America: Who Left Them and Where Did They Come From?

Possibly, in Ancient Times, visitors to America’s eastern shores migrated westward. If so, did they intermarry with the native population? more...

King Woden-lithi Not the First: Algonquian Etches Message Using Basque Writing

Scandinavian King Woden-lithi discovers he is not the first non-Indian to visit North America. An Ojibwa Algonquian can also write in the ancient Basque language. more...

Kansas Charley to Cheyenne: Charley Follows His Murder Victims

Kansas Charley watches the train carrying the bodies of the two boys he’d murdered pull out for Cheyenne, Wyoming. He then, strangely, buys a ticket for that same town. more...

Kansas Charley Makes Headlines: Cattle Barons Condemn Kansas Charley

Newspaperman labels Kansas Charley as dangerous character. Charley goes on trial for murder. more...

Kansas Charley Alone and Starving: Whiskey and Hunger: A Deadly Mix

Kansas Charley is left alone and hungry in Pine Bluffs, Wyoming while his friends venture out to fill their bellies. They bring nothing back but a bottle of whiskey. more...

Kansas Charley Heads For Cheyenne: A Disaster for Charley Begins in St. Joseph

Kansas Charley hears of cowboy jobs to be had in Wyoming. Two young men leave St. Joseph, Missouri on a grand adventure west. more...

Murder on the Union Pacific: Waldo Emerson and Ross Fishbaugh

In St. Joseph, Missouri two young men are beginning a westward journey. There is a deadly meeting between them and Kansas Charley. more...

Madison and War, War, War: Napoleonic, Indians, and British

Madison declares war in 1812. Government fractions want to invade Canada and Spanish Florida. Harrison wins the Battle of Tippecanoe. more...

Madison and a Bloody Prediction: Patrick Henry’s Lasting Enmity

James Madison sees the new Constitution ratified and makes a lifelong enemy of Patrick Henry. Henry predicts there well be rivulets of blood. more...

James Madison: The Fourth President of the United States

James Madison, after graduating from Princeton, serves as a delegate to the patriotic convention and becomes close friends with Thomas Jefferson. more...

Kansas Charlie's Deadly Obsession: Clothes Makes the Man or so He Thought

Kansas Charley in Rochester, New York is obsessed with clothes. He believes a friend of his father has some money for him. more...

Kansas Charley Ships Out: Charley Chooses Jesse James for a Hero

Kansas Charley: rides the rails towards New York City, takes Jesse James as hero, develops liking for fine clothing. more...

Kansas Charley Reaches Puberty: Will Drastic Surgery Cure His Disease?

Kansas Charley undergoes circumcision to cure bedwetting. He is placed in a home but the bedwetting continues. more...

Kansas Charley Moves On and On: Goodbye Charley Miller, Hello Kansas Charley

Kansas Charley goes to Kansas to live with a family not far from where his brother lives. He steals some clothes and runs away. more...

Kansas Charley on an Orphan Train: New Home, Old Work, No Wages

Kansas Charley is placed on an Orphan Train and sent to another farm in Minnesota. He is again whipped for bedwetting and was not provided sufficient clothing. more...

Who Was Kansas Charley?: German Immigrant Born as Karl Muller

Kansas Charley's parents were German immigrants. When Charley was five his mother died. His father, while bartending, was quickly becoming a drunk. more...

Kansas Charley: The Saga of a Boy Murderer

Orphaned Charley Miller, calling himself Kansas Charley, murders two boys in a boxcar in Cheyenne, Wyoming. more...

Maude Adams: The Girl Who Grew up to become Peter Pan

Actress Maude Adams began her career at age nine months. She became the most noted and acclaimed child actress on the West Coast in the mid 1800's. more...

Maude Adams Heads West: Juliet and Joan of Arc Wait in the Wings

The role of Peter Pan is written just for Maude Adams by J. M. Barrie. more...

The United States and Cuba: The Case of the Misadvised Advisors

United States President John F. Kennedy is assured by Cuban diplomats that there are no missiles on Cuba. U-2 flight photographs prove this to be in error. more...

A Presidential Decision About Cuba: The Cuban Missile Crisis

President John F. Kennedy advises the public of the missiles on Cuba and decides to impose a blockade. more...

Husbands and Lovers Sail to Cuba: The 1962 Naval Blockade of Cuba

The author of this article, while stationed at a Naval Base during the Crisis was shown a letter another WAVE had recieved from her husband. He was on his way to Cuba. more...

Before the Cuban Missile Crisis: Who Has the Biggest Gun?

After Cuba and the Bay of Pigs: Placing the Blame

The United States installs missiles on Turkey. Nikita Khrushchev considers a personal affront to himself and his country. more...

Aug 2, 2006

The Colonial Carolinas: String up Trouble with Spain

Following the failed invasion of Cuba, the CIA prepares a special audit of the mistakes that were made. Its content was held secret for 36 years. more...

Aug 1, 2006

The Carolina land grant is issued in an attempt for England to oust Spain from America. It becomes an important agriculture area and shipping port. more...

Delaware and the English: From Stuyvesant to the Duke of York

First Stuyvesant of New Netherlands takes over Delaware. Then the English take it away from Stuyvesant. more...

New Sweden: The First Colony in Delaware

Carolinas' Aristocratic Government: High Society in the American Wilderness

In New Sweden/Delaware the Swedes build the first log cabin in America. Criminals, army deserters, and unfaithful husbands arrive. more...

Jul 18, 2006

The hard-working farmers in the northern portion of Carolina scoff at the Aristocrats that attempt to force upon them taxation without representation. more...

William Penn the Quaker: Penn Steadfastly Quakes in Prison

William Penn becomes a devout Quaker. He receives a land grant from the king and establishes Pennsylvania as a haven for Quakers. more...

Indians of Pennsylvania: Land of the Delaware Tribe

Pennsylvania, for the Delaware Indians, was a haven filled with game, fish, and rich soil to grow their crops. Then the white man came. more...

Colonial Philadelphia: Plan it and They Will Come

William Penn arrives in Philadelphia. Within three years there are 7,000 people living in the city. Penn insures peace by dealing fairly with the Indians. more...

The Quakers: Religious Freedom in the New World

European Quakers migrate to America but do not find religious freedom there. The Puritans of Massachusetts beat and imprison them, sometimes hanging them. more...

Singing Wires Defeat Pony Express: Telegraph Connects East to West

With the coming of the American Civil War a telegraph line is strung across the nation, connecting the east to the west. On October 24, 1861, the Pony Express is through. more...

Pony Express on the Oregon Trail: Miles to Go Before They Sleep

Pony Express rider Billy Hamilton waits in Sacramento, California to start his run when the rider from San Francisco comes in. more...

Pony Express and William Russell: Taking the Mail Contract Away from Butterfield

The Pony Express idea is presented to William Russell. He knows it is his chance to defeat Mr. Butterfield and his stage line. more...

Pony Express at St. Joseph: Johnny Fry Starts West

The start of the first run of the Pony Express is delayed while waiting for mail to arrive from Hannibal, Missouri. more...

The Pony Express Idea: An Idea that Stretched from Missouri to California

William H. Russell decides to start a Pony Express mail and telegram service. more...

The Duke of York: The Duke of York Becomes the Ruler of New York

The Duke of York finally gets New York. John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret Establish New Jersey; it becomes populated by Quakers, Catholics, and Presbyterians. more...

Maryland and Religious Freedom: No Christen Shall Be Troubled or Molested

The Act of Toleration is passed, granting citizens in Maryland the freedom to chose their own religion as long as it is a Christian religion. The King is paid two Indian more...

Johnny Fitzgerald is Home Again: Fitzgerald's Blarney is Louder Than Money

Fitzgerald's takes on James Jackson Storrow and sings out oh so sweetly. His voice is like pure honey to his voters. more...

John Francis Fitzgerald: The Son of an Irish Immigrant

John Fitzgerald, the son of Irish immigrants, at age 22, leaves medical school to support his eight motherless brothers after their father dies. more...

John Fitzgerald on the Rise: He Had Politics on His Mind

John Fitzgerald set up a shabby office and begins a system of enduring himself to potential voters. more...

American Distension Spreads: Anne Hutchinson Attacks Puritans

Anne Hutchinson and staunch Puritan leader John Winthrop tangle in court. Hutchinson is banned and moves on to Rhode Island. more...

America Steps and Stumbles

The Puritan life dictated that sons learned their father’s business and that daughter remained pure until their wedding night. Laws were made by the church. more...

John Davenport

John Davenport and Theophilus Eaton, in 1638, establish present-day New Haven, Connecticut. Davenport becomes the minister there. more...

Jun 26, 2006

John Ringo 3x

John Ringo and Billy Claibourne go on an extended drinking spree with Buckskin Frank Leslie. It looks like the end of the trail for Ringo. more...

Jun 26, 2006

John Ringo 1

John Ringo thought he'd go into the cattle business--using other peoples' cattle. more...

Shootout at Kennewick 6

Kid Barker is captured and charged with murder, but escapes jail several months later. more...

Manhunt in Kennewick: Outlaw Barker Sought Following Shootout

Kennewick Shootout: The body of outlaw Jake Lake is found, Kid Barker arrested, Marshal Mike Glover dies. more...

Shootout at Kennewick, Washington: Lewis and Clark Arrived One Hundred Years Earlier

On October 31, 1906, prior to the shootout, Kid Barker and partner robbed two Kennewick, Washington stores. more...

Jun 12, 2006

Gun Battle in Iowa 3

After another gun battle, the two escaped outlaws surrender. A lawman from Sioux Rapids prevents the outlaws from being lynched. more...

Jun 12, 2006

Gun Battle in Iowa 1

Albert City, Iowa was a quiet little town in 1901. Then on November 16, three bank robbers changed all of that. more...

Jun 4, 2006

Maximilian’s Millions

The unfound treasure of Maximilian, once Emperor of Mexico, remains hidden somewhere in the King Mountains north of El Paso, Texas. more...

Western Outlaws at the Suite 2

The Outlaws continue with the James, Doolin, and Youngers; Tom and Frank McLaury; Ike, Phineas, and Billy Clanton; Doc Holliday, the Earps, and John Behan. more...

Western Outlaws at the Suite 3

The Outlaws continue with Jack McCall, Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Joe Scott and Joaquin Murrietta. more...

Lucky Bill Longley 1: Gunfighter, Outlaw, Murderer, Negro-killer

Bill Longley: Texas gun-fighter, killer, western outlaw, and murderer of numerous blacks in Texas. more...

Lucky Bill Longley 2

Longley is captured and hung by some lawmen but luck is with him. He lives to kill another day. more...

John Wesley Hardin 2

John Wesley Hardin, after a Waco, Texas shoot-out, is put in jail. He kills his jailer and escapes. more...

John Wesley Hardin 1

John Wesley Hardin, Texas gunman and killer, could shoot a man to death using either hand, or both, to fire his deadly weapons. more...

Murder in Montana 3

There were few opportunities for women in the west to earn a living. She could teach school, wash laundry, bake, or become a prostitute. more...

John Wesley Hardin 5

Hardin, after 15 years, is released from prison, becomes a lawyer in El Paso, but his past catches up with him. more...

Murrietta The Outlaw: Rape and Desperadoes

After Joaquin Murrietta’s wife is raped by miners he becomes a raging outlaw with many atrocities attributed to his doing. more...

Joaquin Murrietta: Leaving Mexico for the California Gold Rush

The End for John Ringo?: Gunning Down a Gunslinger

Joaquin Murrietta, after miners rape his wife, seeks revenge and becomes a notorious outlaw of California’s gold rush era. more...

May 26, 2006

Sequoyah of the Cherokee: The Secret of the Talking Leaf

John Ringo and Billy Claibourne go on an extended drinking spree with Buckskin Frank Leslie. It looks like the end of the trail for Ringo. more...

May 22, 2006

They Also Discovered America: Lewis and Clark, and Zebulon Pike

Sequoyah and his friends wonder how the white people obtained the “Talking Leaves," that they call books. more...

May 15, 2006

Captains Lewis and Clark, with the Corps of Discovery, set off in 1804, up the Missouri River, to discover what lay between Missouri and the Pacific Ocean. more...

Eating Pork in Early America: Scrapple and Head Cheese Recipes

Pork was an important source of food in Jamestown. Here are recipes for Scrapple and Head Cheese. more...

Jamestown Chickens and Orchards: Colonial Deer Sausage Recipe

The people of Jamestown brought 500 chickens to the New World. more...

Dining in Colonial Virginia: How Early Settlers Obtained Food

The early Jamestown folks seemed fonder of bowling in the streets than raising corn. Corn they could trade with the Indians for, or just steal it. more...

Hudson Sees Unexplored Territory: Fog and Icebergs

Hudson’s ship is enshrouded with fog and surrounded by a tossing sea of floating icebergs. more...

First Voyage of Henry Hudson: Greenland and Hope For the Northwest Passage

Category: Colonial America

Henry Hudson sails his ship as far as Greenland, seeking the Northwest Passage. more...

Hudson and the Muscovy Company: A New Route to the Northwest Passage

An American Mother Goose: Elizabeth Foster and Family

Henry Hudson’s chance to become a seafaring explorer came in 1607, when the Muscovy Company sent him to locate the Northwest Passage. more...

Apr 27, 2006

America's Mother Goose, before she found feathery fame, was just plain old Elizabeth Foster who was born in Charleston, Massachusetts in 1665. more...

Calvert is First Lord Baltimore: Travel to the New World

George Calvert becomes associated with the Virginia Company, the provisional council for the Virginia colony, the New England Company, and a plantation in Newfoundland. more...

Conflict for Lord Baltimore: Newfoundland Cold and Virginia Hostility

John and Priscilla Alden: Passengers on the Mayflower

George Calvert, the first Lord of Baltimore, visits Newfoundland then visits Jamestown, Virginia. He tangles with the secretary of the Virginia council William Claiborne. more...

Apr 25, 2006

William Bradford: Joins the Puritans

John Alden and Priscilla were among the Mayflower passengers who settled Plymouth Colony, in the New World, in 1620. They wed in Plymouth, Massachusetts. more...

Apr 24, 2006

Jefferson, Father of a President: Vigorous Strongman

William Bradford immigrated to Holland from England. He and his wife were aboard the Mayflower with the Pilgrims when they sailed for America in 1620. more...

Apr 20, 2006

Peter Jefferson was the father of America's third president Thomas Jefferson. He served in the Virginia House of Burgesses and was a justice of the peace. more...

Squanto the Treaty Maker: Plymouth Colony and the Local Indians

Squanto helps arrange a treaty between the people of Plymouth and the Pokanokets and Nemaskets. The Nemaskets revolt because of the treaty and capture Squanto. more...

Squanto in London: Squanto Meets Slany and Dermer

Squanto, after nearly being sold into slavery in Spain, makes his way back to England. In his attempt to get home he makes it to Newfoundland but is returned to England. more...

Squanto and the Mayflower: Samoset Introduces Squanto to the Pilgrims

Signing the Mayflower Compact: The Pilgrim Men Who Signed on November 11, 1620

Squanto meets the Pilgrims who were aboard the Mayflower, although half of the original company had died during the winter. He is introduced to them by Samoset, an Abena more...

Apr 17, 2006

Washington’s Cherry Tree: Legend or Fact?

The Mayflower Compact is written, then signed on November 11, 1620. more...

Apr 14, 2006

Category: Colonial America

George Washington as a child, according to the writing of Mason Locke Weems, is believed to have chopped down a cherry tree. Is the tale legend or fact? more...

Apr 14, 2006

Author of Washington's Biography: Mason Locke Weems: Preacher and Bookseller

More Mayflower Passengers: Brewster, Doty, Tilly, and Billington

Did George Washington, as a small boy, chop down his father's cherry tree or did Weems invent this story for his biography of George Washington entitled: Life of George W more...

Apr 11, 2006

Here, the Mayflower Passenger list continues. This portion of the list includes the Brewsters, the unruly Billingtons and Dotys, as well as the Tilly brothers. more...

Pocahontas: Daughter of Powhatan Possibly Saves John Smith

Category: Colonial America

Pocahontas: Daughter of Powhatan, Saves John Smith after arrival at Jamestown, becomes peacemaker. more...

Pocahontas Saves John Smith: Truth or Legend?

Captain John Smith tells of being taken captive in 1607, by Powhatan. Fearing Smith would be killed, Pocahontas flung herself across Smith, attempting to prevent his deat more...

Powhatan's Tribes Teach Settlers: Farming and Trading With the Indians

Jamestown lacked men who knew how to farm. Powhatan's people show them how to plant and catch fish in exchange for metal for hatchets, glass beads and copper. more...

Powhatan and His Wives: Many Children of the Chief

Powhatan has many wives but only keeps each wife until she bears him a child. All of his wives are temporary. He also retained a large group of bodyguards. more...

Captain John Smith: Settling Jamestown, Being Enslaved, Fighting Pirates

Category: Colonial America

Captain John Smith: Fights Turks, Imprisoned by Pirates, Enslaved by Turkish pasha, Settles Jamestown, Virginia in America. more...

Smith Convinces Settlers to Work: John Smith Captured by Indians

Before Jamestown: Sir Walter Raleigh Dispatches Settlers to Roanoke

Some of the Jamestown "gentlemen" refuse to work. John Smith tells them that if they don't work they will not eat. The London Company makes harsh demands. Smith is nearly more...

Apr 2, 2006

John Adams the Attorney: Opposing the Stamp Act and Defending the Boston Massacre

Gilbert starts a colony at New Foundland. Drake returns the Roanoke settlers to England. The second Roanoke group disappears. more...

Apr 1, 2006

The Dutch in America: Settlement of the Hudson River Valley

John Adams, son of a farmer and shoemaker, attended Harvard, taught school, then became an attorney. He married Abigail Smith and became involved in defending America aga more...

Mar 29, 2006

Battle of Bloody Marsh: Spain and Britain Fight on St Simons Island

In 1609, Holland sent Henry Hudson to locate a waterway, a Northwest Passage, across North America. The Dutch West India Company starts a settlement in the Hudson River V more...

Mar 28, 2006

Creek Indians of Georgia's Islands: White Man Invades in 1540

Long before the Indian uprisings on coastal Georgia in the early 1600s, the British had their thoughts on previously Spanish held St. Simons Island. In time, the Spanish more...

Mar 27, 2006

Spain Attempts to Colonize Florida: Ponce de Leon to Pedro Menendez de Aviles

St. Simons Island, off the coast of Georgia, for eons had been the home of the Creek Indians. Then in 1540 the Spanish invaded this Indian paradise and attempted to Chris more...

Mar 25, 2006

The Caddos Name Texas: Caddo Life in 1691

A study of the early history of Florida might well give the superstitious mind the impression that Florida was under a curse or was capable of placing curses on the first more...

Mar 21, 2006

Brewster Back to England: The Speedwell and the Puritan's Plan

In 1691, the Spanish reached the temple mound site of the Caddos in Texas and were welcomed by greeting of "tejas," a Caddo word meaning "friends." more...

Mar 17, 2006

Settlers Return to Jamestown: Tobacco Crops and a Governor

William Brewster and the Puritans in Holland decide to migrate to Virginia in the New World. They sail back to England where another group seeking religious freedom will more...

Mar 16, 2006