The California Gold Rush: The 175th Anniversary Of The “49’ers,” And California’s First Constitutional Convention, September 1849
The story of the American West is a story of emigration—hundreds of thousands of pioneers heading West, originally to areas west of the Mississippi River, and later to areas west of the Rockies,...
August 1619: Commemorating the First Representative Government in North America at Jamestowne Colony
This month we commemorate the anniversary of the convening of the first General Assembly at the Jamestowne Colony in August 1619, an event that historians point to as the very first representative...
Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of the Birth of Meriwether Lewis
Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of the Birth of Lewis In the history of the American West (by which I mean west of the Mississippi), two events arguably were the starting point for the western...
Remembering Peter Stuyvesant
The history of the Colony of New Netherland in North America (today’s New York) is inseparable from the history of one man: Peter Stuyvesant, who served as the Director-General from 1647 to 1665,...
Remembering Annie Oakley
On this day in 1860, folk heroine Annie Oakley was born in a log cabin in Illinois. By age 8 she was demonstrating her extraordinary sharp-shooting skills, and at age 15 she began a long career as...
Florence Nightingale
On August 13, 1910, one of the pioneering women in the field of medicine and medical practices passed away. Florence Nightingale is considered to be the founder of modern nursing, and her work...
Remembering Metacom, “King Philip”, and the History of King Philip’s War (1676)
As we enter the Fall season, thoughts of many Americans turn to the upcoming holidays, especially Thanksgiving, when we traditionally honor the memory of our Pilgrim ancestors who came on the...
Remembering Andrew Carnegie
We’ve posted a number of stories about memorable figures in American history who led armies, settled the West, governed our earliest colonies, or distinguished themselves in various fields of...
Remembering James Armistead Lafayette
James Armistead Lafayette was a Continental Army double agent tasked with spying on the British during the Revolutionary War. He was born into slavery and enslaved by William Armistead, a Virginia...
Remembering William Berkeley
Long forgotten today, one of the most important political figures in 17th century colonial America was William Berkeley, who died this day on July 9, 1677. Berkeley was the Governor of the Virginia...
