August 20: 1794: The Battle of Fallen Timbers Spells the End of the “Native Confederacy” at the Hands of General “Mad” Anthony Wayne

American History, American West, Early New England, Early Virginia, Revolutionary War Era

The morning of August 20, 1794 broke humid and gray over the Maumee River, in present-day Indiana and Ohio.  A storm had torn through the forest through which the American Legion under the command...

Read More →

Remembering William Strachey, Chronicler of the Virginia Colony

American History, American West, Early Virginia

The man many historians credit as being one of the most reliable first-person chroniclers of the early days of the Jamestowne Colony was William Strachey, who was buried at St. Giles’ Church in...

Read More →

Wingfield’s War Reshapes Nevada Mining Industry, Following Labor Strife at the Goldfield Mines 

American History, American West

Founded in 1902, the town of Goldfield, Nevada experienced a meteoric rise over the next five years to become a center of the mining industry In the United States. By the winter of 1907, Goldfield...

Read More →

Collis P. Huntington: One of the Big Four” Tycoons of the Western Railroad Industry

American History, American West

Collis P. Huntington was an important American businessman and railroad leader during the 1800s – one of the “Big Four” tycoons of the western railroad industry. He was born in 1821 in...

Read More →

The Proclamation to the People of the Territory of Arizona: August 1, 1861

American History, American West, Civil War Era

After the expansion of the New Mexico Territory in 1853, the fate of the nearby Arizona Territory was in question. In 1856, a petition was presented to the U.S. Congress requesting organization of...

Read More →

July 21, 1620: The Pilgrims Leave Leiden to Start Their Journey to North America

American History, American West, Early New England, Early Virginia

Most Americans know that the first Pilgrims came to North America in 1620 on the Mayflower. But how did the Pilgrims come to be on the Mayflower in the first place, and where did they come from? The...

Read More →

The Controversial History of Nevada’s Comstock Lode

American History, American West

The American Revolution produced a number of unlikely war heroes who came out of nowhere to become leading generals in the Continental Army. Henry Knox, for example, was a bookseller in Boston who...

Read More →

Remembering William Howe 

American History, American West, Revolutionary War Era

On this day in 1814, William Howe, one of the most accomplished British military figures, died. He was a British general who was sent to America in March of 1775and played a major role during the...

Read More →

The Transcontinental Telegraph: A New Era of Connection

American History, American West, Civil War Era

When the transcontinental telegraph was completed on October 24, 1861, it did more than replace the Pony Express — it reshaped how a nation communicated. For nonprofits today, its story offers a...

Read More →

Pecos Bill: The Wildest Cowboy of American Folklore

American History, American West

Pecos Bill stands tall—larger than life—in the landscape of American frontier folklore. Born from the campfire tales of cowhands in the late 19th century, Bill embodies the boundless imagination...

Read More →