”The Nation’s Guest”: The 200th Anniversary of the Marquis de Lafayette’s Tour of America, 1824-25
This month we commemorate one of the most heartfelt moments in American history, when Americans everywhere turned out to welcome the return to the United States of the Marquis de Lafayette, who had...
Remembering William Clark
Last month we posted a story about Meriwether Lewis, the famed explorer who co-led the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-06. The other leader of that expedition was William Clark, who died on this...
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,...
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 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...
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 Philip Sheridan
Unless you’re a serious student of the American Civil War, you may not know much about one of the most important generals to lead Union Army troops during the war: General Philip Sheridan, who died...
Remembering General John Burgoyne
On this day in 1792, British General John Burgoyne died in London at the age of 70. Along with General Charles Cornwallis, he is one of the most famous generals to lead British troops against...
