The last Saturday of July is the National Day of the Cowboy. Many of the first cowboys really were boys - at least, they were when they started out. The job was hard, dirty and dangerous - they had to quickly become men. The cowboy began in the Southwest. The Spanish created the first big …
Category: history
The California Trail
If you’re driving to or from California this summer, you’re following one of the great wagon trails left by our forefathers. Consider taking a little time along the way to learn about the route and the intrepid travelers that built this nation. Most of the California emigrants took the northern route from St. Louis …
An Unlikely Hero of the West
When we think of Western heroes, there’s a slew of them to consider. Men like Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, Juan Bautista de Anza, or Crazy Horse - all were larger than life and stand tall in the history of our land. There’s one more to add to that list. He’s an unlikely candidate, a Catholic …
A Pyramid – in North Dakota?
Did you know there is a pyramid in North Dakota? Standing silent and tall over the endless plains, with little more than a fence between it and the north pole, is a pyramid, looking like it belongs in the jungles of central America or the deserts of Egypt. But it's an American made structure that …
America’s First Farmers
In the 1850’s, farmers from the United States began a massive migration, crossing the continent first to the gold fields in Colorado and California then to the rich soil and abundant sunshine of the lowlands such as the San Joaquin. Along the way they infilled the plains and mountain, rapidly filling the country with land-hungry …
Irish Celebration Comes to Parkfield
Note: play the audio to hear the report and some of the music we'll hear at Felie Parkfield: America has deep Irish roots, and one way those roots come alive is through our music. That uniquely American sound of Bluegrass has more than a touch of Irish in it. This connection is the theme of …
Death on the Washita
The story of the American West is a checkered one, with heroic struggles and devastating misdeeds. It’s war and peace on an immense scale, spanning a continent and hundreds of years. The men and women that built the west are made of the same clay and grit that we are - we are their …
