"An essential, surprising journey through the history, rituals, and landscapes of the American South--and a revelatory argument for why you must understand the South in order to understand America"--

"Black Bart is widely regarded today as not only the most notorious stage robber of the Old West but also the best behaved. Over his lifetime, Black Bart held up at least twenty-nine stagecoaches in California and Oregon with mild, polite commands, stealing from Wells Fargo and the US mail but never robbing a passenger. Such behavior earned him the title of a true 'gentleman bandit.' His real name was Charles E. Boles, and in the public eye, Charles...

"From the National Book Award-winning and best-selling author Timothy Egan comes the epic story of one of the most fascinating and colorful Irishman in nineteenth-century America. The Irish-American story, with all its twists and triumphs, is told through the improbable life of one man. A dashing young orator during the Great Famine of the 1840s, in which a million of his Irish countrymen died, Thomas Francis Meagher led a failed uprising against...

Reveals the true stories of the Wild West's most legendary characters, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Black Bart, Billy the Kid, and Jesse James. "How did Davy Crockett save President Jackson's life--only to end up dying at the Alamo? Was the Lone Ranger based on a real lawman--and was he an African American? What amazing detective work led to the capture of Black Bart, the 'gentleman bandit' and one of the West's most famous stagecoach...

Zane Grey, who is best known for his novel "Riders of the Purple Sage," helped to define the popular image of the Old West through his popular adventure novels. First published in 1910, "The Heritage of the Desert" is set in the American southwest where John Hare is found dying in the desert and consequently nursed back to health by the rancher August Naab. John soon finds himself caught between his indebtedness to the generous rancher, whose daughter...

By and about the greatest celebrities of frontier America, these are the stories of their adventures told in their own words through excerpts from autobiographies, articles they wrote, newspaper interviews, private journals, personal letters, and court testimony. These glimpses into the worlds of these legendary figures as they describe their own personal experiences, impressions, what life in the frontier West was like, reveal the roles they played...

The only complete guide to the historical landmarks of California, this standard work has now been thoroughly revised and updated. The edition is enriched by some 200 photographs, most of which were taken by the reviser and all of which are new to this edition. Since the last revision in 1990, enormous changes have taken place within the state: many landscapes and buildings have been greatly altered and some are no longer in existence. Every effort...

Idaho's Remarakble Women 2 tells the history of the Gem State through the stories of fifteen pioneering women, all born before 1900, who made a profound impact on Idaho. Meet Sacajawea, Lewis and Clark's Shoshone guide; Jo Monaghan, who lived as a man for nearly forty years; Margaret Cobb Ailshie, who ran Idaho's biggest newspaper; and Nell Shipman, an actress, writer, and early filmmaker. Each woman in her own way displayed remarkable courage, hope,...

Think you know your states? THINK AGAIN! Did you know that the cheeseburger was invented in Colorado? Or how about that Colorado was the first state to legalize marijuana on all levels? Or that Colorado has the highest "lowest point" of all the states? If you want to find out more interesting, little known, well known, strange, or unusual facts about Colorado, this book is a must read! Sections include: *General State Facts *Facts By City *Sports *Animals *Strange...

The classic account of what day-to-day life was like for cowboys and pioneer families in the American West. Born in a log cabin in 1879-Edward Everett Dale sought education and become a prolific and versatile professional writer-but always remained rooted in his close connection to the frontier. He lived in a sod house, and once rode the range as cook to a group of cowboys. His life experiences brought exceptional authenticity to his work, including...