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Old Rail Fence Corners
Old Rail Fence Corners is an historical treasure trove containing the stories of the first significant waves of European-American settlers in the now state of Minnesota (United States of America). This book has direct accounts of mid-19th century lives and experiences on the frontier, recounted by the frontiersmen and women when many of them were in their mid-90s. A group of volunteer women -- the Book Committee -- sought to record these recollections before they were lost with the passing of these remarkable adventurers. Experience a wild, dangerous Minnesota full of mosquitoes, threatening wildlife, difficult roads, dirt floors, food scarcity, and Native American neighbors. Interactions with Native Americans are a major theme throughout the book; settlers relate their experiences in the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War, their outsider accounts of interactions between Minnesota's Native American tribes, and the settlers' impressions of the Native American inhabitants with whom they share the land, which range from outright fear to acceptance to friendship and respect. Listen to the amazing stories of the Minnesota settlers as they come back to life through the voices of our talented readers! These are the stories of Minnesota's adventurous, resourceful, and brave pioneers that you won't soon forget. -
Great White North
Sketches of those who braved the 'Great White North' in exploration and adventure. -
Witchcraft of New England Explained by Modern Spiritualism
"It is not our purpose to write history, but to give new explanation of old events. The long and widely tolerated theory that New England witchcraft was exclusively but out-workings of mundane fraud, imposture, cunning, trickery, malice, and the like, has never adequately met the reasonable demand of common sense, which always asks that specified agents and forces shall be probably competent to produce all such effects as are distinctly ascribed to them." -
Afloat on the Ohio
Afloat on the Ohio, An Historical Pilgrimage, of a Thousand Miles in a Skiff, From Redstone to Cairo.
There were four of us pilgrims—my Wife, our Boy of ten and a half years, the Doctor, and I. My object in going—the others went for the outing—was to gather "local color" for work in Western history. The Ohio River was an important factor in the development of the West. I wished to know the great waterway intimately in its various phases,—to see with my own eyes what the borderers saw; in imagination, to redress the pioneer stage, and repeople it. ( From the Preface )
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Chronicles of Canada Volume 29 - The Day of Sir John Macdonald: A Chronicle of the First Prime Minister of the Dominion
A biography of Sir John A. Macdonald, the first Prime Minister of Canada. It was written by the man who served as Macdonald's private secretary from 1882 to 1891. -
Chronicles of Canada Volume 22 - Pioneers of the Pacific Coast: A Chronicle of Sea Rovers and Fur Hunters
This, volume 22 of the Chronicles of Canada series, describes the exploration of the Canadian Pacific coast, British Columbia, and Alaska. It includes accounts of Bering, Cook, Vancouver, Mackenzie, Fraser, and Thompson. -
Detailed Minutiae of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia, 1861-1865
The author, who fought as a private in the Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War, describes the Confederate soldier’s daily struggles with hunger, illness, fear, and the perils of combat; as well as his pride of service, love of comrades, and courage in the face of overwhelming odds -
Chronicles of Canada Volume 28 - The Fathers of Confederation: A Chronicle of the Birth of the Dominion
During and after the United States' War of Independence, Canada remained loyal to Great Britain. The upheavals of the 1830's and early 1840's led to a Popular Government and union of Upper and Lower Canada in 1841, but many still wanted confederation of the provinces into one centralized government. It would take over two decades for that to become a reality, "From Sea to Sea". This work chronicles the birth of the Dominion of Canada. -
History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 1
"It has been a little over fifty years since the organization of the Territory of Minnesota, which at its birth was a very small and unimportant creation, but which in its half century of growth has expanded into one of the most brilliant and promising stars upon the union of our flag; so that its history must cover every subject, moral, physical and social, that enters into the composition of a first-class progressive Western state, which presents a pretty extensive field; but there is also to be considered a period anterior to civilization, which may be called the aboriginal and legendary era, which abounds with interesting matter, and to the general reader is much more attractive than the prosy subjects of agriculture, finance and commerce."
"Having lived in the state through nearly the whole period of Minnesota's political existence, and having taken part in most of the leading events in her history, both savage and civilized, I propose to treat the various subjects that compose her history in a narrative and colloquial manner that may not rise to the dignity of history, but which, I think, while giving facts, will not detract from the interest or pleasure of the reader. If I should in the course of my narrative so far forget myself as to indulge in a joke, or relate an illustrative anecdote, the reader must put up with it." -
History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 2
A series of stories written by Judge Charles E. Flandrau "at different times during his long residence in the Northwest, which embrace historical events, personal adventures, and amusing incidents." This book of tales is the companion to the author's book on the history of the founding of the state of Minnesota, and together they make up the volume The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier. In this part, Judge Flandrau describes the adventures and perils faced by early Minnesotans, and also gives his often-humorous observations about living in parts further west during the settlement of the frontier in the middle part of the 19th century. -
The Ordeal of Mark Twain (Version 2)
The Ordeal of Mark Twain analyzes the literary progression of Samuel L. Clemens and attributes shortcomings to Clemens' mother and wife. The Encyclopaedia Britannica says, Brooks' work "was a psychological study attempting to show that Twain had crippled himself emotionally and curtailed his genius by repressing his natural artistic bent for the sake of his Calvinist upbringing." Also, Brooks says, his literary spirit was sidelined as "...Mark Twain was inducted (with the success of 'Innocents Abroad') into the Gilded Age, launched, in defiance of that instinct which only for a few years was to allow him inner peace, upon the vast welter of a society blind like himself, like him committed to the pursuit of worldly success." And, still more disturbingly, Brooks maintains... "We shall see that in the end, never having been able to develop, to express itself, to fulfill itself, to air itself in the sun and the wind of the world, it turned as it were black and malignant, like some monstrous, morbid inner growth, poisoning Mark Twain's whole spiritual system. We have now to note its constant blind efforts to break through the censorship that had been imposed on it, to cross the threshold of the unconscious and play its part in the conscious life of this man whose will was always enlisted against it." The implication of all this begs the question, "What might a truly unleashed Mark Twain have produced?" -
Figures of Several Centuries
Arthur Symons talks through the histories and works of poets, playwrights, scholars and scribes. He provides both personal experience and critical wonder to the worlds of his subjects; Donne, Ibsen, Baudelaire and Emily Brontë among them -
Reminiscences Of A Workhouse Medical Officer
Joseph Rogers (1821-1889) was an English physician, medical officer, and health care reformer in London. The system of poor-law dispensaries and separate sick wards, with proper staffs of medical attendants and nurses, was due to the efforts of Rogers and his colleagues. His memoir, published in 1889, contains an informative biography written by his brother. His career was not without conflict as his zeal sometimes offended governing boards. -
Apache Campaign In The Sierra Madre
An account of the expedition [of the U.S. Army] in pursuit of the hostile Chiricahua Apaches in the spring of 1883. (Book subtitle) Bourke was a Medal of Honor awardee in the American Civil War whose subsequent Army career included several campaigns in the Indian wars of the mid to late 19th century in the American West. He wrote prolifically. He was mostly free of the unfortunate disdain for Native Americans common in 19th century America. He was quite admiring of many aspects of the Native American. “… Bourke had the opportunity to witness every facet of life in the Old West—the battles, wildlife, the internal squabbling among the military, the Indian Agency, settlers, and Native Americans.” -
Six Years with the Texas Rangers, 1875 to 1881
James Gillet recounts his adventures with the Texas Rangers 1856-1937. In a very entertaining style he recounts personal stories of wars, feuds, battles with the Apache nation and pursuing robbers and murderers. From these stories, and others like them, arose the many legends of courage and daring among the Texas Rangers.“The Texas Rangers, as an organization, dates from the spring of 1836. When the Alamo had fallen before the onslaught of the Mexican troops and the frightful massacre had occurred, General Sam Houston organized among the Texan settlers in the territory a troop of 1600 mounted riflemen. This company, formed for the defense of the Texan borders, was the original Texas Ranger unit. . .” from chapter 2 -
Complete Works of Brann, the Iconoclast, Volume 1
William Cowper Brann earned the nickname “The Iconoclast” by fearlessly attacking established beliefs and institutions which he thought to be pompous and self-serving. He settled in the wild and wooly West Texas town of Waco in the late 1800s as a newspaper man - first as a writer and then as owner of newspaper he named “The Iconoclast”. During this period, Catholics and Protestants were duking it out over the soul of Texas and there was even further sectarian strife among Protestants. Brann wrote prolifically and aired his Politically Incorrect views with vigor and colorful language.Described as a “slouch-hatted, gun-toting, beer-drinking, woman-worshiping man,” he assailed Baptists, Prohibition, blacks and universities as though engaged in a life-or-death gunfight; and actually he was killed in a gunfight at age 43. After he was shot in the back, drew his own gun and killed the man who had bushwacked him AND THEN walked directly to the jail before dying the next morning.He wrote entertaining, elevated prose; but occasionally colored his stories with barnyard terminology. Despite his blatant chauvinism, his voice was a reaction against many of the societal extremes of the day. ( William Jones ) -
Handbook of Home Rule: Being Articles on the Irish Question
The issue of Irish home rule was the dominant political question of British and Irish politics in the late 1800s to early 1900s. Published in 1887, this work contains articles in favour of the measure. (Irish home rule was finally approved in 1914 but implementation was suspended until after WWI.)
"The object of the writers has been to treat the difficult questions connected with the Government of Ireland in a dispassionate spirit; and the volume is offered to the public in the hope that it may, at a time of warm controversy over passing events, help to lead thoughtful men back to the consideration of the principles which underlie those questions, and which it seeks to elucidate by calm discussion and by references to history." -
Secret of Charlotte Brontë
Twenty years ago, now, I attempted (but was not especially successful in the task) to establish upon the personal knowledge that my own residence as a pupil in the historical Pensionnat in the Rue d'Isabelle, at Bruxelles gave me of the facts of Charlotte Brontë's relationships to Monsieur and Madame Heger, right impressions about the experiences and emotions she underwent between 1842 and 1846, and that supply the key and clue to the right interpretation of her genius. Every opinion I then ventured to state, not upon the authority of any special power of divination or of psychological insight of my own, but solely upon the authority of this personal knowledge of Monsieur and Madame Heger in my early girlhood, and also of the information I owed to the friendship and kind assistance given me, in my endeavour to rectify false judgments, by the Heger family, has quite recently, not only been confirmed, but established upon entirely incontrovertible evidence, by the generous gift made to English readers throughout the world of the key needed to unlock once and for ever the tragical but romantic 'Secret' of Charlotte Brontë. -
Trial of Susan B. Anthony
In 1872, after the ratification of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, the women’s suffrage movement in the United States adopted a new strategy. Arguing that the right to vote was one of the “privileges and immunities” guaranteed to every citizen by that amendment, the women were inspired to put this interpretation to the test in practice by attempting to register and vote in the November election. In Rochester, NY, fourteen women, including Susan B. Anthony, were successful. Within days after having cast their votes, however, they were arrested, as were the three election inspectors who had received their votes. Suspecting that a Rochester jury might be sympathetic to Miss Anthony, the prosecution requested a change of venue to the nearby city of Canandaigua, where trials were held in June 1873. Intense public interest in the proceedings led the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle to publish this pamphlet in 1874. Here is the transcript of Miss Anthony’s trial, including (in section 9) her justly famous remarks at her sentencing. Here also is the transcript of the election inspectors’ trial, as well as addresses given by Susan B. Anthony and Matilda Joslyn Gage, and an analysis by John Hooker critical of the trial’s irregularities. -
Chronicles of Canada Volume 20 - Adventurers of the Far North
This is volume 20 of The Chronicles of Canada series. This volume describes the explorers who braved the Canadian Arctic in search of the Northwest Passage, focusing on Samuel Hearne, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, and Sir John Franklin. -
History of the Jews in Russia and Poland, Volume II, From the Death of Alexander I until the Death of Alexander III (1825 - 1894)
Simon Dubnow was born in 1860 to a poor Jewish family in Belarussian town of Mstsislaw and later became an authority of Jewish history and an activist. Due to his Jewish origin, he had to move to St. Petersburg, Odessa, Vilna (Lithuania), St. Petersburg (2nd time), Kaunas (Lithuania), Berlin and finally Riga (Latvia) after Hitler came to power. When Nazi troops occupied Latvia 1941, he was moved with thousands of other Jews to the Riga ghetto and was eventually killed. His life is a symbol of Jewish suffering in Eastern Europe in the first half of 20 century. Jews have been migrating from Germany and other European countries to Poland since the late middle ages where they were protected by Polish kings mainly for their economic contribution, but frequently persecuted by Christians whenever there was a pretext or the king's power was not strong enough. After Poland was annexed by Russia in the late 18th century, they became the object of systematic persecution by Russian government. This tragedy is parallel to the life of the author culminating in the Nazi Holocaust. -
Recollections of Abraham Lincoln 1847-1865
Abraham Lincoln came to the presidency under a heavy shroud of uncertainty, not only about his threatened life but, of course, the very existence of the United States, which was already falling apart. Ward Hill Lamon was, in effect, his first Secret Service agent, his security guard and this biography, heavily edited by his daughter, Dorothy Lamon (some say TOO heavily edited) sets down for posterity many details surrounding Lincoln's near-fatal journey to his inauguration, how he dealt with day to day presidential decisions and a wide range of interpersonal relationships with the visionaries, schemers and power brokers surrounding him. -
Beacon Lights of History, Volume 12: American Leaders
A continuation of United States history, Volume 12 discusses key US leaders in the time up to and including the Civil War. In this volume are presented Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee. As noted in the Publisher's Preface, the discussion regarding Lee was written by Dr. E. Benjamin Andrews from the University of Nebraska. -
Exiles of Florida
“The Author of the following work has endeavored to give a faithful record of … the Exiles of Florida. Torn from their native land, their friends and homes, they were sold in the markets of Carolina and Georgia. Feeling the hand of oppression bearing heavily upon them, they fled to Florida, and, under Spanish laws, became free. … At a time of profound peace, our army, acting under the direction of the Executive, invaded Florida, murdered many of these free men, and brought others to the United States and consigned them to slavery. An expensive and bloody war followed …During its protracted continuance of seven years, bribery and treachery were practiced towards the Exiles and their allies, the Seminole Indians; flags of truce were violated; the pledged faith of the nation was disregarded. By these means the removal of the Exiles from Florida was effected. After they had settled in the Western Country, most of these iniquities were repeated, until they were driven from our nation and compelled to seek an asylum in Mexico.” (From the author’s Introduction, 1858) -
Chronicles of Canada Volume 26 - The Tribune of Nova Scotia: A Chronicle of Joseph Howe
Joseph Howe (1804-1873) was one of Nova Scotia's greatest and best-loved politicians. He was instrumental in helping Nova Scotia become the first British colony to win responsible government in 1848. A Liberal, he fought against Canadian Confederation. This work highlights his life and causes. -
Cruise of the Alerte - In Search of Treasure
The book describes a voyage undertaken in 1889 by an English barrister Edward Frederick Knight to the South Seas. This delightful story takes the reader on a voyage to the forbidding desert island of Trindade, where it is rumored that immense treasure lies buried. Though the heroes of this treasure-hunt do not have to contend with malicious people, they have their share of adventures. Almost inaccessible desert island, changing weather, hideous land crabs and heavy digging in the mud are enough challenges for the brave adventurers. (Kristine Bekere) -
In The Footprints Of The Padres
The American Charles Warren Stoddard (1843–1909) wrote travel books quite popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This third enlarged edition (1912) of his book more about California in general, in historia, and in memoria rather than her missions contains essays not included in the previous editions. “Charles Warren Stoddard was possessed of unique literary gifts that were all his own. These gifts shine out in the pages of this book. Here we find that mustang humor of his forever kicking its silver heels with the most upsetting suddenness into the honeyed sweetness of his flowing poetry. Here, too, we find that gift of word-painting which makes all his writings a brilliant gallery of rich-hued and soft-lighted wonder…. But no, the old California that Stoddard loved lives on, and will, because he caught and preserved its spirit and its coloring, its light and life and music. As the redwood thicket holds the sunlight, so do Stoddard's words keep bright and living, though viewed through a mist of tears, the California of other days.” ( Book Introduction and David Wales) -
South American Republics, Part I
The question most frequently asked me since I began my stay in South America has been: "Why do they have so many revolutions there?" Possibly the events recounted in the following pages may help the reader to answer this for himself. I hope that he will share my conviction that militarism has already definitely disappeared from more than half the continent and is slowly becoming less powerful in the remainder. Constitutional traditions, inherited from Spain and Portugal, implanted a tendency toward disintegration; Spanish and Portuguese tyranny bred in the people a distrust of all rulers and governments; the war of independence brought to the front military adventurers; civil disorders were inevitable, and the search for forms of government that should be final and stable has been very painful. On the other hand, the generous impulse that prompted the movement toward independence has grown into an earnest desire for ordered liberty, which is steadily spreading among all classes. Civic capacity is increasing among the body of South Americans and immigration is raising the industrial level. They are slowly evolving among themselves the best form of government for their special needs and conditions.
It is hard to secure from the tangle of events called South American history a clearly defined picture. At the risk of repetition I have tried to tell separately the story of each country, because each has its special history and its peculiar characteristics. All of these states have, however, had much in common and it is only in the case of the larger nations that social and political conditions have been described in detail. (Fragment of the Preface)
See the original text for the bibliography and numerous illustrations. -
Use Of The Dead To The Living
In 1827 Thomas Southwood-Smith published The Use of the Dead to the Living, a pamphlet which argued that the current system of burial in the United Kingdom was a wasteful use of bodies that could otherwise be used for dissection by the medical profession. "If, by any appropriation of the dead, I can promote the happiness of the living, then it is my duty to conquer the reluctance I may feel to such a disposition of the dead, however well-founded or strong that reluctance may be". Southwood-Smith's lobbying helped lead to the 1832 Anatomy Act, the legislation which allowed the state to seize unclaimed corpses from workhouses and sell them to surgical schools. While this act is credited with ending the practice of grave robbery, it has also been condemned as discriminatory against the poor. Thomas Southwood- Smith (1788 – 1861) was an English physician and sanitary reformer. -
Chronicles of Canada Volume 30 - The Day of Sir Wilfrid Laurier: A Chronicle of Our Own Time
In conformity with its title, this volume, save for the earlier chapters, is history rather than biography, is of the day, more than of the man. The aim has been to review the more significant events and tendencies in the recent political life of Canada. (from the Preface)
Sir Wilfrid Laurier (1841-1919) was a member of parliament for 45 years (1874-1919) and Prime Minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. He was Canada's first French-speaking prime minister and did much to reconcile English and French Canada. (TriciaG) -
Clergymen Of The Church Of England
This 1866 book was published in a time of great change in the Church of England. Trollope began as a High Church adherent and then worked his way to a Broad Church stance, a theological liberalism (toleration of belief and interpretation, regard for the individual conscience, a willingness to tolerate the ambiguity of finding truth in the extremes as well as the middle). This book deals with a crisis of faith and a crisis of structural form in the Victorian Church of England. It possesses all the interesting attributes of the novelist’s style. Note on the final chapter: John William Colenso (1814 – 1883) was a British mathematician, theologian, Biblical scholar and social activist, who was the first Church of England Bishop of Natal. His progressive views on biblical criticism and treatment of African natives were controversial. -
Four American Indians: King Philip, Pontiac, Tecumseh, Osceola
Four American Indians by Edson L. Whitney and Frances M. Perry, gives a short history of King Philip, Sachem of the Wampanoags; Pontiac, an Ottawan chief; Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief; and Osceola, a Seminole chief. Along with the history of each leader, insights on daily living among these different tribes is given. -
County Regiment, The
A sketch of the second regiment of Connecticut volunteer heavy artillery, originally the Nineteenth Volunteer Infantry, in the Civil War. -
My Hunt After 'The Captain'
Holmes describes his frantic search through Civil War torn landscapes for his wounded son, the future Supreme Court Justice. Originally published in The Atlantic Magazine, 1862. Holmes, Sr. (1809 -1894) was an American physician, poet, professor, lecturer, and author. He was regarded by his peers as one of the best writers of the 19th century. His most famous prose works are the "Breakfast Table" series, which began with The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table (1858). He is also recognized as an important medical reformer. -
Famous Missions of California
Naturalist William Henry Hudson was born in Argentina of immigrant parents from England, and later settled there. He published books on ornithology and novels, and other books of far ranging interest. This is a short overview, which he calls a sketch, of the California Missions starting with the first travels of Father Junipero Serra to their time of declining influence -
Domestic Slave Trade Of The Southern States
This 1904 history of slavery in the southeastern United States reflects the state of knowledge at that time, of course. The text contains so many extensive quotations (well footnoted along with an extensive bibliography) that it was unfeasible to indicate them as quotes in reading the text. The author was a professor of history and English at Claremont College, a North Carolina school that closed in 1917. A resource of more current thinking may be had at the well-regarded 1988 Dictionary Of Afro-American Slavery. -
Fifty Years Ago
Sir Walter Besant (1836-1901) was a prolific novelist and historian. He wrote Fifty Years Ago to present a picture of life, manners, and society in Great Britain as it was when Queen Victoria ascended to the throne. In 1837, the seeds of new technology and new ideas were present and monumental changes from the ways of the 1700's were about to be felt. Starting first in London and over several decades, the progress moved outwards to the country towns of the British Isles. -
Chancellorsville and Gettysburg
Abner Doubleday began the Civil War as a Union officer and aimed the first cannon shot in response to the bombardment opened on Ft. Sumter in 1861. Two years later, after a series of battles (including Antietam, where he was wounded), Doubleday took over a division in the Army of the Potomac's 1st Corps.
These are his memoirs of service in two of the War's great campaigns. At Chancellorsville, a very promising start made by General Hooker against Lee's Confederate forces fell to a defeat when, in Doubleday's estimation, normal and prudent precautions against surprise in the heavily-wooded battlefield were not carried out; he also seemingly apologizes for Hooker's lack of leadership during the battle as a result of his having been stunned by a cannon ball hitting the post against which he was leaning.
After Chancellorsville, Hooker was replaced as Army Commander by General George Meade. Doubleday describes the curious circumstances that led the two opposing armies to meet at Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. When Doubleday's superior, General John Reynolds, was killed by a sharpshooter on the first day's battle, he took over the 1st Corps and fought it well against converging Confederate divisions that badly outnumbered him. The Corps was forced by battle losses to retire, but its desperate fight bought the time needed for Union reinforcements to pour into Gettysburg and thus prevent a defeat in detail.
General Howard of the XIth Corps replaced Doubleday as the senior commander on the field, and mistakenly wrote to Meade that 1st Corps had routed after practically no fighting. Thus, when Meade arrived, he removed Doubleday from command of 1st Corps, replacing him with a more junior general from another Corps. The snub would embitter Doubleday against Meade. This book is in part Doubleday's revenge, as he picks apart Meade's indecision after the battle was essentially won, with the repulse of the famous Pickett's Charge. In his view, Meade could have won the war at that moment. -
Romance Of Modern Sieges; Describing The Personal Adventures, Resource And Daring of Besiegers and Besieged In All Parts Of The World
Lively narratives of some of the great siege battles of war. The book was written before World War I, in 1908. Some of the narratives contain language which was common in 19th and early twentieth century usage but which listeners today may find offensive -
American Postal Service, Second Edition
The history of the postal service in the United States goes back to the colonial period, but was established more formally with the issuing of postage stamps and regular delivery. Through small vignettes, this history is traced with attention to some of the more obscure, but fascinating aspects of the postal service and related topics, as well as the major aspects of the service. -
Workers - An Experiment in Reality: The West
A young scholar, recently graduated from Princeton College, travels across the United States as a member of the working class, taking any job he could find, enduring hardships and struggling to make a living. He travelled mainly on foot, designing for himself a social experiment on experiencing different class and culture structures and the reality of working conditions at the end of the 19th century. This volume continues the story that began in the first volume (The Workers - An Experiment in Reality -The East), and spans the region from Illinois to California -
History of the Comstock Silver Lode and Mines
This is a brief account of the Comstock Lode silver mines, and description of the geographic features of the state of Nevada including the railroads. Silver not only defined Nevada, but influenced the opening of the American West as far as San Francisco. Dan De Quille (pseudonym for William Wright) wrote extensively on the history of mining in the area of Nevada, and published the larger work “The Big Bonanza” assisted by Mark Twain, both of whom were part of the Sagebrush School of writers. -
Indians in Wisconsin's History
Pre-European arrival history of Wisconsin's Native American tribes, with discussions of their way of life, crafts, clothing, shelter, hunting, fishing and farming. Their activity and battles during French, British and U.S. rule of the territory. Extermination and forced removal of tribes to agencies and reservations. Numbers of survivors from original tribes and plight of those remaining in the 20th century. Popular Science Handbook No. 6, published by the Milwaukee Public Museum in 1954.Summary by Verla Viera -
Afghan Wars 1839-42 and 1878-80, Part 2
This Part 2 of "The Afghan Wars 1839-42 and 1878-80" discusses the 1878-80 war, which was one of the major conflicts during the Great Game, the 19th century competition for power and influence in Central Asia between the United Kingdom and Russia, and also marked one of the worst setbacks inflicted on British power in the region after the consolidation of British Raj by the East India Company. -
Afghan Wars 1839-42 and 1878-80, Part 1
The First Anglo–Afghan War was fought between British India and Afghanistan from 1839 to 1842. It was one of the first major conflicts during the Great Game, the 19th century competition for power and influence in Central Asia between the United Kingdom and Russia, and also marked one of the worst setbacks inflicted on British power in the region after the consolidation of British Raj by the East India Company. -
Personal Recollections of Early Melbourne and Victoria
Son of John Westgarth, surveyor-general of customs for Scotland, was born at Edinburgh, in June 1815. He was educated at the high schools at Leith and Edinburgh, and at Dr Bruce's school at Newcastle-on-Tyne. He then entered the office of G. Young and Company of Leith, who were engaged in the Australian trade, and realizing the possibilities of the new land, decided to emigrate to Australia. He arrived in Melbourne, then a town of three or four thousand inhabitants, in December 1840.
When the new colony was constituted Westgarth headed the poll for Melbourne at the election for the legislative council. He had had many activities during the previous 10 years.
He revisited Australia in 1888 and was everywhere welcomed. When the Melbourne international exhibition was opened he walked in the procession through the avenue of nations alongside Mr Francis Henty, then the sole survivor of the brotherhood who founded Victoria. As a result of his visit two volumes appeared Personal Recollections of Early Melbourne and Victoria, in 1888, and Half a Century of Australasian Progress, in 1889. Returning to Great Britain Westgarth died suddenly at Edinburgh on 28 October 1889. He married in 1853 and left a widow and two daughters. -
Chronicles of Canada Volume 32 - The Railway Builders: A Chronicle of Overland Highways
When the pace of railroad construction slackened in 1914, Canada had achieved a remarkable position in the railway world. Only five other countries—the United States, Russia, Germany, India, and, by a small margin, France—possessed a greater mileage; and, relatively to population, none came anywhere near her. This is the story of how Canada became a country stitched together by rail. -
On the Trail of The Immigrant
How did the immigrants come to America? Who were they? What Where did they come from? In this book, Edward Steiner tells of the experiences of immigrants from Hungry, Poland, Scandinavia, Germany, Italy and many other countries as they leave everything and board a boat to an unknown future. Steiner was born to a well-to-do Jewish-Slovak-Hungarian family in a Carpathian village, and was educated in Vienna and Heidelberg and immigrated to the United States in 1886. His later American experiences are quite incredible, precisely because it seems that he made every effort not to miss any of the steps of the immigration experiences; not only the familiar sweatshop saga of his fellow east European Jews, but also metal works in Pittsburgh; mining with Poles in Pennsylvania; cropping for the Amish; being Jailed for months for having been indirectly involved in a strike; getting trapped on a railway bridge as the train was running against him; being brutally mugged in Chicago; being shoved off a cattle train car in Ohio while on his way to becoming a rabbi in the East Coast; and finally, finding a warm Christian home in a small Mid-Western town with a pastor and his wife. Ultimately, in this environment, and under the continuing inspiration of Tolstoy, he became a Christian and a pastor himself, and ever active for progressive causes. This is an important book in the history of immigration. -
Building a State in Apache Land
Building a State in Apache Land by Charles Debrille Poston is a compilation of articles published in 1894 in the Overland Monthly magazine. Charles D. Poston gives a colorful account of the history of what would become the Arizona Territory as well and his role in such. His adventures and accomplishments in the lands ceded from Mexico to the USA in the mid 19th Century are recounted and constitute a interesting take of how the groundwork was laid for Arizona to become a unique American entity of many peoples. -
Jim Crow Car; Or, Denouncement of Injustice Meted Out to the Black Race
"My opposition to injustice, imposition, discrimination and prejudice, which have for many years existed against the colored people of the South, has led to this little book. In many parts of America the press has been furnished with “matter” for defending the colored people, through the medium of “Coleman’s Illustrated Lectures.” By request of my many auditors, some of whom being leading elements of the Northern States and Canada, this volume is published. Many persons interested in the welfare of the negro, have sought a more elaborate book on the Southern horrors. Therefore, the manner in which the colored people are treated, and the laws devised against them from time to time, are the chief subjects." (Rev. J.C. Coleman)
Quoting extensively from Henry McNeal Turner and Ida B. Wells-Barnett, as well as his own experiences traveling in the South and on segregated American railroad lines, the Reverend John Clay Coleman published this book on the state of the Jim Crow era in the American South, examining the US Supreme Court decision declaring the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional, the horrors of lynching (and his own experience raising a guard of black citizens of Decatur, IL, to protect the life of a man jailed there), and the degradation of segregation. (TheodenHumphrey) -
Bilingual Versions - Alice's in Wonderland (English – Spanish)
This book tells of a girl named Alice falling through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures.