Western America

Alexander Hamilton, born in the British West Indies, was an outsider from the very beginning. His illegitimate birth drove him to prove his worthiness to others throughout his life. His quest for honor was one of the defining characteristics that colored his decisions. Hamilton was a small man with a large ambition, and this would drive him to greatness and create some powerful enemies in his wake.

Black Jack Hollis was a daring outlaw before he was shot down. In the wake of his death, it's discovered that Hollis left behind an infant son. Elizabeth Cornish, coowner of the Cornish Ranch alongside her brother, Vance, takes it upon herself to raise the child as her own. Elizabeth names the boy Terry Colby and gives Terry a fictitious aristocratic background, believing the way the boy is raised will determine the man he will become. But Vance is convinced that Terry is destined to become an outlaw himself.

Between 1817 and 1898, New York City evolved from a vital Atlantic port of trade to the center of American commerce and culture. Although this important urban transformation is well documented, the critical role of select Union soldiers turned New York engineers has, until now, remained largely unexplored.

The Civil War is best remembered for the big battles and the legendary generals who fought on both sides, like Robert E. Lee facing off against Ulysses S. Grant in 1864. In kind, the Eastern theater has always drawn more interest and attention than the West. However, while massive armies marched around the country fighting each other, there were other small guerrilla groups that engaged in irregular warfare on the margins.

Many well-read students, historians, and loyal aficionados of Texas Ranger lore know the name of Texas Ranger Captain Frank Jones (1856-1893), who died on the Texas-Mexico border in a shootout with Mexican rustlers. In Six-Shooters and Shifting Sands, Bob Alexander has now penned the first full-length biography of this important 19th-century Texas Ranger....

Gérard Salomon was born Haitian by his father and Dominican by his mother on March 21, 1954, in Cap-Haitian. His father was a non-commissioned officer in the Armed Forces of Haiti, who had a high sense of military duty. His childhood was strongly marked by the military values that his father was able to instill in him. Military service and sociology were a passion.

Between 1820 and 1840 more than 35 million American Bison were taken from the West. For the Native Americans, this was a disaster. Starvation became a possibility. In the fall of 1858, a battle between the Shoshone and Crow Tribes was fought for control of the rich hunting grounds of the Yellowstone ecosystem and the Wind River valley rich in animal resources that the Lakota and Cheyenne also coveted. After a staggering loss of lives, both tribes realized that continuing the war would mean that neither tribe would have enough young and fit warriors left to hunt. If the losses continued both...

The creation of the Texas Rangers, as a response to Indian retaliations and renegade assaults on the banking and transportation systems, was born of a need to react quickly. Special skills were required, and unlike the military, resourcefulness and improvisatory thinking were prized, alongside obedience to orders. Author Mike Cox described the ideal Texas Ranger as one who is "able to handle any situation without definite instruction from his commanding officer."

UPDATED FOR 2025 - INCLUDES AMERICA'S NEWEST NATIONAL PARKS - WHITE SANDS, INDIANA DUNES AND GATEWAY ARCH You’re visiting a national park but don’t have a lot of time. Maybe you’re just passing by or have only one day of your vacation to stop. What should you see, and how will you find those spots? Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks ensures you make the most of your limited time. It lists the must-see wonders at our most visited national parks and details the best short hikes for enjoying them. With the trails listed in this volume, you’ll never have to worry about ...

The Haitian Revolution has played a big role in the history of abolishing slavery. Its significant influence on the Civil War in the United States in the 1860s has probably been underestimated by many. The English and French already had conflicts elsewhere, and the Napoleonic Wars greatly contributed to these. Aside from that, the nation of Haiti was still in its early stages, with plantations populated by African slaves the settlers had captured and brought into servitude. Abuse and exploitation were common in many people’s lives, but the Haitian Revolution brought many changes.

Do you want to learn about the development of religion in Colonial America but don’t have the time or patience for a thick book? Then this is the short, concise book for you!! The book “Religion in Colonial America: A Short History” looks at the formation and spread of the different religions in colonial America. To illustrate the story there are pictures of the people, places, and events that are part of this historic movement. In addition, the book contains a list of reference books for further reading, a timeline of the development of religions in that period, and short ...

In the early 1900s, two families in Scurry and Kent counties in West Texas united in a marriage of 14-year-old Gladys Johnson to 21-year-old Ed Sims. Billy Johnson, the father, set up Gladys and Ed on a ranch, and the young couple had two daughters. But Gladys was headstrong and willful, and Ed drank too much, and both sought affection outside their marriage.

They have been romanticized and glorified in the movies and TV, but these are perhaps more accurate portrayals of Wyatt Earp and his contemporaries. Published in 1923, Fredrick R. Beckholdt bases most of these stories upon research and interviews with old timers who witnessed many events portrayed here. Becholdt's portrayal of of the outlaws, hostile Indians, cowboys, gamblers, cold blooded killers, prospectors, and lawmen who inhabited the Wild West is riveting.

In 1948 the former troop ship Windrush made the 30-day journey across the Atlantic from Jamaica. The arrival of its 500 passengers, the first generation of Caribbean migrants in the UK, was the initial step in the formation of a new identity: the black Briton. Fifty years later, Mike and Trevor Phillips spoke to those on the Windrush itself, as well as those who followed, to tell the story of Britain in the second half of the twentieth century through the eyes of the outsiders who became insiders.

On January 18, 1803, President Jefferson secretly sent a message to Congress that asked for $2,500 to explore the Missouri River, find the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean, make contact with the natives, and expand the fur trade. They would be called the Corps of Discovery. What will they find?

His name was Geronimo. And any mention of that name immediately conjures up images of the last gasp of Native American control of the Western Frontier. Geronimo, to be sure, was one of the most effective leaders in the resistance against America’s westward advance, but he was much more than just a good field commander for the Apaches. For even after the West was supposedly won, Geronimo proved more than ready to adapt. In this book, you will get the full picture of Geronimo: the good, the bad, and the downright incredible.

As Great Britain and France eyed the Illinois country and the Tennessee, Ohio, and Wabash River valleys for their respective empires, the Overhill Cherokees were coalescing and maintaining a conspicuous presence throughout the territory. Contrary to the traditional narrative of westward expansion, the Europeans were not the drivers behind the ensuing contest over the Tennessee corridor. The Overhills traded, negotiated, and fought with other Indigenous peoples along this corridor, in the process setting parameters for European expansion.

The 16th and 17th centuries saw the emergence of a new threat to government and organized society. Privateers and pirates raided along the coast of powerful countries and were, at times, at war with England, France, and Spain. They developed their own system of rules, a code of morality, and a very rough form of government. Pirates were eventually able to organize behind a captain who eventually would become like a governor with judicial power over all the pirates and control over settlements taken by the pirates in raids.

Gambling on Ore examines the development of the Western mining industry from the tumultuous and violent Gold Rush to the elevation of large-scale copper mining in the early 20th century, using Montana as representative of mining developments in the broader US mining West. Employing abundant new historical evidence in key primary and secondary sources, Curtis tells the story of the inescapable relationship of mining to nature in the modern world as the United States moved from a primarily agricultural society to a mining nation in the second half of the 19th century.

Born of humble beginnings, Ronald Reagan came into the world as the son of working class parents in Illinois. During his youth, he wasn't a particularly gifted student, but he did graduate from college. A Hollywood actor and union leader turned politician, he served as the 33rd governor of California during the tumultuous period from 1967 to 1975. Though his hard work, determination, and a bit of good luck, Ronald Reagan became the 40th president of the United States, in office between 1981 and 1989.