Centuries ago, Europeans desperate for gold and a route to the East found a lush, green paradise populated by native tribes in the New World.

Subsequent violence and disease all but wiped out the native population. The land nurtured Charlton Heston and Ernest Hemingway in their youths and spawned the assassin of President William McKinley. Northern Michigan also bore witness to the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, one of the worst shipwrecks in Great Lakes history, and to the bizarre kidnapping of Gayle Cook, an ill-fated attempt to save the Perry Hotel in Petoskey from bankruptcy. Author and storyteller Dave Rogers recounts these and other historical tales from Up North.

With sixteen thousand miles of streams and rivers, twenty-nine state parks and nine state and national forests spread out over twelve counties, the Pennsylvania Wilds is an immensely special place in the Commonwealth. Beyond the stunning scenery lies important history of early America. A young George Washington traversed the expanse, cutting his teeth as a military leader. Violence between Native Americans and colonists in the territory left its bloody mark, from the Penn's Creek Massacre to the Great Cove Massacre. After the American Revolution, early settler families forged roots, built communities and developed the region into a patchwork of frontier towns. Through a series of richly compelling narratives, author Kathy Myers reveals the early history of the Pennsylvania Wilds.

The Beginnings of the Volunteer State Tennessee was a remote place in 1810. By 1850, some of the most influential people in America had come from Tennessee, such as Sequoyah, David Crockett, the filibuster William Walker and the slave trader Isaac Franklin. Learn about the state's first steamboats and its initial telegraph message. Read newly discovered accounts from the Trail of Tears. Hop along the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad and relive the glory and tragedy. Author and columnist Bill Carey details these stories and more on early history in The Volunteer State.

Author and county historian Eddie Walker has long chronicled the history of beautiful Cocke County, tucked away in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. He has made it his vocation to gather the scraps of the county's past and stitch them into articles written for all who call Cocke County home. Published together for the first time, this collection of favorite Walker articles--which first appeared in the Newport Plain Talk from 1996 to 2001--offers an intimate look at a picturesque East Tennessee community. From the first railroads and telephones to favorite haunts and local celebrities, discover the history and intriguing past of Cocke County.

When asked about the greatest accomplishment of his 34-year congressional career, Mike Mansfield, one of America’s revered political figures, offered a simple reply— “Saving Flathead Lake.”

 

The largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River has centuries of oral and written history. Much like the towns dotting the shore, even the islands of Flathead Lake, such as Wild Horse Island and Melita Island, harbor rich histories. Expectedly, contentious battles over projects arose, including the construction of the Kerr Dam and “The Flathead Lake Fight of 1943.” From the sinking of the Big Fork to the still visible remains of the Helena, the lake has been site to numerous nautical disasters. And unexplained plane crashes, creatures and occurrences have confounded locals throughout the years. Author Butch Larcombe presents factual, well-researched stories that paint a picture of the lake’s colorful people, historic events and lingering mysteries. 

From Mesoamerican mysteries to local legends, history waits to be unearthed on Colorado’s western slope.

Revelations include discovering new evidence in the infamous Alferd Packer case and old Spanish colonial relics near Kannah Creek. Investigators follow the trail of lost Spanish explorers searching for the Seven Cities of Gold and pursue archaeological signs of a prehistoric civilization north of Collbran. Expeditions search for the legend of the Utes’ Cave of the Ancients and the fabled location of Aztlán, the Aztecs’ original homeland.

A crew of historians, archaeologists and scientists, the Western Investigations Team uses ground-penetrating radar, electron microscopy, innovative metallurgic research and newly discovered documents to reexamine fascinating historical questions and contribute new chapters to history.