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| Legends of America Newsletter - March 2019 |
| | Spring brings smiles around our house, even when the temperature drops for a day or two. Just knowing that the trees will be green again, the flowers blooming, the lawn growing (hopefully without too many weeds)...it's enough to make a person burst with joy. Or was that a sneeze?
Our oldest granddaughter in Kansas had her spring break earlier this month, so Kathy took advantage for a little jaunt down to Arkansas with her. A few days of re-visiting some of the great history and scenery with a 16-year old that probably wonders what Nana really does for a living. |
| | First stop Eureka Springs. When Kathy and I were there back in 2009 it was cloudy and rainy. Think there was another trip sometime through there and it was cloudy and rainy. So it was good for the girls to have a sunny day to visit this historic town. One of the best preserved 19th-century communities in the nation, Eureka Springs offers numerous historic attractions, plenty of recreational activities including nearby lakes, and over a hundred specialty boutiques, not to mention the dozens of restaurants.
On to Fort Smith...Oh, yeah, here's the clouds and rain. That's alright, we just need to better plan our trips to Arkansas during a sunny season. Fort Smith National Historic Site celebrates a long history dating back to the original establishment in 1817. It played a crucial role in Native relations and Indian Territory, and today visitors can see the remains of two frontier forts along with the Federal Court of the Western District, which has its own rich history via Judge Isaac Parker. |
| Heading over to Hot Springs they see a theme of "healing waters" in Arkansas at Hot Springs National Park. Kathy showed our granddaughter the bathhouses that date back to around 1900, but the history here goes back much further. Native Americans are thought to have occupied the region as early as the Paleo-Indian era (12,000 B.C.). The earliest documentation was from a French explorer in 1771 who wrote about the natives coming here to bath in the hot waters. These natural thermal springs that flow from the western slope of Hot Springs Mountain have been thought to possess medicinal properties for centuries. Hot Springs also has an interesting "mafia" history with shenanigans noted until the 1960s. (see our story on that under What's New)
Overall it was a good escape from the winter blues for the girls. In the meantime, I have my spring list of "to do's" already growing... getting the mower ready, weed eater fixed, cutting limbs I should have cut back in February, and watching the fisherman on the lake trolling for spoonbill during snagging season. A guy in the neighborhood brought out a 60 pounder by our house just the other day. If he brings me some I'll let you know my thoughts on cooking spoonbill, also known as paddlefish.
Dave "hoping for more than a week of spring weather before summer" Alexander
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| | | | What's New on LOA
Here are just some of the latest additions since our last newsletter. For more be sure to visit our "What's New" page. |
| Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico – Bandelier National Monument, near Los Alamos, New Mexico, preserves the homes of the Ancestral Puebloans, who lived here in the 12th-16th centuries.
Kuaua Ruin – Coronado State Historic Site, New Mexico – The Kuaua Pueblo Indian village, now known as the Coronado Historic Site in Bernalillo, New Mexico, was a Tiwa village located on the Rio Grande.
Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, El Paso County, Texas – The Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and the Mission Corpus Christi de la Ysleta, located just southeast of El Paso, Texas is the oldest operated parish in the state.
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| Ohlone Indians of California – The Ohlone Indians, named Costanoan by early Spanish colonists, are a linguistic family who lived on the coast of central California.
Susquehannock Tribe of the Northeast – The Susquehannock people, also called the Conestoga by the English, were an important Iroquoian-speaking tribe that formerly lived on Susquehanna River.
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| | | Legends gets gangsta
La Cosa Nostra – American Mafia – La Cosa Nostra, also known as the “Mob” or the “Mafia”, evolved from the Sicilian Mafia and is one of the foremost organized criminal threats to America.
Roger Touhy – Chicago Gangster – Roger Touhy was an Irish-American mob boss and prohibition-era bootlegger from Chicago, Illinois who took on Al Capone and his crew.
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| “Baby Face” Nelson – Midwest Gangster – Lester Joseph Gillis, known as Baby Face Nelson, was a young gangster and bank robber from Chicago who was associated with Touhy Gang and John Dillinger. Lucky Luciano – Italian Crime Boss of New York – Charles “Lucky” Luciano was an influential Italian-born mobster who operated out of New York City for years, before he was sent to prison and later deported Gangsters, Thugs, and Mafia in Hot Springs, Arkansas – Gambling, prostitution, bootlegging, and gangsters were once a rampant part of Hot Springs, Arkansas history.
These are just a few of the new additions to our website. We've added over 20 new articles since our last newsletter. |
| | | | | Did You Know? March is National Women's History Month
By, 1913, only nine states — all in the West — provided women the right to vote. |
| | Women's Suffrage in the United States
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| | As the foundational documents of our nation were drafted, Abigail Adams repeatedly reminded her husband, John Adams, the second U.S. President, that he and the other men drafting these documents should “Remember the Ladies.” Unfortunately, it would be many years before the ladies were “remembered” and guaranteed equal rights in the United States. |
| | | Women in American History |
| | Here are just a few of our stories of American Women |
| Mary E. Walker – Brave Surgeon of the Civil War - Feminist, abolitionist, prohibitionist, alleged spy, prisoner of war and surgeon, Mary is the only woman ever to receive the Medal of Honor.
Phoebe Couzins – Lady Law - One of the first female lawyers in the United States, the first female appointed as a U.S. Marshal, and a well known suffragist, Phoebe Couzins was a trailblazer for women’s rights and equality.
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| Victoria Claflin Woodhull was a suffragist, feminist, and writer who was one of the first female Wall Street brokers, and the first woman to run for President.
Sarah A. Bowman, who earned the moniker the “Great Western,” was a Madame, cook, businesswoman, nurse, wife, and mother who made her way around the American West, primarily following soldier camps William Worthington Fowler wrote in 1877 "Woman’s experience of life in the wilderness is never better told than in her own words." He shares some of those through diary entries in " Some Remarkable Women in Pennsylvania & Kentucky" |
| | | | Popular on Facebook
In case you missed them..here's some articles that have received the most interaction on our Facebook fan pages over the past month.
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| | Diamond Springs Kansas - Oasis on the Santa Fe Trail - When the Santa Fe Trail was first surveyed in 1825, Diamond Springs, Kansas was called the Diamond of the Plains, and records of Santa Fe traders who passed by Diamond Springs date back as early as 1821. |
| | | Pocahontas - Powhatan Heroine - March 21, 1617, Matoaka, daughter of a powerful Powhatan Chief, dies in England at the age of 22. In her brief life, she played a significant role in American History as a pop culture princess. |
| | | The Lost Newton Gang Loot - March 4, 1960, Jess Newton dies in Uvalde Texas, never finding his lost loot from the largest train robbery in U.S. History some 36 years earlier. |
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Thank you for your support!
We can't say enough how much your support keeps us motivated in sharing our love of American History and travel destinations. Our primary funding is through our General Store and Photo Print Shop, but your donations through our Tip Jar have also played a large role during our website remodel, and continue to help with our server and technical costs. Thank you, thank you, thank you. |
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Supporting our love of history since 2003, Legends' General Store is a great place to find unique gifts, books, DVD's, wall art, Native American inspired herbal remedies, t-shirts, postcards and much more. As a newsletter subscriber, save 10% off any item. Just use coupon code NEWS10 in cart view.
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Providing a wide range of photo prints and products from vintage images to our current travels. Thousands to choose from, including historic travel destinations, old west, native american, art and more available in many print sizes, including canvas and print wraps. Or put your favorite on a calendar, coffee mug or t-shirt. Just select an image and browse our many products in the Photo Shop. As a newsletter subscriber, save 10% on all prints. Just use coupon code News10 during checkout.
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| | What Our Readers are saying:
I found your website after watching the CBS Sunday Morning segment on the ‘Harvey Girls’. ... Congrats on your neat website and offerings on the rich history of western America. As my favorite historian David McCullough says, ‘The only thing that’s really new is history you haven’t learned yet.’ - Jim (Ref: Harvey Houses on Route 66) I love this site, especially the Native American photos. Chris (Ref: Legends' Photo Print Shop - Native American Galleries) My thanks to all those who help preserve in words and pictures all those mostly forgotten little wide spots in old US 66. It is History & we all need to learn and pass on to younger generations what life was like back then. I have never traveled & visited this old highway & since I am almost 82 years old, I seriously doubt I will ever do it. I have traveled the old highway from Rolla to St Louis. (Ref: Ghost Town Stretch Beyond Springfield, MO) This is a fabulous site! I love searching through all the words and phrases. Great learning to be had here, and discovery. Goldmine! - Margaux (Ref: Western Slang, Lingo and Phrases) Great information! I’ve wondered about this place for years on our way to/from Texas/Red River! Just came by it today. Signs at the gate say “Private Property” & “No Trespassing” but the lodge sits untouched. - Shannon (Ref: Mystery of the Eagle Nest Lodge)
or comment on any of our articles. |
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