In this newsletter: and more!! | | Latest from our world | | It got a few inches deeper than that before it was over, but this is the only snow shot to share with y'all. I'm old enough now not to torture myself standing out in sub-zero wind chills for the perfect shot. Maybe I should get some better long johns.
Besides, it appears to me that most of y'all had the same view over the past week or so. Snow, Ice, Cold. That's gonna be our view for a while longer, as our next journey will be a Spring one this year.
In the meantime, I'm thinking about the 250th anniversary of our Nation's founding. If you are looking for an educational and historic road trip this year, consider Virginia.
| | Back in 2021, we took a fall journey east to Virginia. This state has a way of stealing the spotlight in America's story. See why as we traveled through Appomattox, Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown in this Ad-Free Photo Travel Blog.
It was a fun trip, and we learned a lot.
While we wait on the thaw, Kathy has been focused on expanding our sister website, Legends of Kansas. We've also had some excellent submissions, including one from Roger Myers, who has authored pieces for True West, Old West, and other western magazines. And Jesse Galanis is back with a look at some hidden talent in America.
Stay warm, friends, and enjoy this month's newsletter.
Dave & Kathy Alexander.
| | From Legends' Photo Print Shop | | So, after staring at the walls during our last big winter blast, did you think to yourself, "I need a new look"? No need to hire a whino (wink wink), we have you covered with our selection of Saloon Style Prints. Vintage photos, advertising and more!
Save 20% when you use the coupon code news20. | | | | Here are some of the recent additions since our last newsletter | | Hidden Figures of American History: Untold Stories from Across the States - (submitted by Jesse Galanis) Discover the overlooked trailblazers who shaped America’s past. Hidden figures whose courage, innovation, and impact deserve long‑awaited recognition.
The Governor’s Sons: The Short Lives of Outlaws Charley and Tom Smith - (submitted by Roger Myers) Discover the tragic tale of an Illinois Governor’s sons... frontier justice, family honor, and a deadly 1860s feud that shaped Kansas history.
Alexander Graham Bell - A Life Shaped by Sound and Invention - Alexander Graham Bell was a scientist, a teacher, an inventor, and above all, a believer in the power of communication to change the world. Something he accomplished when inventing the Telephone.
Fort Bissell, Kansas - Fort Bissell, built in 1872 in Phillips County, Kansas, on the land of John Bissell, was built while roving bands of Natives were still in the area.
Fort Kirwin, Kansas - In 1865, Camp Kirwin, a temporary encampment in Phillips County, Kansas, was established by Colonel John S. Kirwin and a company of Tennessee volunteers.
| | Kaw Methodist Mission, Council Grove, Kansas - (Legends of Kansas) Kaw Mission in Council Grove, Kansas, is a historic church mission that served as a home, school, and church for 30 Kaw (Kanza) Indian boys.
Ioway and Sac & Fox Mission, Highland, Kansas - (Legends of Kansas) The Iowa and Sac & Fox Mission State Historic Site, also known as the Highland Presbyterian Mission, was a mission that housed children of two local tribes from 1845 to 1863 near Highland, Kansas.
Osage Indians of Neosho County, Kansas - (Legends of Kansas) Explore the history of Osage Indians in Neosho County, Kansas; ceded lands, treaties, missions, and cultural legacy shaping the region’s heritage.
Hartland, Kansas – Lost in Kearny County – (Legends of Kansas) Hartland, Kansas, in Kearny County, once the county seat, is gone today except for the cemetery.
| | Thayer, Kansas - (Legends of Kansas) Thayer, Kansas, is a small town in Chetopa Township of western Neosho County. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 432.
Phillipsburg, Kansas - Phillips County Seat - (Legends of Kansas) Nicknamed “City Of The Hills,” Phillipsburg sits in the uplands of Deer Creek in northwestern Kansas on the western edge of the Smoky Hills region of the Great Plains.
Parsons, Kansas - (Legends of Kansas) Parsons was initially named Mendota when a post office was established on September 25, 1869. It is the most populous city of Labette County, and the second-most populous city in the southeastern region of Kansas.
We've added 45 new articles since our last news letter... | | | From Legends' General Store | | "Native American Indian Tribes" poster locates over 300 original territories of the major American Indian tribes. Each location has been approved by the tribal council. The artwork is from an original painting by Bill Strobel.
Poster measures 17" x 24". Great for classroom and learning projects.
Save 20% when you use the coupon code news20.
| | | | | The primary leader of the Exodusters’ migration to Kansas, Benjamin “Pap” Singleton, was born a slave in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1809. Still, throughout his life, he was determined to be free. He was trained as a cabinet maker and sold as a slave several times, but always managed to escape. Eventually, he fled to Canada and then settled in Detroit, Michigan, where he ran a boarding house that frequently sheltered runaway slaves. | | | Chesapeake Bay National Park | | The region is steeped in history, including the legacy of American Indians, the arrival of European settlers, the inspiration of the American Revolution, and the tragedy of the Civil War. Across the watershed are diverse landscapes, from the Shenandoah Mountains to Smith and Tangier Islands. Large cities, colonial towns, farms, and fishing villages are also here.
Learn more about the rich American History of Chesapeake Bay National Park. | | | From Legends' General Store | | Native Plants, Native Healing (Traditional Muskogee Way) The Cherokee and Hitchiti author shares his knowledge of medicinal uses of plants and traditional Native root-doctoring techniques. Readers learn how to identify, honor, and select common wild plants and are given information about responsible harvesting versus cultivation. He also explains how to prepare liniments, lotions, oils, salves, teas, and tinctures, and recommends specific remedies for numerous ailments. A must for beginners as well as serious students of herbology. Illustrated and indexed by both plant name and medical topic.
Author Tis Mal Crow also worked internationally with indigenous healers and herbal groups to promote the medicinal uses of herbs and the conservation of the wild habitat needed to sustain the growth of medicinal herbs.
Already marked down, take an additional 20% off when you use our newsletter coupon code NEWS20.
| | | Isaiah Mays – Honorable Buffalo Soldier | | Born into slavery at Carters Bridge, Virginia, on February 16, 1858, Isaiah Mays was a Buffalo Soldier in the United States Army and a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Wham Paymaster Robbery in Arizona.
| | | | February is Black History Month | | | Poker Alice – Famous Frontier Gambler | | Perhaps the best-known female poker player in the Old West, Alice Ivers Tubbs, better known as “Poker Alice,” hailed from England. Born on February 17, 1851, in Devonshire, she was the daughter of a conservative schoolmaster who moved the family to the United States when she was still a small girl.
| | | Popular Stories on Facebook | | In case you missed it, here are some of the articles that have been popular on our Facebook Fan Pages recently. | | | Ruby, Arizona, stands as one of the best‑preserved and most haunting ghost towns in the state. Nestled below Montana Peak, this once‑booming mining camp witnessed everything from Apache raids to a brutal double murder, a massive cross‑border manhunt, and the rise and fall of the Montana Mine, which once made Ruby a thriving community of nearly 2,000 people.
Though the site is now closed to the public, its history remains unforgettable.
[Images: Ruby, Arizona, Town View, 2008. Photo by Kathy Alexander.] | | | December 29 marked the anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890, a heartbreaking and pivotal moment in American history. What began as an attempted surrender by Big Foot’s band of Miniconjou Lakota ended in chaos, gunfire, and the deaths of more than 150 men, women, and children.
The event signaled the end of the Indian Wars and left a lasting scar on the Sioux Nation. Today, the site stands as a solemn reminder of the cost of fear, misunderstanding, and broken promises.
[images: Wounded Knee Massacre site & Memorial. Photos by Kathy Alexander] | | | Tulsa, OK, was first settled by Native Americans in 1836 when they were forcibly relocated along the Trail of Tears. Some called their settlement Tallahassee, while others used the Creek Indian word “Tulsy,” which meant “old town".
After white settlers turned it into a cow town, oil was discovered in 1901, and Tulsa became a boom town. By 1920, Tulsa was home to nearly 100,000 people and more than 400 different oil companies. Today, Tulsa is the second-largest city in Oklahoma, with a population of nearly 400,000.
Threads of its Native American heritage, oil boom days, and Route 66 icons are still visible throughout the modern city.
[image: Hank's Hamburgers has been a Tulsa, Oklahoma, landmark since 1949. Photo by Kathy Alexander. ] | | | Few places in Kansas hold as many layers of history as Haskell Indian Nations University. Founded in 1884 as a government-run boarding school during the assimilation era, Haskell has witnessed trauma, resistance, athletic glory, cultural revival, and academic transformation. Its story stretches from strict military-style discipline to powerhouse football teams, landmark campus buildings, civil rights–era change, and its evolution into a respected tribal university representing more than 140 Native nations.
[image: Haskell Indian Nations University, about 1900.]
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All newsletter readers can enjoy 20% savings. Just use coupon code News20 in 'cart view' at our General Store, or during checkout on our Photo Print Shop. | | | Have a comment about something in this newsletter or any of our stories? Reply to this email or send them to travel@legendsofamerica.com. | | |
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