Nebraska is a study in contrasts in a way. The area was originally described as the Great American Desert before it became our 37th State in 1867. Like a lot of midwestern states, the area came under the ownership of the USA as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The final boundaries…
I know you are expecting me to say something about “Big Sky Country”, but that is just sort of what they settled on. It could have just as easily been “Big Bird Country”. For example, did you know that just north of Missoula there exists the largest nesting community of the common loon in the…
Yes, our march through the M’s continues and its time to hit the Show Me state, Missouri. The State got the nickname in 1899 when US Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver (now there’s a name for you) said on the House floor, “For thy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You are…
I don’t know about you, but when I think of exotic and interesting places in this wonderful country to visit, Mississippi is not on the top of the list. But in doing my research for this article, I found that I probably suffer from a chronic problem that those that grew up in the general…
Let’s get the really mundane stuff out of the way off the top. Michigan became the 26th State on January 26, 1837. The original capitol was Detroit, but it was moved to Lansing in 1847 to provide better defense against the British in nearby Canada. I am not quite sure why this was an issue…