Trailin

Trailin'! is a western adventure novel by Max Brand. The tale follows a city boy - a greenhorn - from the east who journeys to the wild west in pursuit of his father's murderer. Excerpt: "He had not underestimated the time; in a little less than his five minutes the doors at the end of the arena were thrown wide and Werther reappeared. Behind him came two stalwarts leading between them a rangy monster. Before the blast of lights and the murmurs of the throng the big stallion reared and flung himself back, and the two who lead him bore down with all their weight on the halter ropes. He literally walked down the planks into the arena, a strange, half-comical, half-terrible spectacle. New York burst into applause. It was a trained horse, of course, but a horse capable of such training was worth applause."

What is the Lincoln Trail in Pennsylvania? It is the story of Abraham Lincoln in the Keystone State—the chronicle of where he went, what he did, and what he said in the state. The trail begins with Lincoln's Pennsylvania ancestors, moves on to his travels, public appearances, and speeches, and concludes with his funeral train in 1865. The Lincoln Trail in Pennsylvania tells a story for the reader, but it is also a guide for those who would travel the state figuratively or literally, to recover the memory of America's sixteenth president. The Lincoln Trail in Pennsylvania transports the reader back in time to key moments in Lincoln's public life. In 1846, at the age of thirty-seven, Lincoln was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Using mileage that Lincoln claimed for his trip, available routes, duration of the journey, and average speeds, Bradley Hoch is the first to establish the probable route Lincoln followed on his way from Illinois to Washington, D.C. Hoch concludes that he traveled by steamboat along the Ohio and Monongahela Rivers and by stagecoach on the National Road into Maryland. After Lincoln was elected president in November 1860, he transformed his inaugural journey from Springfield to Washington into a grand railroad tour of northern cities, hoping to cement the people's loyalty to the Union and to himself. His inaugural train, the first of its kind, made several stops in Pennsylvania. Hoch follows Lincoln throughout his journey, including the dramatic last leg—the "secret night train"—when Allan Pinkerton and his agents, determined to protect Lincoln from would-be assassins, cut telegraph lines and sidetracked trains in order to spirit him safely from Harrisburg to Washington. Hoch recovers symbolic moments, none more moving than Lincoln's funeral train as it stopped in several Pennsylvania cities, including York, Harrisburg, Lancaster, and Erie. In Philadelphia, the Liberty Bell was placed at the head of Lincoln's coffin when it lay in Independence Hall. As more than one hundred thousand mourners passed by, the bell's inscription memorialized his life: "Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants thereof." Rarely seen photographs, engravings, and maps enrich this illuminating volume. In the final chapter, Hoch offers a guide of sites to visit in present-day Pennsylvania, making The Lincoln Trail in Pennsylvania a welcome book for a wide range of readers interested in American history.

In April 1942, a little over two years before the Tenth Mountain Division officially obtained its name, the U.S. Army began the unprecedented construction of a training facility for its newly acquired ski and mountain troops. Located near Pando in Colorado's Sawatch Range, the site eventually known as Camp Hale sits at an elevation of 9,250 feet. Immense challenges in its creation and subsequent training included ongoing racial conflict, the high altitude and blustery winters. However, thanks to contributions from civilian workers and the Women's Army Corps and support from neighboring communities, the camp trained soldiers who helped defeat the Axis powers in World War II. Veteran David R. Witte brings to life this enduring story.

During the winter of 1776, in one of the most amazing logistical feats of the Revolutionary War, Henry Knox and his teamsters transported cannons from Fort Ticonderoga through the sparsely populated Berkshires to Boston to help drive British forces from the city. This history documents Knox's precise route--dubbed the Henry Knox Trail--and chronicles the evolution of an ordinary Indian path into a fur corridor, a settlement trail, and eventually a war road. By recounting the growth of this important but under appreciated thoroughfare, this study offers critical insight into a vital Revolutionary supply route.

Journey down one of the most important roadways in the annals of Illinois transportation history. Stretching from Chicago to Cairo, the Egyptian Trail was one of the earliest "improved" roadways in Illinois. Dating to 1915, it was the longest road in the state, running four hundred miles through 20 counties and over 60 towns. The project was the brainchild of two Mattoon men, Dr. Iverson Lumpkin and Ernest B. Tucker, who realized the southern reaches of the state should be linked with Chicago along the same path as the Illinois Central Railroad. Though long forgotten today, the trail also served as the basic template for the route of Interstate 57. Author James R. Wright takes a road trip through the fascinating heritage of the Egyptian Trail.

Great authors write about many themes common to our everyday life. The author, Eva Lena, lived from 1883 to 1965. She wrote of everyday experiences common to women of that era. Her poems have never been published until now. Although she will never be considered a great American poet, she was talented with rhyming schemes, vocabulary, and ideas. Venture into the early to middle 20th century with poems that explore nature, motherhood, being a writer, lover, and an aging woman looking forward to a new land. This anthology samples a few of her poems, and includes photos of the author and her family.