The Historical Marker Database

Minnesota, Renville County, near Morton

"When the men in advance reached Little Crow's village...they saw a column of mounted men and some wagons...going eastward."
Wamditanka
The "men in advance" were Dakota scouts. According to Wamditanka, they were traveling in a group of several hundred toward New Ulm, where an attack was planned. They had stopped at the village of the Mdewakanton chief Taoyateduta (Little Crow) to gather belongings left behind during the siege.

The "mounted men" were Anderson and his command. They were part of a burial detail—150 volunteer soldiers and civilians sent from Fort Ridgely to bury victims of the war that had been raging across the region.

Scenes from a War Zone

Many of the sketches reproduced along this trail were made by Albert Colgrave, a 22-year-old artist who joined Company G, 6th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment, in September 1862. Around the time the U.S.-Dakota War broke out, he was becoming well known in St. Paul for his theatrical backdrops. "May he become as proficient in handling the musket as the pallet," the St. Paul Daily Press noted when he enlisted.

Colgrave sketched dozens of battle scenes during the war. But his career was cut short: he died of typhoid fever in Glencoe, Minnesota, in March 1863.

Minnesota Historical Society
Birch Coulee Battlefield

(Wars, US Indian) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Connecticut, Fairfield County, Danbury

The start of the 20th century saw a continual influx of newcomers to Danbury. A religious census taken in 1916 showed that 27 nationalities and 20 creeds were represented among the 22,533 residents of the town.
The 1910 census shows that a majority of the population were foreign born. The most numerous continued to be Italians. Their numbers increased until they outnumbered the Irish as the major foreign born group by the 1930s.
For many immigrants, churches, schools and fraternal organizations kept alive ties to culture, language and kinship. Trusted leaders assisted newcomers in securing jobs and housing and many found their way through the process of naturalization. Very often, children of these community leaders were among the first to hold public office in the city.
Many Portuguese worked in the hat factories and on local road construction crews. 1998 brought a merger of the Sons of Portugal, a club founded in 1924, with the Portuguese American Club, founded in 1938. By 1920 Greeks who had settled in town founded Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in a house on Farview Avenue.
The post-Vietnam War years brought Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian and other Southeast Asian refugees to the United States and our city. In recent years, thriving communities of Central and South American peoples, as well as those from India, have settled throughout the Greater Danbury area.
City schools and the changing landscape of our neighborhoods and local businesses offer an unparalleled glimpse of our population. They are a daily reminder of Danbury’s legacy as a place where those seeking a new life are welcomed into the community. It is important to remember that the multicultural diversity of Danbury has always been one of its greatest strengths.

(Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Connecticut, Fairfield County, Danbury

The artificers, who produced and distributed goods for the army during the American Revolution, may have fueled the start of Danbury’s early manufacturing activities. During the years following the war, Danbury began its transition from a primarily agricultural economy to a regional industrial center.
Turnpikes developed as supply routes during the war and water power from the Still River were important to the arrival of mills for producing flour, lumber, fulled woolen cloth and linseed oil for paint. Local paper mills fueled the publication of books with a Danbury imprint.
In the 1790s, the newspaper was filled with ads touting locally made clocks, carriages, and tailored clothing. The town even had a ‘peruke’ or wigmaker.
In the early 1800s, Nathaniel Bishop owned the largest comb making firm. He produced high-backed, ornately carved combs popular throughout Latin America. Cut and wrought nails, shirt manufacturers , straw board boxes, boot and shoe factories were growing businesses.
The arrival of the railroad, coal necessary to power machinery and the introduction of hat forming machines ushered in the industrial age. Manufacturers of hatting machinery such as the Turner Machine Company and the Doran Brothers were an important industrial base.
Foresight and initiative helped push the growth of Danbury’s industrial strength.
In the early 20th century, the Danbury Business Men’s Association secured state aid for roads and World War I initiated an effort to diversify. In 1918, a group of Danbury businessmen formed the Danbury Industrial Corporation; the first of its kind in the U.S., a vehicle in providing modern accommodations and facilities for welcoming new industries to our city.

(Industry & Commerce) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Connecticut, Fairfield County, Danbury

Danbury was home to several early pioneers of the American circus in the mid 1800s. In fact, Aaron Turner, proprietor of one of the earliest American traveling shows, was actually P.T. Barnum’s mentor. From 1836 to 1838, Barnum traveled with Aaron Turner’s wagon circus and worked as a ticket seller.
Turner’s Columbian Circus consisted of trick horseback riding, tumbling and clown acts. He is also noted as the first to erect a canvas tent for performances. At only 50 feet in diameter, Turner’s tent was large enough to shelter his show and his audience from the elements.
The Turner House Hotel was built in 1850 next to the courthouse on the corner of main and Turner Streets; now Main and State Streets.
George F. Bailey, Turner’s son-in-law took over the circus after his father-in-law’s death in 1854.
Bailey’s was the first American circus to tour Latin America and his menagerie included the first hippopotamus brought to the United States.
For several decades, land and outbuildings behind the Turner House served as winter quarters for the circus. The Danbury Times printed an early announcement for opening day in April 1867:

“They will erect their tent on the lot in the rear of the Turner House. We trust that our citizens will more than fill their spacious pavilion for a presentation of costly and rare curiosities, viz: the only Hippopotamus in the world that can be made to obey its keeper, the Polar Bear, a young African Elephant, and a two humped camel.”
The building was razed in 1965.

(Entertainment) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Connecticut, Fairfield County, Danbury

In 1801, Mr. Major Starr donated the land necessary to take a large curve out of Main Street on condition that it serve as a permanent common. To this end, residents from the southern end of the street raised their own funds and created Elmwood Park in 1853, planting the first elm trees and a hay crop.
On Training Days, the park became the center for the Artillery and Cavalry Companies’ maneuvers and celebrations. It was the site of early fairs held by the Fairfield County Agricultural Society.
Eventually the pretty fence rotted away and the park became an eyesore until efforts by local citizens resulted in the creation of Fountain Park in July of 1879. Danbury citizens spruced up the park with the installation of a large fountain, the planting of 60 elm trees and the addition of a bandstand where concerts were featured every Wednesday and Saturday night.
The proximity of St. Peter Church to Elmwood Park made the location a perfect setting for performances by the St. Peter Church Band. The group presented summer concerts there and evolved into the town band during the late nineteenth century.
Elmwood Park is still an oasis in the heart of Danbury and was recently revitalized with beautiful landscaping, welcoming benches and a bubbling fountain.

(Charity & Public Work) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Connecticut, Fairfield County, Danbury

Since its earliest days, the importance of education has been at the forefront of the development of the community. In 1763 the will of Comfort Starr left 800 pounds “for the support of a perpetual school in the centre of town.”
By 1769, a School Committee was administering the Starr Fund and had divided the area into school districts. Committeemen were appointed to oversee the schools in each district: Beaver brook, Great Plain, Stony Hill, Pembroke, King St., Boggs, Mill Plain, Long Ridge, Uptown, Downtown and Miry Brook. The Starr Fund was also used to establish a high school in 1869.
There were also many private means of schooling available in homes and churches throughout Danbury.
The Danbury Trade School catered to the needs of those going into local industries and was later replaced by the Henry Abbott Technical School.
There was a military school on Rose Hill but the most notable of boys’ schools was Danbury’s Wooster School founded in 1926. At one time there was a boarding school for girls located on West St. and Deer Hill Avenue that catered to the “cultivation of their intellectual, social and moral powers.”
The State Normal School built in 1903 on White Street prepared its students to become teachers. By 1905 it had graduated its first class of 24 students.
”The first village school was on Wooster St. between the early settlers’ graveyard and the old Danbury Jail. Scholars were thus constantly reminded on one hand of the certainty of death and, on the other, of the uncertainties of life.” - James Montgomery Bailey

(Education) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Ireland, Ulster, County Donegal, near Burt

This large stone-walled fort, located on a hilltop commanding views over Loughs Foyle and Swilly and counties Donegal, Derry and Tyrone, was the royal citadel of the northern Uí Néill from the 5th to the 12th century. It was probably built some time around the birth of Christ. Its builders may have been attracted to this hilltop site by the presence here of a sacred monument - a prehistoric burial mound or tumulus, possibly from the Neolithich period (about 3000 BC).

A lintelled passage through the 4.5m thick wall leads to the interior where the wall rises in three terraces to a height of about 5m; there are also two long passages contained within the thickness of the wall. Substantial restoration work was carried out in 1870. We know little about the three earthen banks which circle the Grianan, but they could be part of an earlier Bronze Age or Iron Age hillfort. The trackway running through these banks and leading to the fort is believed to be an ancient roadway.

Bhí an caiseal seo, suite ar bharr cnoic óna bhfuil ardradharc ar Loch Feabhail agus Loch Súilí agus isteach i gCo. Dhún na nGall, Co. Dhoire agus Co. Thír Eoghain, bhí sé mar dhún ríoga ag Uí Néill an Tuaiscirt ón 5ú go dtí an 12ú haois. Tógadh é thart ar aimsir Chríost. B'fhéidir gur roghnaigh an dream a thóg é an barrchnoc seo toisc go raibh leacht naofa ann cheana féin - carn adhlactha (tumulus) ó thréimhse na réamhstaire, b'fhéidir ón tréimhse neoiliteach (timpeall 3000 r. Chr.).

Tá pasáiste le fardoras ag gabháil tríd an balla (atá 4.5 m. i dtiús) isteach i gcroílár an chaisil, áit a n-éiríonn an bhalla ina thrí chéim anairde go dtí 5 m. Tá, freisin, dhá phasáiste fada laistigh den mballa féin. Rinneadh athchóiriú mór ar an gcaiseal sa bhliain 1870. Ní fheadar mórán mar gheall ar na trí mhóta de chréafóig atá thart timpeall ar an nGrianán, ach tá seans ann gur páirt iad de dhún a bhí ann roimhe sin, sa Ré Chré-umha nó sa Ré Iarainn. Creidtear gur seanbhóthar a bhí sa chosán a ghabhann tríd na mótaí seo i dtreo an chaisil.

(Anthropology • Forts, Castles • Man-Made Features • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Ireland, Ulster, County Donegal, Letterkenny

At this point once stood the home place of the late Jimmy Gallagher, his wife and family. Jimmy who was an employee of the County Donegal Railway, was a guard on the Letterkenny to Strabane train, when on 11th August 1941, he was fatally injured in a rail accident about 2 miles from Letterkenny. His son Patrick started to work on the railway after his father died, starting as an engine cleaner, then to fireman and finally engine driver. He had the distinction of driving the last steam train on the Letterkenny - Strabane section. He now resides in Philadelphia, USA. Other family members still reside in Letterkenny. There were only three famillies [sic] living in this location at that time.

The Gallagher's, Nelson's and Toners.

[Illustration captions read]
The County Donegal Railway Bridge

Port Ballyraine (The Port)

The Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Bridge

Gallaghers Cottage, The Port

(Bridges & Viaducts • Man-Made Features • Railroads & Streetcars • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Texas, Parker County, Weatherford

On September 20, 1898, Robert P. Lowe and his wife purchased the property at this site. The commonly held belief is that the house was built by Robert Lowe, who retired from Mobile and Ohio Railroad in 1894 and settled his family in Weatherford. He built the home sometime between 1897 and 1899 during construction of the building that would house his hardware business. Due to a fire that destroyed the Parker County Courthouse in 1874 early records of the home are non-existent. The earliest Sanborn map is for 1885 that depicts a home at the current location and the 1894 map depicts the same home which strongly suggests that a pre-existing structure was expanded or remodeled in the 1890s.

The Wright House represents the Queen Anne style, but with minimal modifications. In 1905, the back porch was enclosed to create a bathroom, closets were added in the bedrooms and the kitchen was remodeled. The original transoms are still in place as is the stained-glass transom panel over the front door. After the death of Robert Lowe in 1920 and his wife Evalina in 1924, the house was eventually sold to Nannie Hauser in 1927. James Claude and Marie Wright purchased the home from Hauser in 1940. James Wright started a business selling street signs to small towns and established National Trade Days to help promote small businesses. The descendants of James Wright occupied the home until 1972. In 2009, the city of Weatherford purchased the home to prevent demolition and convert the space to city offices. This historic home’s architecture and ties to the Lowe and Wright family enhance Weatherford’s historic fabric. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2012
Marker is property of the State of Texas

(Notable Buildings) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

New York, Saratoga County, Malta

Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth
1837 - 1861
Site of childhood home
First Union officer killed
in the Civil War
Erected in 2013 by the Town of Malta

(Patriots & Patriotism • War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Minnesota, Renville County, near Morton

"It was a beautiful place to encamp, but it proved an unfortunate one for us, as the enemy had the advantage both of the timber and hill for protection."
Joseph Anderson
To cover the largest possible area, the burial detail split into two groups on September 1. Anderson and his men went south of the Minnesota River, while a group headed by Capt. Hiram Grant scoured the land north of the river. The two groups rejoined at a campsite Grant chose. Despite Anderson's misgivings about the site, he and his men settled in for the night.

An Error in Judgment

"Everything indicated...that the Indians had all removed up to Yellow Medicine (near Upper Sioux Agency)," Anderson said about Grant's fateful choice of a campsite. Although many felt uneasy, the men camped where they had been assured no Dakota forces would attack.

Grant chose a site on level ground, close to trees and water, less than a half-mile from the road to Fort Ridgely—in a low-lying area open to gunfire.

Minnesota Historical Society
Birch Coulee Battlefield

(Wars, US Indian) Includes location, directions, 8 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Indiana, Grant County, Matthews

The Cumberland Covered Bridge was built in 1877. During the Great Flood of 1913, it was washed downstream.

On March 26th 1913, the Mississinewa River floodwaters rose high enough (Fig. 2, 3) to push the Cumberland Covered Bridge from its abutments as local citizens watched helplessly. The bridge listed to a 70 degree angle on its way downstream, with the north end leading the way.

After drifting past the cemetery, it struck a large Sycamore tree on the embankment, causing it to turn 180 degrees - stopping at its final resting place on the south bank (Fig. 4) until the waters receded (Fig. 5). The old abutments stood empty (Fig. 6). Upon inspection, it was discovered that, while the bridge had lost some of its siding and roof, the 181 foot long Howe truss (framework) was still in sound structural condition.

After determining that it was salvageable, contractor George Leamon was hired to move the bridge back upstream to its original location. It was raised from the water and moved on wooden rollers to the road alongside the river. Horses and/or man operated capstans were used to move the bridge back down the road. A woman allowed the moving crew to cut a tree in her yard so the bridge could be turned around (Remember, the bridge is 181 feet long).

The old abutments were modified to raise the bridge 16 inches higher and lock it into place, preventing future slide off.

A temporary "crib" was built in the river at the crossing site (Fig. 7) to support it as the bridge, cribbage and all, (Fig. 8, 9) was pulled to its original position by cable and capstan. It was lowered onto the raised abutments and then re-sided and re-roofed (Fig. 10).

The Cumberland Covered Bridge has survived subsequent floods (Fig. 11, 12 are examples) due, in large part, to the wisdom of raising and anchoring the bridge when it was rebuilt in 1913.

(Bridges & Viaducts) Includes location, directions, 8 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Alabama, Madison County, Huntsville

I am Trooper Able Freeman of the 9th Cavalry Regiment. I have been a field slave in south Alabama before and during the Civil War; but after the war, I had nowhere to go when the Union occupied the area. I wandered around living hand-to-mouth for over a year when I heard the Army was going “to raise, among others, one regiment of colored cavalry to be designated the 9th Regiment of U.S. Cavalry”. I walked to New Orleans in September 1866 to enlist for five years, and received $13 per month, plus room, board and clothing – not bad at all for an uneducated former farm hand! By the end of March 1867, we were at nearly full strength and were ordered to San Antonio, Texas, for three months of training. In July, we got our first duty assignment: to maintain law and order between the Indians and settlers along the Rio Grande in western and southwestern Texas. I don’t know which was more trouble- the Indians or the settlers! We also fought outlaws, Mexican revolutionaries, and cattle rustlers and mapped large territories as well as protected crews building railroads and stringing hundreds of miles of telegraph wire. We were in Texas for eight years but were so scattered that we almost never saw more than a few companies together. I tell you it was “forty miles a day on beans and hay” which means hard campaigning since we were in the fields nearly all the time. A good thing during this time was that Army chaplains taught many of us how to read and write for the first time. The Cheyenne Indiana took to calling all four of the colored cavalry and infantry regiments “Buffalo Soldiers” during this time because of our dark skin, curly hair, and fighting spirit. Later we were transferred to the New Mexico Military District, which covered parts of New Mexico, Colorado and Texas, and participated in the Apache Wars from 1875 to 1881. We fought scores of actions unusually with no more than 100 Indians. This included the Battle of Tularosa with Chiricahua Apache warriors led by Victorio in May 1880 which finally convinced the Apaches to live on the hated reservations the government had set aside for them. We have camped in three feet of snow and ridden three days with a pint of water and a handful of hardtack. But even then we were an effective fighting force, and never defeated like the 7th Cavalry under colonel Cluster. We are justly proud of our motto, which was and still is, “We Can and We Will!”

1866–1890
I am Johnny Yellow Hawk, a scout for the US Army. I was born in 1869. My mother was Chiricahua Apache and my father was a white rancher in New Mexico. When I was six he died and my mother returned to her tribal lands. She raised me as an Apache but always reminded me of my white roots and made sure I was fluent in English like she was. In the 1870s, the United States forcibly moved the Chiricahua to an arid reservation in eastern Arizona. Throughout the West, many reservation Indians were reduced to a subsistence life, dependent on the federal government for food and supplies. We used tickets to claim our rations. However, most tribes resisted, refusing to give up their culture and unique way of life. The army was invariable called in to protect the US citizens and punish the Indians. My people, the Chiricahua Apache, came to hate the white man. With Geronimo as our leader, we left the reservation and fought government domination longer than any other group of Indians. In the final campaign against him, the army used Apache scouts plus more than 5,000 soldiers to hunt him down. Geronimo finally surrendered in 1886, although I was young, I had fought as a Chiricahua warrior for two years. Now with the war over, I was starving, so biting back my pride I joined the army as a US Scout as did many others. We were well fed, paid and equipped. I had the same rifle as the white soldiers and because of my knowledge of English and my white father I was fairly well accepted. I scouted areas in Arizona that I knew like the back of my hand. I always knew where to find shelter and water and generally knew where reservation-jumpers were. Many times I was able to talk to them and get them to go back to the reservation. However, there were some pitched fights among the buttes and valleys and sometimes we had to chase the renegades for months before finally cornering them. The white soldier could not go as far as us Apaches without supplies and often we had to find and guide US wagon trains to the worn-out troops. Because of my abilities, I was eventually made Sergeant in charge of 20 scouts. It took me a long time to lose my resentment of the government for the way my people were treated. But like anything else, I have learned from constant association that few villains and heroes – just people trying to do a job. Now I am proud of my white blood as well as my Chiricahua Apache blood.

(Wars, US Indian) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Alabama, Madison County, Huntsville

Spanish American War 1898

I am Petty Officer Arnold Wojciechowski of the USS Olympia, a cruiser commissioned by the US Navy in 1895. The Spanish-American War resulted form the ongoing Cuban and Philippine Wars of Independence. Exaggerated newspaper accounts of “atrocities” committed by the Spanish in Cuba incensed the American public. To underscore American concern, the Battleship Maine sailed to Havana, but at 9:40PM on February 15, 1898, the Maine sank in the harbor after a massive explosion, which killed 266 sailors. I had served with some of those boys and my mates and I were hopping mad, as was the rest of the United States. The Navy concluded a month later that the powder magazines blew due to an external explosion under the ship’ s hull. The newspapers blamed a mine and screamed for action. Congress declared war on April 25, 1898. On May 1, 1898, Commodore Dewey—with his flag aboard Olympia—steamed us into Manila Bay in the Philippines. At approximately 5:40AM, we began sailing back and forth in line and not only destroyed the Spanish fleet but captured the harbor. By June, US and Filipino revolutionary forces controlled most of the island. Later, the Spanish island of Guam was taken. Closer to home in the Caribbean, from June 22-24, we landed our soldiers in southeast Cuba, near Santiago. In their first action, General Joseph Wheeler’s troops were stopped. They learned right fast that linear Civil War tactics did not work against Spanish troops who never revealed their positions while on the defense. The Spanish also had modern Mauser rifles using smokeless powder. US regulars and some volunteers had smokeless powder Krag rifles but many of the boys still used the single-shot Springfield black powder rifles left over from the Indian Wars. Even so, on July 1, 15,000 US troops successfully attacked El Caney and San Juan Hill. They suffered heat exhaustion and yellowjack (yellow fever) for two weeks before the mayor surrendered Santiago. Later in July, 1,300 infantry took Puerto Rico ending the fighting. The ten-week war gained us supply bases in the Philippines and threw out the last colonial power in the Western Hemisphere. As the 20th century dawned, we had established our place as a major power. (Later investigations of the Maine, revealed that she sunk likely due to an internal explosion, History often hangs on prejudices -– not reality!)

Philippine Insurrection 1899-1913

Yo soy el soldado Joaquin Bexar de la Hukbong Pamayapa ng Pilipinas. Mi Ingles is no good so I used translator from here. I am Private Joaquin Bexar of the Philippine Constabulary. We are paramilitary police force established in 1901 by US Army Captain Henry Allen. Our mission is to help the US fight the Filipino rebels who have been protesting the US presence since 1899. The rebels’ cause went back to 1898 when the US and Filipino forces worked together to oust the Spanish. During a mock attack on Manila where the Spanish and US staged a short fight to satisfy Spanish honor, the rebels were not permitted to come into Manila. After this, the US did not turn the country over to the newly formed First Philippine Republic. Instead the US annexed it and made the Philippines a US territory governed by American authorities. On June 2, 1899, the Republic officially declared war against the US. Reports of atrocities by both sides –some real some made up – circulated and aroused hard feelings. I fought in a number of short skirmishes and used my hunting dog, Jefe, to sniff out ambushes. Although lightly equipped, the constabulary had good Krag rifles and ammunition. The rebels lacked modern weapons and ammunition, so many were only armed with bolo knives, bows, and arrows, and spears. They were defeated, and this phase of the Insurrection ended on July 4, 1902. However, some Filipino groups continued to fight. Now the US relied on me and the Constabulary, and treated the rebels as a law enforcement problem. In southern Luzon, another rebel republic was formed but ended in 1906 when the leader and his top followers surrendered. They were executed by the US as bandits, after they had accepted an amnesty offer. The US had a peace treaty with the Muslim Moros in the south; but after the north was pacified (civilized with a Krag), the US began to colonize Moro land, which enraged them to fight. Beginning on April 4, 1904, US forces battered them in numerous sharp battles. The Moros used suicide attacks right up until they surrendered on June 15, 1913. Even though shot with the .38 caliber revolver, a charging Moro had enough momentum to still kill a man. So we were given the heavier .45 caliber pistol, which stopped the cold. Our Philippine Constabulary continued on through the First World War and fought as scouts through the Second World War. We were honored by becoming the National Police when the Philippines finally became independent in 1946.

(War, Spanish-American) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Alabama, Madison County, Huntsville

I am First Sergeant Jo Frank Fox of the 167th Infantry Regiment, 42nd (Rainbow) Division, I’m the top sergeant of my company which means when I say ‘JUMP!” all the men jump and ask “How high?” on the way up. I got a glare that can make a platoon of men faint dead away just by glancing at’em! The 167th is an Alabama National Guard unit that until 1917 was the old 4th Alabama Regiment, which traces its history back to the civil War. We are brigaded with Yankees of the 165th Regiment New York National Guard, formerly the 69th Regiment. Now the war has been going on since shortly after a Serbian citizen assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria on June 28, 1914. It involved all the world’s great powers except the US which stayed out and sold supplies to the others On May 17, 1915, a German U-boat (submarine) sank the British liner Lusitania with 128 Americans among the dead. President Wilson declared that the US would not tolerate unrestricted submarine warfare but did not want to go to war. However, in January 1917, Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare and even invited Mexico to join the war against the United States. After this and the sinking of seven U.S. Merchant ships by U-boats, Congress declared war on April 6, 1917. The 42nd was sent to France in November 1917. We quickly learned that barbed wire, machine guns, and massed artillery practically stopped infantry advancement. That’s why the lines were almost static and thoroughly entrenched with barracks, mess halls, and headquarters dug right below the trenches. The Germans started it, but all sides used poison gas. It affects caused slow and painful death, but it was never decisive in winning a battle. By 1918, however, new weapons such as tanks got us out of the trenches and on the move. In all, we took part in four major operations: the Champagne-Marne, the Aisne-Marne, the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The last victory was the toughest. The Alabama 167th and the Iowa 168th shared equal honors for their parts in the win. An armistice went into effect at 11:00AM November 11, 1918. We had seen 264 days of combat; the longest time of any US Division. The 42nd sailed for home on April 15, 1919 and arrived in New York on April 25. We were deactivated shortly afterward and went back to our families in Alabama having won the “War to End all Wars”.

1914–1918
I am Private Luger Nussbaum. My friends call me Lug. I am an aviation mechanic in the Army Air Service. I volunteered because I wanted to see the world and whip the German Emperor, Kaiser Bill. I have been stationed in France since early 1918 with the 1st Aero Squadron. Our effort to create an effective air force over here has been stymied by lack of mechanics. A trained aircraft mechanic is harder to find that hen’s teeth! The men assigned to Europe largely have no mechanical experience whatsoever. The US Army has only a few woefully obsolete aircraft and has had to get aircraft from the British and French. So even those of us who do have some experience, don’t know about these European planes. Hundreds of us were assigned to school and factories in Paris, where we studied and helped build airplanes and engines. We had to completely overhaul over 100 engines and rebuild more than 20 airplanes a week from the ground up, out of spares and salvaged parts. When we got good at this, they sent us to our squadrons at forward airfields. I reckon we all did OK because official reports in 1918 have stated: During the past year, the work of the enlisted mechanics of the Air Service, in shops and squadrons, has been beyond praise. Mechanics drawn in many cases from highly remunerative trades, work in the American Expeditionary Forces, under the dullest and most difficult conditions and for the modest remuneration of the soldier, with an enthusiasm and success deserving the highest commendation. On frequent occasions, to offset lack of man power, work has been carried on in shops throughout the night so as to have the airplanes ready for use in the morning, and extra work outside of hours was more the rule than the exception.” As the report says, it is exhausting work. However, it is absolutely necessary for the life of the pilot whose job is to scout, bomb, and machine gun enemy aircraft, troops, and facilities. I believe that my training and experience will pay off when this war is over since some day airplanes will be used to carry mail and even passengers. Yep, aviation is going up!

(War, World I) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Alabama, Madison County, Huntsville

I am Corporal Leroy Hoekenschnieder serving with D “Dog” Battery, 5th Artillery Battalion. Our battalion was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division and support the 26th Infantry Regiment. The Depression had caused my dad’s business to fail so I enlisted in the Army. In 1940 and 1941, we Regular Army units trained, but we never thought the United States would go to war. Me and my buddies who joined the Army didn’t realize the significance of Japan’s invasion of China in 1937 or Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939. But, everything changed when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and Philippines on 7 December 1941. Our Division Commander, Major General Terry Allen, told us we would be shipped out. Little did I think we would go to North Africa! We made the second US amphibious landing of WW II. I was surprised that the landing craft were crewed by Coast Guardsmen. We were landed; we had to fight the Vichy French government troops who were collaborating with the Germans. The French had once been our ally, so we were told not to fire unless fired on. Well, the French quickly removed that prohibition and we blasted away! Thankfully, our new semi-automatic M1 rifles, called Garands, were superior to both the French and German rifles. From our beachhead, we pushed east and fought the elite armored and infantry troops of German Field Marshall Edwin Rommel’s Afrika Corps. These mobile combat operations required American field artillery to develop new tactics. We responded quickly to calls for artillery support and to mass fire on the enemy. With motorized artillery, we were able to move quickly and always be in range of the troops. As a Forward Observer (FO), I went with the infantry and directed my battery’s fire to aid the front line troops. Good as we were, when the Afrika Corps counter-attacked us in the Kasserine Pass we were badly whipped! I was captured and spent over two years in Nazi POW camps. This is a story for later. Like Americans always have we licked our wounds, got smarter, and in the next battles we showed them a thing or two. In fact, we eventually kicked the Germans out of North Africa, Sicily, Italy and finally pushed them across France into Germany.

1939-1945
I am Staff Sergeant Homer H. McCraw, Sr. assigned to the 3393rd Quartermaster Truck Company. In June 1944, the Allied Forces and US stormed the beaches of Normandy. Our troops fought through stiff German resistance and sustained a huge toll of lives. Despite the bitter fighting and loss of life, we established a beachhead with artificial docks. From here, we could supply the troops with the “beans and bullets” needed for victory. We were able to quickly breakout and begin our offensive across the French countryside. General Patton’s Third Army cleared the Cherbourg Peninsula and started to push the Nazi forces back to the Fatherland. Our troops needed tons of supplies. For instance, a M4 Sherman tank used over 140 gallons of fuel a day. Normal resupply methods, which were developed for a three to five mile a day advance, were not working. We adapted. Trucks were pulled from many organizations to form provisional units. Supplies were rushed from the beachheads and liberated ports directly to frontline troops. This elaborate plan, called the “Red Ball Express,” took its name from the railroad phrase “to Red Ball” meaning express delivery. Over 140 trucks companies were assigned. About three out of four drivers were black. Military Police (MPs) were stationed all along the route to help the drivers keep from getting lost and to secure the routes. Convoy rolled 24 hours a day swapping drivers even on the run. In the first month, the Express delivered 290,000 tons of supplies to the front. At the peak of our operations, we were operating 6,000 vehicles and carried an average of 12,500 tons of supplies daily regardless of the weather. Trucks that broke down were shoved to the side of the road, repaired in place by roving repair teams and put back into service as soon as possible. Soon, “Push’em up there!” became the Red Ball slogan. The effort continued for nearly three months. I am very proud of my unit and my men who gave all they had and I feel we were a major factor in the destruction of the Nazis, who looked down on us as inferior. We proved ourselves in this war and are accepted as soldiers, although we may not necessarily be accepted when we return home. But this will change.

(War, World II) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Alabama, Madison County, Huntsville

ETO 1939-1945

I am US Army Air Force Sergeant Joe Makowski. I first served in North Africa and Italy as a B-17 Flying Fortress crewmember in the 99th Bomber Group, Twelfth Air Force. After completing 52 missions with the 99th, I could have returned to the States but I volunteered to go to England and was assigned to the Eight Air Force. As a radio operator and often a gunner in a B-17, I saw the teamwork and dedication of the crews as we flew into defended target areas in Sicily and Italy. The German Luftwaffe fighter pilot was exceptional combat flyers and we knew our engagements would be deadly. However, my friend and fellow crewman, Staff Sergeant Ben Warme, shot down eight Messerschmitt fighters making him an “ace” just like our fighter pilots who shot down five or more enemy planes. I have been assigned to the Eight Air Force since January of ’43 and am a member of the Headquarters Squadron. Our Commander is Lieutenant General Doolittle, the famous Tokyo Raider. This distinguished unit, with both fighters and bombers, carried the war to the enemy throughout Europe and destroyed Nazi support base and the Luftwaffe. The Eighth flew 10,631 missions, lost 4,145 aircraft, had 5,221 personnel killed and had 16,127 men wounded, or missing or taken prisoner before the end of the war in Europe in May 1945. Even with these losses, the airmen of the “Mighty Eighth” followed General Doolittle to the Pacific to intensify the strategic bombing of Japan and end that war too. However, that mission changed when our new President, Harry Truman, decided to use the Atomic Bomb which forced the Japanese to surrender. This really saved as many as 20 million lives, including Allied and Japanese troops and Japanese civilians. While the eight is staying in Okinawa and standing down, the General is back in Europe to restructure the forces for the post-war period. I am still with him as a high frequency (HF) radio operator. I have heard the General and his staff officers saying that a true peace is not at hand. As we stand down combat units here in Europe, we see Russia, now called the Soviet Union, as the next threat to freedom. They occupy about ¼ of Germany and are forcing the people to embrace communism. The shooting was is over but it appears another kind of nonshooting or “cold” war is just beginning.

PTO 1941-1945

I am Marine Sergeant Arno Wilhelm, US Marine Detachment on the battleship USS Missouri, “The Big Mo”. Back in Waterloo, Iowa in 1942, my life changed. Just before Christmas, my family learned that five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo were killed in November in the Naval Battle at Guadalcanal. Their ship, the USS Juneau, was in a fierce naval battle when it was severely damaged by a torpedo, and had to withdraw. Later that day, as she was leaving the Solomon Islands’ area, the Juneau was struck again by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine. The resulting explosions from her gun magazine split the cruiser in half and in less than 20 seconds she went down with her 550 crewmen. Eight days later only 10 survivors were rescued. All five brothers Frank, Joe, Matt, Al and George Sullivan perished. Their parents, Thomas and Alleta Sullivan, toured the country promoting war bonds asking Americans to support the war through the purchase of war bonds so that their sons did not die in vain. My mom was so moved that I was encouraged to enlist. I chose the Marines. After Boot Camp, I deployed to the Pacific. I landed on Tarawa on 21 November 1943. We Marines took the island in a four-day fight costing 3,000 causalities. I was lightly wounded twice. I was in the first wave of the 15 September 1944 landing on Peleliu Island. Heavy fighting ensued and organized resistance lasted until 26 November. I suffered a slight flesh wound during the landing and a week later I was evacuated to the Hospital Ship USS Samaritan with severe wounds. As, I healed up, the Marines were going to send me to the States and have me be a Drill Sergeant, A Chaplain worked on a deal for me. I was assigned to the BB-63 “Big Mo”. Once aboard, I was part of the Admiral’s guard detail. I heard more about the war as the offices talked. In spite of our successes, including victories at IWO Jima and Okinawa, the Japanese forces showed no sign of accepting defeat. Regular bombing of their homeland had no effect. The officers all chattered that our new president, Harry Truman, used a new type big bomb, the ATOMIC BOMB and leveled two cities: Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. After the atomic bombs were dropped, the Japanese surrendered here on the Missouri in Tokyo Bay. I wondered if the people could accept defeat and recover. Captain Baldwin was saying the Allies, as the occupying forces, had to assume the responsibilities of the government and slowly re-establish Japanese self-rule.

(War, World II) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Alabama, Madison County, Huntsville

I am Private Peter Pirnat from C Company of the 192nd Light Tank Battalion, Ohio National Guard. My unit was stationed in my hometown of Port Clinton, Ohio. We activated for training in August 1940 with our new M3 Light Tanks. I was the Operations Sergeant in the Battalion’s Headquarters. We were deployed to the Philippines in August 1941 and Major General Wainwright attached us to the 26th Cavalry Regiment (Philippine Scouts). This unit was unique in that it was manned by Filipino Troops who were in the US Army and were still horse mounted. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and the Philippines on 7-8 December 1941, we were completely shocked! The devastation was tremendous. On 18 December, the Imperial Forces landed on the north end of Luzon Island. We deployed and fought a long delaying action retreating south to Bataan. We knew immediately that we would have trouble being resupplied. Our unit had the US Army’s first tank on tank battle as we fought our way back. We were supported by the Army Air Corps flying P-35 fighter aircraft. When the planes were destroyed, the pilots and maintenance crews joined us as infantry. Our delaying action bought time so the US and Allied forces could prepare to stop the Japanese conquest. We had no US or Allied reinforcements. Finally, on 9 April with supplies exhausted, we were ordered to surrender. The Japanese Imperial Forces marched us to a prisoner of war (POW) camp over 80 miles away with no food or water. Many of the Americans and Filipinos fell behind due to sickness and starvation and were slaughtered. Those five days we called the Bataan Death March. Few of us can even talk about it. Once in POW camps, just muddy unclean fenced areas, we suffered and died from wounds, disease, starvation and cruelty. The POW population included senior officers such as General Wainwright and his staff officers, Chabot, Johnson and Pugh, who had also made the march and survived. My battalion commander, Lt Colonel Theodore Wickord, and many others were shipped to Japan and used as laborers. I was liberated from Cabanatuan #1 POW camp in the Philippine Islands on the 31st of January 1945 during a brilliant raid by the US 6th Ranger Battalion. Freedom was welcome, but I have many painful memories of those three years of captivity. I tried to refocus and rebuild my life, but it was very difficult.

1941-1945
I am US Navy Storekeeper 2nd Class Sam Dunn. I had worked since age 11 as a clerk in a Woolworth Five and Dime to ease my family’s hardship during the Depression. I was cold and hungry during the winter of 1938, so I joined the Navy. Being a storekeeper in the Navy was a natural move. I maintained the ship’s stores, kept logs and dealt with all the equipment used by the ship’s stores. I was on the aircraft carrier Yorktown during the Battle of Coral Sea that began on May 4th of ’42. I remember clearly being called to BATTLE STATIONS. I dropped everything to put on my helmet and battle gear and raced to the Number 2 Gun, a 3-inch mount, where I was the loader. We fired exploding rounds to try to drive off the attacking aircraft. Our guns hit and destroyed two “Betty” bombers. That was exciting! I heard that this was an important victory for us, because we stopped the Japanese form invading New Guinea. But, we lost Lexington and our ship was badly damaged by a bomb. We limped back to Pearl Harbor for repairs. Within only a couple of days, our Admiral got wind of a major Japanese fleet moving toward Midway Island, so he ordered only emergency repairs to Yorktown and we set sail to join other carriers of the Pacific Fleet headed to defend Midway. On June 4th, the Japanese fleet was sighted and we launched all our fighters and bombers against their carriers. We were in a hellish air attack! Plane-launched torpedoes and bombs were coming at us from all directions. We were hit badly. Our Damage Control parties fought to keep us afloat as they did at Coral Sea. Now, all hands were fighting fires and patching holes so she might be towed to Pearl again. Bad luck sealed our fate when Japanese sub hit us with two torpedoes. The Yorktown could not be saved. On 7 June, she capsized and went to the bottom. We took our lumps, but Yorktown dive-bombers sank two enemy carriers. The Imperial Japanese Navy was soundly defeated. Their four carriers and a heavy cruiser were sunk and 228 of their aircraft were destroyed. We turned the tide in the Pacific. We are on our way to victory!

(War, World II) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Wyoming, Converse County, near Douglas

The Oregon Trail crosses LaPrele Creek about one mile downstream from Natural Bridge. Before the modern road was built into the gorge, Natural Bridge was difficult to access, and it was only rarely visited by emigrants of the covered wagon era. From time to time, however, a few ambitious travelers made their way through the heavy brush and down the steep walls of the canyon to see this remarkable work of nature.
     While Native Americans were probably well aware of Natural Bridge, the earliest to record their visits were New Orleans newspaperman Matthew Field and Steadman Tighman, a young doctor from Baltimore. Both were traveling companions of Scottish nobleman William Drummond Stewart. An early day tourist, Stewart had organized several hunting and exploring expeditions into the Rocky Mountains and traveled strictly for pleasure. In 1843 he was making his final trip west.
     On July 12, Field wrote: "Rode off in advance of the camp with Sir Wm, to visit a remarkable mountain gorge - a "natural bridge" of solid rock, over a rapid torrent, the arch being regular as tho' shaped by art - 30 feet from base to ceiling, and 50 to the top of the bridge - wild cliffs, 300 feet perpendicular beetled us, and the noisy current swept along among huge fragments of rock at our feet. We had a dangerous descent, and forced our way through an almost impervious thicket, being compelled to take the bed of the stream in gaining a position below. We called the water "Bridge Creek!"
     Dr. Tighman: "The 'Natural Bridge' is perhaps one of the greatest curiosities we saw in the whole of our interesting expedition. It is at the extremity of a valley formed of an immense chasm, with rocky slides – and a perpendicular height of 300 feet – through which flows a beautiful chrystal stream."
     In 1846, James Frazier Reed of the ill-fated Donner Party was aware of the Bridge. In his diary, he wrote, "We made this day 18 miles and Camped on Beaver Creek. here is a natural Bridge 1 1/2 miles above camp."
     During the California Gold Rush, a few "Forty-niners" found time to visit Natural Bridge. In a letter dated July 4, 1849 while camped at Deer Creek, Cephas Arms of the Fayette Rovers wrote: "Where we camped last night, and we meant to spend the 4th, instead of coming eighteen miles through the dust thick enough to choke us, if we could fin grass, was quite a natural curiosity in the shape of a natural bridge. It is thrown over the river where we camped, "Fourche Boise river," and is a perfect arch one hundred feet long and eighteen feet high of solid stone. On either side the perpendicular rocks rise to the height of one hundred and fifty feet. The bridge is just at the foot of the mountain through which the stream passes. The mountain is three or four hundred feet above the plain below, and the river rushes through a gorge in the mountain with perpendicular walls to the top of the hill, the whole forming one of the wildest scenes I ever beheld. The bridge has never been named until today. We have christened it Welch's Bridge in honor of one of our company from Michigan, who pronounces it only second to the far famed Virginia bridge. But I have not time to describe the half I have seen. Scenery the most beautiful and grand I ever saw."
     The bridge was named after Adonijah S. Welch of Jonesville, Michigan. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Welch was later the first president of Iowa State University.
     On June 26, 1850, Isaac R. Starr wrote: "Up near the high cliffs there is an arch of solid stone over this river, 40 or 50 feet wide and 15 feet high. I passed up the river, rode through beneath the arch, and viewed with delight the grand works of nature."

(Environment • Roads & Vehicles • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 6 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Wyoming, Converse County, near Douglas

Meandering La Prele Creek drainage cuts into alternating layers of sandstone and sandy limestone of the Permian / Pennsylvanian Casper formation.

La Prele Creek erodes both the upstream and downstream sides of the outcrop.

Undercutting by creek collapses the lower level of stone forming the bridge. The creek then follows the shortcut, flowing undern the bridge.

In memory of Lou B. Reed

(Natural Features) Includes location, directions, 6 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Diversity in Danbury

Industrial Strength Danbury

The Circus Comes to Town

Elmwood Park

Schools and Education

Grianan Ailligh / Grianán Ailigh

Gallaghers Cottage

James Claude Wright House

Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth

A Beautiful Place to Encamp

Cumberland Covered Bridge

Late Indian Wars

Spanish American War 1898/Philippine Insurrection 1899-1913

World War I (Great War)/1914 – 1918

World War II - European Theater of Operations (ETO)

ETO 1939-1945/PTO 1941-1945

World War II - Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO)

Natural Bridge and the Oregon Trail

Formation of Ayres Natural Bridge