There's Gold in Them Thar Hills


Book Description

41 hand drawn full page illustrations with a full page of text examining the various topics of the gold rushes of western America. Topics include Conquistadors, California gold rush, Yukon gold rush, machinery, tools, and devices, and little-known stories about the entrepreneurs who are still evident in today's modern world.




Arizona Oddities: Land of Anomalies & Tamales


Book Description

Arizona has stories as peculiar as its stunning landscapes. The Lost Dutchman's rumored cache of gold sparked a legendary feud. Kidnapping victim Larcena Pennington Page survived two weeks alone in the wilderness, and her first request upon rescue was for a chaw of tobacco. Discover how the town of Why got its name, how the government built a lake that needed mowing and how wild camels ended up in North America. Author Marshall Trimble unearths these and other amusing anomalies, outstanding obscurities and compelling curiosities in the state's history.




The American Claimant Annotated


Book Description

The American Claimant is an 1892 novel by American humorist and writer Mark Twain. Twain wrote the novel with the help of phonographic dictation, the first author according to Twain himself to do so.This was also according to Twain an attempt to write a book without mention of the weather, the first of its kind in fictitious literature although the first sentence of the second paragraph references weather fine, breezy morning. Indeed, all the weather is contained in an appendix, at the back of the book, which the reader is encouraged to turn to from time to time.




Silence is Golden


Book Description

Old prospector Sluice Jackson appears to have struck it rich with the discovery of a tooth-sized gold nugget. But when Flat Skunk starts turning up dead bodies instead, Connor Westphal digs for the story behind her headlines--and finds all that glitters isn't gold.




Roadside Geology of Georgia


Book Description

Ride along with geologists Pamela Gore and Bill Witherspoon on this extraordinary tour of the Peach State�s varied terrain. In 35 detailed and densely illustrated road guides, the Roadside Geology of Georgia examines Georgia�s fascinating geology and reveals the stories that lie beneath the surface. You�ll be amazed at Georgia�s geological diversity, from its shifting barrier islands along the coast to the sandstone ridges in its northwest corner. At the Cumberland Island National Seashore you�ll find the ruins of Dungeness, the once-magnificent Carnegie estate built of local mineral resources, and encounter wild horses grazing among windswept dunes. In Atlanta, the white whaleback of granite called Stone Mountain will impress you with its protruding �cat�s paw� minerals and stony layers that are sloughing off like the layers of an onion. In the Blue Ridge Mountains you can witness Amicalola Falls, one of the highest cascading waterfalls east of the Mississippi River, and Tallulah Gorge, one the deepest gorges in the eastern United States. And in the iconic Okefenokee Swamp of south Georgia, you�ll wade through the gator-filled blackwater of one of the largest wetlands in North America. With its engaging prose and 250-plus color photos, maps, and figures, Roadside Geology of Georgia takes you beyond the rocks to unearth the billion-year history of the Empire State of the South.




Wicked Women


Book Description

This collection of short, action-filled stories of the Old West’s most egregiously badly behaved female outlaws, gamblers, soiled-doves, and other wicked women by offers a glimpse into Western Women’s experience that's less sunbonnets and more six-shooters. Pulling together stories of ladies caught in the acts of mayhem, distraction, murder, and highway robbery, it will include famous names like Belle Starr and Big Nose Kate, as well as lesser known characters.




There You Have It!


Book Description

"There, You Have It!" is a rare and revealing collection of essays about one woman's roller coaster life. The author takes a humorous look at her childhood antics. You'll cheer for her, as the underdog in the school tennis tournament, and smile as the family boat sinks in the cold waters of Puget Sound. You'll laugh with her as her shoes disintegrate during a formal dinner at the famed Grant Hotel in San Diego; and maybe you will identify with her as she boards a plane and lands in the wrong city. From stealing milk while in kindergarten, to paying the IRS with a check from a closed account, her life has never been dull. The loss of her husband at 27 left her a widow and single mother of four daughters and one son, all under 8 years of age. Stuck in poverty, she was out of step with the rest of the world until a chance encounter changed her life forever. Filled with exciting drama and rich characterization of a bygone era. Travel with the author as she looks back over eighty eventful years on a journey "I really wouldn't have wanted to miss." Rejoice with her as she deals with the irony of life's little setbacks.




Tropic of Murder


Book Description

Edith Wharton scholar and untenured English professor Nick Hoffman escapes academic madness to vacation with his partner, Stefan, at a Caribbean getaway, but ends up face-to-face with murder.




The Miracle of Brasstown Valley


Book Description

A true story of the miraculous creation of a college in a remote mountain valley at the turn of the 19th century and the captivating characters who, with the grace of God, made it happen: The Methodist circuit rider, still in his 20s, who came into the valley on a mule, bringing only a dream and the fierce faith of an Old Testament prophet. The wise, resourceful, soft-spoken widow who breathed life into the infant school not once but twice. The wealthy Methodist laymen whose generosity for Christian education was so great that his kin sued him because they felt left out. The college president, a Shakespearean scholar, who was more at home on the farm with his britches rolled up and shirt tail flapping.




The Complete Idiot's Guide to Native American History


Book Description

This book is a comprehensive overview of the history and culture of the peoples who are now known as the First Americans. Author Walter C. Fleming covers the many different tribes that stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific, including compelling biographies of their greatest leaders. He examines the beliefs, customs, legends and the myriad contributions Native Americans have given to modern society, and details the often tragic history of their conquest by European invaders, their treatment-both historical and recent-under the U.S. government, and the harsh reality of life on today's reservations.