In the 1800s, Tombstone was a rowdy silver-mining camp and the scene of a famous gunfight that enhanced its wicked reputation. When the rich silver mines were tapped out, Tombstone managed to survive and lived up to its motto, "The Town Too Tough to Die." The movie industry enhanced this wild reputation by portraying legendary gunfights at the O.K. Corral--which never actually took place at that location. For many years, the town has used its history to attract visitors by giving them a sense of life in the Old West. This volume includes many of the postcards tourists mailed home depicting romanticized and legendary views of Tombstone.

Tennessee's Thirteenth Union Cavalry was a unit composed mostly of amateur soldiers that eventually turned undisciplined boys into seasoned fighters. At the outbreak of the Civil War, East Tennessee was torn between its Unionist tendencies and the surrounding Confederacy. The result was the persecution of the "home Yankees" by Confederate sympathizers. Rather than quelling Unionist fervor, this oppression helped East Tennessee contribute an estimated thirty thousand troops to the North. Some of those troops joined the "Loyal Thirteenth" in Stoneman's raid and in pursuit of Confederate president Jefferson Davis. Join author Melanie Storie as she recounts the harrowing narrative of an often-overlooked piece of Civil War history.

At the close of the nineteenth century in the Ozark Plateau, lawlessness ruled. Lawmakers, in bed with moonshiners and bootleggers, fueled local crime and turned a blind eye to egregious wrongdoing. In response, a vigilante force emerged from the Ozark hills: the Bald Knobbers. They formed their own laws and alliances; local ministers donned the Knobber mask and brought "justice" to the hills, lynching suspected bootleggers. As community support and interest grew, reporters wrote curious articles about Knobber exploits. Join Vincent S. Anderson as he uncovers these peculiar reports including trials, lovers' spats ending in coldblooded murder and Ozark vigilante history that inspired a folk legend.

In the swamps and juke joints of Holmes County, Mississippi, Edward Tillman Branch built his empire. Tillman's clubs were legendary. Moonshine flowed as patrons enjoyed craps games and well-know blues acts. Across from his Goodman establishment, prostitutes in a trysting trailer entertained men, including the married Tillman himself. A threat to law enforcement and anyone who crossed his path, Branch rose from modest beginnings to become the ruler of a treacherous kingdom in the hills that became his own end. Author Janice Branch Tracy reveals the man behind the story and the path that led him to become what Honeyboy Edwards referred to in his autobiography as the "baddest white man in Mississippi."

The majestic beauty of Grand Teton National Park has moved people throughout time. Native Americans believed in the spiritual power of the towering mountain peaks and journeyed there to gain special powers. Early fur traders, who had just crossed less ominous mountain ranges, viewed with trepidation the massive obstacle that loomed before them on their passage to the Pacific Northwest. In others, the Tetons ignited vision and passion--a vision to preserve for all generations to come and a passion to protect the independent way of life known by the first settlers of this western frontier. The formation of Grand Teton National Park spanned the course of nearly 70 years. Although there were many people who shared the struggle before them, it was not until Stephen Mather and Horace M. Albright took up the fight in 1915 that steps towards success were taken. Albright's tenacity and ability to convey his vision to philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. set in motion a very long journey that culminated with Pres. Harry S. Truman signing today's Grand Teton National Park into existence on September 13, 1950.

Bounded on the north by the Little Satilla River from neighboring Glynn County and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, Camden County's southern boundary at the St. Marys River separates Georgia from Florida. Dating from a 1766 land grant, port of St. Marys and Camden County have faced a challenging past, present, and future. Camden's growth and development have been driven by businessmen, adventurers and opportunists, determined "wild swamp Crackers," and hardy, self-reliant, God-fearing men and women.

Accompanied by Jonathan Bryan, a planter with an insatiable appetite for virgin tracts of land, Georgia's third and last Royal Governor James Wright visited Buttermilk Bluff in June 1767 and envisioned a city. St. Marys was born, and its street names reflect the surnames of the 20 founding fathers. While the county seat was removed from a quaint St. Marys on more than one occasion, today, the garden spot of Woodbine serves as the seat of county government. Formerly the rice plantation of J.K. Bedell, this small city shares a symbiotic relationship with port of St. Marys and the "City of Royal Treatment" at Kingsland. The history of the county, with its three main towns as well as the outlying, rural areas, unfolds in striking photographs from days gone by. Preserved within the pages of this treasured volume, images reveal Camden and its people in times of tragedy and triumph.

Bainbridge Island sits in the middle of Puget Sound in Washington State. Its unique history starts with the Native Americans and includes logging, farming, fishing, and shipbuilding from the late 1800s through the present. Early explorers included George Vancouver in 1792 and the Wilkes expedition of 1841. Ferry service and other means of water transport were the only ways onto the island until 1950, when a bridge was completed. Bainbridge Island is only a 30-minute ferry ride from Seattle, and its only bridge approaches the island from the west. The City of Bainbridge Island, which includes the entire 65-square-mile island, incorporated on February 28, 1991. Its 23,000 residents today share the rich history that is told in images and captions within the pages of this book.

From Deadwood to Aberdeen, Vermillion to Belle Fourche, the frontier towns of South Dakota were populated by some of the toughest and most dangerous characters in the West. Chief Two Sticks led a starving band of rebels on a desperate path of destruction. Bud Stevens's murder of a cattle king's son rang a death knell for an entire town. And bank robbers Stelle and Bennie Dickinson did their best to become South Dakota's very own Bonnie and Clyde. All these stories and more come to life in Outlaw Tales of South Dakota.

Fueled by the dream to strike it rich, prospectors flocked to California during the gold rush. Yet the harsh lifestyle and backbreaking work led many to early graves. Join author Linda Bottjer on a tour through Gold Country's most chilling--and true--haunted tales. Tales such as the hangman of Placerville, whose distinctive wheeze is a sign of his continued presence. Or the Georgetown miner whose unrequited love for a much younger lady of the night finds him still pining for her in death as he did in life. And in Coloma, the ghost of James Marshall is said to dwell on the lonely hilltop where his cabin and monument now stand. These stories, and many others, capture the ghostly spirit of Gold Country.

Walking through the French Quarter can overwhelm the senses--and the imagination. The experience is much more meaningful with knowledge of the area's colorful history. For instance, the infamous 1890 "separate but equal" legal doctrine justifying racial segregation was upheld by the Louisiana Supreme Court at the Cabildo on Jackson Square. In the mid-twentieth century, a young Lee Harvey Oswald called Exchange Alley home. One of New Orleans' favorite drinks--the sazerac--would not exist if Antoine Peychaud had not served his legendary bitters with cognac from his famous apothecary at 437 Royal. Local author Andy Peter Antippas presents a walking history of the Vieux Carre, one alley, corner and street at a time.

In the early days of the Civil War, Richmond was declared the capital of the Confederacy, and until now, countless stories from its tenure as the Southern headquarters have remained buried. Mary E. Walker, a Union doctor and feminist, was once held captive in the city for refusing to wear proper women's clothing. A coffee substitute factory exploded under intriguing circumstances. Many Confederate soldiers, when in the trenches of battle, thumbed through the pages of Hugo's "Les Miserables." Author Brian Burns reveals these and many more curious tales of Civil War Richmond.

Massachusetts Bay stretches along the rocky coast and dangerously sandy shoals from Cape Ann to Cape Cod and gives the Bay State its distinctive shape and the Atlantic Ocean one of its largest graveyards. Author and longtime diver Thomas Hall guides us through the history of eight dreadful wrecks as we navigate around Mass Bay. Learn the sorrowful fate of the Portland and its crew during the devastating Portland Gale of 1898, how the City of Salisbury went down with its load of exotic zoo animals in the shadow of Graves Light and how the Forest Queen lost its precious cargo in a nor'easter. Hall provides updated research for each shipwreck, as well as insights into the technology, ship design and weather conditions unique to each wreck.

Strange creatures and tales of the supernatural thrive in Pennsylvania, from ghostly children who linger by their graves to werewolves that ambush nighttime travelers. Passed down over generations, Keystone State legends and lore provide both thrilling stories and dire warnings. Phantom trains chug down the now removed rails of the P&LE Railroad line on the Great Allegheny Passage. A wild ape boy is said to roam the Chester swamps, while the weeping Squonk wanders the hemlock-shrouded hills of central Pennsylvania, lamenting his hideousness. On dark nights, the ghosts of Betty Knox and her Union soldier beau still search for each other at Dunbar Creek. Join Thomas White and company as they go in search of the truth behind the legends of supernatural Pennsylvania.

Join local food aficionado Bill Loomis on a look back at the appetites, tastes, kitchens, parties, holidays and everyday meals that defined eating in Detroit, from the earliest days as a French village to the start of the twentieth century. Whether it's at a frontier farmers' market, a Victorian twelve-course children's birthday party replete with tongue sandwiches or a five-cent-lunch diner, food is a main ingredient in a community's identity and history. While showcasing favorite fare of the day, this book also explores historic foodways--how locals fished the Detroit River, banished flies from kitchens without screens and harvested frog legs with miniscule shotguns. Wedding feasts, pioneer grub, cooking classes and the thriftless '20s are all on the menu, too.

For over a century, Ohio and Pennsylvania families have made an annual trek to a special spot on the shores of Lake Erie. This tiny piece of Northeast, Ohio, has made a huge impression on the hearts of thousands of visitors. But what is it about this town that draws generation after generation back for a vacation every summer? Why, when other resorts and amusements crumbled apart in the mid-nineteenth century, was Geneva on the Lake able to sustain some of the most trying times in the entertainment industry?

Perhaps, by tracing the history of the town, and by exploring what the town is today, one may discover the answers to these questions. By examining numerous accounts of happy times on the lakeside, one will discover that some feelings have held true since the resorts beginnings; Geneva on the Lake has a magical way of lingering in our memories, connecting us to our past, and forever remaining in our hearts

Come on in to Sumner, Washington, the "Rhubarb Pie Capital of the World." Settled in 1853 after a wagon train daringly crossed the Cascade Mountains through Naches Pass, Sumner quickly grew to become an established town. Find out how Sumner's name was literally drawn out of a hat. Learn about George Ryan's unique method for getting the railroad to stop here. Take a tour down Main Street, and watch how it changed--or didn't--through the decades. See Ryan House when it actually was a farmhouse and the Old Cannery when it was canning fruit. Join in celebrations over the years, from the Daffodil Parade to football championships. Meet schoolchildren, including Clara McCarty Wilt, who became the first graduate of the University of Washington. Follow the work at local industries, from the lumberyards to the fields, where daffodils, berries, and of course, rhubarb were grown.

In 1907, a young girl was found dead in the Lyric Theatre, leaving behind an unwanted pregnancy and an abusive lover. On an otherwise quiet morning in 1891, a cartful of nitroglycerin exploded. The remains of the driver had to be gathered in a peck basket. The Cannonball Express lived up to its name in 1888, when an open switch caused it to shoot off the track, sending two cars flying. Local journalist A. Parker Burroughs resurrects these and other stories from southwestern Pennsylvania's shadowy past. From foul play at the Burgettstown Fair to the tragic murder of North Franklin's Thelma Young, follow the trail with Burroughs as he uncovers the crimes and intrigues of Washington County.

In The Political Power of Bad Ideas, Mark Schrad uses one of the greatest oddities of modern history--the broad diffusion throughout the Western world of alcohol-control legislation in the early twentieth century--to make a powerful argument about how bad policy ideas achieve international success. His could an idea that was widely recognized by experts as bad before adoption, and which ultimately failed everywhere, come to be adopted throughout the world? To answer the question, Schrad utilizes an institutionalist approach and focuses in particular on the United States, Sweden, and Russia/the USSR.
Conventional wisdom, based largely on the U.S. experience, blames evangelical zealots for the success of the temperance movement. Yet as Schrad shows, ten countries, along with numerous colonial possessions, enacted prohibition laws. In virtually every case, the consequences were disastrous, and in every country the law was ultimately repealed. Schrad concentrates on the dynamic interaction of ideas and political institutions, tracing the process through which concepts of dubious merit gain momentum and achieve credibility as they wend their way through institutional structures. He also shows that national policy and institutional environments count: the policy may have been broadly adopted, but countries dealt with the issue in different ways.
While The Political Power of Bad Ideas focuses on one legendary episode, its argument about how and why bad policies achieve legitimacy applies far more broadly. It also extends beyond the simplistic notion that "ideas matter" to show how they influence institutional contexts and interact with a nation's political actors, institutions, and policy dynamics.

During the critical Battle of Oriskany in August 1777, Continental forces led by General Nicholas Herkimer defeated the British army under St. Leger in the heart of New York's Mohawk Valley. It was a hard-won victory, but he and his brave troops prevented the British from splitting the colonies in two. Although they did not succeed in relieving the British siege of Fort Stanwix, Herkimer's citizen-soldiers turned back the British and protected Washington's northern flank from attack. The Continental army survived to fight the decisive Battle of Saratoga the next month. Herkimer was mortally wounded, but his heroism and leadership firmly placed him in the pantheon of Revolutionary War heroes. Paul Boehlert presents a gripping account of the events before, during and after this critical battle.

Central Texas is an area as diverse culturally as it is geographically. Bordered by Hill Country in the west, green farmland in the east and Waco and New Braunfels in the north and south, this area has drawn settlers from around the globe for over two centuries, leaving their mark and their stories along the way. From a surprising story of nineteenth-century psych ops at Fort Mason and what really happened to Bevo, the UT longhorn, in 1920 to Mrs. Ross's Croghan Cobbler recipe and rumors of a Lone Star visit by old Abe himself, historian Mike Cox regales readers with over fifty stories about the fascinating people, history and places of middle Texas.

New Hampshire's historic graveyards, from Portsmouth to North Conway, have bizarre and eerie stories to offer their visitors. Graveyards often invoke fear and superstition among the living, but the dead who rest within them may have more to communicate to the world they left behind. The sands of Pine Grove Cemetery in Hampton once concealed the tombstone of Susanna Smith, but now its message--which reads simply "Slaine with thunder"--and her story have risen from beneath the soil. The Point of Graves Cemetery in Portsmouth is home to the spirit of Elizabeth Pierce, who beckons departing guests back to her grave. Along the state's southern border in Jaffrey, tombstones at Philips-Heil Cemetery caution the living to cherish life. Author Roxie Zwicker tours the Granite State's oldest burial grounds, exploring the stones, stories and folklore of these hallowed places.