Showing results by publisher "Nicholas L Vulich" in History

For over 150 years the image of western bad men has thrilled readers and filled movie screens. Who hasn't heard of Jesse James, the Dalton Brothers, Black Bart, or Belle Starr? They are as much a part of American folklore as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. There's something about the west that has brought out the best, and the worst, in mankind. The funny thing is, a cult following has developed around many of these bandits, making them out to be something they weren't.

George Washington didn't really walk around with a mouthful of wooden teeth. Those are real teeth and pearl inlays in Washington's dentures. A recent study by Mary Thompson suggests Washington experimented with early dental transplants. He purchased replacement teeth from his slaves for 13 shillings (roughly $50 in 2015 money).

Not everyone sensed it right away, but after McClellan was dethroned in the fall of 1862, the focus of the war had shifted ever so subtly. Before that, the war was about reconciliation and bringing the two sides back together - with or without slavery. After Antietam and the Emancipation Proclamation, there was no going back. The purpose of the war had changed. It was no longer about reuniting the two sides but about total victory, crushing the South, and eliminating slavery. 

Murder, madness, and the macabre in Iowa? You've got to be kidding! When most people think of Iowa, their minds conjure up pigs, cornfields, and crotchety old farmers. But ax murders, mass killings, and ghostly sightings - those atrocities are reserved for big cities like Chicago or LA, not a little burg like Villisca, Iowa - population 2,000. Gruesome Iowa is a collection of true-life stories - most of them rescued from old newspaper accounts published over 100 years ago. Only a few of the events in this audiobook - such as the Villisca Ax Murders have ever made it into print.

Massacre: Minnesota Sioux Uprising outlines the Indian uprising of 1862 and explains how it came about. In less than an hour, you will meet the main participants, understand the various battles at New Ulm, Fort Ridgely, Birch Coulee, and Wood Lake, and learn more about the expulsion of the Native Americans from Minnesota. For those listeners who want to know more and understand how contemporary listeners learned about the uprising, we included several original accounts published in the St. Cloud Democrat, The Pioneer Press, and the Goodhue Volunteer.

Fort Sumter: Civil War Beginnings outlines the battle and explains how it came about. In less than an hour, you will meet the main participants, understand Union and Confederate troop movements, and learn how South Carolina initiated the first battle of the civil war. It's not the complete story, but enough to bring you up to speed, understand the issues of the day, and maybe encourage you to explore more on your own.

Donelson: Grant's First Victory outlines the battle of Fort Donelson and explains how it came about. You will quickly meet the main participants, understand Union and Confederate troop movements, and learn how the victories at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson launched Ulysses S. Grant on his march to Richmond. It's not the complete story, but enough to bring you up to speed, understand the issues of the day, and maybe encourage you to explore more on your own.

This audiobook is not the usual boring history listen. It's a fast-paced, easy-to-listen-to, behind the scenes look at the making of Iowa and Illinois focusing on Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois. When you're done listening to it, you might even scratch your head and think - "Oh, yeah! That's what Mrs. So, and So tried to tell me back in seventh-grade history class." And, I tell you what. We're going to skip all the boring parts, like dates, politics, and founding fathers. We're going to go right to the fun stuff... Indian Wars. Murder. Suicide. Robberies. Killer storms. 

Abraham Lincoln was strangely happy for the first time in years. The war was almost over. He could put the crisis behind him; when this term was over, he could return home to Springfield. Maybe he would go back to his legal practice with William Herndon, or perhaps he would buy a farm along the Sangamon River and become a gentleman farmer. Everyone noticed the change. For John Wilkes Booth, it was exactly the opposite. His world was crumbling all around him. 

In hindsight, we can say no one man or event served as a catalyst for the Civil War. It was not the John Brown Raid, no matter how many historians say it was the pivotal event. It was not the election of Abraham Lincoln, and the war was not about slavery - not in the beginning anyway. The Civil War got its start 73 years earlier when the Founding Fathers set aside the hot potato that was slavery - so they could ratify the Constitution. The signers knew they were passing the issue on to a future generation. Their hope was their progeny could answer the questions they could not. 

The Adair robbery was the beginning of the end for the Dalton gang. By all accounts, it was one of their more successful raids. The take was estimated at somewhere over $17,000 - not bad for a single night's work. But the pressure put on the gang afterwards led them down the path to carelessness - and ruin.

Andrew Jackson has the dubious honor of being the first President to have an assassination attempt made upon his life. Picture this: 63-year-old Andrew Jackson is walking across the Capitol Rotunda. Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter, moves to the front of the crowd. He fires two pistol shots into the President.

Have you ever wanted to know more about history, but don't have time for the long version?

Democrats are so dumb they think it's cool to have a jackass for their party symbol. The association goes back to the election of 1828. Andrew Jackson's opponents started calling him Jackass Jackson as a term of derision. The story is the old general took a shine to the name and started printing up posters with a picture of a jackass next to his name. Over the years the symbol just sort of stuck.

Ever wanted to know more about the American presidents, but were unsure where to look? Bad Ass Presidents follows the life of America's warrior presidents. Forget Bush, forget Obama - they're a bunch of pussies compared to these guys.

It was a fine day for a battle. Hundreds of spectators from Washington took the day off to tag after the army. They came in buggies and on horseback, riding seven long hours in the hot Virginia sun. Mostly men, a few women, a host of politicians among them Ohio Senator Ben Wade, New York Congressman Alfred Ely, and Illinois Congressman Elihu Washburne. Following the life of Abraham Lincoln. You'll learn about his early days, his loves, his disappointments, his rise to power, and his assassination. And, yes, we will talk about that annoying rumor of Lincoln being gay.

February 11, 1861 was cloudy, and cool. A light rain was falling. President-elect Abraham Lincoln and his family boarded the train at the Great Western Depot in Springfield, Illinois. Their destination was Washington, DC, where Lincoln was to be inaugurated on March 4th. Along the way, the Presidential train stopped in numerous cities and towns to allow Lincoln to meet with the people who elected him.