Author: Ms. R.

Tule Springs lie in the northwest part of the Las Vegas Valley, at the edge of the present city. As a perennial water source in this arid land, the springs have always been of extraordinary importance to the area’s people and wildlife. To this day several ponds support substantial waterfowl populations, as well as other wildlife and even fish stocks. Unsurprisingly, the springs were homesteaded around the end of the 19th century. The ranch acted as a stage stop……

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The movement of glaciers during the last ice age created an expansive flat landscape in northern Italy called Pianura Padana. The whole country was covered by forests until the expansion of Romans that started to cut trees and to build long roads and bigger city. Since that period, the Pianura Padana almost underwent complete deforestation. Nowdays Pianura Padana is the most important agricultural region in Italy and home to some of the country’s biggest cities, such as Turin, Venice, Verona,……

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In Nevada, US-50 is well-known as the “Loneliest Road.” What’s less well-known is that part of the original route of US-50 was itself bypassed in the late 1960s. The original alignment west of Austin, Nevada, ran farther south, crossing the northern Shoshone Mountains at Railroad Summit, and then dropping south in Smith Creek Valley to cross the Desatoya Mountains at Carroll Summit. It rejoins the present alignment near the famous Shoe Tree. This route was a bit shorter than……

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Located a few yards from the fortress that overlooks the town of Stirling lies a building that was donated to this hamlet to ensure that the less fortunate had a place to be healed and looked after. This structure known as Cowane’s Hospital was named after the benefactor, John Cowane, who often found himself on the wrong side of the law. Perhaps it’s what led him to bequeath a small fortune to the construction of a building that would……

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The Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing marks a spot just north of St. Louis where escaped enslaved people staged a daring passage across the Mississippi River from Missouri to the free state of Illinois. On the night of May 21, 1855, abolitionist Mary Meachum and nine individuals boarded a skiff to cross under cover of darkness. Ambushed by those hunting enslaved people on the other side, most of the party members were either killed as they scattered or captured and……

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