The exact date nor location of Wild Cat's birth is unknown. Although challenged, it's believed that he was born in 1807 on an island in modern-day Osceola County's Lake Tohopekaliga. There's also information about Wild Cat having a twin sister that died at birth. Wild Cat became a prominent figure during the Second Seminole War at only around nineteen years old. His father was captured by military forces in 1837 and was imprisoned at Fort Marion. His father died some time in 1839 while being sent to Indian Territory alongside a mass amount of Seminoles and other tribes. By Joshua R. Giddings [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Later in 1837, in October, Wild Cat met up with American military forces in a peace headdress and said he was a representative of Osceola and he began talks and negotiations with Thomas S. Jesup. The military forces agreed to the peace talks but, once the Seminole arrived at the meeting, they were arrested and imprisoned by Jesup. The s...

Skeleton Canyon By BAlvarius (Own work) [ CC BY-SA 3.0  or  GFDL ],  via Wikimedia Commons Skeleton Canyon is located in the far southeast corner of Arizona with side canyons leading into New Mexico.  It is located just a handful of miles from the Mexican border.  In the 1800's, it was used by Mexican smugglers and bandits to smuggle goods and riches into the U.S. for sale on the black market.  It was well known by American bandits as well.     In July of 1881, in a small Mexican town, some Mexican bandits, known as the Estrada Gang, were resting after looting the town of Monterrey.  An American bandit named Jim Hughes overheard them discussing their plan to smuggle their treasure into the U.S. through the long narrow canyon, later to be named Skeleton Canyon.  Jim Hughes spent much of his time in some of the wild and lawless towns of the area frequented by many outlaws, such as Charleston (Arizona), Galeyville (Arizona) and Shakespear...

While the First Seminole War officially began in 1816, conflicts began years earlier. These early years had a great influence on the outbreak of the Florida War. After Andrew Jackson's forces began to enter regions of Florida controlled by Spain, Spain had no choice but to begin to hand Florida over to the United States. Florida was officially handed over in 1819 and after the Adams-Onís Treaty. This handover was mostly due to the Spanish seeing Florida as hard to inhabit and the climate created unhealthy conditions for the Spanish. Furthermore, Napoleon was active in Europe and Spain saw him as being more worthy of their attention than Florida. Andrew Jackson Beginning around 1790, Spain, along with the British, helped to move Irish Catholics, English citizens, and citizens in the United States into Seminole territory. They gave land deeds to these "settlers" that agreed to stay on the land for a decade. After the decade, they'd be exempt from paying taxes and ...

The Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge is comprised of 7,802-acres. Founded in 1966, it became the state of Indiana's first wildlife refuge. The refuge takes its name from the nearby Muscatatuck River. In English, Muscatatuck means, "The Land of the Winding Waters". The refuge is not far from Seymour, in Southeastern Indiana. It spans across parts of three counties in the State of Indiana. Like many wildlife refuges, its creation was funded by Duck Stamps. By The original uploader was Bedford at English Wikipedia [ Copyrighted free use ],  via Wikimedia Commons Audubon Guide to the National Wildlife Refuges When visiting the park, it is best to be prepared beforehand. While hiking through certain parts of the refuge, you will want to wear long-sleeved shirts and pants to protect yourself from ticks and biting flies. Informational reading materials, with maps and refuge details, are available at the visitor center. Notices will also be available during the hunting se...

Spring Ranch - History of the Town and the Hanging Spring Ranch, in Nebraska, more than likely received its name from the numerous springs in the area of the town . Spring Ranch's post office was established on December 14th, 1870 and stayed in operation until the year 1940. It was in 1910 when the town of Spring Ranch reached its highest population of 57 residents. During its years in existence, Spring Ranch was a stagecoach stop on the Overland Trail and the town was located on the north side of the Little Blue River. The Overland Trail being a section of the larger Oregon Trail. It was also Stop #9 of the Pony Express in the state of Nebraska.' Besides being a stop for many travelers, it was also a farming and ranching town in its heyday. Today, there are still some buildings, mainly remnants of buildings, standing on the grounds which were once Spring Ranch. Some of the ruins include an old train depot and there's a historical marker for the former town on Highwa...

The Long Walk of the Navajo was a forced relocation of the Navajo people from Eastern Arizona to the area of Fort Sumner in New Mexico. The forced march was an act carried out under the command of the federal government. All together, there were 53 occurrences of forced marches that happened between August of 1864 and until late 1866. Over 200 individuals died while marching to New Mexico. https://web.archive.org/web/20181018145715/http://reta.nmsu.edu/modules/longwalk/default.htm Books about the Long Walk of the Navajo

Before the arrival of the white man, Native Americans had thriving cultures that much of the world had never seen. Regarding the burial mounds that were seen by the arriving people, the lack of artifacts in some burial mounds was thought to indicate ancient burial grounds. Since the early Native Americans had insufficient tools for digging graves in the frozen earth, they devised an alternative of securing the dead bodies to scaffolding high above the ground so that wild animals could not get to them. In the spring, mass burial took place. Shallow graves were made by scraping the earth off to the sides of the bodies as the bodies were interred. With primitive tools they were covered and sometimes surrounded with post fences, which in turn decayed making the mound higher. It was important to the Indians to choose elevated places (pahas) for the burials so they could be seen soon after. The History of Dakota and Goodhue Counties states that there are mounds on the west side of the Cred...

The swamps, from which the Elba mucklands were created, were the Tonawanda and Oak Orchard Marsh. When investors moved in, starting in 1910, past plans were being seriously considered to drain the swamp. The earliest plans to drain the swamp though began in 1902. Mr. Landers of Alabama, NY and Mr. Peter Belson of Oakfield, NY early promoters of the draining. Hearings were held so all towns affected by the draining could have a voice in the process. Most of which were all for it, citing the localized water damage and illnesses caused by the swamps. Representatives involved in the hearings were the towns affected by the future drainage. These towns were the towns of Barre, Clarendon, Alabama, Shelby, Oakfield, and Elba. Elba's hearing was held on May 13, 1902 and was one that garnered the most interest. The arguments made for draining the swamps were like those made in other towns. The majority view that the swamps caused disease and flood damage. Spectators were in support of the ...

If you’ve ever driven between Buffalo and Rochester, you’ve probably passed near or by Elba without realizing how much history the town has. Part of the town and the region sits amid rich farmland, the mucklands  where generations have grow crops and built a community that still has many locally run family farms. The post gives of what Elba is like. Photos of repurposed barns, an old depot turned pizza shop, and its amazing skies at sunset. It’s a reminder that small towns like this quietly hold the stories of rural WNY. Find out more about the town by visiting this link here . https://www.zeph1.com/2016/03/elba-new-york-history-early-years-and.html TIP: Occasionally, you can find items related to Elba and it's history on Amazon. Smokestack and old, abandoned storage facility. Different shot of abandoned food processing and storage facilty , with smokestack. Old train depot that's been a pizza place for over 37 years. The  West Shore Railroad tracks that we...

Early Settlements in the Region of Elba, New York The Wenrohronon, also known as the Wenro, were a tribe that had settlements all across Western New York. Ultimately, they were conquered and absorbed following disagreements and a split with the Neutrals. This split led to their downfall, as they were on their own and had no allies amongst other tribes. Ultimately, they were decimated by the Iroquois (specifically, the Senecas) during and after the Beaver Wars. From then, the Seneca took over territories of the Wenro, including those around Buffalo Creek. Tribal territory of Wenro about 1630 -  User:Nikater [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons It was either during the time of the Beaver Wars, or after, that remnants of the Wenro elsewhere in Western New York began to flee their former settlements. Legends, or rather unclear historical recollections, say that separated pockets of the Wenro, post-defeat, settled in more heavily wooded areas around modern-day Elba, New York a...

Little Beard's Town was an influential and well-developed town that once existed on the western side of the Genesee River and stood in the area of where Cuylerville, New York is today. The town was named for the found, Little Beard, who was an influential and respected sachem in the late 1700s. The town was known for it's bountiful crops, which included numerous vegetables, large crops/ears of corn, and fruit orchards. The town had well over 100 dwellings, mainly well-built cabins,  that were built around a town square. It and two other nearby Seneca towns were burned down during the Sullivan Expedition in 1779 . Altogether, 40 Seneca villages were burned down during this expedition. The attacks on these villages were, in part, a reaction to the Cherry Valley Massacre , where British soldiers and their Seneca and Mohawk allies attacked the Cherry Valley fort and town. Around 30 citizens were killed and an equal amount were taken into captivity. Along will lower losses and ca...