Travel Back in Time – A Continuing Travelogue the Best Historic Sites Part IV – How the West was Won
June 11, 2009
This is the last step in our travel across America, ending here in the Great American West. The Western United States is comprised of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Some of Americas truest stories of monetary success as well as survival are from the West. Cowboys and Indians come to mind when thinking of the west to many people, but the west also includes Alaska, our 49th state.
In this, the finale of our journey across the United States, we will focus first on the traditional old west part of the United States, places that conjure images of covered wagons, tales of survival in harsh terrains, and my favorite, the gold rush!
In 1849 the California gold rush began. James W. Marshall discovered gold, and the rush was on. It didn’t take long until hundreds of thousands of men, women and children, were sailing or riding to California to stake their claim on instant riches. Also called forty-niners history was made with their tales of riches and ruins.
Interstate 5 travels through Old Sacramento, a historical journey you are not soon to forget. Old Sacramento is home to many historic buildings kept in their original state for a snapshot to the past. Old Sacramento offers the “Spirit of Sacramento” an historic riverboat as well as the California State Railroad Museum.
Begun by John Sutter and his landing party, Old Sacramento is the old west at its finest. Stories of gold, migration and murder abound in this old west town. You will find many places of interest nearby. Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park gives visitors a chance to pan for gold, or if you prefer, head to the Suspects Mystery Dinner Theater to solve an old west river boat murder! California offers much for the historical tourist to do, check out any of California’s many historic sites for an idea for your next vacation.
Now on to the other west, Alaska. Its history is based in part on similar circumstances to that of California. That being the gold rush. The Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park located in Skagway is definitely worth visiting.
Divided into two parts, the Seattle and Skagway Units, there is enough to keep a history buff busy in two different western States.
The Skagway Unit is located in Alaska and boasts a variety of exhibits, audio visual presentations and a visitor center, not to mention the vast area of wilderness surrounding you. The Curatorial center houses a collection of material from over 50 excavations in the historic district of nearby Dyea. Discoveries so far include saloons, a liquor store, railroad depot, bakery, cigar and confectionery store, dry goods store, tailor and furrier shop, paint and wallpaper store, transportation company, catholic church rectory, mission house, the home of the founder of Skagway, and a residential district.
Explore the possibilities in Alaska. Remember to check times of operation for all of your destinations. I hope you have enjoyed your journey across the United States. Go out and see what you have been missing, our history, our link to the past.
Travel Back in Time – A Continuing Travelogue the Best Historic Sites Part III The Midwest
June 10, 2009
A continuing travelogue brough to you by Sealand Travel.
Part three of our journey to the best historic sites to visit worldwide takes us to the Midwestern United States. It is made up 12 states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
European settlement of the Midwest began in the 17th century first by the French and followed later by the British. The Midwest provokes images of the French fur traders following the many lakes and river systems covering much of the area. In fact, the mighty Mississippi runs through the Midwest and was forever ingrained in our memories by the famous author Samuel Clemens, otherwise known as Mark Twain.
Mark Twain has become a part of history, perhaps a more upbeat part of history to explore than the many wars we could discuss. The Mark Twain House and Museum is a wonderful tourist attraction for us to start out at on our journey through the Midwest.
Samuel Clemens lived in the late 1800’s to 1910 and is known to many as the American author. The Mark Twain House and Museum makes a great addition to any historic trek across the Midwest. Located in Hartford, Connecticut, it consists of many options for the history buff. As one of our defining cultural figures, we have the chance to see what life was like for people in that time in the Midwest.
The Mark Twain House and Museum offers living history tours dealing with the entire era, not just the subject of Mark Twain alone. One exhibit offered is the “origins of baseball’s ‘color line’”. This exhibit informs its onlookers as to the increasing racism in society as reflected in sports. Another interesting feature, perhaps more for the kids or at least the kids at heart is the Lego replica of Twains house, which was part of the LEGO road show in the 1980’s!
The house alone is a wonderful journey to the past. Then new technologies such as a gravity flow heat system, and one of the first telephones to be installed in a private home are found here. Many interiors created by Tiffany and various other cultures and styles exist to inspire and amuse to visitor the this historic house.
The museum also offers another opportunity to absorb some history, created in the present. Opened in 2003, visitors have to chance to explore Twains life both good and bad as told or illustrated by many of Twains peers as well as through artifacts containing manuscripts, photos, and many changing exhibits. This makes the Mark Twain House and Museum a highlight of any trip to the Midwest.
Let’s travel now to one of my favorite spots in the world, Michigan. The Great Lakes have their own history of many ill fated ships that helped to created what Michigan is today.
“The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they called “Gitche Gumee.”
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
when the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty,
that good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
when the “Gales of November” came early.”
from “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot
Stories abound in the Great Lakes with tales such as this. From iron ore from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, mined from the mountains covering its countryside, to great ships full of timber from the lower peninsula of Michigan heading for growing cities across the lakes, the number of shipwrecks historically in the great lakes is in the thousands!
If this is the kind of history that interests you, opportunities abound in the Lake States of the Midwest. Located in Paradise, a well known maritime museum lies in the vast unspoiled wilderness of Michigan. Called the Great Lake Shipwreck Museum, it also includes a wonderful lighthouse on Whitefish Point.
Here you will have the chance to travel back in time to 1861 to the lighthouse keepers quarters of the oldest active lighthouse on Lake Superior. The museum holds artifacts from 13 local shipwrecks, one being the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Guests even have the opportunity to sleep in the crews quarters, and if you go in the off season, May to November, you are even entitled to a private tour and membership to the Shipwreck Society. In the gales that strike early and hard in the Great Lakes, many ships went down without a trace and ghost stories abound. Even lighthouses invoke ghostly images of keepers long past haunting the lighthouses still today.
Say yes to Michigan and other states in the Midwest, a spectacular place to vacation for a look back at our nations history.
Travel Back in Time – A Continuing Travelogue the Best Historic Sites Part II Southern United States
June 10, 2009
Continuing on our journey of the best sites to visit on your historic journey across the world, we are now visiting the Southern United States. From the east coast all the way to Texas.
The south has a rich history of Native Americans, early Europeans, French English and of course a more sordid tale of battle of the original African slaves for their freedom. Due to this incredibly varied past, the south is home to some of the most varied cultures found in the United States today.
We will begin our journey to the South by visiting Louisiana. This states history is a bit different from that of the northeast. First colonized by France and Spain, the culture and history here are strong in French influences.
An option for historic travel in Louisiana is to visit one of the many historic plantations left over from an era gone by. Though many were destroyed in hurricane Katrina, one that remains is called the Destrehan Plantation. Located just outside of New Orleans, they offer tours of the plantation where you are taken back by costumed players to a time of slavery, bells, French nobles, and the Jefferson Document. It was established in 1787 and is the oldest documented plantation in the lower Mississippi River Valley.
Experience plantation life on your own or with a guided tour. They also offer a museum store with a large collection of historic books and vintage toys and decorative items from the past. The Destrehan Plantation has demonstrations of 18th century cooking, construction, as well as candle making and African American herbal remedies. They also have an option of special group tours for children, making this a great option for families as well on the lookout for a wonderful historic journey.
Perhaps your journey through time leads you to want to explore Texas. Remember the Alamo? Texas offers much more than the Alamo, though it does play an integral part in U.S. History. Our journey today however is off the a further back in the past, to the Seminole Canyon State Park and Historic Site.
Located in Val Verde County, this historic place has only been open to the public since 1980. Its history goes back 12,000 years to early man. Seminole Canyon is home to some of the most well preserved rock art. Ancient riverbeds formed by the Devil’s River, and hikes down the canyon to see drawings made by humans who still lived off the land and depended solely on nature for survival are just a few of the historical treasures found here.
Originally named for the Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts it honors the scouts from Fort Clark there to protect the frontier from marauding Apache and Comanches in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The history of the railroad is also woven into this vast area. You may journey into these canyons, but a guide is required for access. History here is abundant and spans thousands of years. Make this one a trip to remember and camp out at one of the areas provided.
Our journey to the Southern United States has ended for now, but the options for travel in the south are abundant. History abounds here, and it is just waiting for you to come and see. Take the opportunity to broaden your horizons and visit the south.