Nestled on the southern edge of the timber, the town that Shabbona would become grew rapidly but then slowed by not having a railroad. John Ray, John Palm, and Charles Stevens made an agreement with F.E. Hinckley, president of the Chicago & Iowa Railroad, for the purpose of locating the depot and suitable sidetracks in exchange for eight acres of land. John Palm generously gave the undivided one-half interest in 40 acres of land for a village plat besides giving the right-of-way through 160 acres to the railroad company. His gift to the railroad was double that of any other individual and was the means of inducing others to give. He also gave away a number of lots to encourage the growth and settlement of the village.
"Outside the Rails: A Rail Route Guide from Chicago to Kansas City" is a 334-page route guidebook for passengers traveling Amtrak's Southwest Chief train through Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri. Learn interesting facts about the people, place, and history passing by outside the window between Chicago and Kansas City. This book was written by Robert and Kandace Tabern with the Midwest Rail Rangers.
"An insightful, unflinching portrayal of the remarkable siblings who came closer to altering the course of American history than any other Indian leaders." —H.W. Brands, author of The Zealot and the Emancipator The first biography of the great Shawnee leader to make clear that his misunderstood younger brother, Tenskwatawa, was an equal partner in the last great pan-Indian alliance against the United States. Until the Americans killed Tecumseh in 1813, he and his brother Tenskwatawa were the co-architects of the broadest pan-Indian confederation in United States history. In previous accounts of Tecumseh's life, Tenskwatawa has been dismissed as a talentless charlatan and a drunk. But award-winning historian Peter Cozzens now shows us that while Tecumseh was a brilliant diplomat and war leader--admired by the same white Americans he opposed--it was Tenskwatawa, called the "Shawnee Prophet," who created a vital doctrine of religious and cultural revitalization that unified the disparate tribes of the Old Northwest. Detailed research of Native American society and customs provides a window into a world often erased from history books and reveals how both men came to power in different but no less important ways. Cozzens brings us to the forefront of the chaos and violence that characterized the young American Republic, when settlers spilled across the Appalachians to bloody effect in their haste to exploit lands won from the British in the War of Independence, disregarding their rightful Indian owners. Tecumseh and the Prophet presents the untold story of the Shawnee brothers who retaliated against this threat--the two most significant siblings in Native American history, who, Cozzens helps us understand, should be writ large in the annals of America.
