By the time Alamogordo's founders platted the town in the late 1800s, bestowing it with the Spanish name for Fat Cottonwood, the region's lush grasses were luring cowboys such as Oliver Lee. Then, in 1941, an event more than 3,000 miles away changed the quiet community. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, chamber president Mose Cauthen quickly spearheaded bringing the Army's mission to train bomber pilots to the Tularosa Basin. During the Space Race, Dr. John Stapp oversaw the programs at Holloman Air Force Base that sent Joe Kittinger, Dave Simons, and "Demi" McClure floating heavenward underneath balloons. Soon after, Ed Dittmer was training chimpanzees to rocket out of Earth's atmosphere and prove man could survive in that hostile environment. Alamogordo is where the Old West melds with ever-evolving technology, along with a rich artistic and literary legacy championed by such women as Linnie Townsend, Maude Rathgeber, and Margaret Flickinger.
Born from opportunity and a promotional scheme hatched by founding father Charles B. Eddy, Carlsbad started life as a tent city on a desolate landscape. As the investment money started to flow, the Pecos River was harnessed through the creation of irrigation, which turned the region into a rich, fertile valley. As tuberculosis swept the nation, hundreds of new settlers arrived in Carlsbad for the arid climate. Legendary Locals of Carlsbad celebrates their descendants who forged the community of today. Learn about socialite Cesarine Graves, daredevil and "Mr. Welcome" Frank Kindel, actors Dan Blocker and Bruce Cabot, drag racer Dick Harrell, newscaster Linda Wertheimer, astronaut F. Drew Gaffney, and baseball star Cody Ross, to name but a few. Included also are the tales of the trials and heroism shown and faced by all the veterans of wars that Carlsbad provided, especially the World War II veterans of the Bataan Death March, the Vietnam War, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Troy was created from land belonging to three Dutch men who were descendants of Dirck Vanderheyden, Troy's first settler who began farming here in 1707. After incorporating as a city in 1816, Troy began its rise to become the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution. Utilizing the forces of two powerful streams, the Wyantskill and Poestentkill, and the mighty Hudson River, early industries sprang up in the southern and northern parts of the city. With the advent of the Erie and Champlain Canals, the city quickly became an industrial powerhouse, as ironworks produced vast quantities of products needed locally and in the expanding western part of country. With the invention of detachable collars and cuffs in the 19th century, 90 percent of American men were wearing Troy-made collars and cuffs. Troy rose to become known as "The Collar City." Trojans have also made major contributions to a growing American republic in the arts, entertainment, sciences, government, military, and industry through the 21st century.
A rollicking debut book of essays that takes readers on a trip through the muck of American myths that have settled in the desert of our country’s underbelly Early on July 16, 1945, Joshua Wheeler’s great grandfather awoke to a flash, and then a long rumble: the world’s first atomic blast filled the horizon north of his ranch in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Out on the range, the cattle had been bleached white by the fallout. Acid West, Wheeler’s stunning debut collection of essays, is full of these mutated cows: vestiges of the Old West that have been transformed, suddenly and irrevocably, by innovation. Traversing the New Mexico landscape his family has called home for seven generations, Wheeler excavates and reexamines these oddities, assembling a cabinet of narrative curiosities: a man who steps from the stratosphere and free-falls to the desert; a treasure hunt for buried Atari video games; a village plagued by the legacy of atomic testing; a showdown between Billy the Kid and the author of Ben-Hur; a UFO festival during the paranoid Summer of Snowden. The radical evolution of American identity, from cowboys to drone warriors to space explorers, is a story rooted in southern New Mexico. Acid West illuminates this history, clawing at the bounds of genre to reveal a place that is, for better or worse, home. By turns intimate, absurd, and frightening, Acid West is an enlightening deep-dive into a prophetic desert at the bottom of America.
The stories featured in Baja California Adventures take place during a span of almost sixty years of travel in the rugged, parched, yet hauntingly attractive peninsula. The author kept detailed notes on most of his trips then fleshed out this skeleton in a narrative that places the reader in the role of participant in the adventure. Thus, one feels the bite of the 4WD tires into the desert sand, newly hard-packed by the moisture of a quick-moving thunderstorm. The author describes the excitement of finding Indian petroglyphs, arrowheads, or clay ollas in remote canyons. Because Mr. Tiscareo is also a pilot, many of the trips included here involve mention of the special immigration rules for private fly-in tourists. Finally, there are Baja adventures in the pine-clad granite fortress that is the Sierra de San Pedro Mrtir in the northern part of the peninsula. Here, the author joined other veteran Bajeos in hoof-and-boot or horse-assisted explorations. In short, this book should be inspiration to those readers who want to visit Baja California, particularly the less tourist-trod destinations. Armchair travelers will derive vicarious pleasure without the effort of going there themselves.
Embark on an outdoor adventure across the Southwest USA and its many varied and wonderful National Parks! Whether you want to unleash your inner cowboy on the ranches in Utah, take in the truly spectacular sight of the Grand Canyon, or test your luck in the casinos of Las Vegas, your DK Eyewitness travel guide makes sure you experience it all! Inside the pages of this Southwest USA and National Parks travel guide, you'll discover: - Our pick of Southwest USA's must-sees, top experiences, hidden gems, and the best spots to eat, drink, shop, and stay - Detailed maps and walks make navigating the cities and towns easy - Easy-to-follow itineraries to help you plan your trip - Expert advice and travel tips to help you get ready, get around and stay safe Color-coded chapters to every part of Southwest USA, from the Grand Canyon, Northern Arizona, Phoenix, Southern Arizona to Southern Utah, Albuquerque, and Southern New Mexico - Available in a handy format that is lightweight and portable Find a little something for everyone down South It's time to tick the Southwest USA off your bucket list! This updated travel guide brings this beautiful region to life, transporting you there in spectacular fashion! It's packed with expert-led insights, trusted travel advice, and detailed breakdowns of all the must-see sights. Stunning photographs and hand-drawn illustrations will take you through the iconic landscapes and cities of this beautiful corner of the USA. Distinguished by red sandstone mesas, cactus-studded deserts, and towering rock arches, the Southwest USA's dramatic landscapes evoke frontier legends. As rich in history and culture as natural beauty, the region's cities offer endless opportunities to experience the state's multicultural heritage. DK Eyewitness Southwest USA and National Parks have been updated regularly to make sure the information is as up-to-date as possible following the COVID-19 outbreak. Don't stop exploring - discover even more guides! For more than two decades, DK Eyewitness guides have helped travelers experience the world through the history, art, architecture, and culture of their destinations. Expert travel writers and researchers provide independent advice, recommendations, and reviews. Discover guidebooks to hundreds of places around the globe. Gold Award: Wanderlust Reader Travel Award 2020 in the Top Guidebook Series category.
"World War II was the largest and most destructive conflict in human history. It was an existential struggle that pitted irreconcilable political systems and ideologies against one another across the globe in a decade of violence unlike any other. There is little doubt today that the United States had to engage in the fighting, especially after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The conflict was, in the words of historians Allan Millett and Williamson Murray, "a war to be won." As the world's largest industrial power, the United States put forth a supreme effort to produce the weapons, munitions, and military formations essential to achieving victory. When the war finally ended, the finale signaled by atomic mushroom clouds over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, upwards of 60 million people had perished in the inferno. Of course, the human toll represented only part of the devastation; global environments also suffered greatly. The growth and devastation of the Second World War significantly changed American landscapes as well. The war created or significantly expanded a number of industries, put land to new uses, spurred urbanization, and left a legacy of pollution that would in time create a new term: Superfund site"--
THE ACCLAIMED BOOK, NOW IN PAPERBACK, with a reading group guide and a new afterword by the author. At the height of the Cold War, JFK risked committing the greatest crime in human history: starting a nuclear war. Horrified by the specter of nuclear annihilation, Kennedy gradually turned away from his long-held Cold Warrior beliefs and toward a policy of lasting peace. But to the military and intelligence agencies in the United States, who were committed to winning the Cold War at any cost, Kennedy’s change of heart was a direct threat to their power and influence. Once these dark "Unspeakable" forces recognized that Kennedy’s interests were in direct opposition to their own, they tagged him as a dangerous traitor, plotted his assassination, and orchestrated the subsequent cover-up. Douglass takes readers into the Oval Office during the tense days of the Cuban Missile Crisis, along on the strange journey of Lee Harvey Oswald and his shadowy handlers, and to the winding road in Dallas where an ambush awaited the President’s motorcade. As Douglass convincingly documents, at every step along the way these forces of the Unspeakable were present, moving people like pawns on a chessboard to promote a dangerous and deadly agenda.
