Jesse James

Jesse James
Author: T.J. Stiles
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 890
Release: 2010-10-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 030777337X

In this brilliant biography T. J. Stiles offers a new understanding of the legendary outlaw Jesse James. Although he has often been portrayed as a Robin Hood of the old west, in this ground-breaking work Stiles places James within the context of the bloody conflicts of the Civil War to reveal a much more complicated and significant figure. "Carries the reader scrupulously through James’s violent, violent life.... When [Stiles]… calls Jesse James the ‘last rebel of the Civil War; he correctly defines the theme that ruled Jesse’s life." —Larry McMurtry, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lonesome Dove via The New Republic Raised in a fiercely pro-slavery household in bitterly divided Missouri, at age sixteen James became a bushwhacker, one of the savage Confederate guerrillas that terrorized the border states. After the end of the war, James continued his campaign of robbery and murder into the brutal era of reconstruction, when his reckless daring, his partisan pronouncements, and his alliance with the sympathetic editor John Newman Edwards placed him squarely at the forefront of the former Confederates’ bid to recapture political power. With meticulous research and vivid accounts of the dramatic adventures of the famous gunman, T. J. Stiles shows how he resembles not the apolitical hero of legend, but rather a figure ready to use violence to command attention for a political cause—in many ways, a forerunner of the modern terrorist.

Stagecoach

Stagecoach
Author: Philip L. Fradkin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2002-04-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 074322762X

Sweeping in scope, as revealing of an era as it is of a company, Stagecoach is the epic story of Wells Fargo and the American West, by award-winning writer Philip L. Fradkin. The trail of Wells Fargo runs through nearly every imaginable landscape and icon of frontier folklore: the California Gold Rush, the Pony Express, the transcontinental railroad, the Civil and Indian Wars. From the Great Plains to the Rockies to the Pacific Ocean, the company's operations embraced almost all social, cultural, and economic activities west of the Mississippi, following one of the greatest migrations in American history. Fortune seekers arriving in California after the discovery of gold in 1849 couldn't bring the necessities of home with them. So Wells Fargo express offices began providing basic services such as the exchange of gold dust for coin, short-term deposits and loans, and reliable delivery and receipt of letters, money, and goods to and from distant places. As its reputation for speed and dependability grew, the sight of a red-and-yellow Wells Fargo stagecoach racing across the prairie came to symbolize not only safe passage but faith in a nation's progress. In fact, for a time Wells Fargo was the most powerful and widespread institution in the American West, even surpassing the presence of the federal government. Stagecoach is a fascinating and rare combination of Western and business history. Along with its colorful association with the frontier -- Wyatt Earp, Black Bart, Buffalo Bill -- readers will discover that swiftness, security, and connectivity have been constants in Wells Fargo's history, and that these themes remain just as important today, 150 years later.

Henry Bradley Plant

Henry Bradley Plant
Author: Canter Brown
Publisher: University Alabama Press
Total Pages: 373
Release: 2019
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0817359664

The first biography of Henry Bradley Plant, the entrepreneur and business magnate considered the father of modern Florida In this landmark biography, Canter Brown Jr. makes evident the extent of Henry Bradley Plant's influences throughout North, Central, and South America as well as his role in the emergence of integrated transportation and a national tourism system. One of the preeminent historians of Florida, Brown brings this important but understudied figure in American history to the foreground. Henry Bradley Plant: Gilded Age Dreams for Florida and a New South carefully examines the complicated years of adventure and activity that marked Plant's existence, from his birth in Connecticut in 1819 to his somewhat mysterious death in New York City in 1899. Brown illuminates Plant's vision and perspectives for the state of Florida and the country as a whole and traces many of his influences back to events from his childhood and early adulthood. The book also elaborates on Plant's controversial Civil War relationships and his utilization of wartime earnings in the postwar era to invest in the bankrupt Southern rail lines. With the success of his businesses such as the Southern Express Company and the Tampa Bay Hotel, Plant transformed Florida into a hub for trade and tourism--traits we still recognize in the Florida of today. This thoroughly researched biography fills important gaps in Florida's social and economic history and sheds light on a historical figure to an extent never previously undertaken or sufficiently appreciated. Both informative and innovative, Brown's volume will be a valuable resource for scholars and general readers interested in Southern history, business history, Civil War-era history, and transportation history.

The Horse in the City

The Horse in the City
Author: Clay McShane
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2007-07-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780801886003

Honorable mention, 2007 Lewis Mumford Prize, American Society of City and Regional Planning The nineteenth century was the golden age of the horse. In urban America, the indispensable horse provided the power for not only vehicles that moved freight, transported passengers, and fought fires but also equipment in breweries, mills, foundries, and machine shops. Clay McShane and Joel A. Tarr, prominent scholars of American urban life, here explore the critical role that the horse played in the growing nineteenth-century metropolis. Using such diverse sources as veterinary manuals, stable periodicals, teamster magazines, city newspapers, and agricultural yearbooks, they examine how the horses were housed and fed and how workers bred, trained, marketed, and employed their four-legged assets. Not omitting the problems of waste removal and corpse disposal, they touch on the municipal challenges of maintaining a safe and productive living environment for both horses and people and the rise of organizations like the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. In addition to providing an insightful account of life and work in nineteenth-century urban America, The Horse in the City brings us to a richer understanding of how the animal fared in this unnatural and presumably uncomfortable setting.

The Old Oregon Country

The Old Oregon Country
Author: Oscar Osburn Winther
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 392
Release: 1950-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780803252189

The Pacific Northwest, the old Oregon country, was one of the most remote and inaccessible frontier areas, but it was also known to be rich in natural resources. The opening up of this region is a story of courage, endurance, and pioneer enterprise. Transportation in this rugged country was a problem to the settlers who would promote commerce and travel, just as it was a problem to the earlier fur traders. The construction of roads and development of water routes progressed through the years until the railroad finally came to the Northwest, but at no time did the scarcity of roads prevent settlers from pushing back the frontier. Here the whole story of travel and travelers in this region is told for the first time. The book is based largely on primary sources and, as such, is a contribution to history. As an account of courage and ingenuity, transportation monopoly against transportation monopoly, and man versus nature, it is fascinating reading. University Professor of History at Indiana University, O. O. Winther is the author of Express and Stagecoach Days in California and Via Western Express and Stagecoach.

The Cravath Firm and Its Predecessors, 1819-1947

The Cravath Firm and Its Predecessors, 1819-1947
Author: Robert Taylor Swaine
Publisher: The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.
Total Pages: 1972
Release: 2007
Genre: Law firms
ISBN: 1584777133

Reprint of the sole edition. Volume I: The Cravath Firm and Its Predecessors 1819-1906; Volume II: The Cravath Firm Since 1906; Volume III: The Cravath Associates; (With Photographs of the Cravath Partners). Cravath, Swaine and Moore, as it is known today, one of the most prestigious law firms in the United States, was involved in some of the most important events in history. It was also a decisive influence on the direction of American legal practice. Under the leadership of Paul D. Cravath in the 1890s, it developed the organizational model based on a large staff of associates, partners and clerical helpers that continues to dominate the modern urban law firm. Swaine [1886-1949], then a principal partner, drew heavily on the Cravath archives in the preparation of this work. The most extensive history of the firm, it is enhanced by Swaine's personal perspective. (He joined Cravath in 1910). The final volume lists biographical data for every associate and partner from 1899 to 1948.

U.S. West

U.S. West
Author: Lucius Beebe
Publisher:
Total Pages: 326
Release: 1949
Genre: West (U.S.)
ISBN:

For other editions, see Author Catalog.