Reading the History of... Snake Country Expedition

Largely the story of fur traders Donald Mackenzie and Alexander Ross, who led the earliest fur trapping expeditions into the Snake River Country of present-day Idaho and Montana on behalf of the North West Company in the 1820s, this history also analyzes the legal, institutional, and commerce-related forces driving the North American fur trade of the early 19th century.

Details about the expeditions was provided primarily by Ross, a conscientious chronicler, who recorded Mackenzie's trailblazing expeditions of 1821-23 as well as the difficult 1824 expedition that he led.

"His journals provide the first account there is of daily happenings in the Snake country," historian John Phillip Reid points out. "The most compelling reason Ross and other leaders of the earliest Snake expedition kept journals was to furnish guidance to future trapping parties and inform them of problems, dangers, and places to avoid."

Forging a Fur Empire

Expeditions in the Snake River Country,

1809-1824

by John Phillip Reid

The Arthur H. Clark Company, 2011

Artwork: Trappers Carrying Furs on Snowshoes
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Review: Appalachian Toys and Games from A to Z

The toys and games described in this watercolor-illustrated children's picture book are authentic 19th century pastimes enjoyed by youngsters growing up in America's Appalachia Mountains.

Ranging from apple dolls (a wrinkled toy molded from Rome apples) to whimmydiddles (a toy carved by young boys on a stick with a spinner), author Linda Hager Pack provides an alphabetical sampling of traditional games, toys, and songs depicting playtime in 19th century Appalachia. The book describes familiar toys like marbles, slingshots and pick-up-sticks along with lesser-known toys such as limberjacks, Tom Walkers, and buzz buttons.

A native Appalachian, Pack is a veteran educator who has taught college-level courses in children's literature. Her text is accompanied by the artwork of master watercolorist Pat Banks.

Appalachian Toys and Games from A to Z

by Linda Hager Pack

The University Press of Kentucky, 2013

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Review: Growing Camellias in Cold Climates

Based on the author's decades of research and breeding experience, this book details the cultural practices necessary for growing camellias in northern climates. It names and profiles cultivars that have proven themselves cold hardy across many seasons.

"The primary purpose of Growing Camellias in Cold Climates is to present the advantages (there are some) and the challenges encountered by the northern gardener," Ackerman explains. "These emphasize striking differences as compared to those followed by our southern friends."

Growing Camellias in Cold Climates

by William L. Ackerman

Noble House, 2003

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Review: Llewellyn's Witches' Spell-A-Day Almanac

Here's a book to add some magic to your days with a chronological collection of spells, recipes, rituals, incantations and meditations. Each day of the year is marked with a brief essay or piece of advice along with suggested colors and incenses based on planetary influences.

April 4, for instance, is linked to the Festival of Cybele and the Roman mother goddess, Magna Mater, an arbiter of moral and ethical dilemmas.

Chandra Alexandre, Ph.D., a doctor of ministry, suggests the following Megalesian divination:

"Take a bowl of water and drop three leaves onto the surface, having formulated a question for which a yes/no response will be useful. Three leaves face us is a yes. Two leaves up and one down in a yes with qualifications.Three leaves face down is no. Two leaves down and one up is a no with qualifications.

"To ascertain the meaning or the nature of the qualifications, crumble the leaves into the water, let them settle, and drain the bowl. Look for your fullest answer in the images you find left in the remaining leaves."

Llewellyn's Witches' Spell-A-Day Almanac

Holidays & Lore

by Llewellyn 

Llewellyn Publications, 2012

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Artwork: God`s Eye Leather Blank Book

Well Read Books: The Itch

"There are a thousand causes underlying a condition of itching. They can include anything from dandruff to diabetes.

"In medical discussion and articles the term pruritis is used to indicate itching. To show the low status of the word, a similar-sounding word, prurience, means lewdness in thought or desire. An "itch plant," which is found in tropical countries and which is used to make itching powder, is call mucuna pruriens.

"Why do people scratch? Some believe that the pain produced by the scratching is a mean of stopping the itching. The physiological explanation is that itching stops when pain supervenes. But the explanation lies deeper...

The Itch and what to do besides scratching

by J. I. Rodale

Rodale Books, 1971

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Now Exploring "Lake Effect"

This book offers an in-depth and personal look at a natural phenomenon shaped by geography and weather patterns and how it affects human history. A "lake-effect snow" occurs when narrow bands of clouds formed in cold, dry arctic air pass over a large, relatively warm inland lake, producing intense snowfalls lasting from a couple of minutes to two days. Such snowfalls occur famously along the Great Lakes, the Great Salt Lake, and Hudson Bay; this narrative focuses on the Great Lakes and the Buffalo area east of Lake Erie in particular.

continued in The Nature Pages

Lake Effect

Tales of Large Lakes, Arctic Winds, and Recurrent Snows

by Mark S. Monmonier

Syracuse University Press, 2012

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Reading the History: The Kentucky Derby

If the Super Bowl had been played in the same city each year, say a working class community like Green Bay, and still grew up to become a multi-billion-dollar spectacle attracting the world's rich and famous as well as the beer-swilling, tatooed commoners then it would be an event comparable to the Kentucky Derby, especially if you added an extra hundred years of tradition to its history.

An unabashed  thoroughbred horse enthusiast and Kentucky Derby fan, the author nevertheless provides a straightforward history and honest assessment of the event and its evolution.

The book follows the progress of the Derby through the decades as it broke away from a pack of other races to become America’s premier thoroughbred event.

The Kentucky Derby

How the Run for the Roses Became America's Premier Sporting Event

by James C. Nicholson

The University Press of Kentucky, 2012

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