Category: Illinois
Liberty Bell of the West
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/03/12Mar21-Kaskaskia-Illinois-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)The Liberty Bell tolled for freedom in Philadelphia…or was it really in the state of Illinois. The surprising answer to…
The Mighty Kaskaskia, Illinois
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/03/11Mar21-Kaskaskia-Illinois-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Roll back the clock 250 years and this city’s population might rival some of the largest towns on the east…
The Man Who Ran For President Three Times
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2020/12/08Jan21-William-Jennings-Bryan.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Over a century has passed since this man ran for president three times. While he never held the oval office,…
Facing Santa Anna in the Mexican War
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2020/11/16Nov20-Santa-Annas-Leg.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)It’s been over 150 years since Illinois soldiers faced Santa Anna in the Mexican War. However traces of that battle…
President Lincoln’s Servant and Friend
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2020/09/28Sep20-Lincoln-Servant-William-Johnson.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Few people know that on Abraham Lincoln’s return to D.C. from delivering the Gettysburg Address, he contracted a mild case…
Bookends To a Presidency
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2020/09/22Sep20-Lincoln-Inauguration-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)On the surface, this old train station in Springfield, IL may not seem to be that important. However, when you…
A President Elect’s Moving Sale
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2020/09/21Sep20-Lincoln-Inauguration-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)When people move, they often put some items up for sale and place others in the trash. Now imagine it…
The Last Steam Engine
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2020/05/03Jun20-Sterling-Illinois-Dillon-Home-Barbed-Wire-3.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)You can still find a few steam engines in this country pulling tourist trains. But when was the last steam…
“What” Won the West
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2020/05/02Jun20-Sterling-Illinois-Dillon-Home-Barbed-Wire-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Who won the west? Perhaps a better question is, “what” won the west? Erin Thompson says what won the west…
A Patent That Changed the Way People Farmed and Ranched
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2020/05/01Jun20-Sterling-Illinois-Dillon-Home-Barbed-Wire-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)In the 1870’s, a series of patents were first issued for this product that was destined to change the way…
A CEO’s Philosophy of Business and Life
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2020/04/07May20-WD-40-Gary-Ridge-3.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)When you walk into the offices of this company you’ll be greeted by someone with a unique title. They are…
The Squeaky Wheel Gets WD40
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2020/04/06May20-WD-40-Gary-Ridge-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)A cliché says, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” In this case, Gary Ridge hopes the squeaky wheel gets WD40. …
Failing 39 Times
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2020/04/05May20-WD-40-Gary-Ridge-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)If you failed at something 39 times, would you attempt success with a 40th try? This company did, and of…
The First U.S. Woman to Win the Nobel Peace Prize
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2020/04/04May20-Jane-Adams-Hull-House.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)She was the first woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, a lady who helped establish a field of work…
Abraham Lincoln’s Senator Challenger
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2020/02/25Feb20-Stephen-Douglas-2020.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Abraham Lincoln led the country through the Civil War, but it was this man who defeated him for the senate…
Smoke-filled Rooms
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2020/02/19Feb20-Blackstone-Hotel-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)You many have heard of backroom political deals referred to as having taken place in a smoke-filled room. Today I’ll…
A Chicago Landmark
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2020/02/18Feb20-Blackstone-Hotel-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)When it was constructed just over a century ago, it was the tallest building in Chicago. It remains a landmark…
John Deere Before the Tractor
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2020/01/09Jan20-John-Deere-Plow-3.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)When you hear the name John Deere you might think of tractors. However, that is to think in modern terms. …
The Relocation of John Deere
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2020/01/08Jan20-John-Deere-Plow-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)We’ve all heard of John Deere equipment and you may know the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois. But that’s…
The Man Who Was Just Another Blacksmith
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2020/01/07Jan20-John-Deere-Plow-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)He was just another blacksmith until some of his old friends convinced him to move from the northeastern U.S. to…
