To say Joe Newell restores pool tables is like saying Michelangelo was just a painter. The work Joe does is a masterpiece itself, taking them to points across the country and bringing hundred-year old tables back to life…
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In the middle of farm country, you can find one of the nation’s experts on this game, not to mention he’s an expert craftsman that helps people enjoy the past time so many people love…
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Some say this event was the spark that created today’s FBI. It was a crime that made national headlines and still leaves a literal mark today. We’ll dive into the gangster era…
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In 1912 he was proclaimed the world’s greatest athlete and some of his Olympic records from that year still stood two decades later. He was a well rounded athlete that even won the Dancing with the Stars competition of his day…
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When you think of historically great collegiate football programs, names like Notre Dame, Penn State and Alabama might come to mind. Most people don’t name the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in that list, but with this star athlete on the team, they beat the top programs of their day.
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The shots at Ft. Sumter in April of 1861 are often considered the first military action of the Civil War. However, one could make a case that the battle in this Kansas town five years prior was the event that made the war inevitable. This is the story of that town and it’s militant leader…
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In the years just ahead of the Civil War, thousands of people came to Kansas ahead of a critical vote on whether the new state would accept or reject slavery. Here’s the story of one of the most famous to make the journey…
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Osa Johnson was certainly not an imposing figure, but give her a gun and she could drop some of the most ferocious animals in the world before they made lunch of her husband. This is the story of how the pair captured images that fascinated the country…
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Many towns have a museum of local history. But why is Chanute, Kansas home to the Safari Museum? It may seem like a piece of history from half a world away, but it tells the story of a husband and wife who brought stories to life through the images they captured…
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It was one of the most ethnically mixed schools in America with whites and slaves teaching children of many backgrounds from the age of 5 into their early twenties…
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As Europeans crossed the Atlantic, those who had been living on the eastern seaboard for centuries were often forced to leave their homes. Here’s the story of one of those tribes and the imprint they still make on society today…
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Today these streets and the adjacent alley are peaceful avenues lines with small town businesses. The fall of 1892, it was the sight of citizens defending their town against one of the most notorious gangs of the 19th century…
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Bob, Emmit and Grat–three brothers that would return to their hometown to do business–but the business to be transacted would cost the lives of some of the family and some of the town’s citizen’s as well…
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Imagine a train chugging south out of Kansas with people jumping from the cars all along its route. The reason they jumped and mass chaos took place that September day is this edition of The American Countryside….
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(Hays, Kansas) – For an enlisted man at Fort Hays, it wasn’t enough to win a young woman’s heart and ask her hand in marriage. You needed the permission of your commanding officer and a few other key logistics to make the wedding take shape…
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The Army certainly needs strong, upstanding young men and women to fill its ranks today. But in the late 19th Century, the reasons men enlisted may have been for reasons farm from defending one’s nation…
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(Fort Hays, Kansas) As Americans moved from east to west, a network of forts sprang up across the high plains to protect travel and commerce. A few of those outposts still remain today, not as military operations, but as a testament to the communities that thrived around them…
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Today we’re back in Hutchinson, KS and say hello to our listeners on KWBW. I can attest to what folks there already know…the space museum here will rival any you’ll find elsewhere in the nation…
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Where can you find the largest collection of Soviet space artifacts on public display in the world? The answer is in a most unexpected place, and if you venture there, you’ll find much, much more than that. It’s a gem of a attraction in the middle of the country…
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This president was born in Texas but always claimed Kansas as his home. The story as well as all of this week American Countryside broadcasts are brought to you by one of my favorite places to explore…St. Joseph, MO. Home to fascinating history, river walks, parkways and more…check it out at stjomo.com.
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