Author: Tom
Jean Lafitte
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/02/07Feb23-Jean-Lafitte.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)He’s still regarded as an important figure in New Orleans and American history. And although almost two centuries have passed,…
The Composer Comes to Spillville
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/02/06Feb23-Bily-Clocks-3.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)In the summer of 1893 a unique visitor arrived in Spillville, Iowa. He loved the place so much that he…
Ford’s One Million Dollar Offer
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/01/03Feb23-Bily-Clocks-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)In 1928 the Bily brothers received quite an offer from Henry Ford. He offered them one million dollars for something…
The Amazing Bily Clocks
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/01/02Feb23-Bily-Clocks-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)The Bily brothers were farmers near Spillville, Iowa. But it’s what the brothers did when they weren’t farming that has…
The First Televised State Funeral
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/01/01Feb23-Sam-Rayburn-3.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)In November of 1961, this small town in north Texas was overwhelmed with people coming to pay their respects to…
It’s Better to be the Speaker than President
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/01/31Jan23-Sam-Rayburn-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Many governors, senators and representatives may aspire to one day become president of the United States. However, this man believed…
Sam Rayburn
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/01/30Jan23-Sam-Rayburn-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)In Bonham, Texas you can find the boyhood home of Sam Rayburn. The small town is also host to the…
Loading the Largest of Ships
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/01/27Jan23-Two-Harbors-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)They are some of the largest boat docks you’ll ever see. Not mere spots on a lake from which to…
Two Harbors
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/01/26Jan23-Two-Harbors-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Today Duluth, MN and Superior, WI are major shipping points on Lake Superior. However, turn back the clock a century…
Al’s Great Pies
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/01/25Jan23-Als-Oasis-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)If you’ve driven across interstate 90 in South Dakota you know you’ll see plenty of signs for Wall Drug, an…
Al’s Oasis
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/01/24Jan23-Als-Oasis-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)An oasis is often thought to be a lush, fertile spot in the middle of a desert. The oasis I’ll…
Short Existence, Mighty Impact
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/01/23Jan23-Hellcats-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Many military museums tell the story of an entire war, or perhaps the history of a fort or military outpost. …
The Hell Cats
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/01/20Jan23-Hellcats-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)They were often known as the Hell Cats. Others knew them by the name, “Suicide Squad” for their hard fought…
Bluff Dwellers Cavern
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/01/19Jan23-Bluff-Dwellers-Cavern.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Arthur Browning thought he was just going to check the traps on his farm one morning back in 1927. What…
Same Old Sam
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/01/18Jan23-Sam-Walton-3.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)He was one of the wealthiest men in America. Yet almost everyone that ever worked with him would tell you…
Sam’s Mismatched Floor Tiles
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/01/17Jan23-Sam-Walton-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)It you walked into a business that had just remodeled its space and noticed the floor tiles did not match,…
Losing a Lease that Led to Success
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/01/16Jan23-Sam-Walton-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)It’s said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” Perhaps that’s how Sam should have regarded the fact that his…
Roundup on Antelope Island
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/01/13Jan23-Antelope-Island-3.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Every fall there is a round-up of the herd here just outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. You can even…
Antelope Island
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/01/12Jan23-Antelope-Island-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Until the 1960s, ranchers took animals by a barge from the mainland to this island for grazing. The vast rangeland…
Overseeing the Largest of Lakes
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/01/11Jan23-Antelope-Island-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Jeremy Shaw is responsible for patrolling a lake larger than the state of Rhode Island. It’s a unique place that’s…