A Hard Way to Drive a Dog Mad

The river in the title is not the one you expect.

My friend Miles recommended Wade Davis’s One River as a good way to learn more about the medicinal and religious uses of plants in the Amazon. I’m pretty late More …

Welcome to Warbassport

Pioneers in Washington Territory seem to have had a time coming up with appealing names for their settlements. Arthur Denny decided on the name Seattle partially as a tribute to the Duwamish chief who had been so friendly to him More …

Best Confederate General Name

I’ve been thinking recently about the best name for a Confederate General. I mean actual names, and not the best one could possibly devise. Left to our own devices, we might suggest some sort of Biblical/Scottish hybrid, e.g. General Leviticus More …

Digging up the Severed Heads of Old Villains: Another Black Jack Reconsidered

Having already written about Logan and now adding Ketchum, if I write about any other figures with this nickname I may rename this blog “Black Jacks I Have Known.”

I’m making my way through Tim Egan’s wonderful The Worst Hard More …