tell me american history

[a_lopa]

i know not alot about US history any bits you may think of interest please add.when refering to the wild west,where is/was that near cal?texas?missisippi is one big river we dont have em like that.whats the main differences between states etc.just out of interest

[oakwilt]

Interesting past.

I live were Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States of America, and finally the U.S. claims dominion. Six flags.

A political beef stew of history, many elements of all leadership still embedded in habit and emotions. Populist, military, federalist, agrarian, imperial, theocratic, and anarchist backgrounds. Still ended-up with only two contending political parties though, just like anywhere in the states.

I counted sixteen party participation in the NZ Parliment. Must signify representation, here we're readily represented by pharmaceutical giants, oil industries, and managed-care health conglomerates, also the tiny but potent beef lobby and the remainder is the agricultural chemical industry. I feel very represented now (pun).

It's still illegal here to gait beyond a trot on your horse when around civilization. Or spit your tobacco chew on the street in public. It's legal for women to expose their breasts in public (unless an individual city code objects).

How's that?

[Wolfcsm]

Not sure I understand what information you are looking for.

There are several big rivers in the US. The Missippi, Missouri, Colorado, Columbia. The first three drain the middle of the country and the Columbia drains the Northwest. Each has been used as a trade route and is being used today to move goods.

Hal

[Stumper]

It is a big country (like Oz) we got our share of criminals to colonize with but a greater percentage of voluntary immigrants than Australia if what I've read is correct. The Mississippi River bisects the river north to south with about 2/5 on the land area(excluding Alaska and Hawaii) lying east of the Mississippi. West of the Miss. is "the west". The area east of the river varies in climate but is generally much more humid and wet than the western regions. The East is also much more densely populated. Halfway betwee the Miss. and the Western coastline the country is bisected north to south again by the RockyMountains. The east has mountains (Appallachian (Sp) and Alleghenny ranges) but they are lower in elevation and less rugged/rocky than the Rockies. Continuing west lies the Great Basin-Mostly inhospitable country) then the Sierra Nevada range and a rich strip of coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The northern part of that strip is called the Pacific NorthWest and is heavily Timbered and has some temperate Rainforest. Texas lies at the bottom(South) of the central section between the Miss. and the Rocky Mountains. It has a wet eastern portion arid west, Coastal region by Gulf of Mexico, Mountains in the Western portion and is "a whole 'nother country". The red states on this map straddle the Rockies( the ones below the red do to) I live in \Colorado-The one in red that is most southeastern Texas is the one at the bottom middle. California is the long one on the west coast.

[rb_in_va]

aussie,

Here's an interactive timeline of US history. It's pretty cool. By default, it moves faster than I can follow it, but you can slow it down. Later, RB(east coast).


http://www.boltmap.com/

[Chris J.]

Aussie: Check out the trivia thread Quiz.

Stumper: Great reply-were you ever a teacher?

Oak Wilt: You left out the largest lobby group in the USA, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). That's right-the gray panthers.

Later, Chris

[Al Smith]

Hi Aussie;The often times taken for granted part of this country,is the vast river systems.The state I live,Ohio,is bordered by Lake Erie on the north and the Ohio river on the south.The Ohio is part of the Mississippi river system,which is vast .It is hard to imagine,the huge amounts of goods that are transported via these inland water systems.It would be possible to load goods in Cleveland[on lake Erie] and deliver them to Cincinnati [on the Ohio River] via the St.lawrence seaway,the atlantic ocean the gulf of Mexico and finally the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.The period of "the wild west"was about 1870 to around 1900,but about the whole country was wild then.

[oakwilt]

Oh yeah, and the AARP. Although more national than state lobby. Ever lobbied? Meet some very interesting characters.

Inland ports from the river system include Tulsa, OK. A world port, as is Omaha, Neb. and Lewiston, Idaho. Some old farts live aboard houseboats and travel the entire system. Not a bad plan if I say so myself, but I'd like deeper water and farther shores.

Ohio is underated overall, it's a beautiful state, as is New Jersey in many places. Not the subzero 6 month winters of the upper midwest yet great winter recreation spots. Good people overall.

Hey Lopa, you have Brisbane's Swan river. Perhaps it didn't quite satisfy the settlers when Capt. Stirling wrecked his frigate in the shallows of what he in England called poetically "the great river of providing" when they saw it was only a few feet deep and infested with 'squitoes after paying a lifetime of earnings to get there. Good thing they moved on, Brisbane is a wonderful place I think.

[rb_in_va]

Originally posted by oakwilt
A world port, as is Omaha, Neb. and Lewiston, Idaho.

ow,
Lewiston Idaho! I grew up 40 miles from there. You been there?

[Derek]

Hey Lopa, you have Brisbane's Swan river...


Hi there oakwilt...Swan river is in PERTH westen oz

Brisbane has "Brisbane river" Beautifull place (and I was born there....Derek.........

[oakwilt]

I guess I had too many beers last time down under. Thanks for the correction.

Lewiston? Yeah. In 1979 when Whitey Hackmeister was flying smoke jumpers in his DC3 back to Helena there was trouble, no one discovered what happened. They aimed for the Selway river but upstream from the confluence of the Lochsa...the canyon was too narrow and the aircraft sheared it wings and hit bottom of the river in 20 mph current under 30 feet of near freezing water. The entire cabin remained submerged and all perished. The next day we muled-in to the crash site from our camp downstream one mile. Lot's of aluminum and fuel odor, no bodies. They all had to wait for divers and the choppers to cable sections and everyone was still strapped to their seats. Whitey was the chief pilot for the smokers, his daughter still works for the Forest Service in Montana. I've worked Elk City, Orofino, and LoLo. Lewiston for me meant green when everything else was under lots of snow. If I left MN in January and headed west on 12 the first thaw would be Lewiston.

What put you in Virginny RB? Most Bitterroot/Palouse area folks I've known have gone back or never left.

[TimberMcPherson]

Lopa, you have got to get over to the US some time, Get yourself a big old buick, chev or ford and drive across the country a couple times. The US is an awesome nation to travel around, especially if you avoid to tourist traps and venture around its heartlands.

Us History is rich and well recorded, you find great snipits of history in little towns all over, you find places such as the corvette mueseum and barbed wire mueseum. The country changes so much as you go around, its more like dozens of different countries really. People are great, V8s are cheap, and everywhere you go women love your accent.

cant be beat!