Alex Seifert

“Always drink upstream from the herd.” That was the advice of just one of hundreds of anonymous cowboys of the 19th century. While many of us are familiar with romanticized cowboys such as those played by John Wayne and Clint Eastwood in western films, many of us do not know much about the real cowboys, … more »

I apologize I haven’t posted anything in the past several days. I had a presentation on Thursday that consumed practically all of my time this week. The presentation, however, was on American cowboys and therefore I am going to use my research to post a new series about real cowboys, trail drives, etc. Look forward … more »

The Navajos struck fear into every person living in the American southwest since the first Spanish settlements until the American conquest of the southwest in the mid-nineteenth century. Their raids on the small villages and towns of present day New Mexico and Arizona were constant and were always devastating. The devastation, however, was generally not … more »

I apologize for the downtime. I had some issues with the domain and it looks like they’ve finally been taken care of. More posts to come soon!

While doing research for another project of mine, I stumbled across a place in the American Memory collection from the Library of Congress where you can download the 1903 silent film, “The Great Train Robbery.” It’s a very interesting 12-minute silent film that shows how three robbers are able to rob a train and all … more »

Today marks the 146th anniversary of the signing of The Homestead Act. Like The General Mining Act of 1872, The Homestead Act of 1862 was designed to encourage people to settle the west. By the time the act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862, eleven southern states had already … more »

There is a really interesting article that I came across about life on the frontier in Washington Territory in and around 1857. The article is an old article that was published in the Harper’s Weekly journal on August 22, 1857. Here is a clip of the article: The commonly-received notion of Washington Territory makes of … more »

“I have ever had the single aim of justice in view… ‘Do equal and exact justice,’ is my motto, and I have often said to the grand jury, ‘Permit no innocent man to be punished, but let no guilty man escape.’” Few judges in American history have such a reputation as that of Isaac Parker. … more »

I am really excited to announce that History Rhymes has been nominated for the Best Educational Blog award! If you enjoy reading History Rhymes, click on the button below to vote for this blog. Thank you for all of your support!

One of the things that got me interested in the history of the American west are westerns. I used to watch John Wayne movies with my grandpa when I was young and since I’ve been in Germany, I’ve found that many Germans also really love westerns. They even have their own breed of the genre … more »