Nineteenth-century History

19th Century

Kings of Bavaria: Conclusion – After the Fall of the Monarchy

Kings of Bavaria: Conclusion – After the Fall of the Monarchy

The rule of the Bavarian kings ended with the German Revolution of 1918-1919 in the immediate aftermath of World War I. The royal family became enemies of the Nazis and had to flee Germany, but never gave up the dream of restoring the monarchy.
Kit Carson

Kit Carson

No one person in the history of the American west played so many important roles in the shaping of this vast American landscape than Kit Carson. Despite his modest upbringing and the modest attitude he would carry with him throughout his life, the epic adventures he would lead in his lifetime would ...
Rocky Mountain Mining Towns: Idaho Springs, Colorado

Rocky Mountain Mining Towns: Idaho Springs, Colorado

There are few mining towns of the old west which are still operational. Most mining operations were shut down for a large variety of different reasons and the towns supporting them then slowly dried up and eventually became ghost towns. Idaho Springs, Colorado, however, is one of the few which are s...

Documentary about the Yukon Passage

I have spent about the last hour watching a very interesting documentary produced in the 1970s about the Yukon Passage during the Klondike Gold Rush. The primary focus of the documentary is not the gold rush itself, but rather the way in which prospectors would have gotten to the Klondike region in ...

The Papers of Abraham Lincoln

A few days ago I ran into an interesting, but ambitious project online called “The Papers of Abraham Lincoln”. According to the project’s website, they are “dedicated to identifying, imaging, transcribing, annotating, and publishing all documents written by or to Abraham Linc...
Britain and the American Civil War

Britain and the American Civil War

When most people think of the American Civil War, they do not tend to think of the reaction that the United Kingdom had to it. Despite being across the Atlantic, a large number of people in Britain followed the war with great interest. For the most part, their reaction was quite mixed. Some people h...
Rocky Mountain Mining Towns: South Pass City, Wyoming

Rocky Mountain Mining Towns: South Pass City, Wyoming

There are many towns throughout the American west which serve as excellent examples of what a mining “boom town” was like. South Pass City, Wyoming is one such town. It is a relatively rare example, however, in that it has survived practically unchanged into the present and as such can b...
Emperor Norton I – Emperor of the United States

Emperor Norton I – Emperor of the United States

Joshua A. Norton is a little known figure in American history. He was the first and only self-declared emperor of the United States of America. He styled himself as His Majesty, Emperor Norton I. Most of his contemporaries understandably branded him as crazy, unstable and as having gone off the deep...

A 19th Century Journal – William Steinway

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History has just released an online version of the journal kept by entrepreneur William Steinway throughout most of this life. He documented his life in almost daily increments for over 36 years of his life. The journal contains 2,500 pages in nine vol...

A politically correct (censored) Huckleberry Finn?

As most of my readers probably know, I am a huge fan of Mark Twain. The name of this blog comes from a quote he made about history and a lot of my inspiration comes from his works. The recent news of a Montgomery, Alabama-based publisher publishing a censored version of one of Twain's most famous bo...
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Kings of Bavaria: Prince Regent Luitpold

Kings of Bavaria: Prince Regent Luitpold

The story of Prince Luitpold and how he came to power is a rather tragic one. Although Prince Luitpold was never actually king of Bavaria, he reigned in place of his nephew, King Otto I, who was declared insane and unfit to rule even before inheriting the throne after the death of his older brother,...
Kings of Bavaria: King Ludwig II

Kings of Bavaria: King Ludwig II

King Ludwig II was the fourth king of Bavaria. Of all Bavaria's kings, Ludwig II is arguably the most famous. His legacy is entrenched in Bavaria's collective memory as the Märchenkönig (Fairy Tale King) and his picturesque palaces and castles have changed the Bavarian landscape.
Life in Nineteenth Century Mining Towns

Life in Nineteenth Century Mining Towns

One of my biggest fascinations with the Old West is with what life in a Rocky Mountain mining town in nineteenth century would have been like. It would have been a life full of filth, rough characters and hard work combined with drinking, fighting and gambling as pastimes. Of course these are stereo...
Kings of Bavaria: King Ludwig III

Kings of Bavaria: King Ludwig III

A long, tragic series of events brought King Ludwig III to the Bavarian throne. He was the monarch who was never destined to become king. He did not inherit it, but instead took it from his mentally ill cousin. Ludwig also saw the end of his family's 700-year rule over Bavaria.