American Countryside

As the United States began sending thousands of troops to Europe and the Pacific during World War II, there were also new needs that sprang up here at home.  One such place can still be found in the hills a couple dozen miles northeast of Sacramento... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A gold rush can attract people from all walks of life and all points on the globe.  That was the case for the big stampeded to Sutter’s Mill in California in 1849... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many of us have heard about the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill that set about the 49’s rush in the mid 1800s, but this is the story of what happened at a nearby community... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Strikes have been a part of the push and pull between labor and management for as long as one can remember.  While those strikes can bring plenty of tension, they usually don’t result in what took place in Verdin, Illinois... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Memorial Day, we remember our loved ones. But these ladies recognize our fallen soldiers today and every day of the year... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most of us don’t think of the state of Illinois as a major coal mining region, however in the 1800s and early 1900s, this was a place where miners extracted coal from the ground and often had little to show for doing so.  In 1898 in a resulted in a strike that is still remembered today... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She was small in statue but mighty in the punch she carried.  An Irish born lady who brought a message of hope and resilience to workers across the nation... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A mother cares for her sons and this mother had many adopted souls that she took under her wing.  She was a fiery woman who would not stand for the atrocities she saw around her... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some people plant flowers around their home every Spring.  Now imagine you need to plant 70,000 or more of them.  That’s what takes place here each year... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the 1920s there was an effort to build a memorial along the international border between the U.S. and Canada.  The idea was a park that commemorates the peace between the two nations.  What resulted can be found along a relatively unpopulated area along that border line... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You may not fancy yourself a poet, and you may have forgotten a poem called My Western Home.  But in a moment you’ll find that you do know those words quite well... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s one of the best known songs of that past century.  In fact, one president said it was his favorite.  But then a lawsuit stopped it from being played... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The name Farmers Branch sums up the beginning of this place.  A rich ag community along a north Texas stream.  Today the landscape has changed…but you can still find those roots See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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In Marion, Ohio you’ll find a museum that is the only one devoted to this in the world.  That fact is interesting in light of just how popular this has been in this country for well over a century... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One, five, ten, twenty?  Now imagine there were more denominations and dozens of different types of bills in circulation. What you would have is a major mess and that's exactly what banking was like in the 1850s... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One, five, ten, twenty?  Now imagine there were more denominations and dozens of different types of bills in circulation. What you would have is a major mess and that's exactly what banking was like in the 1850s... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Whether you have any or not, many of us are fascinated by gold.  It’s the storyline of many a tv show and movie.  Where can you find the biggest vault of it?  The answer may surprise you... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everyone knows that much of the nation’s gold is at Fort Knox.  Or is it?  That’s the question many wondered a few decades back... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’ve heard of the gold at Fort Knox, and while we can’t go inside the vault, we do know much about the beginnings of that heavily fortified treasury and its contents.  We visit with a  man who lives just next door so to speak... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During the depths of the US Depression in the 1930s, the federal government took several steps to spur the economy.  One was forcing the sale of all gold to the federal government... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For centuries people have recognized the natural beauty along the border of Tennessee and North Carolina, but Steven Fananda’s family is hoping visitors want to see what is below ground as well... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kids may go exploring when they have nothing better to do…and sometimes those adventures can lead to trouble.  But for this family…a wandering six year old built the family business... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sometimes people will use secret codes to keep vital information from slipping into the wrong hands.  General Patton used such a code in World War II, just so he had something to drink... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When the U.S. adopted prohibition in 1920, most alcohol production ceased, but when production resumed in the 1930s, it seems some of the old recipes, so to speak, had been lost.  This man combines history and a distillery to unlock some unique products... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.