WELCOME
History is our cradle. It is the hunt and the art of Lascaux and Altimira. It is the discovery of fire and the forging of metal. It is the invention of the wheel, the planting of seeds, the creation of government. It is who we have been, who we are, and who we hope to become. Henry Ford once said, “History is all bunk.” Everyone has an opinion. But I hope you’ll find this web site a “history bunk,” a comfortable place to find a part of yourself through the past and celebrate history as the collective memory of our humanity. - Craig
Traces of History
History is made by many people whose contributions to major events have been buried by louder voices, deeper pockets, better politics, or simple longevity. This is where we meet them again. It is also where we find parallels centuries apart, like the Space Race and the Age of Exploration.
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Current events carry historical baggage. The politically correct change of mascots and slogans hides the people and events that once had meaning. The warehousing of objectionable statues paints over the good with the bad.
About me
I grew up along Salt Creek, a tributary of the Des Plaines River, at what was then the edge of suburban Chicago. The weed-choked stream and the woods on its banks formed a playground for children with imagination. I played sixteen-inch softball on a diamond that neighborhood dads carved out of a ragweed swamp. I swam in Lake Michigan, canoed on the Des Plaines, and camped in Indiana and Michigan. - Read More
In 1976-77 a handful of teenage boys and young teachers reenacted as 17th century voyageurs the 3,300-mile canoe journey in 1681-82 of the Sieur de La Salle from Montreal to the Gulf of Mexico. This book recalls, in their own words, the two years of preparation and the eight months of travel they endured through the coldest winter in the history of the Midwest.
