Second Annual Holiday Caption Contest

I am excited to announce that the second annual caption contest at My Adventures in History is here! Right in time for the holiday season, I will be giving away two prizes in appreciation to my faithful readers, my blogging friends and partners, and visitors to this site. There are great prizes to win this year! So what do you have to do?

All you have to do is post a caption for the following picture of me hanging out with Abraham Lincoln in Springfield, IL earlier this year:

Contest Rules

1. Submit your caption as a comment below.
   
2. Feel free to come up with captions that are funny, serious, and anywhere in between. However, any captions that contain obscene language or are of a perverse nature will not be published.
3. Please leave a way to contact you. Please leave a link to either your profile, website, or blog that has a way to get in touch with you via email. If I can't find a way, I not be able to send your prize and will pick someone else.
   
4. The last day to submit any captions will be November 30 and the winners will be announced soon after that!

There will be two winners for this contest. The first place winner will receive a copy of Don't Know Much About History by Kenneth C. Davis. From reading this book, I can say that it is a great reference for American history in an easy to read format and covers all sorts of topics. It is a New York Times bestseller, and Davis has written many other "Don't Know Much" books as well as having a column in USA Weekend. I know that I would love to have this book myself!

The second winner will receive a 2010 History Channel "This Day in History" Desk Calendar. This small calendar features 365 days of "remarkable people, extraordinary events, and fascinating facts." The description on the back says that it is "for history lovers and trivia buffs alike, a day-by-day record of extraordinary happenings throughout the ages."

Have fun with this and Happy Holidays from My Adventures in History!

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Honoring My Own Family History for Veteran's Day

With Veteran's Day coming up tomorrow, I want to celebrate in a special way by dedicating this post to some of my relatives who have served their country. This is a difficult post for me to write as its very personal. Both my grandfathers were veterans of wars but they are no longer alive. I wasn't ever able to talk to them about their wartime experiences, but in honor of Veteran's Day, I'd like to share their stories.

My grandfather, Robert, just recently passed away two years ago this winter. He was a veteran of the Korean War and received the purple heart for being wounded in combat. While visiting family on vacation earlier this year, I found out that one of my aunts had a collection of his medals. He never spoke of his combat experience and I never asked him. He is buried in a veteran's cemetery near the town he lived in.

My other grandfather, Leonard, passed away a few years ago, and he was a veteran of World War 2. He was drafted by the military and saw combat on Okinawa. As far as I know, he never served any where else. Like Robert, he was wounded and received a purple heart, although no one knows where it is currently located. My grandpa also took home a couple of souvenirs, Japanese military swords that are now in the possession of two of my uncles.

Several of my uncles saw combat in Vietnam. I also had a great-grandpa who served in World War I. He saw combat in Marseilles, France but that's all I know about his experience. While visiting relatives on my vacation, I also found out that I have ancestors that fought in the Civil War, and maybe other wars as well. However, not much is known about them and I'm not aware of extensive research about our family history yet.

Overall, I am thankful for their dedication and sacrifice to this country. I'm proud of their service and want to keep their memories alive.

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Thanks Teddy Roosevelt

There is still a wildness to the West. It is in the land and in the spirits of the people that live here. As an Idahoan, I grew up with this independent mindset that pervades everything from politics to religion and community. This mindset acts as a backdrop to the West’s vast stretches of inhospitable lands that are full of romance and wonder. The preservation of these wild lands, still untouched by development, can be largely traced back to one man: Theodore Roosevelt.

The Grand Canyon

Many of the West’s most precious lands are protected and maintained by the federal government through the National Park system. While the National Park Service was created under Woodrow Wilson in 1916, Roosevelt took many actions in his presidency that had a large impact on the park system. He signed legislation that established five national parks, four national monuments, and protected a large portion of the Grand Canyon. The greatest impact he had, however, was through the Antiquities Act of 1906.

This Act, also called the National Monuments Act, allowed Roosevelt and his successors to proclaim historic landmarks, historic structures, and other historic or scientific objects as national monuments under federal ownership. Under this act, subsequent presidents have proclaimed over 100 national monuments and parks. I believe that Roosevelt's greatest legacy in this nation was his pioneering environmentalism. If not for him, many of this country's natural wonders and historic places might have been destroyed already from development and abuse.

I had the opportunity this summer to spend time in southern Utah and northern Arizona visiting such places as Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. While in Bryce Canyon, my family and I decided it would be a great opportunity to go on a horseback ride. During the ride, I got a glimpse of what the West used to be like. With our guides dressed as authentic cowboys, riding through places not jammed with tourists, taking in the breathtaking views, and getting close to wildlife, I thought it no wonder Roosevelt was a preservationist.

Links to Learn More:

• Theodore Roosevelt and the National Park System
• Conservationist Theodore Roosevelt
  

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