Mossy Feet Books – Author Paul R. Wonning
Books About Indiana History, United States History and Garden Guides
The Pilgrims arrived in Southampton on the Speedwell from their refuge in Leiden, Holland. In Southampton, they were to rendezvous with the Mayflower and some other settlers. The Pilgrims planned to sail to the New World on the two ships. These two ships departed Southampton, England around August 5. The Speedwell created the first of what were many problems by springing a leak. The ships put in at Dartmouth to repair the ship. Continue reading The Pilgrims – Part 2
First Blacks Land at Jamestown Virginia
Sometime in late August, 1619 a ship docked at Jamestown bearing a cargo of blacks. The probable origin of these people was Angola, Africa. Thus, the first blacks had arrived in the New World. The status of these people is unknown. The institution of slavery did not exist yet. Many historians feel that these blacks served as indentured servants for a period. There are records that blacks received awards of land in later years, lending credence to that theory. Continue reading Podcast – First Blacks Land at Jamestown Virginia
Tecumseh rose to become a great Shawnee chief and leader of Tecumseh’s Confederacy. His birth probably took place near Old Chillicothe, in present day Ohio. His father, Puckshinwa, probably was a Creek. His mother, Methotaske, was a Shawnee. Colonials killed his father at the 1774 Battle of Point Pleasant. Continue reading Podcast – Tecumseh and Harrison
Henry Hudson, on his fourth and final voyage, sailed his ship Discovery through the turbulent waters of the Labrador Sea and Davis Strait. On August 2, 1610, Hudson’s ship entered the bay that would bear his name, Hudson’s Bay. After three month’s at sea, Hudson was confident he had found the elusive Northwest Passage. Hudson and his crew would spend the next two months sailing around the Bay, looking for a route through, until ice closed in on the ship in late October. Continue reading The Explorations of Henry Hudson – Part 2
In this episode the author talks about John Smith and some of his adventures in Jamestown Colony.
Just over a year after the colonists settled at Jamestown and six months after the devastating fire, John Smith led fourteen men on an expedition from their fort to explore the region that surrounded them on June 02, 1608. Continue reading Podcast – John Smith and Jamestown
Most basketball fans know that the athletic director at the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, James Naismith, invented the game of basketball in 1891. Continue reading The Father of Indiana Basketball – Ralph Jones
Greetings, today I will conclude the tale of the Roanoke settlement in Virginia Continue reading John White Returns to Roanoke
The Kingdoms in Chaos is the second book in the Wizards of the Golden Star Series. The Book I opens as the kingdom of Napoli falls. The creature Gwaum kills and eats the king while Queen Betsa and young Prince Ruther flee from the capital. Gwaum goes on to devastate the countryside The queen and her subjects that manage to escape the bedlam take refuge in a cave. Continue reading Kingdoms in Chaos
The first book in the Wizards of the Golden Star series, Quest of the Wizard – Book 1, opens with a scene in which a young boy named Arii is gathering red berries in a meadow near his parents’ home. Before his horrified eyes, the monster Gwaum emerges from the forest, destroys his home and consumes his parents and baby sister. Terrified, Arii flees into the forest. Continue reading Quest of the Wizard
The queen bestowed the award on Raleigh on March 25, 1584. About a month later Raleigh dispatched a scouting expedition to the region that would eventually become Virginia on April 27, 1584. The The expedition arrived in the region of Roanoke Island on July 4, 1584. The explorers nosed around the area, establishing relations with to Amerindian tribes and making notes about the customs of the local people as well as recording data about the geography of the area, after which they returned to England and reported to Raleigh what they found. Grenville took two native chiefs named Wanchese and Manteo with him to England. Continue reading New Podcast – Sir Walter Raleigh’s Roanoke Colony
The Wizards of the Golden Star Series chronicles the history of a fantasy realm called Island World. Island World consists of six nations, Slyvenhaven (Napoli), Acerland (Napoli), Ghrond, Nuckland, Torne and Naul. There are currently six novels in the series with a seventh in the editing phase. Continue reading Wizards of the Golden Star Series
Sir Humphrey Gilbert Ill-fated Attempt To Settle Newfoundland
Native to Devon, England, Sir Humphrey Gilbert attended Oxford where he received training in the military and navigational arts. He joined the British military and served at the siege of Le Havre on the French coast where he was wounded. He and Sir Walter Raleigh were half brothers. Continue reading Podcast – Sir Humphrey Gilbert And His Ill Fated Attempt To Settle Newfoundland
Last week we visited Corydon, Indiana’s second capital. Today we visit three other destinations in Harrison County, O’Bannon State Park, Wyandotte Cave and Squire Boone’s cavern and village. Continue reading Podcast – Obannon Woods, Wyandotte Cave and Squire Boone
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado’s fleet departed San Miguel de Culiacán on their quest to explore what the area of the Colorado River on April 22, 1540. Hernando de Alarcón would depart by ship in May. The plan was for Alarcón to find the mouth of the Colorado River, sail up it and rendezvous with Coronado’s overland expedition. Continue reading Podcast – Coronado’s Search For The 7 Cities Of Gold
In this episode I will talk about the subject my newest book, Versailles State Park. Continue reading Video – Versailles State Park
Versailles State Park, located east of Versailles Indiana on US Route 50 is Indiana’s second largest state park. It includes 5905 acres, the 230-acre Versailles Lake, a public swimming pool and one of the finest campgrounds in the Indiana State Park system. The northern area of the park features an extensive Mountain Bike trail system. Horse trails occupy the southern reaches. Continue reading Podcast – Versailles State Park
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor granted Spanish conquistador Pánfilo de Narváez a license to claim the gulf coast of what is now the United States. Continue reading Podcast – Pánfilo de Narváez Explorations
By the time of da Verrazzano’s expedition many began to suspect that Columbus had not visited Asia. Instead he had found an entirely new land. German geographers Martin Waldseemuller and Matthias Ringmann published a map in 1507 that depicted the discoveries as part of a new world in 1507. Continue reading Podcast – The Explorations of Giovanni da Verrazzano
Suspension Bridge
The Suspension Bridge crosses Sugar Creek, connecting Trail 1 on the south side with Trails 3 and 4 on the north side. Completed in 1918 the bridge was constructed by the Lafayette Engineering Company. It replaced an earlier suspension bridge built on the site. The bridge is 202 feet long. Steel cables support the 4-foot-wide deck as they carry foot traffic across Sugar Creek. The 70 Steps Concrete staircase to the bridge was built in 1921. The cables are anchored in a fifty-ton concrete base. Continue reading The Ladders Trail at Turkey Run State Park
Versailles State Park Geology
The geology of Versailles State Park is interesting because Laughery Creek at this point is the dividing line between two geologic provinces, the Muscatatuck Continue reading Sample Chapter – Versailles State Park
Mossy Feet Books - Author Paul R. Wonning 