Mossy Feet Books – Author Paul R. Wonning
Books About Indiana History, United States History and Garden Guides
Father Joseph Kundek invited monks from the Einsiedeln Abbey in Switzerland to come to Indiana to serve the needs of local Catholics. The monks responded to the call, establishing St. Meinrads as a school for Catholic children. It would also serve as a school to prepare men for the priesthood. Continue reading Podcast – St. Meinrad Arch Abbey
George Popham led a colony to current Maine to found a colony along the Kennebec River as a venture for the Plymouth Company, establishing the colony on August 13, 1607. Continue reading Podcast – The Short-Lived, Little Known Popham Colony
While on a camping trip to Brown County State Park, we took the opportunity to use our camping sticker to inspect the campground and facilities in the Paynetown Recreation Area on the northern shore of the lake. Paynetown has an electric and a non-electric campground, hiking trails, boat docks, boat rental and picnic shelters.
State Road 446 crosses a bridge that carries the highway over the lake. We crossed this and turned right into the Cutright Recreation Area, which consists mostly of another boat ramp. Continue reading Video – Hickory Ridge Fire Tower
Their initial landing on April 26, accomplished, the English colonists searched for a site to settle. If successful, they would be the first permanent English settlement in North America. At length, the president they chose to lead them, Captain Edward Maria Wingfield, decided on a spot. It was on a marshy spit of land on the north shore of the James River. They arrived on the spot on May 13, 1607 and went ashore on May 14. Continue reading Podcast – The Founding of Jamestown, Virginia – Part 2
Britain’s first attempt at founding a colony in North America had failed at Roanoke Island in 1590. It would be almost 20 years before they would mount a second attempt. Continue reading Podcast – The Founding of Jamestown, Virginia
Early pioneers in Indiana founded the village of Spring Mill in 1814. The copious amounts of water that flowed from local caves encouraged them to build a gristmill using the water to power the mill. In 1817 Hugh Hamer, the mill’s owner, built a bigger mill on the site. This gristmill was a three-story limestone structure and is the mill that exists in the Pioneer Village today. Continue reading Podcast – The Gristmill at Spring Mill State Park
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado had explored large areas of what would become America’s Southwest in 1540 – 1542. Spain had never followed up on this great expedition. King Phillip II of Spain decided to end this neglect by charging explorer Juan de Oñate with the mission of exploring this region on September 21, 1595. Continue reading Juan de Oñate Expedition to the Great Plains
Today we will visit the Ben Shroeder Saddle Tree Museum in Madison, Indiana. Continue reading Video – Ben Schroeder Saddletree Factory Museum
Greetings, today I will conclude the tale of the Roanoke settlement in Virginia Continue reading John White Returns to Roanoke
By 1588 Spain was the preeminent power. Its overseas colonies spread over three continents in the New World, North America, South America and Central America. These colonies sent vast quantities of gold back to Spai Continue reading Podcast – The Spanish Armada
Greetings and happy new year. Today we will visit the memorial dedicated to Hoosier astronaut Gus Grissom, located at the entrance of Spring Mill State Park near Mitchell, Indiana.
Gus Grissom Memorial Continue reading Podcast – Gus Grissom Memorial – Spring Mill State Park
The last episode related how Richard Grenville returned to Roanoke Island to find the colony deserted, as Sir Walter Raleigh had rescued the beleaguered settlers some days before Grenville arrived with fresh supplies. This episode is the conclusion of the tale of Roanoke Island. Continue reading Sir Walter Raleigh’s Roanoke Colony Part 2
Wildlife lovers should think about making a trip to Muscatatuck National Wildlife Area. The Refuge is on US 50 just east of Seymour, Indiana. The diversity of wildlife visible to even casual visitors to the Refuge is a delightful thing to see. The Refuge consists of 7,724 acres of which forestland covers about seventy percent. The remainder is wetlands managed by National Park Service personnel. The Refuge is in both Jennings and Jackson Counties, however the entrance is near Seymour, in Jackson County. Continue reading Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge
Today’s destination is Jackson Washington State Forest near Brownstown, Indiana in Jackson County. Continue reading Video – Jackson-Washington State Forest
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
Jackson-Washington State Forest comprises 18,000 acres in the beautiful “knobs” area of central-southern Indiana. The knobs, or as geologists call it, the Knobstone Escarpment, includes some of Indiana’s most rugged terrain. Continue reading Podcast – Jackson-Washington State Forest
Obannon Woods, Wyandotte Cave and Squire Boone
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 Video – Obannon Woods, Wyandotte Cave and Squire Boone
Today the author talks about the exploits of Sir Humphrey Gilbert and his attempt to settle Newfoundland. Continue reading Video – Sir Humphrey Gilbert And His Ill Fated Attempt To Settle Newfoundland
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
The story of the founding of St. Augustine, Florida begins with a disastrous French settlement on Pariss Island in 1562, North Carolina and ends with the destruction of the French Fort Caroline in Florida three years later. Continue reading Pedro Menéndez de Aviles and the Founding Of St. Augustine
Mossy Feet Books - Author Paul R. Wonning 