Author Denver Michaels

In 1935, when the Great Depression was ravaging the country, the federal government formed the Works Progress Administration (later named the Work Project Administration) to combat the devastating effects of the depression on the nation. The largest and most successful project was the Tennessee Valley Authority, which, through the construction of hydroelectric dams, modernized the region and created desperately needed jobs. One of the administration’s lesser-known projects was the Federal Writers Project. This project employed thousands of out-of-work teachers, researchers, librarians and historians who went about recording American oral histories and folklore. One of the better-known works of the Federal Writers Projects is Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States , which was compiled from over two thousand interviews with formerly enslaved people. Field workers employed by the federally subsidized Virginia Writers Project captured all manner of Virginia folkl

The oldest house in Winchester, Virginia is known as "Abram's Delight." The history of the home goes back to the 1730s days when Abraham Hollingsworth received a land grant consisting of 582 acres in present-day Winchester . His land was a “delight to behold,” and he built a log cabin alongside a natural spring. Hollingsworth died in 1748, and his wife passed away a year later. His second son, Isaac, inherited the property, which would stay in the Hollingsworth family for two hundred years. Isaac built a stone house that served as the first quaker meeting place in the area, and it holds the distinction of being the oldest house in Winchester. Old homes and hauntings go together like peanut butter and chocolate, so, of course, Abram’s Delight has its share of ghost stories. Abram’s Delight underwent restoration in the 1950s. During this time, workers began seeing a tall man, over six feet in height, dressed in quaker’s clothing, walking in an out of the house. Marguerite

In my book Water Monsters South of the Border , I devoted a chapter to "water tigers," strange, aggressive large feline-like creatures that hide in the waters of South America and ambush prey—sometimes human prey. The following excerpt discusses the Maipolina, a water tiger in French Guiana: French Guiana, located on the northern end of the South American continent, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Suriname, and Brazil, is home to a creature known as the Maipolina. The animal is said to haunt the Maroni River, where it patiently waits underwater for its prey. The Maipolina, also known as Popoké and the “water mother,” reaches a size of nearly ten feet , has walrus-like tusks, droopy ears, powerful claws, and a white stripe running along its back. The fierce creature lives in caves in the riverbank, and attacks humans and canoes when the opportunity presents itself. 3 In one of the most often cited reports, the Maipolina was blamed for the grisly death of a child. This occurred

One of my all-time favorite authors is Louis L’Amour (1908–1988). L'Amour is best known for his western novels. He was born in North Dakota, and his father settled there before it became a state. Surely L’Amour’s Dakota upbringing shaped him and gave him a solid background for his writing. Over the course of his life, he authored over 250 short stories and 100 novels. By 2010, L’Amour’s works had sold in excess of 320 million copies! That is a metric fuck ton of sales, believe me. I will do somersaults and throw ninja spin kicks into the air while singing “We Are the Champions” when I hit one thousandth of that sales number. Seriously, I will. President Ronald Reagan signed legislation in 1982 awarding L’Amour the Congressional Gold Medal. Reagan said that L’Amour had “brought the West to the people of the East and to people everywhere.” Indeed. Since my late teenage years, L’Amour’s stories had me daydreaming of the West. Had I not read the books The Daybreakers , Conagher , Lonel

In 1971, an unusual creature was spotted in a lagoon outside of Havana, Cuba. The lagoon, a flooded quarry, is located in San Miguel del Padrón, a suburb of Havana. Rumors of a frightening creature quickly spread throughout Havana; crowds of curious onlookers flocked to the lagoon. As news of the monster spread, the masses grew—crowds that once were in the hundreds, quickly escalated to thousands in number. The creature created such a buzz within the community, that the government-ran radio station, Radio Progresso, took an interest and sent reporters to investigate. The correspondents descended upon the scene; they examined eyewitness reports and interviewed witnesses. Descriptions of the creature vary; some described it as spindle-shaped, with large and threatening yellow eyes; others claimed to see a horned, hippopotamus-like animal with a featureless face. According to one witness who claimed to have seen the animal on multiple occasions: “It doesn’t look like anything but a black

In 1957, Billings, Montana journalist Kathryn Wright broke the story of Custer’s missing payroll. According to the story, about a month before the ill-fated Battle of Little Bighorn, the army paid out $25,000 to the men of Custer’s Seventh Cavalry. This was the equivalent to four months of back pay. The army paid the troops while they were out in the field, far away from any town, to deter potential deserters and to avoid having to round up men who had went into town and had too much to drink. Paying soldiers in this manner was standard practice in the day. So, essentially, the U.S. soldiers who fought at the Battle of Little Bighorn had a total of about $25,000 on them. Little Big Horn The army suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Little Bighorn. According to Wikipedia: The 7th Cavalry suffered 52 percent casualties: 16 officers and 242 troopers killed or died of wounds, 1 officer and 51 troopers wounded. Every soldier of the five companies with Custer was killed (except for s