50 Years Ago By one measure, Iola is $1 million in the hole, Jerry Bratten, district extension forester, told a group of Iolans last night. Bratten and another extension agent from Kansas State University conducted…

Dr. Kelly Woestman, a professor of history at Pittsburg State University, is the guest speaker for a “Remembering 9/11’ presentation Friday at Allen Community College. Woestman specializes in 20th century U.S. history and family history.…

The blazing sun was beginning to blast the summer air as I shambled down the streets of Sedan in Chautauqua County, half asleep. I’m the polar opposite of a morning person, but sleeping in a…

In the spring of 1873, young Billy Toll was driving cattle past the Bender Inn in Labette County, on his way to Sunday School, when he noticed the place looked deserted. His suspicions were confirmed…

FORT SCOTT — Historic Fort Scott is getting high-tech treatment, thanks to Adam Wiewel and his team from the Midwest Archeology Center in Lincoln, Neb., who’ve been surveying the site for the past two weeks.…

“America, probably because it is the most civilized place in the world, is the most dangerous.” Such was the observation by adventurer/film-maker Martin Johnson during his final interview, not long before perishing in a tragic…

The ground was swampy and saturated the afternoon I wandered Mine Creek Battlefield near Mound City. Though I cursed mud aloud, I soon realized how appropriate it was, as conditions were similar on Oct. 25,…

Monotonous … The plains perfectly still as the clock strikes slowly. Such was early life at Fort Scott for most soldiers, who were cranky from living in tents, and with only the occasional prostitute or…

The autumn air, still and breathless.  Deathly light crept from thin clouds to illuminate Bob Dalton’s footfalls as he and the rest of the gang exited the alley near the crumbling Coffeyville jail. They held…

Our Market grocery store and butcher shop celebrates its grand opening today in Humboldt. Yet amidst all the fanfare, it’s easy to forget how long a road it was in getting here. In what follows,…