Lost Mackinac Island, Michigan, Lost, Paperback

Lost Mackinac Island, Michigan, Lost, Paperback Whether prehistoric and glacially slow or swift and modern, countless changes to Mackinac Island have driven much of its history out of sight and memory. Eons ago, waves washed away soft rock to leave behind limestone formations like Arch Rock, which have survived virtually unchanged for thousands of years. Other natural curiosities were regrettably destroyed in the twentieth century. To this day, the Grand Hotel welcomes guests from around the world but lost are smaller hotels such as the New Mackinac and the Lasley House, where a large–and live–bear stood chained to the front door. Steamships and schooners that brought celebrities like Mark Twain and members of the Barnum & Bailey Circus to the island long ago sank in the Straits. Author and historian Kelly Pucci explores the lost history of Mackinac Island.

The Texas Archive War, Texas, Paperback

The Texas Archive War, Texas, Paperback Often relegated to a footnote, the Archive War almost plunged the Republic of Texas into civil war.Houston’s Archive War began with the Texas Revolution, as the spoils of the battlefield gave way to bitter political strife. Sam Houston didn’t expect a two-year standoff with Austin residents over the location of the new republic’s capital. But if a few things had gone differently, his attempt to shift the seat of government back to the city named after him could have ended with Austin residents in outright rebellion. As it was, the feud between Lamar and Houston over the seat of government escalated into cannon-fire and continued until Texas was a Republic no more. Author Lora-Marie Bernard thumbs through the incendiary files of the Texas Archive War.