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Sometimes historians can group together a series of events and tag them with an overall identifying name that connects all of the events together such as the Civil War or the American Revolution, but certain events just stand out and beg to be treated special because they serve as pivot points such as the firing on Ft. Sumter or the Battle of Saratoga. Then there are certain events that might not be pivotal but shouldn’t be ignored in the classroom simply because they touch upon so many different instructional moments such as the Mussel Slough Tragedy.  Westward expansion, growth of the railroad including the impact on settlement, muckrakers and their role in the Progressive Era, perspective and accuracy regarding the historical record and even a bit of vocabulary instruction regarding geographic landforms can be handled by examining this little known event in California history. First of all….what the heck is a slough?   On the west coast of North America a slough is def...

Tom Horn.  A simple name for a man yet it appears he lived a very complex life.   In fact, Tom Horn himself said of his life, “I have lived about fifteen ordinary lives.   I would like to have had somebody who saw my past and could picture it to the public.   It would be the most interesting reading in the country.” Once guilty, now innocent, but still dead – the description the New York Times gave Tom Horn in 1993. A man Steve McQueen chose to portray in a movie – though historians have several issues with the treatment’s accuracy. Tom Horn is an excellent historical figure for students to analyze while learning a little about the American Southwest during the late 19 th Century.    The details surrounding his life, the historical events swirling around him, and the issue of right and wrong regarding those events in relation to Mr. Horn’s actions could lead to a classroom of very engaged students on various levels. Upon running away from home at the ag...