Lincoln Highway Driving Forces in Massillon, Ohio

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I think I was aware of the “Driving Forces: The Lincoln Highway Journey” exhibit at the Massillon Museum before I headed to the Lincoln Highway Association 2026 Conference in York, PA, but I’m not certain. I was definitely aware of it when the conference ended, and I considered ways to include a stop in Massillon on my way home. That didn’t work out, but the museum lingered in the back of my mind until the weather and my schedule aligned for a visit on Tuesday.

I didn’t realize when I took the picture that the big neon sign I parked beneath was newer than the exhibit I came to see. An opening reception kicked off “Driving Forces” on May 30. The brand-new 30-foot sign was hung on the building around June 6. A wall-mounted plaque provides more information about the building.

The exhibit begins with several items travelers might take with them on a trip along the Lincoln Highway or any other highway of the era. Missing the official existence of the Lincoln Highway by a few years, The Negro Motorist Green Book was published from 1936 through 1966. The rather thin document on the table is a reproduction of the 1940 edition. It would grow over the years.

Some wonderful artifacts from businesses that once operated on the Lincoln Highway in Massillon are on display. John Margolies took the two photographs in 1988. Is it possible that Massillon had the very first no-tell motel?

Wall-mounted signs identified several driving forces, such as the Good Roads Movement, that contributed to the Lincoln Highway journey. Of course, the original Lincoln Highway Association was top of list and the three men pictured here were top driving forces within that association.

The museum’s lower level contains a gallery filled with work by local artists. The exhibit, titled “Creativity Within Community”, is organized by the Massillon Community Arts Council.

The upper level contains several galleries devoted to what I’ll call general local history as well as two dedicated to specific local icons. From the general galleries, I’ve included a 1908 Jewel automobile built in Massillon and some glass canes Massillon Glass Works employees made from leftovers around 1900.

I found the gallery with Dr. Immel’s hand-carved miniature circus and related artifacts particularly interesting. I suppose my interest might have been boosted just a bit by my recent exposure to full-sized sideshows. The cane on the wall makes a lot more sense with a little background.

Not surprisingly, football legend Paul Brown has his own gallery in the town where he began his climb to fame by coaching the Massillon High School Tigers.

All in all, this is a very impressive museum that I enjoyed way beyond the Lincoln Highway exhibit that drew me here. That Lincoln Highway exhibit runs through October 8.

WTC and Me (Repeat)

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On this 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, I am repeating a post from the 20th anniversary, which was little more than a link to a webpage prompted by the 1st anniversary. Neither these blog posts nor the webpage they reference are all that significant, but remembering the events behind them is extremely important. It is also important to remember the nation’s complete unity in the days following the attacks. The memory of that unity is a large part of what gives me hope today. Let’s do that again.

Nineteen years ago, on the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed so many innocent people in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in a Pennsylvania field, I posted some of my related memories on this site. A standalone web page was used as this blog did not yet exist. The page was accessible for many years through a link on this site’s home page. That link was eventually removed during a site layout change. However, the page itself remained in place for some time even though there was no way to access it other than entering its URL. Early this year, when the site was moved to its current host, the page was among those not making the move, so that even a direct URL became useless. Today, on the twentieth anniversary of those attacks, I have restored the page and am providing access to it here and through the image above, even though the page continues to be much more personally therapeutic than generally informative.

Three Nights at the Museum

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The American Sign Museum often hosts presentations and other events associated with temporary exhibits. The Freaks and Sideshows exhibit that opened near the end of July spawned three such presentations on three consecutive Thursday evenings. Each was available for remote viewing via Zoom, but I attended all three in person. The three presentations wrapped up this week. Freaks and Sideshows runs through October 4.

Freaks and Sideshows features sideshow banners from Dave Waller’s collection, and Waller gave the first of the three presentations on August 20. “Collector Talk: David Waller” was, of course, similar to Waller’s 2022 presentation, but there were differences. One example is that at the earlier talk, Waller told of meeting the niece of Johann Petursson, the Viking Giant, and giving her the Viking Giant’s souvenir ring he had acquired. The rings are not extremely rare, and Waller has since replaced his gift with two other rings which he circulated through the audience. This led to an impromptu three circus rings circus when one of the attendees pulled his own Viking Giant ring from his pocket.

The idea of human freaks as elements of sideshows has long been a controversial one. There is no doubt that some people with physical abnormalities have been taken advantage of and exploited by promoters, but it is also true that for others, sideshows provided both income and community at a time when the general society offered little of either. While not denying the existence of exploitation, Jason Harris’ “Behind the Curtain: The Tales and Lives of Sideshow Performers” focused primarily on the positive aspects of the relationships. Underlying the individual stories were observations of how the pure curiosity that fueled mid-19th-century audiences faded as science explained conditions once considered complete mysteries.

The third presentation wasn’t as tightly coupled with the banners as the first two, but it clearly aligned with the spirit of those banners. As expected, “Full Circle: The Golden Era, Decline, and Renaissance of the American Carousel” contained plenty of history, but it delivered a whole lot more. Presenter Danielle Bennignus is not only a passionate historian but an eager hands-on preservationist. She was accompanied by a pair of carved horses she owns. The last part of her presentation included several in-process photos of her restoration of Little Boy, so named because he fit in the back seat of her car for the drive home. His companion probably has a name too, but I missed it. The presentation was indeed focused on “the American Carousel”, although the wide-angle shot I’ve included is of a carousel in Paris, France, which Bennignus and her husband visited not long ago.

This last picture really has nothing to do with any of the presentations beyond my seeing the little truck for the first time when I arrived for the first of them. I snapped the picture on the way to the entrance, and only later learned that it is museum founder Tod Swormstedt’s new ride. The Daihatsu Hijet Deck Van is considerably smaller than what Tod usually drives to haul signs and pull a trailer. It’s a Kei-class vehicle with 1 cargo bed, 2 rows of seats, a 3-cylinder engine, 4-wheel drive, and a 5-speed transmission.

Book Review
Route 66: Faces and Places Along America’s Most Famous Road
Beth Bacon and Jodi Woolsey

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Nearly all the reviews on this blog are organic, meaning they are of things I’ve read, listened to, or attended because I discovered them and chose to review them on my own. This is one of the very few exceptions. The author, Beth Bacon, emailed me and suggested that since my site was about road trips and I did book reviews, I might be interested in reviewing her latest work. Right off the bat, I was impressed that she knew road trips and reviews were involved in the site. Most of the email requests/offers I get seem pretty oblivious to that. Cryptocurrency, miracle medical treatments, and streaming services are popular—the most recent involved ancient coins.

This email was legitimate, and a quick look at some accompanying information made me think the suggested review made sense. But there was one problem. Being a children’s book wasn’t the actual problem, but it was part of it. I’d never reviewed a children’s book, despite coming across a few “organically”. A couple of those were also related to Route 66, and were written by friends. That they were aimed at children was the only reason I’d not reviewed them before. It didn’t feel right to review a book by a complete—but polite and likable—stranger, when I’d not reviewed similar books by people I actually knew. I solved that problem by using the last two Wednesdays to post belated reviews of Emily Priddy’s Route 66 for Kids 2026 and Anne Slanina’s Annie Mouse’s Route 66 Adventure. Apologies, ladies. I hope you believe that late is at least a little better than never.

Beth Bacon has all the right credentials. There’s an MFA degree in Writing for Children and Young Adults, a string of books for kids, and a bunch of awards for them that include a couple each from Mom’s Choice and Chanticleer Little Peeps. She has illustrated some of those books herself and worked with various artists on others. As far as I know, this is her first time working with Jodi Woolsey, but it is hardly Woolsey’s first time working with authors. She teaches art at the college level and runs her own freelance studio. Her illustrations tell much of this book’s story and do an excellent job framing the names and other details in Bacon’s words.

Those names, and the places too, seem carefully chosen. A road that’s 100 years old and nearly 2,500 miles long certainly has plenty of both. It’s easy enough for adults to be swamped and even easier, I imagine, for the 5-10 year olds that are the book’s target readers. Bacon picks subjects likely to interest the 5-10 crowd and doesn’t overwhelm by trying to include everything. The book opens with a few bits of information about the entire road and about Cyrus Avery, who was instrumental in establishing it. That’s followed by one- and two-page sections on each of the route’s eight states. One of the names appearing for Illinois is Bob Waldmire, who traveled the route in a Volkswagen bus. Missouri’s pages include Alberta Ellis, who operated a hotel and other businesses where people of color were welcome at a time when that was often not the case. This brief, casual mention of the topic earns a bonus point from me. The Blue Whale of Catoosa, Oklahoma, is an obvious kid-friendly subject, and Bacon introduces its creator, Hugh Davis, and his wife, Zelta, to her readers. Bacon also identifies more key names and places for these three states, along with a handful for each of the other five. A personal favorite is Bacon’s mention that Snoopy’s brother Spike lives near the Route 66 town of Needles, California.

I have a hunch that recognizing the publisher had a little bit to do with me wanting to review this book. The list of Reedy Press authors contains quite a few familiar names. Two of my recent reviews (Aprons Away and Route 66: The First 100 Years) were of Reedy Press publications, which left me impressed with their product. And they’re just a couple of miles off Route 66. 

Route 66: Faces and Places Along America’s Most Famous Road, Beth Bacon (author) and Jodi Woolsey (illustrator), Reedy Press (August 15, 2026), 11 x 9 inches, 32 pages, ISBN 978-1681066776
Available through Amazon.

Mariemont Theater’s Back, Baby.

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I can’t recall the titles, but I do remember seeing a few movies at the Mariemont Theater in the early 1970s. I rediscovered the theater just over a year and a half ago when it was one of the relatively few theaters showing a movie (Porcelain War) I wanted to see. I immediately took a liking to the neighborhood theater vibe and made it to a couple more movie showings there before it was abruptly shut down in February of this year. That was pretty depressing, but seeing it storm back to life less than six months later really does make the closing a pretty dim memory.

Even before the theater actually closed, the Village of Mariemont began looking for ways to save this important part of their community. The local group Cindependent was soon involved, and with lots of help from others, the theater was acquired and refurbished.

A Grand Reopening Gala is planned for September 16 that promises to be really special. I won’t be around for that, but I was around Friday for what was billed as a “soft opening”. It wasn’t nearly as soft as I expected. I was pleasantly surprised to see Cindependent mascots Crunchy and Bubs greeting attendees and waving at passersby in front of the theater. That’s Cindependent’s Associate Director Dahlia Kressler and an unknown volunteer off to the right.

Inside, is a tasteful indicator that the place is under new management. The concession stand looks familiar, but not the stack of very cool cookies near the entrance to the screening rooms. The cookies were free, and I intended to grab one on the way out, then forgot. They definitely look too good to eat.

Most of the improvements are not obvious on entering. New state-of-the-art projectors and surround sound systems have been installed for all five screens, and some seating has been rebuilt. I was there to see The Brink of War, which turned out to be a pretty good movie. Arriving early meant I had my choice of almost any seat in the place. The second picture shows the view from the seat I chose. About a third of the other seats were filled by the 4:40 start time.

Clearly, things had been picking up while I was watching the movie. Out front, the Queen City Sisters were entertaining folks in the line that had formed for the evening shows. The theater originally opened in 1938, and several 1938 films were on the agenda for the upcoming gala and the days between now and then. The biggie for Friday night was the Oscar-winning You Can’t Take It with You.

Book Review
Annie Mouse’s Route 66 Adventure
Anne Slanina and Kelsey Collins

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I’ve known Dr. Anne Maro Slanina for several years. I’ve attended presentations she’s given while wearing mouse ears, and we have shared group meals at conferences. I have read one of her Annie Mouse books, read preview excerpts from others, and posted positive comments. This is my first time reviewing one. Dr. Slanina is a retired educator with a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction. Annie Mouse targets ages 5-12, a range I left behind long ago. I’m also pretty sure that no regular readers of this blog fit into that range either. And that, I suppose, is why I’ve never reviewed any of Slanina’s books before.

Three of the Annie Mouse books involve Route 66. The author is a big fan of the road and travels it frequently. That is where, of course, I met her. In Annie Mouse’s Route 66 Adventure, she applies not only the road knowledge she gained through her travels, but also photographs she took herself. The book covers a near full-length drive of the historic route from Joliet, IL, to Needles, CA. Making the journey is the Mouse family. There’s Mommy and Daddy, of course. The Mouse children include Annie’s older brothers, Sam and Bobby; older sister Jenny; and some unnamed younger siblings. The trip’s purpose is to visit Mommy Mouse’s cousins in Needles. 

Annie is the journal’s narrator. She is also its photographer. When Annie first learns of the planned trip, her excitement grows even bigger when she is told she would be allowed to take her own pictures. Those pictures appear exactly as you might expect from a young mouse making a scrapbook-style journal of her family vacation. More importantly, they appear exactly as they should to help young humans flesh out the words beside them. Sometimes, with the help of illustrator Kelsey Collins, Mouse family members appear in those pictures just as you would expect in vacation snapshots. There are also plenty of Collins’ delightful drawings in the book outside the frames of the photographs.

Annie Mouse’s Route 66 Family Vacation is another Route 66 book in the Annie Mouse series. It appears to tell the story of the Mouse family’s westbound Route 66 trip in greater detail, but without the photographs. It is, however, well illustrated with drawings by Kelsey Collins. The third book is Annie Mouse’s Second Route 66 Photo Journal, which tells of a second Mouse family Route 66 trip, this one eastbound, in the photo journal format with illustrations by Melinda Hood. What is sometimes called a fourth in the series is actually an ebook combining the two photo journal books.

Annie Mouse’s Route 66 Adventure: A Photo Journal,  Anne Maro Slanina (author) and Kelsey Collins (illustrator), Annie Mouse Books (May 13, 2011), 8.5 x 11 inches, 48 pages, ISBN 978-0979337963
Available through Amazon.

Honda Heritage Center

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I’m guessing that many of you have seen plenty of attraction lists filled with places that you’ve already seen, are no longer open, are too far away, are by appointment only, or are so distorted by AI as to be laughable. I know I have. But I recently came across a list of museums in Ohio with several entries I thought useful. Every place on the list is currently operating, and I detected not a whiff of AI. I’d already visited several, and a few were too far away to fit my immediate plans, but that’s my problem. One requires an appointment, and my reluctance to do that is a personal problem, too. The list came from Ever After in the Woods. This is my first time hearing of them, so I’m not ready to give a wholehearted recommendation, but I like what I’ve seen so far.

As I’m sure you’ve already guessed, my first selection from the list was the Honda Heritage Center in Marysville, OH. It’s roughly two hours away, open at reasonable hours Monday through Friday, and free. I drove up Friday, registered for my stick on pass, and spent just about an hour roaming through the exhibits.

The first Honda plant in Marysville, actually the first in the U.S., was for motorcycles. It opened in 1979 with the intention of building the big Gold Wings. However, that was considered a little too complex for a brand new operation in a brand new country, so production started with the CR250M shown on the right side of the photo. Before too long, the facility was turning out Gold Wings and it turned out a whole lot of them before closing in 2005.

Although I don’t believe any of these were ever made in Marysville, these are the machines that firmly established Honda in the U.S. The Civic was the first Honda automobile to achieve any sort of success here. Next to it are 50cc and 90cc motorbikes. The only vehicle I’ve ever owned with a Honda nameplate fit between these two, at 65cc. The 50cc Honda is the most popular motorized vehicle in the world with more than 85 million sold. I think everybody’s view of two-wheeled Hondas changed when the 4-cylinder CB750 came out. I never owned one, but did ride one when a friend and I swapped bikes for a day. Nice bike.

I did have one of these. I just leased it, and it’s an Acura rather than a Honda so there are two technicalities allowing my only-owned-one-Honda claim. Acura was the first upscale brand from a Japanese auto maker and the 1986 Legend was one of their first offerings. I loved the car, but didn’t care for the leasing experience.

Honda has definitely done some serious racing on both four wheels and two.

Marysville is only about thirty crow-miles from The Ohio State University campus, so it’s only natural that some long term collaboration would take place between the two. That a Buckeye wrapped pickup truck would result from that partnership was probably inevitable.

Honda continues to develop other forms of transportation. Here are vehicles with two, one, and zero (Yeah, I know it’s gotta land sometime.) wheels. The two wheeled Motocompacto looks like something Inspector Gadget might use to cover the last mile to a crime scene. The UNI-CUB is controlled by body position. I guess it’s kind of like a Segway with one less wheel.

And there are even devices like the Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility that transport themselves. Nearby is an image of ASIMO on a screen (That’s me in the corner.) with a spot marked on the floor where guys like me can stand and make awkward gestures and get undeserved compliments.

No one will be surprised to hear that I paused in the Heritage Center lobby to check email and search for nearby breweries. You may be surprised to see that once I reached a brewery, I ordered a flight. It’s something I don’t normally do because I think a full pint of a single beer is better. But everything I read about Camp Brewing made a point of mentioning the flights in small Igloo coolers so I decided to go with the flow. The original location really is at a camp near Indian Lake. I went to the second location in Marysville where Markley poured and delivered my flight with a smile.

ADDENDUM 23-Aug-2026: There’s a reason Camp Brewing’s flight holders look familiar. One of my long time travel companions could actually be the first piece of gear in my brewery. If I took the stickers off, and if I had a brewery. Walmart now sells what appears to be the modern equivalent of this cooler for $27.99.

Book Review
Route 66 for Kids 2026
Emily Priddy

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This book first appeared in 2003 as a real paper and ink publication. I got a signed copy in 2004, which, because it was small and easy to stuff between seats or in the glovebox, I kept in the car for quite some time. Based on the copyright dates, it was revised several times, but I never got a newer one, and my copy became increasingly out of date. Prior to February of this year, it looks like the most recent revision was 2016, so even the newer editions might not have been all that trustworthy. The print editions sold for next to nothing (I paid $5 for mine), and when Priddy updated things in February, she went beyond next and made it available for just plain nothing via Google Docs.

It’s definitely reasonable to ask why someone who is about as far from kidness as it’s possible to get, ever kept this close at hand. I mentioned the size of the hard copy. The size of the entries is another positive, as is their organization. States and the towns within them are listed east to west. The list of attractions associated with each town does not appear to be in any particular sequence. Below each attraction’s identifier is a single paragraph containing a brief description, address, telephone number, and website. The descriptions typically include cost, hours, and any other special considerations. They are not written by AI or someone following a formula who has never been there. Priddy often shares personal insights.

The book is a point of interest guide; not a route guide. It contains no maps or turn-by-turn directions to keep you on the route. However, Priddy offers some suggestions for navigation aids, along with some general road trip advice in a “Planning Your Trip” section at the back of the book. It’s for kids, although kids are not the target readers. Those are adults traveling Historic Route 66 with kids, looking for activities, restaurants, and motels that those kids might enjoy. On the other hand, it’s easy to imagine a pre-teen in the back seat, with a printed copy in hand, telling Mom and Dad exactly what the next stop will be.

Access Route 66 for Kids 2026 through the author’s blog post.

Odyssey Week

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I’ve heard plenty about the latest moving picture version of Homer’s Odyssey since its July 17 release. I probably heard plenty about it before its release but wasn’t paying attention. Information was certainly out there. I’ve learned that 95% of the tickets for pre-release screenings of the movie in select theaters were sold within an hour—one year in advance! The movie made it onto my personal wish list last week when some members of my trivia team said they had seen it and were impressed. They echoed what I’d already heard: You want to see this in the theater no matter how big a screen you have in your living room.

Not to worry. I am not going to attempt to review this movie. There are lots of professionals who have already done that, and many more who will do so far into the future. Although I can’t avoid talking about the movie entirely, I intend just to describe my own experience. Clues in the opening photo suggesting I did not attend a theater showing in my local Ohio neighborhood may not be obvious. Clues in the picture at left are harder to miss.

My trivia teammates had seen the movie at a nearby IMAX theater, and thought that was a pretty good choice. Those select theaters hosting the pre-release showings had all been IMAX theaters. But they weren’t just any IMAX. They were all showing 70mm film. I felt that the 70mm to digital switch at the Cincinnati Museum Center’s OMNIMAX Theater had been a big improvement, if for no other reason than it eliminated floaters caused by dust on the film. Now the experts, including the movie’s director, were telling me that this was the ultimate way to watch Odyssey.

Apparently what they really mean is 70mm film with 15 perforations per frame (a.k.a. 15/70mm IMAX). That produces a 1.43:1 aspect ratio, which gives you a really tall picture. 41 theaters worldwide support this format. There are 25 in the United States; None in Ohio. The closest to me is at the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis.

News articles that discuss the different formats, particularly those that mention the near-instant sellout of pre-release viewings, usually also note difficulty in getting tickets to 70mm showings. Indeed, if you go to the IMAX website and select the Indiana State Museum Theater, it will show as sold out beyond next week. But for some reason, clicking the IMAX link on the museum’s website might reveal some available seats. At least it did on Monday, when it showed a few front-row seats open for most of the week’s showings, despite appearing to access the same page as the IMAX site. Not long ago I accidentally ended up in the front row of a theater where the reclining seats made it tolerable. I hoped for something similar here and purchased the third-to-last seat for Tuesday’s 11:00 showing.

My seat is just beyond the left edge of the picture I snapped when I entered the theater. Not as close as I feared but mighty close. The second picture shows the view from my seat. The projected images in both pictures are just a fraction of the real thing. When the movie starts, it fills that entire wall. Top to bottom; side to side. It was definitely closer than I—and obviously every other ticket purchaser—would prefer, but it was still quite acceptable. The big action that filled the big screen was matched by the big sound that filled the theater. I was more challenged by the seat-shaking rumbling that accompanied most action scenes than by the giant men and beasts projected in front of me. The sudden quiet after a storm or slaughter was always welcome.

After seeing the newest and probably loudest of the many movie adaptations of the Odyssey, I checked out the oldest and almost certainly quietest. L’Odissea is a 1911 Italian silent film. The music used in the YouTube version linked in the image at right has been identified by SoundHound as Edward Elgar’s Symphony No. 1. Brightly colored talking, clanking, and booming movies are nice and all, but some of these 115-year-old special effects are, in my opinion, pretty darned cool and are certainly impressive for a time when movie cameras were cranked by hand. Neither the oldest nor the newest nor any of those in between are completely true to the original poem. Every one of them leaves out something, although it seems that no one wants to leave out the Cyclops scene.

Everybody knows that it took Odysseus ten years to reach home after the war ended. Not everyone realizes that the majority of that time was a very unstressful seven years with Calypso. Still, three years of actual travel time is certainly considerable. To be fair, that was approximately 3,200 years ago. Things have changed. This trip was made just the other day, in a modern vehicle, on a land route that was not available to Odysseus and his companions, and from which sirens, cyclopes, and most other monsters have been cleared, in about half an hour.

Book Review
The Whiskey Rebellion
Brady J. Crytzer

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After coming home empty-handed from my recent trip to Greenfield, IN, to hear author Brady J. Crytzer talk about his new book on the National Road, I decided to sample his writing on the cheap by checking out one of his other books from the local library. The Whiskey Rebellion interested me and was available. I had no delusions about knowing the history in detail, but I thought I had a good overview: The government imposed a tax on whiskey; some farmers didn’t want to pay it; George Washington personally led troops to confront the farmers; and the farmers paid up. End of story.

That’s not wrong, but it’s terribly oversimplified. The biggest thing missing from my four-point summary is the extreme risk the uprising posed to a new nation with its first president in his first term. This book also showed me a different, less flattering, view of Alexander Hamilton than I’d previously seen. Hamilton designed the tax and saw its enforcement and the punishment of those who opposed it as something personal.

The first indication of just how little I knew about the book’s subject was when I read that what we now call the Whiskey Rebellion was known in its own time as the Western Insurrection. I don’t believe I’d ever heard that phrase before. I instinctively thought that removing the word “whiskey” from its name made the event seem more sinister and more important. My instincts were validated in the book’s last chapter, where Crytzer writes that when the event was completely over, “Alexander Hamilton and his Federalist allies took to calling it ‘the Whiskey Insurrection’ as a means of trivializing the affair.”

Crytzer does know the details. Like any good historian, he provides dates and names for events before, during, and after the insurrection. More importantly, he places those dates and names in the bigger picture of the times. At its core, the Whiskey Rebellion was a manifestation of the period’s conflict between Federalists (e.g., Hamilton, John Adams) and Anti-Federalists (e.g., Jefferson, George Mason). The most radical of the insurrectionists took steps to establish their own government separate from that of the United States. Had Washington delivered a Gettysburg Address-style speech as he led his troops west, it might have begun “Half a score and eight years ago…”.

Washington personally commanding an army to quell the uprising is part of virtually every description of the Whiskey Rebellion ever made, including my woefully shallow one in the first paragraph. That is deserved. It is the only time that a President of the United States personally led military forces in the field. But Washington returned to Philadelphia after reaching Bedford and turning command over to Henry Lee, the Governor of Virginia. The rebellion was centered in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny, Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland counties plus Ohio County in Virginia. The 13,000 troops headed west came from Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Virginia, and the governor of each state led their own troops.

Accompanied by Hamilton, Lee led the army into the heart of the rebellion, but there was no big confrontation or battle. As the insurrection grew, the rebels had organized militia-like forces, and they were active in attacking and terrorizing individuals and families, but they quickly dissolved as the federal forces approached. The army was put to work apprehending targeted individuals, but the targeting was not very precise and the apprehension heavy-handed more often than not. Hamilton wrote a letter to Washington suggesting the elimination of due process. On November 13, 1794, the Pittsburgh area experienced so many of what Crytzer calls “smash-and-grab-style raids” that it became known as “The Dreadful Night”. “The names provided by Hamilton and Lee,” writes Crytzer, “made no distinction between witnesses, dissidents, and cooperators…” Those grabbed were confined in deplorable conditions.

As is all too often the case, almost all of the insurrection’s ringleaders escaped. In those days, exiting the United States was as simple as floating a sufficient distance down the Ohio River. Hamilton never caught the “big fish” he hoped to make an example of, and many of the little fish and those who should not have been fish at all suffered terribly. It was early enough in our nation’s history that it might have been the first time that we behaved so badly on such a scale, but it would not be the last. It might be that the passage of time and the fact that the insurrection was unsuccessful explain what Crytzer calls “a void in scholarship surrounding the event.” Still, I have to wonder if there has been real purpose in our school books extolling Washington gallantly returning to the field while not once mentioning “The Dreadful Night.”

The Whiskey Rebellion includes several images. Some are from historical sources, but Crytzer uses his own photos when possible. These are locations described in the text, and many still have buildings standing today after playing a role in the rebellion. Somewhat related to the pictures is a nice touch that Crytzer calls “Traveler’s Notes”. These appear at the end of some chapters and include notes, such as directions, about a location mentioned in that chapter. The Jean Bonnet Tavern was among the few of these I was familiar with. It served multiple functions for both sides in the Whiskey Rebellion. Established around 1760 and still operating today, it witnessed many significant events before the rebellion and even more after. The most recent significant event that I am aware of is serving me dinner in June.

I don’t know that this old dog can actually be taught any new tricks, but I’m encouraged knowing that I can learn new facts. In The Whiskey Rebellion, Crytzer does a fine job of shining a light on a subject I knew very little about. I don’t doubt he can do the same for one about which I think I know considerably more. I plan to read his National Road book and may acquire it at a future presentation of his. If so, I’ll make an effort to check inventory before driving too far.

The Whiskey Rebellion: A Distilled History of an American Crisis, Brady J. Crytzer, Westholme Publishing (June 14, 2023), 6 x 9 inches, 224 pages, ISBN 978-1594164002
Available through Amazon.