Murder, Madness, and Mayhem on the Iowa Illinois Frontier

by Nick Vulich

It's not the usual boring history read. It's a fast-paced, easy to read, behind the scenes look at the making of Iowa and Illinois focusing on Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois. When you're done reading it, you might even scratch your head and think - Oh, yeah! That's what Mrs. So, and So tried to tell me back in seventh-grade history class. And, I tell you what. We're going to skip all the boring parts, like dates, politics, and founding fathers. We're going to go right to the fun stuff... Indian Wars. Murder. Suicide. Incest. Robberies. Killer storms. If you live in Davenport, you're going to learn about the murder of the town's namesake, Colonel George Davenport, and get a few words about how he fathered two children by his stepdaughter, and another by a washerwoman at Fort Armstrong. If you live in Nauvoo, Illinois we're going to review the Mormon Wars and their trek across Iowa on the way to their new home in Utah. If you live in Camanche or DeWitt, Iowa, or Albany, Illinois, you're going to get a first-hand look at the Great Tornado of 1860 and how it killed over 150 people as it cut its way from Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Whiteside County, Illinois. If you live in Rockdale or Dubuque, Iowa, you're going to read about the Rockdale Flood and how it destroyed every house in town and killed over 39 people in less than an hour. Of course, there's more... The Black Hawk War, Jessie James in Iowa, the Grasshopper Plague, a short compendium of suicides, murders, and more. And, did I mention, in 1857 Iowa was at the forefront of a new lynch craze that was spreading across the nation. Between April and December of 1857, sixteen men met their maker at the end of a rope. Many more were whipped within an inch or their lives then given orders to move on or die. Such was life on the Iowa-Illinois Frontier...

Genres: History, Nonfiction

247 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 8, 2018

About the author

Hey there Nick Vulich here.

Ever since I was a kid I had this crazy urge to read and write. There is something about a book that can open up new worlds to you. When I was younger I read every Max Brand and Zane Grey western I could get my hands on. Then, I found Kenneth Roberts and his historical novels – Arundel, Northwest Passage, A Rabble in Arms. The detail he worked into them was mind blowing.

In college I was turned on to Frodo Baggins and the world of the Hobbits. I found Kurt Vonnegut downright inspiring. I still remember sitting in David Morrell’s classroom at the University of Iowa back in the late seventies, listening to his lectures on early American literature.

After graduation, I lost touch with my writing self for over thirty years, until I was brought face-to-face with this new-fangled thing they called Kindle. It reminded me of what I was all about.

In the years since then I have penned over twenty books, most of them with an e-commerce bent – How to sell on eBay, Amazon, and Fiver. I have written innumerable history books, started and given up on over a dozen novels.

The most amazing thing is, I can say whatever I want to say. I can write it today, put it out there for sale tomorrow, and within a day – sometimes two or three, someone else in this world is going to connect with what has been rattling around in my brain. How cool is that!

Indie Authors Toolbox is just that, a collection of gadgets and doodads you can whip out when you need them to spice up your writing; learn a little more about self-publishing; or connect with one troubled brain that is focused on figuring out this thing we call Indie Publishing.

Welcome aboard. Hold on because you are in for one hell of a ride.

Reviews

[Cassandra Joseph]

Interesting coming from the Midwest. Fun factoids, kind of weirdly written, but it works.

[Bob]

This is an interesting little compilation of stories that took place on the iowa, wisconsin, illinois borders in the 1800's when this was still the wild west. There are tales of bandits, murders, corruption, lynchings and all manner of nastiness. Some of the stories are told and retold from several sides. The book could have used an editor. But in all, the stories were all interesting and it brings a sense of the history of this little part of america.

[Douglas Reedy]

I really enjoyed reading this book.

I have lived in Iowa for many years and this book contains a lot of information about this state that I had no idea occurred here. Many interesting stories.

[Jeff Wielert]

This book really brought to life a lot of the history of Illinois and Iowa that I was unaware of. I would recommend it to anyone interested in mid west history