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Our site is free to all users, however there is upkeep and monthly fees which
we incur. The Reikken Foundation began 8 years ago when a very close friend passed away. If you donate to my website,
50% wil go toward maintenance and the other 50% will go to the Reikken Foundation. It's a great cause helping children
with terminal, Stage 4 cancer.
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Please enjoy some great music from Rent the movie
Alabama
Capital: Montgomery
State abbreviation/Postal code: Ala./AL
Organized as territory: March 3, 1817
Entered Union
(rank): Dec. 14, 1819 (22)
Present constitution adopted: 1901
Motto: Audemus jura nostra defendere (We dare defend our
rights)
Origin of name: From Alabama River by early European explorers and named "Alibamu" after the local Indian tribe.
Alabama history
Alabama entered the Union on December 14, 1819, as the 22nd state. It was a member of the Confederate
States of America from 1861 to 1865. Throughout the 20th century, Alabama's economy diversified from agriculture to the iron-and-steel
industry, as well as medical services, insurance, manufacturing, and engineering. In the early 21st century Alabama, like
many states, faced a budget crisis as the economy slowed.
Alabama (state), in the east south central United States, at the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains and on the Gulf
of Mexico. It is one of the principal states of the South and is often referred to as the Heart of Dixie. In the course of
about 450 years, Spanish, French, British, and Confederate flags, as well as the Stars and Stripes, have flown over Alabama,
and residents of the state have a deep-seated sense of history. The state capital, Montgomery, became the provisional
capital of the Confederate States of America in 1861 and is popularly known as the Cradle of the Confederacy. Alabama received
its name from the Alabama River, which in turn was named after a Native American tribe that inhabited the region at the time
the first Europeans arrived. The name is believed to be a combination of two Choctaw words roughly meaning vegetation (alba)
and gatherer (amo), which were applied to the Alabama, or Alibamon, people. While the state proudly displays its “Heart
of Dixie” nickname on vehicle license plates, Alabama is also known as the Yellowhammer State. This nickname dates from
the American Civil War (1861-1865), when a company of Alabama soldiers decked their uniforms with yellow trimmings that resembled
the wing patches of the yellowhammer.
Today paper, chemicals, rubber and plastics, apparel and textiles, primary metals, and automobile manufacturing
constitute the leading industries of Alabama. Continuing as a major manufacturer of coal, iron, and steel, Birmingham is also
noted for its world-renowned medical center. The state ranks high in the production of poultry, soybeans, milk, vegetables,
livestock, wheat, cattle, cotton, peanuts, fruits, hogs, and corn.
Points of interest include the Helen Keller birthplace at Tuscumbia, the Space and Rocket Center at Huntsville, the White
House of the Confederacy, the restored state Capitol, the Civil Rights Memorial, the Rosa Parks Museum & Library, and
the Shakespeare Festival.
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Welcome to www.alabama.travel
This is the official travel
and tourism Web site for the State of Alabama. Here you'll find everything you need to plan your next visit to our state,
whether planning a day trip, a weekend getaway, or even a much-needed family vacation.
Browse through the abundance of attractions and events above to discover what Alabama has to offer. Get trip ideas from exploring cities and towns, attractions, and even some of our visitor's videos. Whether you're looking for an adventure or relaxation
at our beaches, cities or the great outdoors, you'll find it in Alabama!
To Travel Alabama please click on the link below. www.alabama.travel
======================
Awesome Arizona
Capital:
Phoenix
State abbreviation/Postal code: Ariz./AZ
Organized as territory: Feb. 24, 1863
Entered Union (rank): Feb.
14, 1912 (48)
Present constitution adopted: 1911
Motto: Ditat Deus (God enriches)
Territorial Status and Statehood
In 1863, Arizona was
organized as a separate territory, with its first, temporary capital at Fort Whipple. Prescott became the capital in 1865.
Charles D. Poston, who had worked to achieve Arizona's new status, was elected as the territory's first delegate to the U.S.
Congress. The capital was moved to Tucson in 1867, back to Prescott in 1877, and finally to Phoenix in 1889. The region had
been held precariously by U.S. soldiers during the intermittent warfare (1861–86) with the Apaches, who were led by
Cochise and later Geronimo. General George Crook waged a successful campaign against the Apaches in 1882–85, and in
1886 Geronimo finally surrendered to federal troops. When Confederate troops were routed and Union soldiers went east to fight
in the Civil War, settlement was abandoned. It was resumed after the war and encouraged by the Homestead Act (1862), the Desert
Land Act (1877), and the Carey Land Act (1894)—all of which turned land over to settlers and required them to develop
it.
n 1912, Arizona, still a frontier territory, attained statehood. Its constitution
created a storm, with such “radical” political features as initiative, referendum, and judicial recall. Only after
recall had been deleted did President Taft sign the statehood bill. Once admitted to the Union, Arizona restored the recall
provision.
Arizona history is rich in legends of America's Old West. It was here
that the great Indian chiefs Geronimo and Cochise led their people against the frontiersmen. Tombstone, Ariz., was the site
of the West's most famous shoot-out—the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Today, Arizona has one of the largest U.S. Indian
populations; more than 14 tribes are represented on 20 reservations. Manufacturing has become Arizona's most important
industry. Principal products include electrical, communications, and aeronautical items. The state produces over half of the
country's copper. Agriculture is also important to the state's economy. Top commodities are cattle and calves, dairy products,
and cotton. In 1973 one of the world's most massive dams, the New Cornelia Tailings, was completed near Ajo.
State attractions include the Grand Canyon, the Petrified
Forest, the Painted Desert, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, Fort Apache, and the reconstructed London Bridge at Lake Havasu City.
Astounding Arkansas
Capital: Little Rock
State abbreviation/Postal code:
Ark./AR
Governor: Mike Beebe, D (to Jan. 2011)
Organized as territory: March 2, 1819
Entered Union (rank): June 15,
1836 (25)
Present constitution adopted: 1874
Motto: Regnat populus (The people rule)
Spaniard Hernando de Soto was among the early European
explorers to visit the territory in the mid-16th century, but it was a Frenchman, Henri de Tonti, who in 1686 founded the
first permanent white settlement—the Arkansas Post. In 1803 the area was acquired by the U.S. as part of the Louisiana
Purchase.
Part of the Territory of Missouri from 1812, the area became a separate entity
in 1819 after the first large wave of settlers arrived. The next several decades were marked by the development of the cotton
industry and the spread of the Southern plantation system west into Arkansas. Arkansas joined the Confederacy in 1861, but
from 1863 the northern part of the state was occupied by Union troops.
The early twentieth century was a time of increasing progressivism
for Arkansas. The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union worked to get a prohibition measure passed in 1917. That same year,
the state legislature voted to let women participate in the Democratic primary, making Arkansas the second state in the Union
to approve women's suffrage. The state began reforming its education system and, during the tenure of Governor George Donaghey,
established four agricultural schools that eventually became universities. All was not bright, however. White rioters in Harrison
(Boone County) drove African Americans out of town, and white planters and soldiers murdered an unknown number, possibly hundreds,
of black sharecroppers and tenant farmers in Elaine (Phillips County). The Flood of 1927 brought ruination to much of the
Delta farmland, creating a situation that the subsequent Great Depression only exacerbated. However, from this milieu of oppression
and poverty arose the integrated Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union, which, despite being short-lived, foreshadowed the
modern civil rights movement.
Hot Springs National Park and Buffalo National River
in the Ozarks are major state attractions. Blanchard Springs Caverns, the Historic Arkansas Museum at Little Rock, the William
J. Clinton Birthplace in Hope, and the Arkansas Folk Center in Mountain View are also of interest.
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General facts about Alaska
Statehood: Alaska
(October 18, 1867) was first a district, becoming an organized territory on August 24, 1912. Alaska became the 49th state
on January 3, 1959.
Capital: The state capital is Juneau, located in the
southeast region of Alaska. In 2002 it had a population of 30,684.
Motto: "North to the Future" (1967) Our motto was chosen
in 1967 during the Alaska Purchase Centennial and was created by Juneau newsman Richard Peter. The motto is meant to represent
Alaska as a land of promise. Sidebar: "North to Alaska" was a 1960 Western-comedy movie featuring John Wayne as a turn-of-the-century
prospector sent from White Mountain, "just a little southeast of Nome," to fetch his partner's sweetheart from Seattle. When
he finds the sweetheart already married, he invites a beautiful dancer to be her replacement -- and he falls in love with
her himself. The movie's ballad, also called "North to Alaska," became a hit in 1960 for Johnny Horton.
Nickname: "The Last Frontier"
Song: "Alaska's Flag"
became the state song in 1955.
Alaska is also known as
"The Last Frontier" but before that it was known as "The Land of a Thousand Smokes" due to activity of 140 volcanoes
(52 of which have been active since 1760) and earthquakes. But it is a huge state, with room for a wide variety of landscape,
from small waterfalls, to huge mountains, flat treeless tundra, hot springs, glaciers, and on and on. We cannot do our state
justice describing it here, or even showing you pictures. You have to experience our state. And much of the fun of the trip
is here, in the Interior.
When is the best time to see the Northern Lights?
The
Aurora Borealis, otherwise known as the Northern Lights, are present year round in the skies above Fairbanks. But they show
up best in the winter months. Between April and July they are difficult, if not impossible to see, because of the midnight
sun. The very best months for Aurora viewing are in the spring and fall; February, March, September, and October.
Here we have some truly Alaskan
"slang!"
Breakup -- The end of an Alaskan winter, when the ice
that has frozen the major rivers thaws.
Cheechako -- A newcomer to Alaska, what in the west
would have been call a "greenhorn."
Ice fog -- A thick winter fog made of suspended ice
particles that leaves the trees coated with ice crystals.
Mukluks -- Eskimo moccasins.
Sourdough -- An Alaskan old timer.
Alaska today refers to
the entire state as well as the Peninsula. "Alyeska" is still around, though, as the name of a ski resort in Girdwood, as
well as the name of the Anchorage consortium overseeing the trans-Alaska pipeline company.
===============
Cooool California
Capital, Sacramento. Largest city, Los Angeles. Statehood, Sept. 9, 1850 (31st
state).
Highest pt., Mt. Whitney, 14,491 ft lowest pt., Death Valley, 282 ft (86 m) below sea level. Nickname, Golden State.
Motto, Eureka [I Have Found It].
State bird, California valley quail.
State flower, golden poppy.
State tree,
California redwood.
Entered Union (rank): Sept. 9, 1850 (31)
Present constitution adopted: 1879
Origin of name: From
a book, Las Sergas de Esplandián, by Garcia Ordóńez de Montalvo, c. 1500
Number of counties: 58
National forests: 18
State parks and beaches: 278
In 1776,
Juan Bautista de Anza founded San Francisco, where he established a military outpost. The early colonists, called the Californios,
lived a pastoral life and for the most part were not interfered with by the central government of New Spain (as the Spanish
empire in the Americas was called) or later (1820s) by that of Mexico. The Californios did, however, become involved in local
politics, as when Juan Bautista Alvarado led a revolt (1836) and made himself governor of Alta California, a position he later
persuaded the Mexicans to let him keep. Under Mexican rule the missions were secularized (1833–34) and the Native Americans
released from their servitude. The degradation of Native American peoples, which continued under Mexican rule and after U.S.
settlers came to the area, was described by Helen Hunt Jackson in her novel Ramona (1884). U.S. settlement did not become significant until the 1840s. In 1839, Swiss-born John Augustus Sutter arrived
and established his “kingdom” of New Helvetia on a vast tract in the Sacramento valley. He did much for the overland
American immigrants, who began to arrive in large numbers in 1841. Some newcomers met with tragedy, including the Donner Party,
which was stranded in the Sierra Nevada after a heavy snowstorm.
he Gold Rush
In 1848, the year that California became
a part of the United States, another major event in the state's history occurred: While establishing a sawmill for John Sutter
near Coloma, James W. Marshall discovered gold and touched off the California gold rush. The forty-niners, as the gold-rush
miners were called, came in droves, spurred by the promise of fabulous riches from the Mother Lode. San Francisco rapidly
became a boom city, and its bawdy, lawless coastal area, which became known as the Barbary Coast, gave rise to the vigilantes,
extralegal community groups formed to suppress civil disorder. American writers such as Bret Harte and Mark Twain have recorded
the local color as well as the violence and human tragedies of the roaring mining camps.
Although California was sighted by Spanish navigator Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in
1542, its first Spanish mission (at San Diego) was not established until 1769. California became a U.S. territory in 1847
when Mexico surrendered it to John C. Frémont. On Jan. 24, 1848, James W. Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill, starting
the California Gold Rush and bringing settlers to the state in large numbers. By 1964, California had surpassed New York to
become the most populous state. One reason for this may be that more immigrants settle in California than any other state—more
than one-third of the nation's total in 1994. Asians and Pacific Islanders led the influx.
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