America Legend

The famous "coonskin" politician was always more than the self-promoted backwoods Everyman. An astute and agile leader, Crockett would come of age during the Creek Wars, and die a hero at the battle of the Alamo in Texas. Today we can distinguish between the legend and the history of Davy Crockett, as we survey the facts of his life and the fantasies of more than a century of stories told in songs, films, and books.

Indian lore of the Cuyamaca Mountains and surrounding region in San Diego County, California, abounds in myths and legends handed down from generation to generation by tribal song and squaw-tale. Yet so swiftly has the hand of civilization wiped out the old traditions and customs, that but few Indians remain who remember them, and fewer still are those willing to divulge them. Only when one comes into intimate contact with them is one accorded the privilege and honor of hearing the tales of their ancestors.

Worshipful Brother Hextall explores various possible histories of the Hiram Abiff legend in Masonic ritual, focusing largely on noted British alchemist and astrologer Elias Ashmole in the process. He includes speculation on the manufacturing of the Master Mason degree as well as the history of its emergence. And what does the burning of historical Masonic documents in 1720 have to do with all of it? The author explains.

Have you heard of the Star Maiden, Old Sally Cato, or Sweet Betsey from Pike? Everyone knows about Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, and Davy Crockett, But have you heard of these larger-than-life women? From Bess Call, who wrestles any and all challengers, to Molly Cottontail, who can outwit any critter in the woods, to Hekeke, who slays a giant singlehandedly, here are 15 funny, stormy, and always entertaining tall tales of legendary American women. They're as difference as can be, but still cut from the same cloth.

A rogue, slave trader, and murderer, Jim Bowie would die a hero at the famous battle of the Alamo. In this purely American story of reinvention, Bowie leaves his comfortable life in New Orleans to help fight for Texas independence. His resilience and fortitude at the Alamo earned him the admiration of his fellow Texans, and, after his death, Bowie's legend would grow and serve as inspiration for generations to come.

The feud between the Hatfields and McCoys is the stuff of American legend and has become synonymous with vendettas. In fact it has become its own term for any large-scale disagreement and has made its way into everything from music to television and movies. Though the fighting took place over a century ago, Americans remain so fascinated by it that The History Channel's 2012 miniseries about the feuding families set records for cable television ratings.

Betsy Ross is one of the few women in American history whose name is known to every American, but that is not the only reason she's such a unique figure. Indeed, Betsy Ross is a true rarity in that she has been turned into a mythological heroine. Every country has legends, and tales that grow out of its founding, but given that the United States is a relatively young country, there is ample historical information on the lives and exploits of its Founders.

The American South has given birth to many of the nation's great stories and legends. From the earliest Colonial times, it's been a place of mystery, replete with disappearing colonies and strange apparitions in the woods, but the South's long and proud history has always had a darker, and stranger, side to it. One of America's most famous mysteries was its first. Despite the fact he had left over 100 colonists at the island of Roanoke in 1587, John White returned to literally nothing, with all traces of the settlement gone.

Five centuries before Kamehameha the Great, Kalaunui was the first person to attempt uniting all the islands under one rule. He led an army of 12,000 warriors in conquest, capturing the kings of Maui, Molokaʻi and Oʻahu. This war campaign became a rescue operation when the army of Kauaʻi defeated the invaders and took King Kalaunui hostage. Queen Kaheka ordered a second invasion to free her husband, but the prophetess Waahia suggested another option.

In the span of scarcely more than a half century, the West developed from a handful of scattered fur trapping enterprises, predominantly inhabited by males, to a region full of burgeoning rustic communities. Before the government’s official “closure” of the frontier as a lawless expanse, Western societies were essentially living apart from traditional American rule of law.

La leyenda de Francisco "Pancho" Villa está saturada de heroísmo, tragedia y romanticismo; es la historia de un campesino pobre que se convierte en bandolero por necesidad, por haber vengado una injusticia sobre su familia; la del genio militar que primero huye del gobierno opresor, y después, frente al ejército revolucionario más grande en la historia de su país, lo derrota y se convierte en el liberador de México, sólo para volver a caer en la desgracia cuando sus tropas lo abandonan o son liquidadas por el enemigo.

At a time in antiquity when most of Europe was covered with forests and wandering tribes, Mexico had already developed complex civilizations, beginning with the Olmecs and followed by the Maya, a civilization with advanced knowledge of medicine, engineering and astronomy. The Maya calculated the precession of the equinoxes and cycles of the Pleiades, on which they based their year, since they believed they had come from that constellation.

Deep within the canals of Mexico City's Xochimilco region there is a hidden island named la Isla de las Munecas, the Island of the Dolls. Tales of whispering dolls, decaying and hanging from the island has been drawing tourists to the island for years. Don Julian, the man who inhabited the island, often spoken of evil spirits on the island, and he collected 1500 dolls during his lifetime to appease these evil spirits. In 2001, Don Julian was found dead on the island.

A lo largo de la historia de la cultura mexicana, se ha contado la leyenda del nopal. El nopal tiene orígenes de cientos años atrás, aunque muy pocos conocen la leyenda completa. Esta leyenda es muy importante para la cultura mexicana. A parte de que el nopal es ingrediente inolvidable en la gastronomía mexicana, el nopal es símbolo de fortaleza para todos los mexicanos, quienes la incluimos en nuestra bandera nacional.

El hombre rojo, en general, creía que el mundo habitable se formó a partir del limo que afloraba sobre las aguas primordiales, y los nahuas compartían sin duda este concepto. A diferencia de la tierra, que creen que tiene rasgos femeninos y está claramente personificada en este caso por Tonacaciuatl, el firmamento es reconocido casi universalmente por los pueblos aborígenes americanos como la esencia masculina del cosmos.