Ron Soodalter - Articles

Ron Soodalter has over 300 articles in print. He has won several awards, and is featured in such periodicals as Smithsonian, American History, and the New York Times. Below is a listing of his pieces.

ARTICLES IN PRINT

Column, America's Civil War: "The Tale of Three State Songs"

Feature Article, Smithsonian: "Captain Gordon's Infamy"

Column, America's Civil War: "O' Shenandoah, You Roiling Raider!"

Feature Article, America's Civil War: "One Man's Terrorist"

Column, America's Civil War: "Death in the Firebox: The South's Lethal Coal Torpedo"

Column, America's Civil War: "'Steak for Supper, Boys!' Wade Hampton and his Cattle-Rustling Rebels"

Feature Article, America's Civil War: "In the Heat of Passion: the Murders of Three Generals"

Feature Article, True West: "A Race to End All Races"

Column, America's Civil War: "'Shoddy!' Profiteering during the Civil War"

Feature Article, Portland: "Nathaniel Gordon and the African Slave Trade"

Column, America's Civil War: "Lincoln Stumps New Hampshire!"

Feature Article, True West: "Here Come the Cavalry!"

Column, America's Civil War: "Big John Baylor Takes New Mexico for the Confederacy"

Column, America's Civil War: "Rebels on the Run: The Battle for High Bridge"

* Feature Article, Maryland Life: "Betsy Bonaparte, the Princess of Baltimore"

Feature Article, Maryland Life: "Lee's Invasion of Maryland"

Feature Article, Civil War Times: "Hanging Captain Gordon"

Feature Article, Military History: "To the Brink in Cuba, 1873: The Virginius Affair"

Feature Article, Military History: "William Walker, the Man Who would be King"

Feature Article, Portland: "Confederates at the Gates: The Rebel Raid on Portland"

Feature Article, New York Archives: "These Pimps of Piracy"

Feature Article, American Cowboy: "The Art and Chaos of the Gunfight"

Cover Article, America's Civil War: "The Rebel Raid on St. Albans, Vermont"

Feature Article, Chicago Front Desk: "Around We Go! The History of Chicago's Iconic Ferris Wheel"

Column, America's Civil War: "Murder with a Vengeance: The Legend behind the Lincoln Assassination"

Feature Article, America's Civil War: "The Horses of Grant and Lee"

Column, America's Civil War: "The Great Emancipator's Mass Execution: Lincoln and the Sioux"

Column, America's Civil War: "Old Blue Light Attends a Hanging"

Column, America's Civil War: "'Bitter' Bierce and the Macabre Side of War"

Feature Article, Military History: "Cold Harbor"

Feature Article: Civil War Times: "Slave Ships"

Feature Article, Maryland Life: "Sing a Song of Treason! Maryland's State Song"

Cover Article, Wild West: "Champion of the Johnson County War"

Column, America's Civil War: "The Man who Surrendered Texas"

Feature Article, Missouri Life: Saving Missouri for the Union: The Battle of Boonville"

Feature Article, America's Civil War: "Chaos by Committee: Lincoln and the War Committee"

Column, America's Civil War: "Spurning the Northern Scum! Three Inappropriate State Songs"

Column, America's Civil War: "'March on,' He Said!' The Legend of Barbara Fritchie"

Feature Article, Civil War Times: "Martin Delany and the Cainhoy Massacre"

Feature Article, Maryland Life: "The Saga of Anna Ella Carroll"

Column, America's Civil War: "Lincoln and the Cossack: John Turchin and the Sack of Athens"

Feature Article, Texas Highways: "George W. Littlefield: A Man of Many Parts"

Feature Article, Civil War Times: The Privateer Jeff Davis"

Column, America's Civil War: "The Alligator: The U.S. Navy's First Submarine"

Feature Article, Military History: "Massacre and Retribution: Destruction of the Iroquois"

Feature Article, Nebraska Life: "William Henry Jackson Documents the West"

Feature Article, Down East: "Portland's Slave Trading Native Son"

Feature Article, Maryland Life: "The Legislature Goes to Jail"

Column, America's Civil War: "The Legend of Little Drummer Boy"

Feature Article, Nebraska Life: "The Tom Dennison Machine"

Feature Article, America's Civil War: "New York City Secedes!"

Feature Article, Wild West: "'Watch your topknot!' Scalping in the Old West"

Cover Article, Civil War Times: "Last Raid of a Rebel Pirate"

Column, New York Times: "Up in the Air! Balloons in the Civil War"

Column, New York Times: "The Short Life of a Rebel Privateer"

Column, New York Times: "The Battle of Ball's Bluff"

Feature Article, Nebraska Life: "The Nebraska Fur Trade, Yesterday and Today"

Feature Article, Pennsylvania Magazine: "Rebels in the Streets!"

Feature Article, America's Civil War: "Union Troops Amok in Washington!"

Column, New Hampshire Magazine: "The Lincoln Tusk: A Bequest for Exeter"

Feature Article, Oklahoma Today: "the Two Bills: The Tilghman/Doolin Bond"

Feature Article, Military History: "'They Must Be Removed!' The Second Seminole War"

Feature Article, Kentucky Monthly: "'If Whiskey Don't Kill Me"' Kentucky White Lightning in Song, Saga, and History"

Feature Article, Maryland Life: "Maryland in the War of 1812"

Feature Article, Missouri Life: "Missouri during the War of 1812"

Feature Article, America's Civil War: "The Concept of Honor in the Civil War"

Feature Article, Nebraska Life: "Ogallaly! The Wild Days of a Nebraska Cow Town"

Feature Article, Pennsylvania Magazine: "The War of 1812: Pennsylvania Takes a Stand"

Feature Article, Oklahoma Today: "Henry Starr: The Cherokee Badman"

Feature Article, Kentucky Monthly: "Kentucky in the War of 1812"

Feature Article, Wild West: "Dave Mather: "You Have Lived Long Enough!""

Feature Article, Nebraska Life: "Solomon Butcher: Photographing the Prairie Life"

Feature Article, Kentucky Monthly: "Hell in Kentucky: The Bloody Saga of the Rebel Guerrilla Champ Ferguson"

Feature Article, Kentucky Monthly: ""Yankee" Bligh, Kentucky Manhunter"

Feature Article, Wild West: "Real Life on the Early Cattle Drives"

Book Review, Military History: "Ethan Allen: His Life and Times"

Book Review, Military History: "Cain at Gettysburg"

Book Review, Military History: "The Gods of Prophetstown"

Feature Article, Military History: "The Second Seminole War"

Feature Article, Military History: "The Battle of Chippawa"

Feature 3-Part Series, Kentucky Monthly: "The History of Kentucky Music"

Feature Article, Missouri Life: "Far West: The Ultimate Ghost Town"

Feature Article, Oklahoma Today: " 'Absalom, my Son!' Bass Reeves Tracks Down his Son"

Feature Article, Louisiana Life: "Roberdeau Wheat and the Louisiana Tigers"

Feature Article, Louisiana Life: "Ponchatoula! The First-hand Account of a Battle"

Column, New York Times: "Lincoln and the Sioux"

Column, New York Times: "Shoddy!"

Column, New York Times: "The Limits of Lincoln's Mercy"

Feature Article, Military History: "The Life and Career of Winfield Scott"

Feature Article, The Paper: "Contractors, Banks, and the Local Economy"

Feature Article, Maryland Life: "The Dred Scott Decision and the Cause of Emancipation"

Feature Article, The Paper: "Tourism in Cold Spring"

Feature Article, America's Civil War: "The Southernmost Rebels: the Saga of the Confederados"

Feature Article, Nebraska Life: "Shoot the Buffalo! Grand Duke Alexis's Celebrity Hunt"

Feature Article, Military History: "Charge! The Australian Light Horse at Beersheba"

Feature Article, Nebraska Life: "Women to the Fore! Early Feminism in Nebraska"

Cover Article, Nevada: "The Great Equalizer"

Feature Article, Nebraska Life: "Happy as a Big Sunflower! The Frontier Rambles of Rolf Johnson"

Feature Article, The Paper: "Rolling on the River: The Rebirth of the SS Columbia"

Feature Article, Nebraska Life: "An Oasis of Tolerance: From Slavery to Nebraska"

Feature Article, Oklahoma Today: "Outlawed by Mistake: The Saga of Ned Christie"

** Feature Article, Kentucky Monthly: "A Blight on the State: Human Trafficking on Kentucky Today"

Feature Article, Oklahoma Today: "The Short, Unlikely Outlaw Careers of Cattle Annie and Little Britches"

Column, New York Times: "The Unsung Regiment: The Courageous Stand of the Colored 55th"

Feature Article, Louisiana Life: "General P.G.T. Beauregard: An Intimate Portrait"

Article, The Paper: "Human Trafficking in our Back Yards"

Article, The Paper: "Beacon: A Hundred-Year Retrospective"

Feature Article, Wild West: "Annie Oakley and the Scandal of the Century"

8-Part Series, Nevada: "A History of Nevada"

Feature Article, Nebraska Life: "Bright Eyes"

Column, New York Times: "Rebels Invade Pennsylvania!"

Column, New York Times: "Buford Saves the Union at Gettysburg"

Column, New York Times: "Scourge of the South"

Column, New York Times: "The Plot to Burn New York"

Feature Article, Louisiana Life: "'Beast' Butler and the Occupation of New Orleans"

Feature Article, Military History: "'Mick': The Lore and Legacy of Michael Collins"

Feature Article, American History: "'Poor Boy', You"re Bound to Die:" 19th Century America's Homegrown Murder Ballads"

Feature Article, Military History: "Biting the Bullet": The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857

Feature Article, Military History: "Task Force Smith"

Feature Article, Military History: "The Greek Civil War"

Column, New York Times: "Emily Helm Visits the White House"

Feature Article, Military History: "The San Patricios"

Feature Article, Military History: "Remembering Goliad"

Feature Article, Military History: "The Battle of Prestonpans"

Feature Article, Military History: "Custer on the Washita"

Column, New York Times: "The Confederate Submarine"

Column, New York Times: "The Cold Spring Foundry"

Feature Article, American Cowboy: "The Real Characters of Lonesome Dove"

Feature Article, Kentucky Monthly: "The Saga of Jenny Wiley"

Feature Article, American History: "The Nation's First Thanksgiving Proclamation"

Feature Article, America's Civil War: "The Battle of Brandy Station"

Feature Article, Colorado Life: "The Peace-Seeker: A Life of Chief Ouray"

Feature Article, Missouri Life: "Order # 11 and the Devastation of Southern Missouri"

Column, New York Times: "Crossroads at Cold Harbor"

Column, New York Times: "Steak for Supper! The Wade Hampton Cattle Raid"

Column, New York Times: "One Man's Terrorist: The Plot to Burn New York"

Feature, Military History Quarterly: "The Tidewater Wars of Early Virginia"

Feature, Kentucky Monthly: "Night Riders: The Black Patch Tobacco War"

Feature, Kentucky Monthly: "Call me Madam: The Saga of Belle Brezing"

Feature, Missouri Life: ""Shot Up Considerable": The Dooley-Harris Feud"

Feature, Oklahoma Today: ""One Bad Indian": The Ballad of Zeke Proctor"

Feature, Missouri Life: "Finding Daniel Boone’s Bones"

Feature, American Cowboy: "The Capture of John Wesley Hardin"

Feature, American Cowboy: "Jack Hays and the Battle of Walker Creek"

Feature, American Cowboy: "Bonnie and Clyde meet Frank Hamer"

Feature, American Cowboy: "Juan Cortina’s War"

Feature, American Cowboy: "The Ballad of Sam Bass"

Feature, American Cowboy: "The Meir Expedition"

Feature, American Cowboy: "Bigfoot Wallace"

Feature, Military History: "The Crags of Tumbledown"

Feature, Military History: "Sieges through the Ages"

Feature, Military History: "The View from the Barricades"

Feature, Wild West: "The Eye that Never Sleeps: The Pinkertons Out West"

*** Feature, Missouri Life: "Playing for Blood: The Bald Knobbers of Southwest Missouri"

Feature, I-5 Publishing: "The Rebel Career of John Yates Beall"

Feature, I-5 Publishing: "Tearing up the Tracks: The Great Locomotive Raid"

Feature, American History: "The Sarah Elizabeth Ray Story"

Feature, American Cowboy: "Will the Real Tom Horn"."

Feature: American Cowboy: "Bass Reeves: Duty Above All"

Feature, American Cowboy: "The Far Borders of Faith: the Whitman Tragedy"

Feature, American Cowboy: "A Question of Respect: The Doolin/Tilghman Bond"

Feature, American Cowboy: "Courage Under Fire: The Siege of the KC Ranch"

Feature, American History: "Wong Kim Ark: An American Tale"

Feature, Kentucky Monthly: "John Andrews and the Great Locomotive Chase"

Feature, Frederick Gorilla: "Lincoln, Taney, and the Road to Progress"

Feature, Missouri Life: "Harry Truman and the Pendergast Machine"

Feature, Military History: "Arthur Chin, Biplane Ace"

Column, New York Times: "Confederados!"

Column, New York Times: "To Kill a President: A Legend of John Wilkes Booth"

Column, New York Times: "The Baylor/Wharton Feud"

Column, America's Civil War: "Cottonclads!"

Feature Article, Kentucky Monthly: "Mead: Nectar of the Gods"

Feature Article, Military History Quarterly: "The Brown Brothers, Patriot Shipwrights"

Feature Article, America's Civil War: "The West Point Foundry"

Feature Article, American Cowboy: "Hugh Glass and the Bear"

Feature Article, Missouri Life: "That Bad Man, Staggerlee"

Feature Article, Nevada: "The Earps in Nevada"

Feature Article, I-5: "Sinking the Albemarle"

Feature Article, Oklahoma Today: "The Brooks-McFarland Feud"

Feature Article, American Cowboy: "Red Cloud's War"

Feature Article, American Cowboy: "Five Lost Treasures of the West"

Feature Article, American Cowboy: "Ten Lawmen, Ten Badmen"

Feature Article, The Progressive: "Fighting Segregation One Boat Ride at a Time"

Column, America's Civil War: "John Yates Beall, the Mosby of the Chesapeake"

Feature, True West: "John C.C. Hill: Santa Anna's Adopted Yanqui Son"

Feature, American Cowboy: "Five Great Chiefs"

Feature, American Cowboy: "Trailblazer: Enrique Guerra"

Column, America's Civil War: "The Blockade Runners"

Feature, Military History Quarterly: "Admiral Mitscher and the Fast Carrier Task Force"

2-Part Feature, Kentucky Monthly: "Blood on the Coal: The Harlan County Coal War"

Column, America's Civil War: "To Sink an Ironclad: William Cushing and the Albemarle"

Feature, America's Civil War: "Abner Doubleday: The General who Didn"t Invent Baseball"

Feature, Cowboys & Indians: "Outriding the Color Bar: The Pendleton Roundup, 1911"

Column, America's Civil War: "The Tyler"

Feature, Military History Quarterly: "The Battle of South Mountain"

Column, America's Civil War: "Balls Bluff"

Column, America's Civil War: The Brown Water Navy"

Column, America's Civil War: "The Troubled Birth of Submarine Warfare"

Feature, American Cowboy: "The Wild Bunch of Ballston Spa"

Book Review, Military History Quarterly: "The Apache Wars"

Feature, Missouri Life: "The 1954 Jefferson City Prison Riot"

Feature, Military History: The Battle of Blair Mountain"

Feature, America's Civil War: "By Any Other Name: PTSD in the Civil War"

Feature, Military History: "Fifty-Two into 444: The Iran Hostage Crisis"

Column, America's Civil War: "Roll, Alabama, Roll!"

Book Review, Military History Quarterly: Grunt

Feature, Kentucky Monthly: "Law, Order, and an Inside Straight: The Real Virgil Earp"

Feature, Military History Quarterly: "Maintaining the Tradition: The Confederados"

Feature, Missouri Life: "'Struck with a Panic of Terror': The New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811"

Feature, Wild West: "The West's Wildest: Ogallala"

Feature, Oklahoma Today: "Lawman and Rogue: Chris Madsen of Oklahoma"

Feature, True West: "Last of the Fast Guns: The Saga of Marion Hedgepeth"

Book Review, Military History Quarterly: Lincoln's Greatest Journey

Feature, Military History: "The Price of a Drink: America's Whiskey Rebellion"

Column, America's Civil War: "Black in Blue: Blacks in the Yankee Navy"

Op-ed, American Cowboy: "Code of the West"

Feature, Kentucky Monthly: "Jim Bowie: Knife-Wielding Son of Kentucky"

Feature, Kentucky Monthly: "The Ballad of Simon Kenton"

Feature, Kentucky Monthly: "Daniel Boone: Kentucky's Original Pathfinder"

Feature, Oklahoma Today: "The Battle of Ingalls"

Column, American Cowboy: "George W. Saunders: Cattleman and Trailblazer"

Column, America's Civil War: "The Russians are Coming!"

Feature, Portland: "The Life and Murder of Sir Harry Oakes"

Feature, Missouri Life: "The First Governors of Missouri Territory"

Feature, Nevada: "The Outlaws of Nevada"

Feature, Nevada: "The Outlaws of Nevada, Part II"

Feature, Military History: "Passchendaele"

Feature, Military History Quarterly: "Arthur Guy Espy"

Feature, Military History: "James Wilkinson, America's Foremost Villain"

Feature, America's Civil War: "Winning against the Odds: The Davis Guards"

Feature, Missouri Life: "The Sack of Osceola"

Feature, Missouri Life: "Missouri and the Threat of Earthquakes"

Feature, Yukon: "Albert Johnson: The Mad Trapper of Rat River"

Feature, Wild West: "The West's Deadliest Gunfights"

Feature, The Progressive: "The Second Battle of Blair Mountain"

Feature, Traverse: "Vicissitudes: Robert Rogers at Michilimackinac"

Feature, Military History: "Erich Gimpel, Nazi Spy"

Feature, Military History Quarterly: "The Chinese Militia of Butte, Montana"

Feature, Missouri Life: "The Younger Brothers of Missouri"

Column, America's Civil War: "Forgotten Brother: The Story of Tom Custer"

Column, America's Civil War: "Rip Ford: The Rebel Who Refused to Quit"

Column, America's Civil War: "'Gentle Annie': the Ballad of Lorinda Etheridge"

Feature, Kentucky Monthly: "The Saga of Daniel Boone," Part I"

Feature, Kentucky Monthly: "The Saga of Daniel Boone," Part II"

Feature, Kentucky Monthly: "The Saga of Daniel Boone, Part III"

Feature, Missouri Life: "The Nine Tribes of Missouri," Part I"

Feature, Missouri Life: "The Nine Tribes of Missouri," Part II"

Feature, Missouri Life: "The Nine Tribes of Missouri," Part III"

Feature, OK Today: "Bill Tilghman: Death of a Lawman"

Feature, Wild West: "Granville Stuart and the Pacification of Montana"

Feature, Military History: "Breaker Morant: The True Story"

Feature, Military History: "The Guerilla War for Northern Ireland"

Feature, Military History Quarterly: "'Rednecks!' The Battle of Blair Mountain"

Column, America's Civil War: "The Moving Appeal"

Feature, Military History: "The Truth behind the Maginot Line"

Column, America's Civil War: "Sally Tompkins, the Rebel Angel"

Feature, Missouri Life: "The Ballad of Little Aubry"

Feature, True West: "Will the Real George Hearst Please...."

Column, America's Civil War: "Hidden Heroes"

Feature, Cowboys & Indians: "Jimmy Stewart's Westerns"

Column, America's Civil War: "Bailey's Incredible Dam"

Column, America's Civil War: "The Union Army vs Mangas Coloradas"

Feature, America's Civil War: "Martin Delany and the Struggle for Black Rights"

Feature, Missouri Life: "The Music of Missouri"

Feature, Missouri Life: "The Bears on the State Flag"

Book Review, Wild West: "The Making of Tombstone"

Feature, Military History: "The 'Massacre' at Fort William Henry"

Feature, Military History Quarterly: "The Cadets' Chapel of West Point"

Feature, Nevada: "Outlaws of Nevada, Part III"

Feature, Military History: "Breaking Through at St.-Lo"

Feature, Kentucky Monthly: "Blood for Blood: The Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Part I"

Feature, Kentucky Monthly: "Blood for Blood: The Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Part II"

Feature, Kentucky Monthly: "Blood for Blood: The Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Part III"

Feature, America's Civil War: "George Pickett and the Kinston Hangings"

Feature, Nevada: "The Ballad of Diamondfield Jack"

Feature, Wild West: "Ten Tough Wild West Towns"

Feature, America's Civil War: "The Fighting Cushings"

Feature, Missouri Life: "Four Feuds of Missouri"

Feature, Missouri Life: "The Japanese Surrender on USS Missouri"

Feature, America's Civil War: "John Colvin, Codebreaker"

Column, America's Civil War: "John Lawson: Uncommon Valor at Mobile Bay"

Column, America's Civil War: "Thomas Henry Hines, Rebel Provocateur"

Feature, America's Civil War: "The Saga of the United States Colored Troops"

Feature, Military History: "'Head Hunter': Hitler's Chief Executioner'"

Feature, Military History: "Rogers' Rangers at St. Francis"

Feature, Military History: "The West Point Chain"

Feature, Cowboys & Indians: "The Remarkable Journey of Sarah Winnemucca"

Feature, Cowboys & Indians: "'Banjo': The Life and Works of A.B. Paterson"

Feature, Military History: "Coastwatcher: The Saga of Benjamin Franklin Nash"

Feature, Military History Quarterly: "A Jewel in Military Gothic: The West Point Cadet Chapel"

Column, America's Civil War: "Lincoln's Boys: John Nicolay and John Hay"

Feature, Military History: "Goliad: The Other Alamo"

Feature, Missouri Life: "Winston Churchill and the Iron Curtain Speech"

Feature, Missouri Life: "Shootout in the City Square: The Hickok/Tutt Fight"

Feature, Missouri Life: "The Butterfield Stageline"

Feature, Kentucky Monthly: "Joe Keeslar, Master Bladesmith"

Feature, Kentucky Monthly: "Wilderness Odyssey: The Saga of Simon Kenton," Part 1

Feature, Kentucky Monthly: "Wilderness Odyssey: The Saga of Simon Kenton," Part 2

Feature, Kentucky Monthly: "Wilderness Odyssey: The Saga of Simon Kenton," Part 3

Feature, Missouri Life: "Shining Times: The Missouri Fur Trade"

Feature, Missouri Life: "The Making of a Bushwhacker: Sam Hildebrand Tells His Story"

Feature, Military History: "'Buzz Bomb Alley': The 1944 V-1 Bombing of Sloane Court"

Feature, Cowboys & Indians: "The Real Deal: The Trail Driving Life of Bob Fudge"

Column, America's Civil War: "The Rebel Diary of Cornelia McDonald"

Column, America's Civil War: "Opening the Cracker Line"

Feature, Military History: "Poking the Bear: The First Chechen War"

Feature, Cowboys and Indians: "The Bicultural Journey of Zitkala-Sa"

Feature, True West: "Death Alley: The Demise of the Dalton Gang"

Feature, Miliary History: "'Kill de Gaulle!' The Chronicle of a Bungled Operation"

Column, America's Civil War: "Submarines in the Civil War"

Column, America's Civil War: "The Lives of Abraham Galloway"

Column, America's Civil War: "Cordelia Harvey, the Wisconsin Angel"

Column, America's Civil War: "Rebel with a Cause: The Ballad of Little Archie"

Feature, Missouri Life: "A Handful of Missouri Outlaws"

Feature, Military History: "'Such a Dreadful Carnage': The Saga of St. Clair's Defeat"

Feature, Missouri Life: "The Law in Lamar: Father and Son Earps"

Feature, Wild West: "Porvenir: Anatomy of a Massacre"

Feature, Military History: "The Mighty Midgets"

Feature, Missouri Life: "Missouri and the Cattle Business"

*Winner, 2010 Gold Award, International and Regional Magazine Association (IRMA)
**Winner, 2014 Award of Merit, International and Regional Magazine Association (IRMA)
***Winner, Silver Award, International and Regional Magazine Association (IRMA)