North America Before Christopher Columbus

I think the first thing to note is that, in spite of centuries of belief to the contrary, Christopher Columbus did not technically discover America. In three voyages to the 'new world' he never once set foot on the North American continent. His initial voyage was a search for a sea route to Japan and the far East. However, he unexpectedly ran into land way short of his initial goal. In three voyages, he never got beyond the islands of the Caribbean.

When Columbus arrived in the new world in 1492, later referred to as America, the land he supposedly discovered was not an empty vast wilderness. It was a land already inhabited. The natives of America had migrated across the Bering Strait and settled into warmer areas of the continent. More than 75 million people lived in the new world consisting of the North and South American continents, 25 million of whom lived in North America.

About 3 thousand years ago, 2 thousand years before Christ, the Hopi Indians who live in what is now New Mexico were building cliff dwellings, farming and creating villages. When Julius Caesar was conquering Western Europe, an Indian culture called the Moundbuilders were making huge structures out of the earth in what is now the Ohio Valley. One of these structures was said to be over three miles long. The area served as a trading post of sorts, where people came from the West, the Gulf of Mexico and the Midwest for trade and the exchange of goods. So you can see, a system of trade and commerce existed before Columbus even set sail in search of the new route to the far East.

The Iroquois occupied what is now Pennsylvania and upstate New York. They lived in villages and had a very sophisticated social system, which was in many ways superior to the European culture. The land was worked in common and it was owned by the whole nation. Women held a high place in the Iroquois culture. Family names were tied to the women, not the man. If a man married, he joined the family of his wife. Women farmed the land while the men hunted for fish and game.

Power was shared by men and women and the European concept of male dominance was absent in the Iroquois culture. Children were not punished harshly and were taught equality in possessions. This was in direct contrast to the severe society of the Puritans and what the Europeans brought to the New World. The Europeans were a society of rich and poor, controlled by priests, governors and male heads of families. The Iroquois society had no laws, sheriffs, judges or juries, yet boundaries of behavior existed. If someone stole food or shamed their family, they were banished until they had morally atoned for their actions. They had no written language. Their history was passed on by oral tradition. This kind of community lasted long after the native people (referred to as Indians by the European explorers) were conquered.

Although the Iroquois Confederacy's Great Law of Peace did not directly serve as the basis for the U.S. Constitution, it is widely acknowledged that their political structure and principles influenced the thinking of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America—specifically the Iroquois model of a confederation of sovereign nations, a system of checks and balances, and consensus-based decision-making resonated with some of the framers of the Constitution.

This was the land Columbus is given credit for discovering—a land whose people were already highly evolved and successful rather than the savages Europeans assumed them to be. 

The Dodo Bird

You've probably heard the expression 'dumb as a dodo bird.' Is a dodo bird really dumb? Or, for that matter, does the dodo bird even exist in real life? Some considered the bird to be a myth.

The dodo is an extinct flightless bird native to the island of Mauritius, east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Not only were they flightless, their existence was also restricted to Mauritius because they weren't suited to the ocean. Unlike penguins, another flightless bird, the dodo did not have flippers or webbed feet allowing them to navigate the ocean.

The first recorded mention of the dodo was by Dutch sailors in 1598. During the ensuing years, it was hunted by sailors as a food source and also by invading species that arrived with the sailor's ships such as cats and pigs. Other invading species also included the rats that arrived as 'stowaways' on the ships. The last widely accepted sighting of a dodo was in 1662. Its rush toward extinction wasn't immediately noticed. Long held beliefs said the bird's extinction was due to over hunting by man.

Fossil remains show the dodo stood about 2-2.5ft tall and may have weighed 23-39 pounds. What the dodo actually looked like relies on paintings, drawings, and written accounts from the 17^th century. The portraits varied widely from one artist to another. Since only some of the illustrations are known to have been drawn from live specimens, the dodo's exact appearance is uncertain.

A large amount of subfossil has been collected on Mauritius, mostly from the swamp area. The extinction of the dodo less than a century after its discovery brought a considerable amount of attention to the previously unrecognized problem of human involvement in the disappearance of entire species. A recent concept holds that the extinction of the dodo bird was not due primarily to hunting my man. Since the dodo was flightless, its nests were on the ground rather than up in the tree branches. A more accepted theory is their extinction was greatly hastened by the raiding of their nests and destruction of their eggs primarily by rats that quickly colonized the island.

Current studies are under way to attempt the recreation/resurrection of the dodo from DNA found in a dodo skull combined with DNA from the dodo's closest living relative, the Nicobar pigeon.

The dodo achieved widespread recognition from its role in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland. It has also become a fixture in popular culture, often as a symbol of extinction and obsolescence. 

Guest Blog Lynda Rees and her new release The Attic, A Flip or Flop Mystery

This week, I'm turning my blog over to a guest author--Lynda Rees. Lynda will be telling us about her writing and introducing us to her new release, The Attic, the latest addition to her Flip or Flop Mystery series. Release date for The Attic is scheduled for Wednesday, July 16, 2025.

Thanks so much, Samantha, for having me as a guest and allowing me to share the news about my newest release, The Attic, A Flip or Flop Mystery. I started writing the Flip or Flop Series with Flip or Flop, Murder House because my husband was a builder. He and I remodeled several houses together for resale. I write about strong women in dire circumstances and small-town heroines and heroes. So, Charli Owens was born. Charli is a professional female contractor who swore off good looking men until she butted heads with competitor Eli Lange. Charli is business and family focused, taking care of her younger brother since she was sixteen and trying to wrangle her unorthodox, retired, rock-n-roll singer grandmother. Eli is family focused, having sold his successful construction company to move to small town rural Sweetwater, KY to help his sister with her four-year-old daughter while her husband served in a war zone. He has never had time for romance, only work. Now he gets to focus on his craft instead of spreadsheets.

Book 1:  Flip or Flop, Murder House – Charli remodels the scene of a murder-suicide and finds more danger and intrigue than the law allows. 

Book 2:  Rock Starr Baby Daddy, A Flip or Flop Mystery – Gran’s baby daddy shows up on their doorstep to make amends for a bad breakup, unaware he’s Charli’s grandfather, or that he’s soon to be accused of two murders. 

Book 3:  The Attic, A Flip or Flop Mystery - Rehabbers Charli Owens and fiancé, Eli Lange, remodel an historic mansion suspected of being haunted. Secret tunnels, hidden chambers, unexplained happenings, and a killer on the loose ignite Charli's curiosity. Enlisting her ex-rock-and-roll singer grandmother’s help, she delves into clues police ignore. Unravelling the property's notorious history, they become embroiled in a murder case and a major criminal operation that puts Charli's life in danger. 

Coming Next:  Cold Case, A Flip or Flop Mystery

 

THE ATTIC INSPIRATION

As a child I played with a friend whose family had inherited an old mansion that had been in their family for many generations. The pre-Civil War home sat high above town about three miles uphill from the Ohio River. The owner of a huge plantation surrounding it built it as his family home. The house was unique for this tiny riverside town, and I found its notorious history and many hidden secrets within its walls fascinating.

Behind the house, the steep hill was a perfect location for our toboggan and sled riding, as long as we hit the right spot at the bottom and not the small creek. Beyond that lay another hill of heavy woodlands. As a mountain-born child, I was intrigued by the woods instead of fearful. I led many hikes through them to the lake on the other side. It had once, along with all of the property around it, been part of the plantation. It had been sold off and converted to a pay-by-the-day fishing lake.

The mansion had been converted into three apartments occupied by my friend’s family and her relatives. Windows were floor to ceiling leaded glass. The woodworking throughout was elaborate and hand carved, and at the fireplaces were a marvel to my young eyes.

The only parts of the house not inhabited, by the living at least, were the basement and the incredible foyer.

The three-story-high ceiling sported a carved round cornice that displayed the enormous crystal chandelier. The room was as large as my home’s living room, dining room, and kitchen combined. The floor was white marble, as were the steps on the swirling staircase that led to the second and third-floor landings. We dressed our Barbie dolls in evening attire and pretended they were strolling down them to meet their dates for the prom or some other elegant event.

A rock and mortar walled basement occupied the space beneath the whole house, but the rooms’ concrete floors were bone dry. Its hilltop location helped with this, I’m sure. Tunnels had been built with the intention of making it simple for workers to bring goods, water and ice into the house and refuse without disturbing the residents. My innate curiosity would have coaxed me to explore these caverns; had they not been long since sealed for safety. A gigantic, solid steel door attached to surrounding rock walls with bolts broader than my hand.

These tunnels are part of the fabric of our United States history. Escaping slaves from the south were slipped into the house where they were hidden away in secret rooms using concealed staircases until they could be ushered through the other tunnel that led the long distance to the banks of the Ohio River. From there, they loaded onboard boats and were taken across the water to freedom in Ohio.

My fascination with this house and its history has stayed with me throughout my life. It is the inspiration for my newest and thirtieth novel, a mystery called The Attic, A Flip or Flop Mystery.

In The Attic, rehabber Charli Owens, and her retired rock-and-roll singer grandmother delve into an eerie historic mansion’s notorious history and put their lives in danger.

Lynda Rees is available to speak to your reader or other group and can provide writing workshops on various subjects. If you need a speaker, reach out to her at lyndareesauthor@gmail.com . Join Lynda Rees's fan club to stay on top of the many works she has in the hopper for you. You will receive a free eBook at  https://preview.mailerlite.com/t1a6j6    

There’s more about the author and her work at https://www.LyndaReesAuthor.com  

The Attic is available in eBook and print at:

AMZ          Amazon.com: The Attic (A Flip or Flop Mystery Book 1) eBook : Rees, Lynda : Books

B&N          The Attic by Lynda Rees | eBook | Barnes & Noble®

It’s also available in audiobook at:

Direct         https://payhip.com/b/VN1Tl

Or wherever you buy eBook, print or audiobooks. 

9 DANGEROUS SCIENTIFIC WORK LOCATIONS

When you hear the word scientist, it usually conjures an image of a sterile room with a person in a white lab coat surrounded by test tubes, Bunsen burners, and beakers with bubbling lab experiments. But in reality, there are many scientists working in various fields of discovery whose lab is far removed from that stereotypical image—scientists who do their work in the field. I read an article about scientists who work on location rather than in a lab…the ones whose labs are out there, in dangerous places and situations where most of us would never go.

So, in no particular order, here are nine of these dangerous scientific work locations.

1)  Inside Volcanoes

When you think of geologists your first thought is usually the study of rocks and various landforms, something safe and basically stable. But for the branch of this particular science known as volcanology, things are definitely less stable and a certainly hotter. Having been to Mt. St. Helens, Washington, after the explosive eruption and viewing the devastation first hand, I'm very familiar with the story of David Johnston, the thirty-year-old volcanologist who was on duty at the time and was one of the fifty-seven people who died in the eruption. Volcanologists study the intense heat and chaos inside active volcanoes, and not long ago a team of three researchers descended inside the Marum Volcano on Ambrym Island off the coast of Australia to study lava flows inside. Wearing a heat-resistant suit, one of them descended 1200 feet into the volcano's crater to capture video footage of the lava's movement. Normally, scientists use robotic cameras mounted to small helicopters or drones to do this extremely dangerous work.

2) Tornado Country

The movie Twister gave us a good look at what storm chasers do, and those who live in the part of the U.S. referred to as Tornado Alley see the results of their work on the news when the storm conditions are present that produce tornadoes. Collecting data on storms is a tough process. Getting close to a tornado is risky even on a good day, and self-proclaimed storm chasers run that risk all the time. Even with technology such as Doppler radar giving us the overall picture of a severe storm, some scientists claim there is some data that can only be gathered at ground level. One of the most noted tornado researchers, Tim Samaras, routinely drove in front of tornadoes to place cameras and pressure sensors to record the velocities of objects swept up by the storm. Unfortunately, in 2013 Samaras, his son, and another storm chaser died in an Oklahoma tornado.

3) Biosafety Level 4 Labs

For the last few years, the news has been primarily about the Coronavirus/COVID which was elevated to the status of a pandemic with ultimately millions of people dying worldwide. Laboratories that deal with germs and diseases that can be dangerous or fatal to humans are given a biosafety rating from one to four. Facilities that deal with Level four are where the really bad stuff happens. One of the most notable is the NIAID (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) integrated research facility located at Fort Detrick, Maryland (pictured here). The laboratory is housed in a three-story office building—an airtight, pressurized environment restricted to only a select number of researchers. The facility has airlocks that separate it from the outside world and anything that leads outside the building, such as light fixtures or electrical outlets, is sealed in epoxy to prevent even a single germ from escaping. Scientists are given a seven-minute showering with virus-killing chemicals before they leave.

However, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), under the control of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., did order a temporary "stand-down" of research activities at the facility. This pause in research, which began in late April 2025, halted all research activities and limited access to essential personnel only. While the facility was not permanently closed, the stand-down caused concern within the global health community due to the facility's role in studying high-consequence pathogens like Ebola and Lassa fever. 

4)  Underwater Caves

The ocean is a massive mystery to humanity, covering the majority of the Earth's surface. Even though it's part of our planet, we seem to know more about outer space than we do the depths of our oceans. One of the most interesting areas under the ocean's surface are known as blue holes, underwater caves that can reach as deep as six hundred feet below sea level. These caves have difficult topography. They vary in size from massive, sprawling caverns to holes barely big enough to admit a human. Diving there can be very dangerous with unpredictable currents. Despite the dangers, scientific rewards are huge with both biological and archaeological finds waiting to be discovered.

5)  Tree Canopies

Forest ecosystems are made up of distinct layers, each with its own climate and variety of plants and animals. It's a simple task to study the layers nearest the ground, but botanists have lots of questions about what's happening up above. And that's where canopy research comes in. Scientists at Humboldt State University climb to the top of trees that can exceed 350 feet in height, anchoring their bodies to the trunk. From that risky perch they can observe the canopy ecosystem…as long as they don't lose their balance. At the top of the trees, researchers have discovered a whole ecosystem of moss, lichens, and even whole new trees and bushes growing from dead stumps.

6)  Amundsen-Scott Station

Originally built by the United States government in 1956, the Amundsen-Scott Station sits squarely on the south pole. With temperatures ranging from minus 13.6 degrees Celsius (minus 56.48 Fahrenheit) on a nice day to minus 82.8 degrees Celsius (minus 181.04 Fahrenheit) when winter is in high gear, it's one of the most inhospitable regions on the planet. Even though blizzards and intense winds are common, astronomers spend months at the station because the six months of total darkness during winter makes Amundsen-Scott a perfect place to observe the night sky. Other researchers study the movements of the Antarctic ice sheet—the station itself moves about thirty-three feet a year as the ice drifts.

7)  Aquarius Lab

Operated by the National Oceanic and Aeronautic Administration, this deep-sea science station comes with a little twist. The human body is only capable of staying underwater for a short period at a time because decompression sickness (commonly referred to as the bends) can cause incredible damage when gas bubbles form in the body and disrupt tissue. Some scientists have long-term research projects that need to happen in deep water, so they do it at the Aquarius Lab. This facility rests on the sea floor outside of Key Largo, Florida, at a depth of fifty feet. Researchers spend up to ten days at a time underwater studying the nearby coral reefs.

8)  Inside Hurricanes

Here's another meteorological condition where some scientists like to get a little too close. The National Oceanic and Aeronautic Administration employs a number of flight meteorologists who take airplanes into the eyes of hurricanes to gather data on the storm's strength and direction. They use two planes—one is a Gulfstream G-4 that has the easy job of circling the storm's funnel, the second is a smaller propeller plane that actually penetrates the fast-moving wind to fly right to the eye of the storm. In addition to using Doppler radar on the plane's tail, they also release a device called a dropsonde that transmits pressure and humidity data.

9)  Outer Space

And finally…there is literally no environment as hostile to the human body as the vacuum of space. Long-term weightlessness has negative effects on muscle tone, bone density, and the immune system. Exposure to radiation in low-earth orbit comes at levels ten times higher than the normal dose on the Earth's surface. And there's also the fact that outer space doesn't have any of that oxygen stuff our bodies need in order to function—to literally stay alive. Experimentation in outer space has led to a number of fascinating discoveries in fields as diverse as astronomy and cancer medicine.

And there you have a sampling of dangerous locations some scientists refer to as their lab (minus those white lab coats, of course).