More than 200 years ago, a British general and his men left Fort Cumberland heading toward Fort Duquesne. They were massacred en route and somewhere before that point, their payroll in gold was buried.

The election of President James Garfield was nearly upset because of a forgery conspiracy undertaken by a group of Democratic Party operatives in Cumberland, Md.

During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, coal mining was a major industry in the mountains of Mineral, Allegany and Garrett counties. As those companies closed up and left the area, they left behind their company towns, which have now become ghost towns. Some of these small towns are no longer even accessible by car.

Now you can enjoy more of these stories of Mountain Maryland in this follow-up to James Rada, Jr.‘s popular Looking Back collection. Looking Back II is a collection of 47 history articles gathered from Rada’s Looking Back columns, Allegany Magazine and other publications. Some of them have been updated with new information that Rada uncovered since their initial publication.

So come take a step back in history and discover the rich history that mountains hold as told by the man whom the Midwest Book Review calls a writer of considerable and deftly expressed storytelling talent.