As a child growing up in America, I took US History classes in school like everyone else. Like many kids, I can recall very little of what I learned back then. At the time I just wasn't that into it, I learned because I had to but the instruction was really uninspiring and I was probably suffering from information overload due to the "pump and dump" method of teaching to a test. It was all too boring for a kid to learn and retain. I am fairly confident that I must have learned something, at least enough to pass each grade. I probably learned all about the US Presidents, westward expansion (the Wild West), World War 2 Hero's, and lots of other great facts that are both interesting and relative; I just don't remember much of it from school. However, there was one history teacher that changed all of that; I had him as a teacher after high school and he actually made history interesting, so much so that it finally stuck, I started retaining what I was learning! This teacher taught history like a great story teller captivating the attention of his class. He told tales of outlaws from the Wild West like John Wesley Hardin, the story of Boot Hill in Tombstone, the sad account of the US Marine, Ira Hayes and the assassination of President Garfield just to name a few.


Yes, these are great stories of US History that I can instantly recall and now tell my children about too. I have even introduced my kids to this history teacher and let them learn from him directly. Who was this great teacher? To be proper I should probably call him Mr. Cash but he was always okay with me just calling him Johnny Cash. If you want to learn from him also, I suggest that you start with his "Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West" album.