About the Author: Steve Hawks

Steve Hawks has a degree in History from Kalamazoo College and a Masters in Business Administration from the Keller Graduate School of Management. He's spent 25 years implementing technology in business communications, and was a founding partner in a pioneering computer training company. He's the author of one of the first commercial CD-ROMs (a documentary on the battle of Gettysburg), has produced several history web sites, and is a frequent speaker at Civil War round tables. Steve is a member of the Union Pacific Historical Society, the Civil War Preservation Trust, and the Land Conservancy of Adams County. He lives outside Grand Rapids, Michigan.

I've always had one foot in the past and the other in future, with a degree in history and another in business, a knack for computer technology and a lifelong passion to learn and understand history. When I brought home my shiny new Apple II+ in 1980 and fired it up, my first thought was, "Wow! Some day, some way, we're going to do history with these things"

The history part is understandable. I was born in Niles, Michigan, a small town that has known a lot of history. I popped into the world at a place called Pawating, the “Great Crossing” of the St. Joseph River. People had forded the river there for thousands of years following the Great Sauk Trail, just as they used the river as a highway that connected the Great Lakes with the Mississippi, and a settlement thrived at this crossroads that was probably older than most of the great cities of Europe. The French arrived in the 1600's and built a mission, then a fort and trading post that eventually flew the flags of four nations.

In the 1840's the railroad arrived, the very first to reach Chicago from the east, as did the the Hawks family. The area sent its sons to the Civil War, and the cemetery is home today to a host of heroes, including Henry Morrow, colonel of the 24th Michigan at Gettysburg, who personally took the regiment's flag when the last of his color guard were shot down as the Iron Brigade fought to the death on Seminary Ridge.

None of this was abstract. I went to school with descendents of the Potawatomi that had stayed behind when their tribe was sent beyond the Mississippi, and the many French family names showed that the traders from the 1700's had also left their mark. We marched to the cemetery every Memorial Day to tend the graves of the veterans. And to hear authentic "war stories" I needed to search no farther than dad. (Some of these can be found at Skydozer.com.)

But dad was an engineer, so the lure of technology was also strong. My early desire to follow in his footsteps was abandoned when I understood that extensive math was involved, but a well-made machine has always had a fascination for me. And a historical machine, like a steam locomotive, sailing ship, or piston-powered airplane! Well, those are stories for another time.

I hope you enjoy these web sites. I want to thank those of you who have taken the time to write me with your comments, your corrections, or just your appreciation. Thanks also to the many people who have helped me put these sites together, who showed me around your land, took me to places I didn't know about, or gave me needed encouragement and support. Thanks to those of you who support this site by clicking on the ads and buying the books, t-shirts and coffee mugs that help pay the way. And most of all, thanks to those men and women whose stories these monuments tell. In so many ways, these web sites would not be possible without you.