Parke County: more than covered bridges

As many Hoosiers begin to focus on the picturesque county in far-western Indiana that touts itself as the "Covered Bridge Capital of the Country", Hoosier History Live will spotlight colorful and trail-blazing historic men and women from Parke County and the nearby area. Our guest will be a popular author, storyteller and photographer based in Parke County, which hosts an annual Covered Bridge Festival every October. The historic characters will include an eccentric, homeopathic doctor who (according to folklore) buried his money around his Parke County property before he died in the late 1940s; Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown, a farm boy with a mangled hand (from two accidents, including a mishap with a corn thresher) who went on to become the star pitcher for the Chicago Cubs in the 1908 World Series, and a glamorous Broadway and silent movie actress who ended up penniless. When Valeska Suratt died in 1962, she was buried in an unmarked grave at Highland Lawn Cemetery in Terre Haute; a headstone was finally erected a few months ago after a local fund-raising campaign.