Book excerpt: Northeast Ohio is awash with nearly forgotten historical events. In 1780, American scout Captain Samuel Brady leaped across the Cuyahoga River where Kent now stands to evade a party of Native Americans aiming to take his scalp. During the Civil War, Confederates tried to free their compatriots from the Johnson's Island prisoner of war camp by capturing two ferries and attempting to poison the crew of the Union's only gunboat in Lake Erie. The town of Kirtland was briefly the national headquarters of the Mormons and the location of one of the Church of Latter-day Saints' most revered temples. Mark Strecker has unearthed a hidden gem of local history for each of Northeast Ohio's twenty-two counties.