Monday quick hits: Cowboys and cows; Kingsolver interview; beer brewing and NASA; travel in the U.S.A. . . .

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (Illustration by Bridgeman, ACI, via National Geographic)

Eric Clapton bluntly admitted, "I Shot the Sheriff," but shooters and guilty parties are not that clear in the case of who shot whom at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Ariz. Some details about Wyatt Earp and the fight's aftermath might be surprising, Fernando Martín reports for National Geographic.

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"Lester," a wily steer, escaped his pen, made a run for freedom and ended up on a stretch of busy interstate in Michigan, reports Cathy Free of The Washington Post. Lester's owner discovered his disappearance and called for cowboy help. Cowboy Ricky Littlejohn came to the roping rescue. Littlejohn told Free, "It was pretty wild — cars were still flying by when I went after him."

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How do you write a book about decades of poverty, industrial abuses and opioid addiction that people will enjoy reading? Kentucky author Barbara Kingsolver found a way in her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Demon Copperhead, reports Rae Johnson for the Louisville Courier Journal. Commenting on her rural upbringing, Kingsolver told Johnson: "I've always been the writer from Carlisle, Kentucky. The person in me who is the underdog and who feels sort of fiercely protective of the underdogs is in everything that I write." Read the interview here.

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CiCi helps the brewery lessen its carbon footprint by
recycling CO2. (Photo by Sergio Flores,The Washington Post)

Do people typically put beer brewing and NASA technology in the same category? Well, no, but maybe they should. "The fresh, doughy aroma around the conical fermentation tanks at Austin Beerworks is a sign that trillions of yeast cells are turning the sugary, hoppy liquid inside into beer. But there's another byproduct: carbon dioxide," reports Charlie Scudder of The Washington Post. "Until recently, Austin Beerworks's cellar manager had to truck in carbon dioxide in tanks 10,000 pounds at a time. But now, he's using techniques developed by NASA to capture the naturally produced CO2 and dissolve the molecules into his brews. . . The machine that enables tanks is the size of a large, double-door refrigerator is nicknamed CiCi — short for 'carbon capture.'"

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Summer travel can be a glorious break from busy daily life. A long drive can give time for reflection and solitude. Along one stretch of pavement is the professed "loneliest road in America" right on U.S. Route 50—a place to feel the country's expansiveness and historical changes.

The Butler County Donut Trail in Ohio, might be a favorite
byway for children. (Photo by Jason Bohrer, The Daily Yonder)

If the loneliest road seems too solemn, America has flamboyant byways and memorable stops. "Federally-recognized routes are collectively called 'America's Byways,' and they encompass epic road trips like Route 66, unique communities like Amish Country, awe-inspiring geology like Volcanic Legacy, and immersive history like the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad," reports Kim Kobersmith of The Daily Yonder. "The following four trips are some of the most popular in the country. Not only are they fun to travel, but their organizers have also learned some best practices for coordinating this kind of visitor experience that they share below."