Time Is Relative: I’m One Degree of Separation from 1867
Recently I was doing more research for my current work-in-progress the is set in 1867. (Yes, it’s drafted. Yes, I’m heavily into editing. And yes, I’m still researching arcane issues.) I came across a tidbit of information I hadn’t focused on before, and it got me thinking about how 1867 wasn’t that long ago, at […]
Early Railroad Bridges Across the Missouri River
Although I have a lot of editing to do on my current work-in-progress (the sixth book in my Oregon series), I am beginning to think about the next book. I’m planning for the seventh novel to be the last book in the series, but who knows? I only have the sketchiest of plots for that […]
Fort Boise
In my current work-in-progress, which takes place in 1864, some of my characters are traveling toward Fort Boise. In 1864, Fort Boise was in its second location, where the current city of Boise, Idaho, is located. In 1834, the original Fort Boise began as a fur trading post on the Snake River, near what is […]
Researching Historical Fiction: The Owyhee Expedition
As I’ve written before, I plan to set my next historical novel in Oregon in 1864. I’ve had the idea for this next book since I began writing Lead Me Home, which I first drafted in 2008 (it wasn’t published until 2015). Soon, it will be time to start writing that next book in the […]
Celilo Falls: The Columbia River As It Used To Be
As I mentioned in a recent post, the river cruise my husband and I were supposed to take in May was canceled. Periodically, I search “river cruises” and moon over the itineraries, thinking of future trips. Where might we go to escape the current boredom of life at home? So far, most cruise lines are […]
Home-Schooling with Historical Fiction
I’ve learned most of my history through historical fiction. Not all, but most of it. Even back in grade-school days, I read a lot of historical fiction—the Little House series, Caddie Woodlawn, What Katy Did, The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Anne of Green Gables. All evoked by-gone times […]
Spring Floods and the Oregon Trail
Here in the Midwest, we are experiencing serious flooding this spring. St. Joseph, Missouri, one of the prime “jumping off” points for the Oregon Trail, has had worse flooding this year than in any year in its long history. On March 22, 2019, the Missouri River reached 32.11 feet at St. Joseph, which was higher […]
Oregon History: On Cattle Men and Government
I’ve written before (see here and here) about Jesse Applegate, who was part of the Great Migration of 1843. Jesse Applegate had the distinction of leading the “Cow Column” on the first large wagon train to Oregon. Several thousand head of cattle accompanied the wagons and emigrants of the Cow Column. The pioneers had separated […]
Party Like It’s 1843: Celebrating the 175th Anniversary of the Great Migration to Oregon
I’ve written before about the Great Migration of 1843—the first large wagon train along the Oregon Trail. This was the first organized company to take wagons to Oregon from Missouri. That year, over 700 people set out for Oregon, transported in more than 100 wagons. Men like Jesse Applegate, Peter Burnett, Philip Foster, William Livingston […]
Updates to LEAD ME HOME: The Fremont Expeditions and Pheasants
In addition to putting the finishing touches on Forever Mine this month, I have also made a few updates in Lead Me Home, the first novel I wrote about travel along the Oregon Trail. These two novels both involve characters traveling in the same wagon company in 1847, so part of my challenge was making […]