Traveling Tuesday: Wyoming in the 1870s

Traveling Tuesday: Wyoming in the 1870s

By the time Wyoming attained statehood in 1890, the population was over sixty thousand, however, when my character Beryl shows up in 1875, there were a mere nine thousand inhabitants in an area larger than the United Kingdom where she’d come from. The transcontinental railroad had been completed six years earlier, and the Union Pacific portion of the line cut through the southern section of the territory on its way to California, creating many towns along the route.

However, prior to that Wyoming owed much of its early settlement to the “gentlemen of Europe.” A fondness for beaver top hats created an industry that sent fur trappers such as Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, and Jedediah Smith into the Rocky Mountains in search of the prized pelts. After the Homestead Act of 1862, the number of people entering the area swelled, seeing a peak in immigration in 1868. Wyoming Territory was officially created on July 25th of that year. Four years later, Yellowstone National Park became the world’s first national park.

By the time Beryl arrived, the cattle industry boom and the era of the cowboy were in full swing.

Pixabay/
B Snuffleupagus

Demand for beef had grown on both sides of the Atlantic, and the invention of refrigerated rail cars and ships supported the growth. Territorial governors invested, and one of the most powerful political organizations in the West at that time, the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, had been founded four years earlier. More than one resource called the WSGA “the de facto territorial government” in Wyoming.

Being from England herself, Beryl might have noticed that the population was heavily foreign-born, one site claiming as much as three-eighths of the inhabitants. Most came from Ireland, Germany, and England. Unlike Colorado, Wyoming never experienced any major mineral discoveries such as gold or silver. However, there were many places to hide, and the territory was home to more than a few outlaw gangs. The nickname “wild west” became popular for a reason, and Beryl was soon caught up in one of its nefarious plots.

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Beryl’s Bounty Hunter

Can a thief and a lawman find happiness?

Orphaned as a child, Beryl Atherton has lived on the streets of London as long as she can remember. Reduced to stealing for survival, she is arrested. During her incarceration one of her cellmates shows her a newspaper ad for an American mail-order bride agency. But all is not as it seems, and moments after landing in Boston, she must run for her life. Will things be no different for her in the New World?

Working as a bounty hunter since The War Between the States, Lucas Wolf just needs a few more cases before he can hang up his gun, purchase a ranch out West, and apply for a mail-order bride from the Westward Home & Hearts Mail-Order Bride Agency. While staking out the docks in Boston, he sees a woman fleeing from the man he’s been tailing. Saving her risks his job. Not saving her risks his heart.

Pre-order Link: https://amzn.to/3KqprHW

Wayback Wednesday: 1875

Wayback Wednesday: 1875

Pixabay/Flash Alexander

I’m thrilled to be releasing another story in the Westward Home & Hearts Mail Order Brides series. Beryl’s Bounty Hunter will be out on the 15th of this month. The story is set in the fictional town of Rocky Mountain Springs, Wyoming in 1875. I thought it would be fun to explore what life was like during that year.

Only ten years had passed since the end of the American Civil War. The Reconstruction Era was in full swing and would come to an uneasy conclusion with the Compromise of 1877. Despite the passing of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments race relations remained strained, and America continued to treat the Native Americans poorly. An incident in February of that year involved the marching of the Yavapai and Tonto Apache tribes being forced to march at gunpoint from Arizona’s Verde Valley to the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. The following month saw the passage of the Page Act which restricted the immigration of Chinese women to the US.

Out west, farmers and ranchers were dealing with “Albert’s Swarm,” a cloud of Rocky Mountain

Pixabay/
Dominic Alberts

locusts estimated to be 198,000 square miles (1/3 of the size of Alaska) in size. Named for meteorologist Albert Child who calculated the size of the horde, the locusts struck western Missouri devastating everything in its path as it headed for Nebraska. I remember when the 17-year locusts hit Maryland {shudder,} and it was a fraction of the experience for those poor settlers.

On a brighter note, the thoroughbred Aristides won the first Kentucky Derby, Harvard and Tufts played what is considered the first college football game, and Boston was privy to Tchaikovsky’s first performance of his Piano Concerto No. 1.

Pixabay/
Aleksejs Ivanovs

Technology was moving the world ahead with the invention of Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone (he received the patent in 1876), the mimeograph machine by Thomas Edison, albeit as a mistake while trying to improve telegraphy tape, and the electronic dental drill by little-remembered George F. Green. In Europe, German inventor Siegfried Marcus received a patent for an internal combustion engine.

The transcontinental railroad had been completed in 1869, and people took the ease of crossing the nation for granted, much like we take air travel for granted today. Thirty-seven states existed, and Colorado would join the Union the following year. The nation was headed for its Centennial, and spirits were high as the country entered the Gilded Age which lasted more than thirty years.

______________________

Beryl’s Bounty Hunter

Can a thief and a lawman find happiness?

Orphaned as a child, Beryl Atherton has lived on the streets of London as long as she can remember. Reduced to stealing for survival, she is arrested. During her incarceration one of her cellmates shows her a newspaper ad for an American mail-order bride agency. But all is not as it seems, and moments after landing in Boston, she must run for her life. Will things be no different for her in the New World?

Working as a bounty hunter since The War Between the States, Lucas Wolf just needs a few more cases before he can hang up his gun, purchase a ranch out West, and apply for a mail-order bride from the Westward Home & Hearts Mail-Order Bride Agency. While staking out the docks in Boston, he sees a woman fleeing from the man he’s been tailing. Saving her risks his job. Not saving her risks his heart.

Pre-order Link: https://amzn.to/3KqprHW

Wartime Wednesday: Johnson County War

Wartime Wednesday: Johnson County War 

Photo: Pixabay/Steppinstars

When I think of the Old West, I imagine land as far as the eye can see. On one level that was true, but in another, much of that land was used although not owned, by ranchers. As the American West developed and large portions of the territories were being settled as a result of the Homestead Acts conflicts arose between the immigrants and cattle barons. Interestingly, the land the cattlemen were using to graze their stock was public domain, and as such, it was open for anyone’s use or settlement. Apparently, they felt possession was nine-tenths of the law. 

 

By 1884, the entire area was monopolized by about twenty ranches whose cattle roamed freely. Roundups were held in the spring, at which time cows and calves were separated by owner and the calves branded. However, rustlers were known to steal the calves and brand them before they could be rounded up. Some of these rustlers were small ranchers who made off with the calves as a way to growth their herd. The rest of the rustlers were common thieves out to make a buck, however, the cattlemen began to blame the homesteaders for any missing animals. 

 

The summer of 1886 saw no rain and was followed by a winter of severe blizzards. Thousands of cattle died, and many were lost to wolves and rustlers. Additionally, prices plunged, causing a huge loss of profit for the cattlemen, some of whom lost their businesses. In an effort to curb the thefts, the barons increased the number of range detectives and drew up new rules that made it difficult for someone to register a new brand. In 1889, the situation came to a head when two homesteaders, Ella Watson, AKA Cattle Kate, and Jim Averell were accused of cattle rustling and hanged. (The charges later proved false.) 

 

Photo: Pixabay/stokpic

Small ranchers were furious, but intimidation continued. Three years later, they formed their ownassociation called the Northern Wyoming Farmers and Stock Growers Association and hired about fifty men, some of whom were known to be killers, to eliminate the alleged rustlers. 

 

In response the cattlemen pulled together their own group of armed men, including Frank Canton, a fugitive who had a career as a deputy US marshal under an assumed name and was said to operate more by assassination than law. The invaders (as they came to be known) stopped at the first homestead, but found only four men at the ranch cabin, the owner Nate Champion and his cowboy Rueben “Nick” Ray who were shot and killed, and two trappers passing through who were captured. The next stop was the TA Ranch where the posse laid siege. The standoff continued through the night. The next day, Jack Flagg, a neighbor and suspected rustler, escaped and headed to Buffalo where he contacted the Wyoming governor. 

 

Photo: Pixabay/ArtTower

Within a short time, the Sixth Cavalry was dispensed from Fort McKinney. Upon their arrival, the cattlemen surrendered. Shortly after obtaining bail most of the gunfighters skipped town. Time passed, and material witnesses disappeared, dead or running from fear is unknown. By all reports finding impartial jurors proved difficult, and the court dismissed the case. 

 

Here is an interesting documentary about the incident: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9oH59dgGtI

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About Dinah's Dilemma

Will she have to run from the past for the rest of her life? 

 

Dinah Simpkins has no chance of making a good marriage. Her outlaw brothers and her father’s gambling addiction have ruined the family’s reputation. Then the Westward Home and Hearts Matrimonial Agency provides an opportunity for a fresh start. After Dinah arrives in Nebraska, she discovers her brothers played a part in the death of her prospective groom’s first wife. 

 

As a former Pinkerton detective Nathan Childs knows when someone is lying. The bride sent by the matrimonial agency may be beautiful, but she’s definitely hiding something, and he has no intention of marrying her until he uncovers the truth. But an easier solution may be to send her packing. Then his young daughter goes missing. He and Dinah must put aside their mutual hurt and mistrust to find her.

Purchase link: https://amzn.to/3quggwT

Traveling Tuesday: The Vast State of Wyoming

Traveling Tuesday: Wyoming 

 

In honor of the release of Rayne’s Redemption, we’re going to visit the vast state of Wyoming. The tenth-largest state by area, it is the least populous and least densely populated state in the contiguous United States. Its borders are Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the south. 

 

The western half of Wyoming is mostly covered by the ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountains, while the eastern half of the state is high elevation prairie called the High Plains. The Continental Divide spans across the central portion of the state, and intriguingly rivers to the east of the Divide drain into the Missouri River Basin and eventually the Gulf of Mexico, and rivers to the west make their way to the Pacific Ocean. 

 

Almost fifty percent of the land in Wyoming is owned by the federal government, including two national parks (Grand Teton and Yellowstone), two national recreation areas, two national monuments, and several national forests, historic sites, and wildlife refuges. 

 

Before the Europeans came, the area was populated with numerous native American tribes including

the Arapaho, Bannock, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Crow, Gros Ventre, Kiowa, Nez Perce, Sioux, Shoshone, and Ute. The southwest portion of Wyoming was claimed by the Spanish Empire, then as Mexican territory until ceded to the U.S. in 1948 at the end of the Mexican-American war. In the 1830s, traders and explorers traveled regularly through the territory, creating a route that would later become known as the Oregon Trail. By 1847, the Mormons blazed the Mormon Trail, and between 1840 and 1859, more than 350,000 emigrants would take one of these two trails to Utah, Oregon, and California. When gold was discovered in Montana, even more would come through the territory. 

 

Unfortunately, the influx of settlers led to encounters with the Natives, resulting in an increase in military presence along the trails. Eventually, military posts were established to maintain order. Fort Laramie was one such post, at which the first Treaty of Fort Laramie was signed between the U.S. and representatives of the Indian nations. Between 1866 and 1868 (also called the Bozeman War), the Lakota, Arapaho, and Cheyenne rose up against the settlers, but lost the conflict and were forced onto reservations. 

 

The Homestead Act brought more settlers, especially after Wyoming granted women the right to vote in 1869. The law was an attempt to attract women to the territory in which males outnumbered females six to one. By 1870, over thirty-five percent of the population was foreign-born, coming primarily from Ireland, Germany, and England. 

In 1890, Wyoming became the forty-fourth state to join the Union. 

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About Rayne's Redemption 

Will she have to lose her identity to find true love? 

 

Twin sisters Rayne and Jessica Dalton have been swapping places their whole lives, so when Jessica dies on the eve of heading west to become a mail-order bride, Rayne decides to fill her sister’s shoes. The challenge will be faking Jessica’s faith in God. Can Rayne fool her prospective groom without losing her heart...or her soul?

Flynn Ward fled England to escape his parent’s attempts at marrying him off, but locating a woman to love in the Wyoming mountains is harder than finding a hackney in a rainstorm. Then the Westward Home & Hearts Agency offers him the perfect match. But when his prospective bride arrives, she’s nothing like she seemed in her letters. Is he destined to go through life alone? 

Can two desperate people overcome their differences to find common ground...and love?

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3s5jdCp