December 24, 2024 and a Look Back

Post (C) Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Photo (C) Doris McCraw

This post will go live on December 24, 2024. It is also the final post for me for 2024. I have thought a lot about what this post would be. I settled on a look back.

2024, saw the series on this blog and the Prairie Rose Publications blog about the Civil War Veterans and Wives of Veterans who are buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs. The research, stories, and books that were a part of my journey have given me an even greater sense of what these people went through.

Photo (C) Doris McCraw

For those who would like to read more, here are some books I found worth my time:

"The Unvanquished" - Patrick O'Donnell

"The Tenth Minnesota Volunteers" - Michael A. Eggleston

"Three and a Half Years in the Army: Or History of the Second Colorados" - Ellen Williams

"The Three-Cornered War" - Megan Kate Nelson

2024 was also a year of loss.

I lost a friend on May 1, 2024. She'd had two strokes at different times, and she finally left us in May.           Go Rest High on that Mountain - Home Free

We also lost Western Writers Robert J. Randisi and Kit Prate and other notable personalities.

Photo (C) Doris McCraw

What I do know - If it were not for those who came before us, we would not be who we are and can become. 

I want to take the time and use this post as a thank you to all who left a legacy, large or small. Without their courage, vision, and efforts, I and others would be the poorer for it.

As we move through the Holiday Season, I wish everyone the best time possible and the fulfillment of dreams in the coming year.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND BEST IN 2025.

Until Next Time: Stay safe, Stay happy, and Stay healthy. 

Doris

CLEANING UP ODDS & ENDS

 

Post by Doris McCraw aka Angela Raines

Photo Property of the Author

We're in the final stretch of 2022. I don't know about you, but it seemed to fly by. I thought for my final post of this year I'd take a look back and take care of some odds and ends.

First, I apologize for not getting the author interviews out as I had anticipated. Rest assured, I will return to that project and make sure those interviews are shared.

Second, in August I wrote about Dr. Henry H. Hewett. I found him. Most of the information I gleaned was from the Don and Jean Griswold books on Leadville, CO. What I did find, he evidently married at some point prior to his death in a stagecoach accident. He was taken to Denver, CO. where he passed away from his injuries. I found his headstone in Riverside Cemetery in Denver CO. His death date is listed as September 28, 1887.  The following photo can be found on the Find A Grave website for Dr. Hewitt.

From Find A Grave

Third, I was able to republish "Chasing a Chance" with a new cover for the paperback. I also published "Under the Stone: Early Women Doctors in Evergreen Cemetery" and "52 Haiku- Reflections From a Life in Colorado".

And lastly, I had hoped to post more than one marketing post on my blog, but the best-laid plans of... It is my goal to do more than one for 2023. 

Here's to the end of one year, and the beginning of another along with some great stories and other work from all of you.

Auld Lang Syne

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Doris

 

What A Year

 Post by Doris McCraw

writing as Angela Raines

Photo property of the Author

As of December 28, 2021, this year has three more full days. How has it been for you? I confess I've been so busy that I'm not sure how to answer that question. Instead, I thought I'd look at one of the years from the 1800s. 

As of December 28, 1859, the Rocky Mountain News was still carrying the specifics of the Territory of Jefferson. 

The area was growing. This advertisement from the same issue reads as follows:

Rocky Mountain News (Weekly) December 28, 1859

Yet the Western Mountaineer, Golden's Newspaper talked about Jefferson Territory. They also talked about the New Years Ball, to be held on January 2, 1860.

The Western Mountaineer, December 28, 1859

Yet, life went on. There were many enterprising residents back then. Here is an advert for animal boarding through the winter.

The Western Mountaineer, December 28, 1859

I've always found that a look back puts current life in perspective. Life goes on, plans are made, and people continue to dream. Here's to the dreams you have for 2022.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Post by Doris McCraw
writing as Angela Raines

Photo property of the author

Well, it's December 24, 2019. The year is almost at an end, and Christmas Day is right around the corner. Many of you will be spending time with friends and family. Others will be remembering those who are no longer with us or are deployed in another part of the world.

Holidays are so many things to so many people and for that reason, this post will be brief for most want to spend time with those they care about.

Below is a poem, an homage to those who traveled this land before we were even thought of. It is what we love and write about, those images and echoes of the time before.

Echoes

by Doris McCraw

Quite of echoes, rising out from land

Rolling of wagons, images lost in mist

Mountains grow – sink, hourglass sand

Ghosts in the mind, voices persist

History beckons, out on the plains

Stories are calling, help they insist

Aged city, feels growth pains

What is mystery, ceased to exist

Time grows short, trip soon done

Will memories fade, post haste dismissed

Voices cry out, before long none

Echoes call, do not desist

Wishing everyone the best Christmas, New Year and Holiday season. See you next year. 

Doris Gardner-McCraw -

Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in
Colorado and Women's History

Angela Raines - author: Where Love & History Meet

Books: Angela Raines Books

Angela Raines FaceBook: Click Here