Old West Recipes

Your Old West characters would have been interested in reading about many of the same things that interest modern folk: the latest news, expert advice, and of course, looking and feeling good. People back then worried about the same things we do, too: clear skin, gray hair and no hair. This particular list of recipes is from The Ladies' and Gentlemen's Etiquette (Mrs. E.B. Duffey, 1877). Each paragraph beneath a heading marks a new recipe.

Some terms explained:

      Ambergris: a wax-like substance that originates as a secretion in the intestines of the sperm whale; found floating in tropical seas and traditionally used in perfume manufacture.

      Attar of Roses: the essential oil extracted from the petals of various types of rose.

      Bandoline: a mucilaginous preparation used for smoothing, glossing or waving the hair.

      Cantharides: extract of crushed blister beetle

      Deliquated: dissolved or melted.

      Drachm: a unit of weight formerly used by apothecaries, equal to 60 grains or one-eighth of an ounce.

      Felon: also known as a whitlow; a deep, usually pus-filled inflammation of the finger or toe, especially around the nail.

      Gill: a unit of volume equal to 4.16 fluid ounces

      Goulard's Extract: a solution of lead acetate and lead oxide; commonly used as an astringent up until the early 20th Century.

      Grain: A unit of weight formerly used by apothecaries, equal to 60 milligrams. 1 gram is equal to 15 grains, and 1 dram is 60 grains.

      Isinglass: a kind of gelatin obtained from fish, especially sturgeon, and used for making glue, etc.; also used of transparent sheets of mica.

      Muriate: a chloride compound.

      Rectified Spirits: highly concentrated ethanol, which has been purified by repeated distillation (rectification).

      Spermaceti: a waxy substance found in the head cavities of the sperm whale (and, in smaller quantities, in the oils of other whales).

      Tragacanth: a natural gum made from the dried sap of several Middle Eastern legume plants.

To Remove Freckles:

Prepare the skin by spreading over it at night a paste composed of one ounce of bitter almonds, ditto of barley-flour, and a sufficient quantity of honey to give the paste consistency. Wash off in the morning, and during the day apply with a camel’s-hair brush a lotion compounded thus: one drachm of muriatic acid, half a pint of rain-water and a teaspoonful of lavender-water, mixed.

At night wash the skin with elder-flower water, and apply an ointment made by simmering gently one ounce of Venice soap, quarter of an ounce of deliquated oil of tartar, and ditto of oil of bitter almonds. When it acquires consistency, three drops of oil of rhodium may be added. Wash the ointment off in the morning with rose-water.

One ounce of alum, ditto of lemon-juice, in a pint of rose-water.

Scrape horseradish into a cup of cold sour milk; let it stand twelve hours; strain and apply two or three times a day.

Mix lemon-juice one ounce, powdered borax quarter of a drachm, sugar half a drachm; keep for a few days in a glass bottle and apply occasionally.

Muriate of ammonia half a drachm, lavender-water two drachms, distilled water half a pint; apply two or three times a day.

Into half a pint of milk squeeze the juice of a lemon, with a spoonful of brandy, and boil, skimming well. Add a drachm of rock alum.

To Remove Discoloration of the Skin:

Elder-flower ointment one ounce, sulfate of zinc twenty grains; mix well, and rub into the affected skin at night. In the morning wash it off with plenty of soap, and when the grease is completely removed apply the following lotion: Infusion of rose-petals half a pint, citric acid thirty grains. All local discolorations will disappear under this treatment; and if freckles do not entirely yield, they will in most instances be greatly ameliorated. Should any unpleasant irritation or roughness of the skin follow the application, a lotion composed of half a pint of almost mixture and half a drachm of Goulard’s extract will afford immediate relief.

To Remove Wrinkles:

Melt white wax one ounce to gentle heat, and add juice of lily bulbs two ounces and honey two ounces, rose-water two drachms and attar of roses a drop or two. Use twice a day.

Use tepid water instead of cold in ablutions.

Put some powder of best myrrh upon an iron plate sufficiently heated to melt the gum gently, and when it liquefies cover your face with a napkin and hold your face over the myrrh at a proper distance to receive the fumes without inconvenience. Do not use it if it causes headaches.

Cold Cream:

Put into a jar one pint of sweet-oil, half an ounce of spermaceti and two ounces of white wax. Melt in a jar by the fire. Add scent.

Melt together a pint of oil of sweet almonds, one ounce of white wax, half an ounce of spermaceti and half a pint of rose-water. Beat to a paste.

To Remove Sunburn:

Milk of almonds, obtained at the druggist’s, is as good a remedy as any to use.

J.E.S. Hays

www.jeshays.com

hays.jes@gmail.com

Marketing your writing

It’s been a long time since last I blogged on Western Fictioneers, but let me tell you about a new project. As you know, I’m an Arizona cowboy, at least that’s where I was reared, and many of my books and stories are set in Arizona country. I’m currently involved with a new anthology—six western short stories, all of which involve posses. Naturally, the book’s title is . . . The Posse.

Most of you know I write western novels and one or two short stories a year. So why did I join up with a small independent press for an anthology? For one thing, it’s a western romance anthology. For another, the guy in charge, Frank Kelso, is right on top of the marketing. Let me plagiarize some of what he says, because I think it applies to us all.

Frank says:

- I have already initiated the marketing (The Posse Book Fan page and private FB page with ads).

- My next effort is to build my e-mail list; without 1,000 or more subscribers on your list, a book launch fizzles on the launch pad. Without effective advertising, a new book gathers cobwebs.

- After a strong launch, the 2^nd-stage booster is 5-star reviews. I have taken a short course on how to find and stimulate book reviews, which keep sales high for the first month.

- I will share what I’m doing to: build my e-mail list, run effective FB ads, and promote thru Amazon giveaways and “sponsored ads.”

- I will help you by sharing what I’m doing, and help you make ads specific to creating an e-mail list of your fans (it violates agreements for me to share my subscribers with you).

 -The marketing effort is only worthwhile if you plan to publish more books. This marketing will work if you are re-launching old titles with new covers (as long as it’s clear it’s a re-release.)

So you see, I not only get a published short story, but also a course in book marketing in this electronic age.

Meanwhile, here’s an excerpt from my short story, Set a Thief.

     Daylight brought the aroma of frying bacon. “Smell that?” I said.

     “What?”

     “Bacon, I reckon.” I pulled in a deep lungful of mountain air. “Yep. Bacon. Let’s go have a look-see.”

     We eased off the Mormon Road into Sycamore Canyon, walking our horses in the soft grass, making as little noise as possible. Maybe fifty yards from whoever cooked that bacon, I dismounted the sorrel, pulling my One-of-One-Thousand Winchester from its saddle scabbard. Through the sunrise haze, a little girl stood at the cookfire. A woman, maybe, but as short as a schoolgirl. When she finished cooking, she swiped a hot biscuit in the bacon grease in the pan. The paint mare in the holding pen whickered, spoiling the moment. The girl reached for her rifle.

     “Lay the rifle on the ground real slow, little lady,” I said. “Real slow.” I eared back the hammer of that almighty accurate Winchester.

     She dropped the rifle like a hot poker, then stumbled back like her knees might be shaking.

     “That’s a good girl. That grub you’ve fixed smells right fine. Got enough for visitors?”

     “Quit lollygagging around, Mort. All we need is her mare,” Cy said.

     The girl dipped her head before pivoting to face us.

     My neck jerked stiff while my jaw dropped. Cuter than a bug’s ear flew into my mind.

     “Your mounts look like they need a rest and time to graze,” she said. “I can feed the three of you while those poor horses are eating, too.”

     We musta been a sight. Three bad men who’d not seen a razor for at least three days. All with cocked guns in hand.

     The girl shrugged. “From what he said, you must be Mort Eggertson.”

     “I am,” I said.

     “My brother told me they had you in jail. How come?”

     “Killed a man,” I answered, frowning.

     Her face grew just as hard as mine. “Then you deserved jail.”

     “Ah, but he’d of killed me if I’d been a hair slower with my Remington. They say he wasn’t heeled, but he had a hideout Derringer.” I waved the Winchester a bit, but not far enough for her to get any ideas about going for her rifle again.

     “Come on, Mort. That posse of Hubbell’s cain’t be all that far behind us. Let’s git.”

     “I could whip up a bit more bacon and biscuits if you want,” she said.

     I reckon she thought to stall us to let the posse catch us.

     She wore a six-gun, but unbuckled the rig to lay it by the rifle. “That’ll keep you from getting the wrong idea, making it an excuse to shoot me. Ain’t got no hideout, neither.”

     “You don’t seem all that scared of us, Missy,” I said.

     “Mr. Eggertson, you give me the feel of a better man than you carry on. If you were all that bad,        I’d be dead. I reckon you don’t like killing. Maybe you’ve even rode with a posse your own self.”      She talked big, but a little tremble hid in her voice.

     I smiled. Women say I’m good looking, but I never gave it a thought ’til she smiled at me.

     She took the biscuit and bacon from the frying pan, placing it on the grub box. Then she built another sandwich from what remained. She handed it to me, but I gave it to Jess Simmons. He took a big ol’ bite. He hadn’t eaten in nearly a day, and it showed.

     “Go ahead, Missy. Fix some grub.” I held the Remington on her. No sense taking chances.

_______________________________________________

As things develop, I’ll see if I can’t keep you all updated on the marketing tools and techniques we use. Hope you don’t think this is too much of an intrusion.

And don't forget, new Chuck Tyrell books include Dead Man's Trail and Blessing. You might want to have a look. 

Deadline Coming -- Peacemaker Submissions

JANUARY 15, 2017

Submissions for the Western Fictioneer Peacemaker Awards are still being accepted for works originally published in the year 2016. (Please no reprints, or revised books or stories) All entries must be emailed or postmarked by January 15, 2017.  For more information about the awards, list of judges, and the forms needed, check out the WF website.

NEW YEAR'S TRADITIONS IN THE 1880's by Edward Massey

The irony of writing about the stresses and tensions brought on by the holidays -- 1883 through 1887 -- does not escape me. Last month’s blog, I tried to understand Christmas at that time. It was not my direct intention to follow that up with New Year’s at this blog, but, here I am. 

You see, my Fugitive Sheriff  ends up telling someone,
“Getting caught isn’t my problem, at least not till New Year‘s Eve. I’ll have to work over in Park City on New Year’s Eve. Snow or no, you can bet the Federal Authorities will do their duty in Park City’s saloons on New Year’s Eve.”

So, I realized I pretty much had the problem of trying to know how people celebrated New Year’s in the 1880s. It turned out to be a lot bigger problem that I expected. Like with Christmas, I found few direct references to New Year’s in the West. With two exceptions. There are no end of opportunities to celebrate New Year’s in the West today, but that doesn’t tell you much about how it was celebrated then. And New Year’s Resolutions (about more below) are dutifully recorded in diaries and journals all over the West.

 Champagne

Without a doubt, the place to start is with champagne.  The name has been around since the 1600s, although its protection as the sparkling wine from a certain region did not occur until 1891. Long before then, Dom Perignon added two features to the wine he pretty much invented, thicker glass and a rope snare to keep corks in place. The stage was set for shipping and a wine that began as a luxury with the Kings of France became industrially produced in the early 1800s and, yes, shipped to the West in the 1880s. While you did not have to be a King of France to buy it, you did have to find a way to make more money than you could working in the mines or poking cattle.

It might be noted that a quarter of the population of the west was British born (or about two-thirds of the non-American born emigrants) and whisky remained the favored New Year’s Eve drink in the UK until the 1980s.  It would not be much of a stretch to guess it was so in the West in the 1880s.

Celebration

It seems that before football games, there was another game:  calling on ladies.

In the 1880s, New Year's day, rather than New Year's eve, was the time for gala entertaining and Open Houses, usually held from noon until six p.m. Tradition held that all the ladies of a family, and all boys under the age of ten, stayed at home to receive callers while the gentlemen went out to pay visits. Newspapers would even print lists of the homes that would be open and the hours they were receiving visitors. The only requirement for admission was a calling card.
 
"A general and cordial reception of gentlemen guests upon the first day of the year, by the ladies of almost every household, also by clergymen, and by gentlemen upon the first New-Year's Day after marriage, was a Knickerbocker custom which prevailed in New York. It was once a day when all gentlemen offered congratulations to each of their lady acquaintances, and even employees of a gentleman were permitted to pay their respects, and to eat and drink with the ladies of the household. Hospitalities were then lavishly offered and as lavishly received.

"Many gentlemen, even among those who take wine ordinarily, refuse it upon this day, because they do not like to accept it at the hand of one lady and refuse it from that of another. Again, many ladies, from whose daily tables the glitter of wine-glasses is never absent, do not supply this drink to their guests upon this day, because it is dangerous for their acquaintances to partake of varied vintages, the more specially while passing in and out of over-heated drawing rooms."

At these calling events, a New Year’s Dinner and New Year’s table was presented (as published in Minnesota in 1880):

New Year's Dinners--Raw oysters; mock turtle soup; boiled turkey with oyster sauce; roast haunch of venison; currant jelly; deviled crabs; potato souffle, baked turnips, stuffed cabbage, beets, lima beans, dried corn, and canned peas; biscuit, French rolls, rye and Indian bread; chicken salad, cold sliced ham; celery, cold slaw garnished with fried oysters, pickled walnuts, variety pickles; sweet pickled cucumbers, peaches, and plums, spiced currants and gooseberries canned pears or strawberries; English plum pudding; chess pie, potato pie, mince pie; orange souffle, pyramid pound cake, black cake, Phil Sheridan cake; Bohemian cream; oranges, raisins, figs, nuts; tea, coffee, chocolate.

New Year's Table--When receiving calls on New Years' Day, the table should be handsomely arranged and decorated, and provided with rather substantial dishes, such as would suit the taste of gentlemen. Too great profusion, especially of cakes, confectionery, and ices, is out of taste. Selections may be made from the following: Escalloped oysters; cold tongue, turkey, chicken, and ham, pressed meats, boned turkey, jellied chicken; salads, cold slaw garnished with fried oysters; bottled pickles, French or Spanish pickles; jellies; charlotte-russe, ice-creams, ices; two large handsome cakes for decoration of table, and one or two baskets of minced cake, fruit, layer, and sponge cake predominating; fruits; nuts; coffee, chocolate with whipped cream, lemonade.

Oysters

I also note that oysters made an appearance at a gathering of early Dakota Territory settlers on New Year’s Day in 1880. Not merely traced back to Ancient Greeks and Romans, American Indians on both coasts considered them a staple in their diet. Abraham Lincoln also served them to guests at parties at his Illinois home.

Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote in Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography.:
“There were oysters and honey and sauce [from] home dried fruit the Boasts had brought with them. We told stories and joked and had a happy New Year’s day.”

Chinese

The mention of Chinese New Year’s occurs frequently and one notable reference even identified that the 1880 census listed more than 100 Chinese in Evanston.  …. The Chinese staged lavish New Year's celebrations at the end of winter on the traditional Chinese calendar, including a dragon parade through downtown and fireworks.

 New Years Eve 

Perhaps the greatest way to bring in the new year occurred on New Year's Eve of 1879.  Edison gave a public demonstration of his new light bulb, lighting up his laboratory and a half mile of streets in Menlo Park before of thousands of spectators. By 1881, Edison's Pearl Street station in New York was supplying about 400 outlets for eighty-five customers.  Cities in the West first became lit with electricity in the 1880s.

The closest to us Western Fictioneers Google hit on search string "New Year’s Eve" came up on page 7, Meg Mims’s blog:  "Toss these babies in the oven and save 'em for your New Year's Eve party. Mmm! Very easy to make."

Resolutions

It is said the ancient Babylonians were the first, but the Romans took it up and then the Christians.  In fact, the first day of the new year became the traditional occasion for thinking about one’s past mistakes and resolving to do and be better in the future.  It turns out all over the West, people made resolutions.  They not only made them, they wrote them down in their journals and diaries.  Mostly, they resolved to make a better life for themselves and their families.  They not only resolved, they made better lives for themselves and their families -- Us.

Happy and Prolific New Year to All Western Fictioneers. 




E-mail Edward Massey with comments, author of 2014 Gold Quill winner, Every Soul Is Free and Amazon ABNA 2009 Quarter-finalist, Telluride Promise.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

IS HE COMING? By NORMAN ROCKWELL

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

WHAT CHILD IS THIS? by CHERYL PIERSON

I love the music of Christmas. I could play it all year long if my husband didn't object. Those songs are so uplifting and beautiful that they make me feel good just to hear them, and you can’t help but sing along with them.

My dad always loved Christmas, and was a great practical jokester. He delighted in making phone calls to his grandchildren, pretending to be Santa. He’d call back later on for a rundown about what happened on our end—the looks, the comments, and the joy of getting a real live phone call from Santa! One of the traditions in our house was the box of chocolate covered cherries that was always under the tree for him from my mom, a reminder of hard Christmases in years past when that might have been the only gift she could afford. Another was that our house was always filled with Christmas music.

I was a classically trained pianist from the time I turned seven years old. My father’s favorite Christmas carol was What Child Is This? Once I mastered it, I delighted in playing it for him because he took such pleasure in it, and since it was also the tune to another song, Greensleeves, I played it all year round for him. He'd sit in his easy chair and "direct" as I played it, then say, "I believe I need to hear that one again..."

The tune known as Greensleeves was a British drinking song for many years, a popular folk song that was not religious. In ancient Britain, there have been more than twenty different known lyrics associated with the tune throughout history. It was first published in 1652.

Shakespeare mentions it by name in “The Merry Wives of Windsor” in which it is played while traitors are hanged. It has been attributed to King Henry VIII, and said that he wrote it for Anne Boleyn. How did this song become one of the best-loved Christmas carols of all time?

In 1865, Englishman William Chatterton Dix wrote “The Manger Throne,” three verses of which became “What Child Is This?” During that particular era, Christmas was not as openly celebrated as it is today. Many conservative Puritan churches forbade gift-giving, decorating or even acknowledging the day as a special day for fear that Christmas would become a day of pagan rituals more than a serious time of worship. Although Dix wrote other hymns, in the context of the times, it was unusual for him to write about Christ’s birth, since many hymn writers and religious factions ignored Christmas completely.

The words represent a unique view of Christ’s birth. While the baby was the focal point of the song, the point of view of the writer seemed to be that of a confused observer. Dix imagined the visitors to the manger bed wondering about the child who had just been born. In each verse, he described the child’s birth, life, death and resurrection, answering the question with a triumphant declaration of the infant’s divinity.

“The Manger Throne” was published in England just as the U.S. Civil War was ending. The song quickly made its way from Britain to the United States. Dix died in 1898, living long enough to see “The Manger Throne” become the Christmas carol “What Child Is This?”

What's your favorite Christmas carol? Mine is SILENT NIGHT, but truly, I think they're all beautiful.

I hope you all have a very blessed Christmas and a wonderful 2014! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A MAKE BELIEVE CHRISTMAS--AND GIVEAWAY! by Cheryl Pierson

Do you have a favorite romance story that takes place at Christmas? One that really stands out and makes you smile to remember it?

You would think a Christmas romance would be one of the easiest tales to tell, wouldn’t you? I mean, what could be better than a backdrop of snow and mistletoe, the warmth of a fire in a great room, a twinkling Christmas tree…but what about creating a little excitement?

https://www.amazon.com/Outlaws-Kiss-Cheryl-Pierson-ebook/dp/B00M27PX9M/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1481406768&sr=1-4&keywords=Outlaw%27s+Kiss


As readers, we want something that’s going to keep us turning the pages, no matter what time of year it might be—and let’s face it, sitting in front of a fire, half-asleep, with a book on our laps and a full stomach is not all that exciting—or romantic, either.

https://www.amazon.com/Hero-Christmas-Cheryl-Pierson-ebook/dp/B00M282L7S/ref=sr_1_9?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1481406880&sr=1-9&keywords=A+Hero+for+Christmas

But sometimes, it can be a little tough to create a full length novel around a short time span—with the entire story being told in a month’s (or less) time. And for me…I’m not ever sure if my characters are going to decide if a short story is going to do their tale justice—or if they’re going to want MORE.

https://www.amazon.com/Cowboy-under-Mistletoe-Stacey-Coverstone-ebook/dp/B01M5J1BWQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1481407022&sr=1-2&keywords=a+cowboy+under+the+mistletoe


I’ve written quite a few novellas for Christmas boxed sets and anthologies, with some single-author collections of my own that take place for the most part during the Christmas season. But as for full-length novels that take place a Christmas, I haven’t tackled that yet, though I’d love to write one someday. This year, I DID write my first Medieval story--a Christmas wedding tale that appears in the boxed set ONE WINTER KNIGHT!

https://www.amazon.com/One-Winter-Knight-Lindsay-Townsend-ebook/dp/B01M8LQ9MK/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1481407170&sr=1-1&keywords=One+Winter+Knight


What are your favorite stories that take place at Christmas? Got some to share? I always love holiday Regency stories—and it seems there are more of those that are full-length novels than other genres.

https://www.amazon.com/Wallflower-Christmas-Novel-Wallflowers-Book-ebook/dp/B0017SWS8G/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1481407358&sr=1-1&keywords=a+wallflower+christmas
Lisa Kleypas is a favorite of mine with her older Wallflower series. Each takes place in a different season, but there is the Christmas installment, A WALLFLOWER CHRISTMAS. It’s not a western, but this is a wonderful series, and I especially loved the Christmas tale.

Here are some heartwarming tales that make for some good holiday reading for yourself and for others!

Here's one by Livia J. Washburn (Reasoner) that's sure to please--and right now, it's FREE!

https://www.amazon.com/Naughty-Mice-Livia-J-Washburn-ebook/dp/B017MZWJPY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1481407516&sr=1-1&keywords=Naughty+or+Mice


A touching novel of redemption and love by Angela Raines! Only .99!

https://www.amazon.com/Gift-Forgiveness-Agate-Gulch-Story-ebook/dp/B01MTU1SWF/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1481407663&sr=1-2&keywords=The+gift+of+Forgiveness

An oldie but a goodie!

https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Texas-Christmas-Cheryl-Pierson-ebook/dp/B00PZ9EV38/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8



A mail-order bride Christmas story!

https://www.amazon.com/Marriage-Convenience-Mail-Order-Bride-ebook/dp/B01JY2IJAW/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

What are some of YOUR favorite holiday romance tales? Be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win your choice of ONE of any of our Prairie Rose Publications titles included in this post in e-book format! I'll be drawing two names--you could be a lucky winner!

STICK TO THE FACTS by JERRY GUIN

I wrote my first book back in 1995. It is a nonfiction book titled Matsutake Mushroom, which was published in 1997. It is simply a true story about the harvest and sale of wild forest mushrooms, from the Pacific Northwest, for profit.

My education began when I started selling the book.

https://www.amazon.com/West-Big-River-Western-Novels-ebook/dp/B01I5T0LVA/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
I visited the publisher to pick up a few copies to get started. When the publisher learned of my intended five-day, three-state tour, she insisted that I take on 400 copies. Despite my reluctance to attempt to sell so many, I took the books. What the heck, if they did not sell, I could always bring them back.

I was received warmly by many small book stores and convenience stores. The average sale was three to five copies. I visited the area where the actual story of the book took place and found that I had many critics. Men would thumb the pages and ask, “Where's the pictures?” Women would ask, “What kind of recipes are in here?” That book contained neither. Where did I go wrong? The story is based on actual facts, which no one can dispute. It seemed that some folks expected something other than what I was offering but, thankfully, by the end of my tour I had sold over 300 copies.

I learned quickly that if you are going to write nonfiction, number one, you better know what you are talking about and number two, don't get too far off the beaten path of what is expected. The book, hard copy only, still sells modestly.

Around 1995 I turned to writing what was and is my predominant interest, which is western fiction.
I never expected to write award winning stories such as those by greats Louis L'Amour, Zane Grey or Max Brand but I felt that I could spin a yarn, which could be construed as actually happening.

https://www.amazon.com/Code-West-Classic-Western-Novels-ebook/dp/B01JM2UONO/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
I began writing short stories and presented them for consideration with mild success.

https://www.amazon.com/Traditional-West-Western-Fictioneers-ebook/dp/B005E1JI8U/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
In 2011 I was accepted as a member of Western Fictioneers. Happy to correspond with well known authors Robert Randisi, James Reasoner, Frank Roderus, Jory Sherman and others. I was greatly inspired by having a story included in the Fictioneers first anthology, The Traditional West. It got the creative juices flowing.

Troy, Livia, Cheryl and others offered and encouraged me to write compelling stories that aren't necessarily true but could have happened, if given enough historical facts to support the tale. The more facts you can produce, the better.

https://www.amazon.com/Once-Drover-Jerry-Guin-ebook/dp/B01D7P3MD6/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
The actual history involved in a story could leave a writer scratching his head to find a way around it. I will not attempt to change history in any of my stories. The story has to revolve around the facts.

The Wolf Creek series is purely fiction and locked into 1871, now 1872.

In Wolf Creek 16, Luck of The Draw, part two, one of my characters is Luke Short, yes the famous gambler and gunman. Young Luke Short, eighteen at the time, according to history, did participate in driving a herd of cattle to Abilene, Kansas. He wanted to be a gambler so bad that he gave up trailing cattle and set out to make his own way as a professional gambler.

https://www.amazon.com/Wolf-Creek-Luck-Draw-part-ebook/dp/B01GFCWVR6/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
For the purpose of putting a well known name into 'Bet The Boots' I used Luke Short. One, he was a gambler. Two he was in Abilene in 1871 and turned to gambling as a way of life. So I had him stop into Wolf Creek for the poker tournament. In actuality, as far as anyone knows, after Luke left Abilene he was known to be selling rotgut whiskey in a buffalo camp on the plains near what would later become Dodge City.

If Wolf Creek existed at the time, lured by the gambling, why wouldn't Luke pay a visit? In my mind his appearance in the story is believable without disturbing historical facts.

Stretching the truth a little, such as a potion salesman's claims of the miracle cures by the consumption of his product is as far as I will go in pushing the envelope.

Creating heroes, hardships, finding a lost love or having a character cheat, steal, or kill others are enough to keep any writer busy crafting a believable story around historical facts.

https://www.amazon.com/Wolf-Creek-Hunters-Moon-18/dp/1540539717/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Nobody can change history and a good story will reflect the facts as they are.


Jerry Guin is a member of Western Fictioneers and Western Writers of America.

He has authored more than 40 western fiction short stories and 7 western novels.

His latest novel– Once a Drover – was first introduced in 2014 by Western Trailblazer.
It was re-introduced by Sundown Press in 2016.

THE WIDOW OF THE SOUTH by CHERYL PIERSON

It all started when I read THE WIDOW OF THE SOUTH by Robert Hicks, a novel about a woman who made the dead soldiers of the War Between the States her life's work. By the time I finished reading that book, I knew I had to go visit this place, Carnton, where she had lived and devoted her life to the dead.

Carnton is the name of the plantation just outside of Franklin, TN, where Carrie Winder McGavock and her husband John made their home with their two children, Hattie and Winder. There is so much history that comes before the fateful Battle of Franklin that changed Carrie’s life forever that there is no room to include it in this post.

So I will start with a brief nutshell of the circumstances. At the time of the Battle of Franklin, November 30, 1864, Carrie’s children were nine (Hattie) and seven (Winder). Carrie herself was thirty-five, her husband, John McGavock, fourteen years her senior at forty-nine. They had been married several years, Carrie coming from Louisiana to marry John, who was quite a wealthy man for the times, worth over six million dollars in our present day currency. He owned the flourishing plantation where he and his brother James had been raised, Carnton, in middle Tennessee. The McGavocks raised wheat, hay, corn and potatoes as well as maintaining a thoroughbred horse ranch.
Carnton, (Scottish for “the place of stones”) was less than one mile from the battle that took place on the far Union Eastern flank. Most of the battle took place after dark, from 5-9p.m., so the McGavocks could see the firefight that went on over the town of Franklin that evening. Because their plantation was so close, it became a field hospital for the Confederate troops.

This, according to the Wickipedia account:
More than 1,750 Confederates lost their lives at Franklin. It was on Carnton's back porch that four Confederate generals’ bodies—Patrick Cleburne, John Adams, Otho F. Strahl and Hiram B. Granbury—were laid out for a few hours after the Battle of Franklin.

More than 6,000 soldiers were wounded and another 1,000 were missing. After the battle, many Franklin-area homes were converted into temporary field hospitals, but Carnton by far was the largest hospital site. Hundreds of Confederate wounded and dying were tended by Carrie McGavock and the family after the battle. Some estimates say that as many as 300 Confederate soldiers were cared for by the McGavocks inside Carnton alone. Hundreds more were moved to the slave quarters, the outbuildings, even the smokehouse—and when the buildings were full, the wounded had to lie outside during the frigid nights, when the temperature reached below zero.

After the battle, at 1 a.m. on December 1, Union forces under Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield evacuated toward Nashville, leaving all the dead, including (several hundred) Union soldiers, and the wounded who were unable to walk as well. So when morning came, the 750 or so residents of Franklin faced an unimaginable scene of what to do with over 2,500 dead soldiers, most of those being 1,750 Confederates.

According to George Cowan's "History of McGavock Confederate Cemetery," "All of the Confederate dead were buried as nearly as possible by states, close to where they fell, and wooden headboards were placed at each grave with the name, company and regiment painted or written on them." Many of the soldiers were originally buried on property belonging to Fountain Branch Carter and James McNutt. Many of the Union soldiers were re-interred in 1865 at the Stones River National Cemetery in Murfreesboro.

Over the next eighteen months (from all of 1865 through the first half of 1866) many of the markers were either rotting or used for firewood, and the writing on the boards was disappearing. Thus, to preserve the graves, John and Carrie McGavock donated 2 acres of their property to be designated as an area for the Confederate dead to be re-interred. The citizens of Franklin raised the funding and the soldiers were exhumed and re-interred in the McGavock Confederate Cemetery for the sum of $5.00 per soldier.

A team of individuals led by George Cuppett took responsibility for the reburial operation in the spring of 1866. By June, some ten weeks after the start, the last Confederate soldier was laid to rest at McGavock Cemetery. Some 1,481 Rebel soldiers would now be at peace. Soldiers from every Southern state in the Confederacy, except Virginia, is represented in the cemetery.
Sadly, George Cuppett’s brother, Marcellus, died during the process of the reburials. Just 25 years old, he is buried at the head of the Texas section in the McGavock Cemetery. He is the only civilian interred there.

The McGavocks, especially Carrie, took great care to preserve the identity of the Confederate soldiers. The original names and identities of the soldiers were recorded in a cemetery record book by George Cuppett, and the book fell into the watchful hands of Carrie after the battle. The original book is on display upstairs in Carnton. Time has not been favorable to the identities of the Confederate soldiers though. 780 Confederate soldiers’ identities are positively identified, leaving some 558 as officially listed as unknown.

Most of the above was taken from the Wikipedia article about Carnton and the McGavocks. Now you know the FACTS, but let me tell you about my impression of this remarkable woman and the cause she put above all else.

Robert Hicks's book, THE WIDOW OF THE SOUTH, is a fictionalized story about Carrie and John McGavock and their lives, but that was what made me want to travel to Franklin and see the house for myself. I put the description that Wikipedia gave near the beginning because I can’t begin to do it justice. It is one of the most gorgeous, meticulously restored homes of that period you will ever see. They do not allow pictures AT ALL as you’re touring inside. Many of the pieces of furniture, glassware and the pictures that are on the walls have been donated by the McGavock extended family and most everything in the house is a genuine period piece, whether it belonged to the family or not.

It is said that Winder’s room was used as an operating room. A table was set up by the east-facing window where the surgeries were performed. Today, there is a table there much like what would have been used, along with the crude medical implements that were available at the time. Our guide told us that when the doctor finished an amputation, he would throw the limb out the window, get the man off the table and make room for the next one. Because the doctor most likely wore a rubberized apron, the blood pooled in a kind of horseshoe shape on the floor where he would have stood. He walked in it and stood in it, grinding it into the wood. It is still there, to this very day—a testament to five of the bloodiest hours in the history of the Civil War.

Once, Hattie was asked about her most enduring childhood memory. “The smell of blood,” she replied.

In the book, there is mention made of Carrie’s friend, Mariah, who had once been her slave but chose to stay with her as they had been together since childhood. Mariah was said to have had the ability to look at some of the graves and tell something about the person who was buried there. She had “the sight.”

For the next forty years, after the Battle of Franklin, Carrie dressed in black, visiting the graves every day. She carried the book of names with her. I have to tell you, when I saw that book of names I got chills thinking of the devotion she had to this cause. Those men were not forgotten.

At one point, the house fell into disrepair, but was bought by a historical preservation society and maintained. The cemetery was the largest privately owned war cemetery in the US. Robert Hicks meticulously researched for the book he wrote, and the profits from the book (which made it to the NYT Bestseller List) helped to re-establish this grand old home as a piece of history where we can go to learn firsthand about what happened on that fateful day.

My husband and I toured the house, a gorgeous old mansion, with a wonderful guide who was glad to answer any and all questions. Tours are around $15, and well worth it. The cemetery tour is $5, or you can just walk around and look for yourself, which is what my husband and I did. If you buy the book, I promise you will be as anxious to see this place for yourself as I was.

Walking those same floors that were walked upon by Carrie and her family, and the wounded men, the generals, the doctors…gave me feeling I will never forget. I could almost swear I felt her presence, still there, still watching over the soldiers she devoted her adult life to at Carnton…the “place of stones.”

You can order the Kindle version of THE WIDOW OF THE SOUTH here, and it's also available in print.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Widow-South-ebook/dp/B000FCKEWC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1374024632&sr=1-1&keywords=the+widow+of+the+south+robert+hicks

SHARING THE WEST by DARRYLE PURCELL

Those of you who have read any of my books or occasional columns realize by now that I am a big fan of western films. And, with this group, I don’t consider myself alone in my enjoyment.

There are a lot of us who still thrill to the sound of “the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver,” and other classic lines that bring Pavlovian smiles to our faces. Whether it is the beginning of a 1930s matinee serial, the yodeling of a 1940s singing cowboy, the William Tell Overture from radio and early television, the theme to The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, or even Frankie Laine singing Blazing Saddles, our attention is captured.

But, it is a common situation that spouses don’t always share the same interests. My wife, for instance, has not been a big fan of westerns. She doesn’t know Ken Maynard from Ken Starr and, when I mentioned the Three Mesquiteers recently, she asked if Annette Funicello had been a member. It’s a sad situation. However, being a modern, enlightened sort of guy, I figure that I can find a way to bring her around. Cowboy films are something that couples should share.

There is a slight difference in our film tastes. For instance, when we were first married, the wife asked me to go see a British comedy with her. I thought she said “Benny Hill.” I was delighted. When the lights came on in the theater, I had been stuck watching Notting Hill. The memory of that terrible night still haunts me with HCFDSS (Husbands’ Chick Flick Delayed Stress Syndrome). I probably should have reported her to the Geneva Convention.

Anyway, I’m over it. And I have a plan to improve her film interests. Christmas is coming up and, instead of getting her a new iron or set of dishtowels, this year I plan to shower her with DVDs that will certainly put a smile on her face.

Knowing that I have been thinking about holiday gifts, the little woman has been tossing out hints on things she would enjoy receiving. Just last week she was watching the Travel Channel and remarked how she would like to see more of the country. So, for her geographic knowledge, I ordered Buck Jones and Tim McCoy in Down Texas Way, Dick Foran and Leo Carrillo in Riders of Death Valley, and Randolph Scott in Abilene Town.

And while watching the Hallmark Channel, she mentioned how much she enjoyed romance films. You guessed it. I bought Romance on the Range with Roy Rogers and Gabby Hayes.

One of the things the two of us agree upon is our support for law enforcement. Therefore, I think she will really appreciate the DVDs of Law of the Lash with Lash LaRue, and Guns of the Law with Dave O’Brien.

Now, obviously you have picked up that I’ve subtly taken her suggestions slightly to the west. And, by doing so, I have chosen the perfect Christmas entertainment that will inspire her to become a western-film aficionado. To cap everything off, I’ve included a 2017 calendar so she can keep track of family events. I can’t wait to see her eyes light up when she opens it to see the large, beautiful, color photos from the last 20 minutes of Sam Peckinpah’s masterpiece, The Wild Bunch.

Who said romance is dead?

A VETERAN'S THOUGHTS ON VETERANS DAY by ROBERT VAUGHAN

I stood at the top of the incline, looking toward the long, black wall, with the more than 58,000 names just a blur. I watched people moving slowly along the wall…from those too young to have any memory of the Vietnam war, to those people whose hair had been bleached white by the passing of too many years.

Sometimes there would be a couple of men staring at the wall, engaged in quiet conversation.

“I don’t believe Smitty ever bought a cigarette of his own.”

“No, but he was a good man. You needed somethin’ done, you could always count on Smitty.”

“Problem with him, he couldn’t keep his mouth shut. He was always talkin’ himself into trouble.”

“He only had three weeks ‘till his drop date when he was killed. Can you believe that? Three weeks.”

Ruth had gone to check in the book to help me locate some of my friends. They aren’t listed alphabetically, they are on the wall chronologically, according to when they were killed.

She came back with the names. The first name was Dan Lambdin. Dan and I were friends from Germany, in Vietnam at the same time, but not serving together. I found his name on the wall, and, as dramatically as if it were a scene change in a movie…the wall, the people around me, tone and tint, disappeared. I could hear the sound of rotor blades, I could smell jet exhaust, I could feel the oppressive heat of the flight line at Phu Loi, Vietnam.



Dan was in Vung Tau, and I had flown over from Phu Loi to deliver a helicopter. Dan’s roommate was gone, so he invited me to stay with him. We lay there that night, talking across the dark space between our bunks, remembering funny incidents from Germany, talking about what we had encountered in Vietnam.

“The first thing you have to do is to learn not to be afraid you’re going to be killed every time you go out,” Dan said. “You need to stop worrying about your mortality and think only about the momentary reality.”

But we wondered what it would be like to be killed. Are you aware beyond death? Where does your soul go?

“Ha! You better believe, I won’t be staying here,” Dan said with a chuckle.

The next day we went down to the airfield together. I was going to fly back to Phu Loi, and Dan was going to deliver a generator to a Special Forces “A-Team” unit near Binh Khat. We exchanged some off-color remark by way of goodbye, and went our separate way.

When I landed at Phu Loi, the line-chief, who had served with Dan and me in Germany, came over to tie down the aircraft. “Chief, did you hear about Mr. Lambdin?”

“What do you mean, hear about him? I just left him. Hear what?”

“He was just shot down and killed near Binh Khat. He was delivering a generator.”



“No,” I said. “That’s not possible!” I spoke those words while standing at the wall, but they reached back across the almost forty years that separated then from now in an instant.

Then, with my throat choked, and my eyes dimmed by tears, I continued my sojourn down the wall, putting my hands on 22 more names, feeling each of them, seeing them as the young, vibrant men I remembered. Looking around I saw that I wasn’t the only one traveling through time and that day. To me, my fellow time travelers were no longer old men with gray hair and drawn skin. They were young, and they were wearing jungle fatigues and flak vests, and they had M-16s slung over their shoulders, or .45 pistols strapped to their sides. Their eyes weren’t filled with tears…they were set in the ‘thousand yard stare’ that we all wore then.

VIETNAM REFLECTIONS by LEE TETER
http://www.art.com/gallery/id--b19052/vietnam-veterans-memorials-posters.htm
I said one more goodbye to all my friends that day, then I walked away, leaving the wall behind me, but not the ghosts and memories. They will be with me until I cross that great divide. Vietnam was but three years out of my 76 years of life...but the impact those three years made on me is incalculable.

On this approaching Veterans Day I think not only of my Vietnam and Cold War peers, but of all 40 million who have served this country since its birth. We are one long line stretching through the battles that mark our history; Bunker Hill, New Orleans, Matamoros, Shiloh, Little Big Horn, San Juan Hill, The Marne, Iwo Jima, Chosin Reservoir, Ia Drang, Baghdad, and Fallujah, and I am proud to say that I am a brother to all of them.
Robert Vaughan - CW3 - US Army (ret)

All of us gave some…some gave all.
SOLDIER SEES DAUGHTER FOR THE FIRST TIME