The prairie my great-great-great grandfather crossed with his new bride and her entourage of immediate family most likely seemed an unending landscape of dust, dirt, and scorching sun. He had ridden across this unforgiving territory once on horseback. Now he led his unsuspecting in-laws. While the account of the Hills wagon train of 1851 is […]
Willamette Valley
Packing for the Journey
Deciding what to bring across the prairie often meant heart-wrenching sacrifices. All too often an item viewed as essential at the beginning of the journey in St. Joseph, Missouri became the first thing discarded when the oxen became too weary to go on, or the wagon carrying the cargo wore out. My great-great-grandmother had to […]
- Historical
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Living in a Lean-To
Outside my window rain is falling, a typical December day in Oregon. I think of the story in my newest release, The Descendant’s Daughter, in which I relate part of the tale of my great-great grandfather who settled here in 1847. The first winter he spent a miserable existence. Proving up a land claim to […]
A New Book with an Old Story
The release of my newest novel, The Descendant’s Daughter, is now waiting on the horizon. While a contemporary story line carries the book, I get excited thinking about the historical theme that originated from my own personal family history. I consider the opportunity to share a fictional re-creation of my great-great-grandfather’s tale a privilege. I […]
A New Book is Coming
This week I signed a contract for a new time slip series with Forget Me Not Romances, a division of Winged Publications, based in Arizona. The first book in the series, The Descendant’s Daughter, is already in production and scheduled to release soon. This is a fictional story with two timelines, one contemporary tale that […]
- General
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Story Keeper #3–A Friendly Face
Rain dropped from the heavens like a pitcher pouring water when my great-great-grandfather and his party entered the Willamette Valley on November 3, 1847. Six months on the trail had left him weary and arriving in the midst of fall’s annual deluge didn’t help his spirits. Astride his horse, he followed the river’s edge seeking […]
- General
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Story Keeper#2–Barreling Along
When my great-great-grandfather left his family on the east coast and headed west, he brought two important skills with him. He had apprenticed as a cooper, working for the Syracuse Salt Works, making fifty cents a day. He had logged in the woods as well, learning the skills a frontiersman would need to tame the […]