LOOK AT THAT BOY IN THE BONNET! by Marisa Masterson

 A boy in a sun bonnet? Anything was possible by the end of the trail from Missouri to points west.

To start the journey, emigrants were advised by guidebooks on what to wear. The writers advised that every pioneer have at least two sets of shoes and the same with clothing, double of everything except socks. They should take four pairs of those, according to The Prairie Traveler, 1859.

Fine, Two sets of clothing. Except many people had headed west to escape poverty and the lack of a future. They could not afford more than the clothing they wore. Amazing but true, according to Chris Enss in How the West was Worn. By the end of the trip, female pioneers wrote about seeing young men in sun bonnets because they had lost their hats. Travelers made do with what was at hand on the trail.

Notice the shortened hem.

Because clothing wore out, women altered dresses before starting the trip. One common thing was to cut two or three inches off the garment's bottom so that the skirt did not tangle in long prairie grass or brush an open fire while cooking. When the dress was rehemmed after that, women put lead shot in that hem. It kept the prairie winds from embarrassing a lady by whipping up her skirt.

Another way a woman might alter her dress before starting on the trail involved the bodice. To make what might be her only garment last longer, a pioneer would line her bodice with canvas. It sounds uncomfortable to me. Still, having no dress sounds much worse.

NEW RELEASE!

Gold! Suellen finds a hidden stash of the gleaming coins under the false bottom of her dead husband's trunk. The bank's name, stamped on the bag, tells her that it is stolen. She realizes she must return the gold, but why does the scout insist on accompanying her? She knows that Rufus hates her.
Rufus does not plan on letting the woman out of his sight. Suellen unknowingly is a part of his family's plans for revenge. And does she really think she can cart a baby halfway across the country?

Will a trip to return gold turn into love? Only if two frozen hearts thaw enough to embrace their chance at happiness.