Sometimes happy coincidences occur when I write. For me, this happens when history and fiction merge.
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Take my latest book, A Journey for Christiana. It is the sequel to A Journey for Patience. Because it follows another book, I had a specific time period and plot already shaped. My characters are rolling along on the trail. I knew exactly where they would be on it and when since I chart out what is called the trail dust mileage. It was something I could not change.
As I researched information on the Santa Fe Trail and its two famous passes, the Raton and the Cimarron, I also looked at forts dotting the trail. I knew stops at those forts would show time progression in my story. By researching the forts, fiction and real history met in the book.
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| FORT HARKER, KANSAS https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ks-fortharker/ |
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| Photo by Matthew Brady, 1865 |
Lo and behold, George Armstrong Custer was at Fort Harker during the exact time when my characters would arrive at that fort! I was so excited to discover that. And it got better...
During 1867, Wild Bill Hickok had started scouting for the 7th Calvalry because of Custer. Hickok admired the man tremendously and agreed to be a scout when asked by him. So Hickok was also at Fort Harker in May 1867 and had had trouble with a local tribe, something I mention in my book. More meeting of history and fiction.
Witnesses confirm that while working as a scout at Fort Harker, Kansas, on May 11, 1867, Hickok was attacked by a large group of Indians, who fled after he shot and killed two. In July, Hickok told a newspaper reporter that he had led several soldiers in pursuit of Indians who had killed four men near the fort on July 2. He reported returning with five prisoners after killing 10. Witnesses confirm that the story was true to the extent the party had set out to find whoever had killed the four men,[e] but the group returned to the fort "without nary a dead Indian, [never] even seeing a live one".[36][37] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Bill_Hickok)
But it did not end there. Buffalo Bill Cody was also at Fort Harker in May 1867. In fact, he wrote about his time at the fort:
While working at Fort Harker as a common roust-a-bout, I with about fifty other men were boarding at what was nick-named the "Alligator Messhouse", it might have been properly called "Camp starvation", as it was the only place where I might say we did not get enough to eat. We knew the Government issued plenty of rations but somehow these never reached us at the " Alligator Messhouse. We made up a long petition setting forth that we were starving &etc., it was signed by all the men and send in to headquarters, but weWhile working at Fort Harker as a common roust-a-bout, I with about fifty other men were boarding at what was nick-named the "Alligator Messhouse", it might have been properly called "Camp starvation", as it was the only place where I might say we did not get enough to eat. We knew the Government issued plenty of rations but somehow these never reached us at the " Alligator Messhouse. We made up a long petition setting forth that we were starving &etc., it was signed by all the men and send in to headquarters, but we never heard from it, nor did we notice any improvement in our fare.
I had no money to buy anything to eat on the outsided and well remember a man hiring me to chop some fire wood; it was dry cottenwood and the axe was very dull; It was my first experiment of this kind and right there I formed rather a poor opinion of Kansas Timber; At every stroke of the axe bounced seemingly as hitting a bale of cotton, but I managed to chop and break up some wood for which I received fifty cents; part of this I at once invested in a loaf of bread; and it tasted good without butter.
(https://codyarchive.org/texts/wfc.lfw00001.html)
All three famous figures from the West appear in my newest book. It was such fun for me as an author to allow history and fiction to meet.
From A Journey for Christiana:
As Murphy approached, Moody worked hard at wiping away his scowl. He assumed his usual, stoic expression. That Hickok had fought for the Yankees should not matter now. He urged his mind to believe that.
“Hey, Moody! You remember Hickok and Cody here?”
“Yep. Howdy.”
Hickok pulled away from Murphy and straightened. “Ain’t you the one whose daddy owns that big ranch west of Santa Fe?”
Moody stiffened. “I’m part owner of that ranch with my pa.”
“Yeah. Well, just thought I’d tell you about problems up to the north of you.”
“What’s happening?”
“Custer’s been chasing a band of Cheyenne. They burned a couple of the stations in the Smoky Hill Route.”
Moody waited. When Hickok only stared at him, he rubbed a hand over the stubble on his jaw. “Good thing I won’t be takin’ the Raton Pass then. I’m plannin’ to see my cousin safe to Santa Fe. We’ve had some problems so far with outlaws.”
“That so.” Cody finally spoke. “Bill and I ain’t seen none.”
I invite you to join Patience and Christiana on their journey from Independence to the New Mexico Territory.
Will life on the trail convince Patience that she married well or will coming to know her groom be what sends her running at the end of the trip?
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Christiana Mallory has no choice but to become Moody Dutton's cook. Her sister insists they find a way to join a wagon train headed south. Patience is determined to retrieve a map showing where their pa buried gold coins. To do that, they must reach Colorado.
When Patience immediately marries Moody's cousin, Christiana is determined not to become a wife. She holds Moody at a distance, fighting with him so that she will not give in to her growing attraction.
Only, when danger threatens her sister's life does Christiana recognize her growing desire to stay with Moody. He shows her how deeply he desires them to be a couple. Can she commit to living her life in isolation on a ranch?
What will it take for her to choose love over the convenience of living in town? Will they survive the trail for her to make that decision?
Western adventure from a Christian worldview awaits you in this book. Get cozy and enjoy the romance.
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