It was a Lulu

Post by Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Image (C) Doris McCraw

This short post is about a short-lived 'town' by the name of Lulu City. Lulu City came into existence around 1879 after silver was found in the area. This was at the height of the silver boom in Colorado.

As with most mining boom towns, Lulu City grew quickly. At one point, it was said to have 40 'houses', a post office, a barber shop, general stores, and a hotel. 

By 1881-1882, the weather and low-grade ore led to a loss of many of the miners. In 1884, the government closed the post office, and by 1885, the site was a ghost town.

How did the town get its name? Allegedly, it is named for the daughter of one of the primary backers of the company that built the town, Benjamin F. Burnett. He, along with his business partner, William Blake, were the backers of the Middle Park and Grand River Improvement Company. 

Like all towns of the era, it had its fair share of violence. However, as such a short-lived town, there is little press about the incidents.

For those who might like to swew what remains of this 'town', you can hike there along an old wagon trail that was used during its heyday. The site is located on the western side of Rocky Mountain National Park. Yes, this site plays a part in my upcoming National Park Bride book.

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

Doris

Angela Raines - Amazon

Doris A. McCraw - Amazon

Cowboy Saying - “All Healed up and Haired Over”

 

“That trouble’s behind me now. It’s healed up and haired over.”

At first hearing, the phrase sounds a little rough, but it’s pure frontier poetry. Literally, it comes from ranch life. Cowboys spent their days around cattle and horses, and they saw firsthand how wounds mended. When a brand or a cut or scrape finally closed and fresh hair grew over the scar, the animal was considered sound again. That image made its way into cowboy talk, describing not just physical recovery but also emotional or spiritual healing.

In other words, when something was “healed up and haired over,” it was truly in the past. 

A cowboy might say it after patching up from a rope burn, or when letting go of an old quarrel around the campfire. It meant: the hurt’s gone, the scar’s there, but life has moved on.

The phrase also captures the cowboy spirit. It’s resilient, unsentimental, and practical. There was no time to dwell on past injuries, whether of the body or the heart. Once healed, it was time to saddle up and ride forward. Today, the saying still works as a down-to-earth way of telling someone: I’m over it. The scar’s there, but it doesn’t hurt anymore.

How about you? Have you ever heard this saying before? Used it yourself? Could you see yourself using it now? Let me know in a comment!

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Columbia, California's, Earliest Barbers by Zina Abbott

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are three primary reasons why I enjoy writing stories set in Columbia, California. First, it has an exciting California gold rush history. Second, the center of town has been preserved as a California State Park with many of the historical buildings restored to their original state. Third, between the existing newspaper accounts, census records, cemetery records, and posted research--particularly by Floyd D. P. Øydegaard--there are a lot of historical facts available.

Since I knew a year ago I would be writing about a barber, I chose to set my book in Columbia. I knew I would find a lot of information about what it had been like to be a barber in a gold rush town that grew big enough population-wise that for a few decades, it held the status of an incorporated city.

Between 1851--the city's founding--and the 1870s, there were not as many barbers as there were saloon-keepers. Saloon-keepers probably outnumbered all other occupations combined. Still, there were quite a few. 

Columbia barbershop and barber pole

The white pole with with alternating blue and red stripe separated by white stripes existed then as a way for customers to identify a business as a barbershop. However, many barber poles in Columbia were not cylindrical, nor did they stand vertically straight. The picture above shows the front of one Columbia barbershop. Others had poles attached to the wall so the pole hung over the walkway at an angle.

An interesting fact about barbers applied to almost everywhere in the United States, not just Columbia. Most barbers were Black or mulatto. In an article on Black barbers, it pointed out that in the early days of San Francisco, sixteen Black barbers dominated the profession. In Los Angeles, at one point, a single Black barber did the majority of the paid barbering work.

Discrimination and disparaging attitudes toward Blacks in earlier centuries included White thinking that Blacks were primarily suitable for performing services to benefit White men. Therefore, barbering was seen as an appropriate occupation for a Black or mulatto man. Many a White master made arrangements for an illegitimate mulatto son to train as a barber in order for him to have an occupation that would give him a better life than most jobs available to Blacks. 

Black barber in 1861 news illustration

Many Black barbers made good money--more than what many White men made in their occupations. Many became quite wealthy. One Atlanta, Georgia, barber became a millionaire. In spite of their understanding of the White attitude that allowed them to develop good businesses patronized by White customers, Black barbers laughed all the way to the bank. 

Blacks fended off White interference by catering to the White perception that Blacks were there to serve. They also carefully developed a tradition for involving other Black entry into the craft by preserving the artisan system--similar to the old trade guilds--and inventing first-class barber shops. They accepted apprentices and controlled their entry into journeyman status,and their ability to eventually obtain their own shops. by keeping the profession exclusive, to a great degree, they fended off outside competition and interference.

It was due to this research back in late 2024 that I made the decision to choose a mulatto barber to be the love interest of my secondary character in A Surprise for Christmas. 

A breakdown of the men who started barbershops in Columbia, California, supports this theory. I took most of my data from the information compiled by Mr. Øydegaard. I could not find any barbers I could definitely identify as White Americans who came from the East. Here is what I could find:

Barbers of unknown race or origin: 6 

(Mr. Øydegaard speculated that some barbers whose race was unavailable on existing records could have been Black or mulatto. Two I listed had French-sounding names, but were not among barbers identified as having immigrated from France.)

Barbers from France: 4

Barbers from Germany: 1

Charles Koch, from Prussia, and interior of his barbershop

Barbers from Prussia: 2 

(Prior to 1881, Germany and Prussia were considered two separate political entities.) 

Mulatto: 5

Black: 2

Two men, James Barker, Black; and J.A. Cousins, mulatto, operated a Shaving Emporium on the west side of Main Street. Later another barber, R. Henderson, identified in the records as a colored, also worked for James Barker. Other barbers had their own shops. some were in buildings the barbers owned.

Eagle Cotage-restored, they did not include the barbershop.

Some barbershops were attached to other businesses, such as the shop by the original Eagle Cotage. The building provided 100 cots for local miners. (This building burned three times, 1854, 1857, and 1861. Soon after, the land beneath the building was mined using hydraulic mining techniques. It was rebuilt as a display in the mid-1900s for the state park, but the planners did not include the early barbershop entrance.)

 

My book, Mail-Order Barber, is about a White barber who, like many residents of the Columbia area, came from New England. He would have been an anomaly in the multi-national, multi-racial group of Columbia barbers. However, I think you will enjoy the story. 

To find the book description and purchase options, 

please CLICK HERE. 

 

 

 

Sources:

http://www.columbiagazette.com/barbers.html

http://www.columbiagazette.com/blackbarber.htm

https://www.freshlyfaded.com/blog/2014/2/11/black-barber-history-and-racist-white-beards

  

 

Summer Sunflowers

 

There is just something about August that brings sunflowers to mind. 

It could be that they are blooming in the neighbor's yard and grow with abandon along roadside ditches. 

Or it could be their cheerful, bright faces turned upward to the sun, reminding me to do the same.

 According to the National Sunflower Association website, sunflowers are native to North America, found commercial success in Russia, and only in more recent years returned to North America as a crop. 

Native Americans first domesticated the plant into a single headed plant with a variety of seed colors including black, white, red, and black/white striped.

Some archaeologists suggest sunflowers were domesticated before corn, cultivated by Native Americans as far back as 3000 BC in present-day Arizona and New Mexico. 

Tribes used the seed to grind or pound into flour. Some mixed the meal with vegetables such as beans, squash, and corn. The seed was also cracked and eaten as a snack. References note squeezing the oil from the seed and using it in making bread. 

Non-food uses include dye for textiles and decorations. Parts of the plant were used medicinally for a variety of purposes, ranging from ointments to treatment for snakebite. The plants and seeds were used in ceremonies, and dried stalks could be used in building material.. 

Spanish explorers reportedly took sunflowers with them to Europe around 1500. It became widespread throughout present-day Western Europe, mainly as ornamental, but with some medicinal uses. An English patent in 1716 was grated for squeezing oil from sunflower sees. 

By 1830, sunflower oil was manufactured on a commercial scale. The Russian Orthodox Church inadvertently increased the popularity of sunflower oil when it forbade moist oil foods from being consumed during Lent. Sunflowers were not on the list, and the oil could be used. 

Russian farmers were growing more than two million acres of sunflowers by the early 1800s. Two specific uses emerged for sunflowers: oil production, and direct human consumption.

Russian sunflower seed found its way to the United States in the late 1800s. By 1880, seed companies advertising the "Mammoth Russian" sunflower seed in their catalogs. The seed name was still being used in the 1970s!

The first official government sunflower breeding program began in Canada in the 1930s. The plant breeding material came from Russian immigrant gardens. Acreage spread because of demand, and soon spread into Minnesota and North Dakota. 

Acreage in the late 1970s escalated in the U.S. Due to strong European demand for sunflower oil, more than five million American acres were dedicated to growing sunflowers. Today, the demand has drastically decreased for the US to export to Europe. 

And here I was just admiring how pretty the flowers looked. 

Are you a fan of sunflowers? 

USA Today Bestselling Author Shanna Hatfield grew up on a farm where her childhood brimmed with sunshine, hay fever, and an ongoing supply of learning experiences.

Shanna creates character-driven romances with realistic heroes and heroines. Her historical westerns have been described as “reminiscent of the era captured by Bonanza and The Virginian” while her contemporary works have been called “laugh-out-loud funny, and a little heart-pumping sexy without being explicit in any way.”

When this award-winning author isn’t writing or testing out new recipes (she loves to bake!), Shanna hangs out at home in the Pacific Northwest with her beloved husband, better known as Captain Cavedweller.

Honey: Liquid Gold of the Prairie

By Kimberly Grist


A Sweet Hum in the Distance

Imagine a quiet summer afternoon in 1883. The prairie grass sways gently in the warm breeze, and the faint hum of honeybees resonates from a pioneer woman’s kitchen garden. For settlers who bravely faced the unknown West, a thriving beehive was more than just a pleasant sound; it was a beacon of sweetness in hard times, a source of healing for the sick, and a precious “liquid gold” for trading when supplies ran low.

Honey as Food: Sweetness in Lean Times

On the frontier, where sugar was a luxury found only at distant trading posts, pioneers discovered honey as the perfect substitute. They drizzled it over fresh cornbread or biscuits, stirred it into coffee, and used it to glaze wild game, transforming simple meals into flavorful dishes.

Honey not only enriched the flavor of baked goods but also kept them moist longer, a true advantage when baking was a rare occasion. Honey biscuits and gingerbread sweetened with honey, along with invigorating vinegar-honey “switchel,” became cherished staples that nourished both body and spirit during the demanding harvest days.

Honey as Medicine: A Pioneer’s Pharmacy

Honey was more than just a sweet treat; it served as a natural medicine. Pioneers used it as an antiseptic, applying it to cuts and burns to prevent infections. When mixed with vinegar or lemon, honey was taken to relieve coughs and soothe sore throats. Additionally, when combined with herbs, it helped ease upset stomachs.

Beeswax, another valuable product from the hive, was used as the base for salves and ointments, lip balms, and even poultices for aching joints.

Honey as Trade: Liquid Gold of the Prairie

 
On isolated homesteads, a jar of honey could be exchanged for eggs, flour, seeds, or the use of a plow horse. Those who had more hives than they needed often sold comb honey in nearby towns or to traveling peddlers. Beeswax was also valuable; it was used for making candles, sealing jars, waterproofing leather, and lubricating tools.

Challenges of Frontier Beekeeping

Keeping bees on the frontier came with challenges:

• Bears and skunks were relentless hive-raiders.
• Harsh winters posed a serious threat and could wipe out entire colonies if the hives weren’t insulated properly.
• In true pioneer spirit, settlers improvised and crafted hives from hollow logs, straw skeps, or rough wooden boxes, skills they learned from their neighbors or books brought from the East.

Hard work? Absolutely, but the rewards were sweet, medicinal, and profitable. A case in point, check out the historically inspired recipe below for Honey Gingerbread. A close authentic parallel for this recipe would be Amelia Simmons’ 1796 recipe in American Cookery, which includes honey, sour milk, egg, spices, and flour.