INDEPENDENCE DAY IN SMALL-TOWN AMERICA, 1800s by Marisa Masterson

 Would I celebrate Independence Day if I was a settler who had claimed land in the Dakotas? How about back in the East? Would the 4th of July be as important to someone there?

Independence Hall, Signing of Declaration

Before the 1860s, Independence Day meant artillery shots, a parade, and a speaker who would inspire patriotism in the hearts of the townspeople. It was reverent, a sort of combination ofThanksgiving Day and Veterans Day.

4th of July, Philadelphia, 1812

After the American Civil War, people turned to something much different. After the brutal war, it was little wonder that they craved escapism. The day became one filled with picnics, games, and drinking. This is when the day began to resemble our modern 4th of July in the United States.

In the West, settlers truly embraced the day. Farmers and ranchers used it as an excuse to come to town and celebrate with people that they rarely saw during their isolated days and weeks. Rather than celebrating in small groups within a town as had become common in the East by then, whites in the West continued to come together as a town to enjoy the day.

Photo from Missouri History Museum, 1894

 People enjoyed picnics and games such as a tug of war or foot races. Bands played, and choirs sang. These were people who celebrated the freedom to follow their consciences as well as opportunities opened to them by democracy. They had no need to follow a king, such as Laura Ingles Wilder wrote about in her book Little Town on the Prairie.

If you would like to read more about this kind of celebration, recorded through memories and photos, I encourage you to go to https://www.sdhspress.com/journal/south-dakota-history-17-2/the-old-fashioned-fourth-of-july-a-photographic-essay-on-small-town-celebrations-prior-to-1930/vol-17-no-2-the-old-fashioned-fourth-of-july.pdf. 

If you enjoy reading about times past, check out my latest release.

Chicken thieves, rustlers, and a corrupt town marshal! What a time for a rancher to take on a bride he doesn’t know.

Ike Davis struggles to understand the meaning of people's expressions. He recognizes that about himself. It's his main reason for avoiding the town and its residents.Will marrying really change that?
Mae Williams arrives in Montana to claim what is owed her father. He saved Davis during the war. Now marrying Mae becomes Davis's way of paying back the debt.
But marriage?
Can anything good come when the man is forced by honor to marry a woman who's not like he expected?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXQ2F47R

SHERIFF, TOWN MARSHAL, OR MARSHAL? by Marisa Masterson

US Marshals, East Texas

 I like accuracy, don't you? As I wrote Davis's Debt, I started to wonder. Have I been using the correct title for any lawmen that I include in my novels. So what was the difference between a sheriff and a marshal in the Old West?

After some digging, I found that many people use the titles of sheriff and marshal interchangeably. I'm not alone in relying on western novels and old movies as the source of my understanding those titles. Really, they were very different.

If we want to be technical about it--and we do for accuracy, right?--a sheriff was elected. He would have jurisdiction over a county. His role was to keep the peace in that area, so he was known as a peacekeeper.

There were two different marshals. Neither was elected.

The first was a town marshal. This man was appointed by city officials and had no power outside the town line. In some instances, the town marshal was limited to overseeing public safety. 

The second was the US Marshal, appointed by government representatives, like judges. They often acted as the sole law in new territories of the West. 

Wyatt Earp was appointed as Deputy

US Marshal,but only to deal with the problem

in Tombstone.That makes him more like a town

marshal, except hewas authorized to kill men. 

So, there we have it. Yet, I found that some towns still used the terms interchangeably in their infancy. It could be that our old movies were not that far off.

Please, take a look at this excerpt from Davis's Debt. You will see how I have applied this information.

“Don’t see you in town much, Davis. Whatcha up to?”

The raspy tones of Marshal Chapford’s voice sent a frisson of alarm down Ike’s spine. Almost unwillingly, his head turned in the man’s direction. The wink of light on the man’s tin star deepened his apprehension.

“Got business is all, Marshal. Nothing to worry the law.” He mumbled the words, moving away toward the stage office. He would ask about routes.

The man put a hand on his arm, stopping the other's retreat. “Hold up. I wanna ask if you’ve heard about the rustlers. They’ve been troubling your neighbors.”

He gave Chapford’s hand a meaningful look. His cold gaze rose to meet the lawman’s and the hand slipped away. The marshal glowered as he took a step back.

“Just wanted you to know what’s happening. Hope those rustlers won’t bother you.”His tone said he wished the opposite. One more thing that did not make sense to Ike about the man.

At the rancher’s continued silence, Chapford sputtered, “I know you’re a hard man, tough enough to deal with rustlers on your own. Only, it’s my job to warn you about such things.”

Ike scowled. “Your job ends at the town line, you being a town marshal and not the county sheriff. What’re you doing, chasing after cattle thieves?”

Chapford met his scowl without flinching. “Heard about the rustling. That’s all. If folks ask for my help, I’ll give it.”

With a snort, Ike Davis narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, and it don’t hurt that any rustlers more’n likely have a bounty on their head.”

The smarmy man smiled. “That’s a fact. Helps pay my bills to round ‘em up. Money’s important to a man.”

Davis's Debt releases June 20th. It's available now for pre-order! 

 

Ike Davis struggles to understand what the people around him mean by their expressions. He realizes that about himself. It's one reason he has for staying away from the town and its residents. Will marrying really change that?

Mae Williams arrives to claim what is owed to her father. They had saved Davis during the war. Now marrying Mae becomes his way of paying back the debt.
But marriage!

Can anything good come when the man is forced by honor to marry a woman who is not like he expected?