Inspirations

Post by Angela Raines

So what inspires you? Is it a line, a word, a picture? Today I wanted to share some of my visual inspirations and maybe some history.

This is the area around Wilkerson Pass on the way from Colorado Springs, CO to the South Park region of Colorado. Yes, there really is a South Park. The park is composed of a grassland flat within the basin formed by the Rocky Mountain Mosquito and Park Mountain Ranges at an elevation of 10,000 ft and is around 1,000 square miles in size. It is the largest and southernmost of three high altitude basins in the Front Range of Colorado. The other two are aptly names North and Middle Park. On the West side of the basin are the collegiate peaks.

This is Pikes Peak's Western slope as seen from Wilkerson Pass. My fictional town of Agate Gulch sits between these two areas. 

This photo and old ruin was the inspiration for the town of Agate Gulch. The area is located north and west of the Cripple Creek/Victor mining district and close to the town of Guffey, CO. Guffey is famous for its mayors.  In the 1980-90s animals were elected as mayors of the town, although such an office does not officially exist. According to the locals political parties are called the "Democats" and the "Repuplicans". The last known Mayor of Guffey was a cat named Monster who was elected in 1998.

I just love this photo for the image of the old and new together. It was taken just prior the the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs that destroyed the Flying W Ranch along with numerous other structures. This photo is from that property.

This is a photo of the Gold Coin Club in Victor, CO. For more about this structure and the story of the men who built it: http://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2013/11/to-build-empire-by-doris-mccraw.html

I leave you with one of my favorites. This sculpture is in the Pathfinder Regional Park located between Canon City and Florence Colorado. To me it typifies the spirit of the men and women who made the journey West to find a new path for their lives.

I have two new stories out this week. One "Never Had a Chance" is Western Historical Romance. The other "Lost Knight, Out of Time" is a Medieval short. Both are part of the Prairie Rose Publications 3rd Birthday Bash.

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Angela Raines is the pen name for Doris McCraw. Doris also writes haiku posted five days a week at – http://fivesevenfivepage.blogspot.com and has now passed one thousand haiku and photos posted on this blog. Check out her other work or like her Amazon author page:  http://amzn.to/1I0YoeL

ONE LUCKY COMMENTOR WILL GET A CHOICE OF ONE OF THE TWO STORIES 

Women's History Stories-A Passion

Post copyright by Doris McCraw/Angela Raines-author

Over four years ago I was doing further research on a murder trial that took place in Colorado Springs in 1879. I had spent about twenty years working with juveniles who were in trouble with the law, so this line of research was not out of the ordinary. Then everything took an unexpected turn. I came across the obituary of a woman doctor who was practicing in Colorado Springs. I would say Julia E. Loomis changed my life, or at least added another direction.

It seemed very few had even heard of her. I set about trying to find all I could about this woman. The librarians pointed me in the direction of a book by Mary DeMund, “Colorado Women Physicians”, but she wasn't included. Although the DeMund book has been a great help in finding other women physicians in Colorado prior to 1900, it doesn't have them all. So how did I find the story of Julia? She was born in 1816 in New Woodstock, New York. That information was located on her headstone here in the local cemetery. She is also the only early woman doctor who has an MD after her name. She went to the Cleveland Womens Medical School in her fifties. The whole family moved a great deal, but determination did win out. She arrived in Colorado Springs between 1876-78. Unfortunately she passed away in early 1880, just a year before Colorado started licensing physicians.

Julia E Loomis MD Headstone
Photo copyright Doris McCraw

You might think she was one of the first. While she was early, most people believe Alida Avery, who had been the physician at Vassar, was the first woman medical school graduate in Colorado. She arrived in 1874. I found reference to another women prior to 1874 in the Denver newspaper of 1873. Her name was Eliza Gillette. The California licensing board, which a lot of physicians used, has her graduating from a medical school in Ohio. Her California license number was 5. By 1877-8 she was in Montana then Washington state. So far that is all I've found of this lady.

It seems to my mission to find and record as much of the lives of these women as I can. I write of them on blogs, speak to classes and groups about them, and will eventually publish my findings in magazines and books. There may even be a few biographies, for these women deserve it.

Victor Colorado today

On March 19, I will be in the mining town of Victor Colorado, part of the Cripple Creek mining district, speaking about these women, including those women who practiced in the area. Cripple Cree/Victor was the last major gold strike in the lower forty-eight. Gold was found in 1891 and the explosions of people began. Even Dr. Susan 'Doc Susie' Anderson tried to start a practice there, since her father and brother lived in the area.

Telling their stories is a passion that has not abated, and I hope it doesn't anytime soon. In the meantime, I'll keep searching, writing. But don't fear, I have plenty of fiction stories that Angela Raines will be sharing over the course of the next few months. Until next time. Happy reading and writing.

Angela Raines is the pen name for Doris McCraw. Doris also writes haiku posted five days a week at - http://fivesevenfivepage.blogspot.com and has now passed one thousand haiku and photos posted on this blog. Check out her other work or like her Amazon author page:  http://amzn.to/1I0YoeL

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"A COWBOY CELEBRATION"
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HOME FOR HIS HEART
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