19th-Century Sports for Women: Archery

 

Several years ago, I started a series titled “Entertainers of the West” with the intention of highlighting a different type of nineteenth-century entertainment in each book. While researching potential types, I learned that archery had been popular in England during Victorian times among those women who enjoyed leisure time. For whatever reason, I could never fit that sport into a title for that series.

But when I needed another subject for a novella in “The Bride Who” series, I was reminded about archery (thanks, Zina Abbott). My high school in Northern California offered a six-week rotation of archery in our Physical Education classes. And I loved it—maybe because the sport was one of the various activities where the focus is on the individual’s performance. I was the only one responsible for how well I performed, not like with volleyball, basketball, or field hockey.

So I was thrilled to discover the founding of the National Archery Association fell in the right time period for the series. I researched the heck out of the place where it was founded—Crawfordsville, Indiana—and I started my story there. Because such esoteric facts are interesting to only a few, not many details were given about if the association was open to both males and females. Sometimes, less is better, and because we write fiction, authors make stuff up. Not much more was needed for my creative self to take off with fleshing out my heroine who loved the sport more than she loved the life her parents planned.

Blurb for The Bride Who Shoots Arrows

Mayde Shelley has dutifully followed her parents’ plans—finishing teachers’ seminary and preparing for a respectable post—but her true passion is archery, a pursuit no proper lady should love as fiercely as she does. The opportunity arises for helping an aunt in Colorado, and Mayde seizes the chance for adventure before duty closes in. Life on the McPherson Ranch proves harsher than expected, as does Garek Rowland, a restless horse tamer who’s never stayed anywhere long enough to belong. He’s ready to move on—until he finds Mayde practicing beneath the wide western sky, stubborn, spirited, and everything he’s sworn not to want. But as drought, wildfire, and town gossip threaten the ranch, Mayde must choose between her family’s expectations, her dream of teaching archery, and a man determined not to put down roots.

Amazon link and in KU

My questions to you are, how many of you have done archery at a time in your life? When and where? Did you enjoy it?

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19th Century Astoria, Oregon--home to my series

 Over the past five years, I’ve built a multi-ethnic cast of characters (Swedish, Danish, German, Irish, Finnish, Russian, and Scottish) with my contributions to the Old-Timey Holiday Kitchen series. I set all five novellas in Astoria, Oregon, between 1876 and 1879. I like to think the hub of the community is the Riverside Bakery, where the first three heroines served as managers. The most recent addition is Kringla by Kelci, in which I gave cameos to as many past characters as I could fit into the story.

Kelci Odell yearns to be a newspaper reporter and is caught upstairs at a saloon, dressed as a man. Her wish was to interview the ladies and expose their plight in an article that would land her a job…instead of making cheese on the family dairy farm. But her conservative Norwegian family is scandalized. The solution: send Kelci to her cousin Ritter’s Astoria, Oregon hotel until the gossip dies down. Being in a new location doesn’t quash her curiosity.

Even though Hauk Stefanssen spends his days on a fishing trawler, he hears about the schemes of a new arrival in town from his chatty younger sisters. The woman’s spoken with Peder at the fire safety council and Eryk at the family’s cannery. Feeling ignored, he seeks her out and is bowled over by her assertive personality. After reading her articles, he sees through the brashness to the compassionate woman inside and vows to become better acquainted.  But what does an easy-going fisherman have to offer this dynamo?

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The other titles are:

Ginger Cake by Glynna

Aebleskiver by Annika

Butter Pound Cake by Berdina

Escalope by Emma

Written as standalones, they are enjoyed read in the above order because subsequent stories include mentions of previous characters.

I have thoroughly enjoyed diving into the research to make the city come alive and have loved the tidbits I learned about ethnic customs.

If you had to pick one most important thing you want to see included in historical stories, what would it be?

Laramie…A Widely Popular Name

 

My recent release, Eveleen, is set in Laramie City, Wyoming, in the town’s early days. The word ‘city’ was added because so many other places (mountain range, peak, river, plains, Army fort, county, city) held that name and references to the town needed to be distinguished. The name derives from a French-Canadian trapper, Jacques LaRamie, who disappeared in a mountain range in the area in the 1820s. Hence, the name. Features named after LaRamie are only second to those named after Jim Bridger.

Laramie Peak courtesy Wikipedia

Grenville Dodge served as the chief engineer for the Transcontinental Railroad and was responsible for the initial layout of Cheyenne (1867), Laramie City, Rawlins Springs, Julesburg, and Dale City (all in 1868). A tent city sprang up on the Laramie Plains in early 1868 along the Overland Stage Route, in anticipation of the railroad coming through. Not far away to the south stood Fort Sanders. As was typical, supplies arrived at pre-determined spots, followed within a few days by the arrival of the crews building the tracks. Along with the crews came saloon owners and the ladies of the night who set up their tents, often for as short as a week before moving on. Mr. Dodge labeled the rag-tag settlements as Hell on Wheels* because no law enforcement was present in these gatherings of several hundred people.

from Carbon County Museum website

Possible because of the protected location of the high-plains town being surrounded by mountain ranges, Laramie City dug in roots and remained after the railroad builders moved west in May 1968. The first train arrived on May 4, and by May 10 when regular service was established, permanent buildings were already being built. Lawless and dangerous at first, the town struggled to find an adequate sheriff. The first mayor quit after six weeks because the other council members didn’t support him. The first marshal, “Big” Steve Long, also owned a saloon, Bucket of Blood. With his two half-brothers, he used harsh tactics to force people off their land, often through the challenge of a gunfight. By October, he’d killed 13 men.

My first story in the Rescue Me Mail Order Brides, Treise, featured an honorable lawman who took the job in 1869. I like to think the town was better for Paxon’s presence. In Eveleen, the hero is a dairy farmer, who I see as a settler of the Wild West.

*an acclaimed TV series of this name ran for five seasons starting in 2011

BLURB

Eveleen Murphy works as a maid in the house of a Philadelphia lawyer. Amiable and fun-loving, she is a favorite in the household. But when her employer’s younger brother moves in, she is confronted at every turn by his unwanted romantic advances. When her cousin’s in danger, she takes in Treise. The women make a plan to answer ads for mail-order brides in the small city. But when jewelry goes missing and Eveleen is blamed, she has to go on the run. With only one letter from a potential husband in hand, Eveleen sets out for Wyoming Territory.

Dairy farmer Bjorn Omdahl has been content to work the family dairy farm with his younger brother. Knowing after his twin’s marriage, Einar will move to his wife’s farm, Bjorn places an ad for a mail-order bride, hoping for an experienced farm woman. The first woman to reply is from the city, and he doubts the wisdom of his communication. When he’d faced with the woman’s arrival at his farm, he has to decide to move her into his home or fund her ticket home. With such a tenuous start, what hope does this relationship have?

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