Shoes-on-the-Ground Research

One aspect of being a writer I enjoy a lot is the research. Lots of information can be gathered by spending time online. Now, the trips we used to take to the reference desk at the local library are reserved only for when we get stuck. Clicking links at the bottom of Wikipedia pages can sometimes be like going down the proverbial rabbit hole. Some can lead to obscure articles. But I have followed URLs and found original sheet music from the 1850s or playbills from a 1870s opera. This time what I wanted would be most easily gained from a visit to the site. I was already making the trip to Texas for a writers’ retreat so I tacked on a day before and after to conduct research.

first owner was Goldbeck who built cabin in 1854

1890 blacksmith shop

Last Thursday, I spent time in a small town named Comfort that I’ve kept in my mind as being the one I’ve used as a base for my fictional town of Dorado. I walked the layout of the real town, snapped some pictures of the historic downtown, and gathered what information I could. The series, Dorado, Texas, contains both contemporary and historical stories with ancestors, descendants, and entangled families.

Ingenhuett General Store 1881

Immediately following the acquisition of Texas from Mexico, immigrants came from Europe to settle the land. From 1845 to 1861, many towns were founded by German Freethinkers, who were mostly intellectuals who believed in reason and democracy as ways to create community, instead of religious and political autocracy. Some even held intellectual forums in Latin.

Freethinkers were advanced for the times in that they believed in an individual philosophy over religious dogma and advocated equal rights for all people with many working toward the abolishment of slavery. A respect for life and nature was an important part of their moral values. Secular education and organizations of various types provided social and cultural activities.

I've been away for four years and I'd almost forgotten the gorgeous cloud formations. I'd also forgotten about the wide variety of roadkill--skunk, opossum, deer, fox, raccoon, armadillo.

Now that I’ve walked the streets and gathered local literature, I know I will write the town with more details and accuracy.

I'd love to hear from others how important a sense of place is in the stories they choose.

How Setting Affects Character Building

When I chose Wyoming for the setting of Dreams of Gold, a western historical novella, I did so because WY is known as the equality state. Even before the territory gained admission to the United States, legislation was passed in 1869 that granted women the right to vote, serve on juries, and hold elected office. The territorial document was the first time a government had granted “female suffrage” and became law upon Governor A.J. Campbell’s signature on December 10, 1869.

Within three months, Esther Hobart Morris had been appointed justice of the peace in South Pass City (a site of gold strikes) to fill out a term for a man who’d been ousted. Her “courtroom” consisted of a wooden slab bench in her log cabin. Although she had no legal training, she had been the owner of a successful millinery business in her prior home state of New York. In her first case, she arrested J.W. Stillman, the man who had served in the position but refused to relinquish his court docket. She served for nine months and gave decision on 27 cases, 9 of which were criminal in nature. Her appointment as a judge garnered national attention, and she’s credited with encouraging (perhaps even co-authoring) the woman’s suffrage bill put before the legislation.

Esther courtesy of Wikipedia

Also noteworthy was that on September 6, 1870 in Laramie, Mrs. Louisa Swain was the first woman to cast a vote in a general election. She was 69 years old and described as “a gentle white-haired housewife.”

These facts were important because such events would have appeared in newspapers across the nation, establishing Wyoming as an area with a progressive attitude toward women’s rights. My heroine, Ciara Morrissey, grew to adulthood in the east, Massachusetts in particular. Living in an area of higher population gave her access to a wider number of opportunities—ways to support herself, as well as gatherings, colleges, and public meetings that educated and informed. Raised by a liberal-minded mother, Ciara had attended both anti-slavery and suffrage meetings since she was a child. Therefore, she arrived in Wyoming Territory in 1871 with expectations on how to conduct her business that were a bit more open-minded than the hometown sheriff, Quinn Riley, was used to. And the sparks flew…

BLURB: Sheriff Quinn Riley is tracking an Irish swindler and sticking close to the opinionated woman from the runaway stagecoach. Within hours, easterner Ciara Morrissey puts the town in an uproar by inquiring about his prime suspect.  He’s duty-bound to keep her safe, even when being close to the green-eyed beauty sets off a stampede in his heart.

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