Cowboys & Cattle Drives

We are romance writers, who write our stories based in the Old West.  Naturally, the rugged and handsome cowboy is often the hero of our stories.

Many of these cowboys we base our stories on would have worked a cattle drive in real life, which in truth could be far from the exciting and romantic portrayal in our books.  There are many articles that give the details of where the cattle drives went - up the Chisholm Trail, or the Great Western Trail - usually starting in Texas and ending up in places like Dodge City, Kansas.

But, what happened while they were on the trail?  What would it be like for the cowboys driving the cattle across the prairies?

The Cattle Drive

By Geo B Bonnell (Heritage Auctions) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The herds they were driving could be anywhere from 1000 - 3500 head of cattle, and up.  These drives would need at least 18 cowboys, a cook driving the chuck wagon, and a horse wrangler who could look after the remuda.

The remuda was the herd of horses that would be brought along for the cowboys to switch out and use.  Since the trail was long and tiring for the horses, they could take turns giving horses a rest.

And of course, there was a trail boss.  The trail boss was the one who made the rules, and the cowboys working the drive were expected to follow.  Sometimes the trail boss would be the rancher themselves, but more likely they would be hired to control the drive for the rancher.

The cowboys were placed with what were called “swing riders” who would be about a third of the way back to the sides of the herd.  They followed the point cowboys who would be leading the lead steer.  Flank riders were nearer to the back, about two thirds of the way back of the herd.

And, the least desirable position was the tail riders.  Their job was to keep the slower and weaker cattle moving.  These cowboys had to endure the dust and smell that would be following the herd.

In order to try and avoid stampedes, which could be dangerous for both cattle and cowboys, the cam - lightening, a dropped pot on the stove, even something as small as a branch snapping under someone’s feet.

The cowboy’s pockets were normally empty until they reached their destination and they could be paid.  Businesses boomed in the towns where the drives ended and the cowboys could finally let off some steam with their new found wages.

A True Cowboy

John C. H. Grabill [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The life of a cowboy could be lonely, and often they drifted from one job to another.  But, learning about the work they would do on a long cattle drive has made me realized that these men deserve the rugged, heroic images we give them in our books.

They were hard working men who helped to grow a nation.

*****

Kay P. Dawson’s first mail order bride series, Wilder West, is available on Amazon.  Her new series, Oregon Sky, features the Wallace family who have settled in the Willamette Valley.  The first two books in the series, "Phoebe's Promise" and "Audrey's Awakening" are now available on Amazon - with "Ella's Embrace" scheduled for release soon!

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Wheat Harvest

by Shanna Hatfield

Due to spring arriving about a month early this year, wheat harvest has begun in our area. Just the other day, we noticed the number of fields that had already been harvested. Soon, smoke will fill the sky as the farmers burn off the stubble and prepare the fields for another year.

In my Pendleton Petticoats series is set in Pendleton, Oregon, in the early 1900s, several of the stories include scenes of wheat harvest.

Back in the early years of the twentieth century, Umatilla County (where Pendleton is located) produced approximately one percent of the nation’s wheat crop. Wheat harvest brought workers to town, provided income for families, and was quite an event.

It was also a lot of hot, sweaty, backbreaking work. Growing up on a farm, I write from experience about the dusty, itchy chaff that makes the air thick and hard to breathe.

When I looked for visual inspiration, I found several photos taken in the general area.

This photo was taken in 1903 in Sherman County, Oregon. (If you’ve read the Grass Valley series, it is set in Sherman County.)
Although I had a general idea of what each piece of equipment on the machine did, I had no idea how to describe it.

 

This was another photo that provided a great visual of exactly how I pictured wheat harvest at Nash’s Folly, the main ranch in the Pendleton Petticoats series. Taken in 1902 in Walla Walla, WA, this photo shows not only the machine, but also the rolling, hilly fields prevalent in the area.

This photo, also from the oldoregonphotos.com website, shows the team of 32 pulling a hillside harvester in 1900. Because of the rolling hills, the farmers needed a machine that wouldn’t tip over on the steep inclines.

 

And here’s a crew in the early 1900s sitting with bags of golden kernels  near Arlington, OR. The woman on the end doesn’t look particularly excited to be there- but if I had to cook for a threshing crew in the unbearable summer heat dressed in layers of petticoats and long sleeves, I’d probably look really, really grumpy.

 

I also found this awesome photo that shows walls created with 100,000 sacks of wheat near Pendleton. Mission is on the Umatilla Reservation.

After gathering the historic photos and studying them, I still had no idea how to describe the equipment, so I contacted my dad and asked his sage advice. I emailed him a couple of the photos. He called me and told me what all the parts and pieces were as well as giving me the names of the different jobs of each man on the equipment.

The jigger sewed the sacks shut once they were filled. The tender made sure the cutter was going where it was supposed to while the skinner drove the team. I had no idea!

My dad, who comes from a long line of farmers, also spent several years after he and my mother first wed working in Pendleton in the early 1950s. He had first-hand experience with the terrain, the hillside harvesters, and even told me why so many of the farmers preferred mules to horses (because the mules could go all day without a problem and the horses often got sores or sick.)

As I watch the modern equipment bring in this year's crop, it makes me think of those long ago days when  a legion of four-legged and human workers were needed to harvest the wheat.

~*~ 

  

Convinced everyone deserves a happy ending, USA Today best-selling author Shanna Hatfield is out to make it happen, one story at a time. Her sweet historical and contemporary romances combine humor and heart-pumping moments with relatable characters.

   When this hopeless romantic isn’t writing or indulging in rich, decadent chocolate, Shanna hangs out with her husband, lovingly known as Captain Cavedweller.

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Blog Tour Tuesday: HELEN'S PROMISE by Kate Cambridge

This week's blog tour features
HELEN'S PROMISE

by Kate Cambridge

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Helen Jones is a maternity nurse in a busy Boston hospital, and most days Helen loves her job, but today happens to be an exception...

When a young, unwed teenager shows up toward the end of Helen's shift, Helen and the head nurse work diligently to help the young woman deliver her baby safely, only to find that after she delivers one baby, another is not far behind!

The birth proves to be too much for the young woman to handle, and Helen finds herself dealing with her second surprise of the night when a promise is asked of her that she is not sure she can keep, but she knows she must try.

Helen's promise leads to more adversity than she could ever have imagined, and a seemingly not-so-simple promise into a journey filled with ultimatums and compromise.

HELEN'S PROMISE is a beautiful, warm mail-order bride story about love, promises and second chances, that will capture readers until the very end. 

EXCERPT:

"Unbelievable. Father, how can you expect me to marry that fast?"

"You're becoming a mother in a matter of days, I'm sure that it's something you can accomplish." He sat up in his chair and looked into her eyes. "I'm doing this for your own good. It's selfish of you to want to raise these children alone. They will need a father. If you are truly as interested in their well-being as you claim, then you'll be all too happy to find someone to marry."

"But I couldn't possibly meet and fall in love with someone that fast."

"Who said anything about love?" He shrugged. "When your mother and I married it was because our fathers decided it would be best when we were just children. Our marriage has been strong, and successful. It will be difficult to find a man that will accept someone else's children as his own, but you have proven to me that you're quite resourceful. So what will it be, Helen? Should I make a call to the judge, who happens to play cards with me once a week?"

She bit into her lip. She wanted to be able to do all of this on her own, but the truth was she couldn't. Not because she lacked any ability to mother, but because the laws were designed to limit a woman's choices. In a sense she was giving in, but in another she was ensuring that two children had a mother who loved them more than she knew was possible.

"Okay. I'll find someone." She picked up a pen and scribbled her name across the bottom of the document. Then she locked eyes with her father. "Since you and Mother could not support me without your conditions, then I have one of my own."

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow..."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kate Cambridge, a bestselling Amazon author, writes Sweet Historical Romance (The Suffragettes Mail-order Brides Series) and Sweet Contemporary Romance. She is a hopeless romantic, strong supporter of women's rights, and loves to create stories that inspire faith and love, with characters who seem real long after "The End."

Visit KateCambridge.com for more information, or KateCambridge.com/Choice to join the Choice Readers group for special launch-day pricing, contest, and more. Be one of the first to know what happens next...

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Prices in Times Past

I recently had a need to know the cost of certain everyday items in the early 1880’s. If a man needed a new horse, what would it cost? How about provisions for a journey in the mountains?

I was unable to find exactly the year I was seeking, but I don’t think prices changed that much, at least between financial panics. I know there was a depression in 1873 that lasted until 1879, then another one in 1884 to 1885. In the winter of 1886-1887 was the big die-off of cattle on the plains. Another large financial panic happened in 1893. So, what were prices inbetween? Some estimates show prices in the 1880’s through 1900s’s were lower than in 1870’s, and lower yet than during the 1860’s.

Here are some prices from a listing for 1872:

Wheat flour — $12.75/barrel – One bag 1880s: 1 bag of flour $1.80
Corn meal — 1 cent/pound
Rice — 11 cents/pound
Beans — 9 cents/quart
Roasted coffee — 42 cents/pound
Brown sugar — 10 cents/pound
Granulated sugar — 10 cents/pound
Molasses — 70 cents/gallon
Milk — 8 cents/quart to 56 cents/quart
Eggs — 30 cents/dozen
Soap — 8 cents/pound

Small measure of potatoes daily at .17 per day $1.19

1/4 lb of tea .38

1 qt milk .56

1 lb cheap coffee .35

Sugar 3 1/2 lb $1.05

1/2 ration meats per week $3.50

4 lb. butter $1.60

2 lb. lard .38

Soap, starch, pepper, salt, vinegar, etc. $1.00

Animals:

Two sources give the 1880s price of horses at $60, others say $150 to $200. A lot may have depended on whether the purchaser were on the plains or in a gold mining boom town. Saddles started at $40.00.

pigs $5

milking cows just over $20

goats $2

Oh, and forget about people paying with double eagle gold coins. They weren’t that common in use. In the East, paper money was often used. In the West, purchases were more commonly paid for in gold dust or coin, the largest generally being the half-eagle worth $5.00.

Zina Abbott is the pen name used by Robyn Echols for her historical novels. The first three novellas in the Eastern Sierra Brides 1884 series, Big Meadows Valentine,  A Resurrected Heart, and Her Independent Spirit, are now available. Haunted by Love is scheduled to be released within the next few weeks. He Is a Good Man was published as part of the Lariats, Letters and Lace anthology.

Sources:

http://www.choosingvoluntarysimplicity.com/what-did-things-cost-in-1872/

http://oldrecipebook.com/1800s-livingcost.shtml

http://www.answers.com/Q/How_much_was_a_horse_and_saddle_in_1880?#slide=2

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-299365.html