FASCINATING HISTORY

Post by Doris McCraw
writing as Angela Raines

Photo property of the author

In 1879 the city of Colorado Springs was a growing place. According to the city directory as of August 20, 1879, the population was five to five thousand five hundred people living there. They added there was probably another thousand who were making a temporary home for 'health' or 'pleasure' purposes.

What fascinated me was the business. Again according to the city directory ... "at the end of July 31, 1879 lumber, grocery, flour, feed, grain, dry goods, boots and shoes, hardware, drugs, etc. etc. were sold to the amount of $2 million. In addition to this about $175,000 worth of wool was marketed here. El Paso County, of which Colorado Springs is the capital, now stands at the head of the wool-producing counties of the state. Probably 200,000 head of sheep are now pastured upon its luxuriant grasses. The wool clip from these past seasons aggregated over 800,000 pounds. Seventy-seven individuals and firms are engaged in wool growing in the county, most of them residing in, and all drawing their supplies from Colorado Springs. This is also the center of a large trade in horses and beef cattle. There are six liveries and three banks one of which is a national and two private banks also in the city."

Photo property of the author

As I've perused this early city directory I've found a lot of pieces of history to dig into. As stated above, wool and cattle were a side by side growing concern. Of the wool growers, two were women, Mrs. Sarah B. Reed, and Mrs. R. Gamble. Mrs. Gamble was also involved as a stock grower.

Out of twenty physicians in town, three were women a fourth was in the nearby town of Manitou Springs. All four women were married and doing well in their chosen field.

There were four stage lines, four printers, two plumbers/gas fitters, three sewing machine agents, and eight music teachers.

It is from these gems, along with historic newspapers, that characters and stories arise in my writing. Both fiction and non-fiction.

When I started my 'spicy' story "Duty" for the collection in "Hot Western Nights", I thought of these women who were working in what most think of as a man's job. Being surrounded by these pieces of history and military installations created my hero and heroine. It is a wonderful gift to have so much inspiration close at hand.

Below is a short excerpt from the story "Duty".

Riding toward the ranch house, as evening approached, Dan took in the corals, barn, and bunkhouse. Everything appeared in even better shape than it seemed when he looked it over before riding down. Like a small town with a road through the middle, with gates at each end. But it was quiet, too quiet. For a second time today Dan called out, as he closed the gate behind him, "Hello?"

He heard a door open at the side of the house. Turning that way, he saw someone step out. The sun broke through and Dan was greeted by a vision in a worn gingham dress. Her hair draped across her shoulders and down her back. Her stance showed no apparent fear.

She was tall, but not overly so. She stood quietly. So taken by her unexpected appearance, Dan failed to see the rifle barrel sticking out the window.

"Yes, may I help you?" came Miranda's rich voice as she spoke to Dan.

"Pardon ma'am, I was riding through and wondered if I might water my horse and pick up some supplies before moving on? I'll pay for the supplies if you have them to spare?" Dan asked as he shook the water from his hat.

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What inspires you? What kind of stories do you enjoy reading or writing? Are you like me and fascinated by those little tidbits of history?

Doris Gardner-McCraw -

Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in
Colorado and Women's History

Angela Raines - author: Where Love & History Meet

Angela Raines Books

Angela Raines - Facebook

Angela's Mountain Angels - facebook group

WOMEN IN TEXAS HISTORY

Whether they get mentioned or not, women have always played a part in Texas History. A lot of times, as used to be typical, a woman was the wind beneath a man's wings. I'm not particularly fond of that, but it is what it is. In truth, women played a prominent role in Texas history and here a few.  

Sarah Cockrell

Sarah Cockrell (1819-1892), a business woman who built the first iron bridge over the Trinity River in Dallas in 1872. She thought big and invested wisely and set up her own corporations. When she died in 1892, her properties were so extensive that her will had to be published in pamphlet form.


Molly Goodnight (1839-1926) established the first ranch household in the Texas Panhandle in 1877. She rescued orphaned buffaloes, had her own cattle brand, the Flying T and helped establish the Goodnight College in 1898.

Mollie Goodnight

Elizabet Ney

Elizabet Ney (1833-1907) was a renowned sculptor from Bavaria. She
moved to Texas with her husband in 1872. She secured a commission to create statues of Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston for the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. She became the outspoken advocate of the teaching of fine arts in the state's schools and was instrumental in the founding of the Texas Fine Arts Association.

Minnie Fisher Cunningham

Minnie Fisher Cunningham (1882-1964) was President of the Texas Equal Suffrage Association from 1915 to 1920 and became the first executive secretary of the National League of Women Voters. She was an important leader in the campaign for votes for women on the state and national levels. Graduating in 1901, she was one of the first women in Texas to receive a pharmacy degree from the University of Texas medical school. She ran for but lost races for the U.S. Senate in 1928 and for governor in 1944.

Bessie Coleman, one of the first licensed female pilots and the world's first black female aviator and barnstormer, had a spectacular but brief career in air shows. She was born in Atlanta, Texas, the twelfth of 13 children. Her mother, an illiterate former slave, borrowed books so Bessie could learn to read.

Coleman became interested in the air war in Europe, and decided she wanted to become a pilot. but could find no flight school to accept her. The editor of the Chicago Weekly Defender gave her advice and financial assistance, and she enrolled in an aviation school in France. She earned her pilot's license from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale in 1921.

She encouraged young blacks to become involved in aviation, and once refused to perform in Waxahachie, where she had grown up, until blacks were allowed to use the same entrance as whites to the exhibition.

In 1926, Coleman died during a test flight in Florida. Black aviators memorialized her by naming their flying clubs and their magazine after her. In 1990, a street to Chicago's O'Hare Airport was named Bessie Coleman Drive, and, in 1995, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp in her honor. 

Sarah T. Hughes

Sarah T. Hughes was an attorney, legislator, women's rights activist, United Nations supporter, and Texas' first female state and federal judge. A member of a Dallas law firm from 1923 to 1935. she was elected to her first term in the Texas House of Representatives as a Democrat on 1930 and voted "Most Valuable Member" her second term. In 1935, she became Texas' first female district judge and was reelected seven times. She was Dallas County co-chair of the Kennedy-Johnson campaign in 1960, and in the following year, President John F. Kennedy appointed her Texas' first female federal judge. After Kennedy's assassination in 1963, she administered the Presidential oath of office to Lyndon B. Johnson.


These are but a few of the many women who have influenced me and I hope by reading about these women, you'll be inspired to read more about them or look up other influential women in our state of Texas and other states in our great nation.

Thank you for stopping by today. I love seeing y'all here on Sweethearts of the West.

Hugs, Carra

  Carra Copelin Website 
   

Jobs for the Time-Traveling Heroine

I want to talk a little bit about choosing a profession or line of work for our characters. A while back I mentioned the topic of women's work and how up until the late 1800's women, as a whole, worked inside the home.


The crazy notion during the late 1800's was that to clean the home women were achieving their highest calling. Women's popular literature of the time was full of advice about and encouragement for proper housekeeping. Thank goodness that notion changed in the early twentieth century!






The job selections for the heroine can be varied or somewhat limited depending on the era in which the story takes place. A woman living in the early twentieth century or before could be a housewife, a seamstress, washer-woman, or possibly a stenographer.

Nowadays, there are a plethora (love this word and wanted to use it) of choices. A woman today, as we know, can pretty much choose any career path she wishes to follow.

My next book, yes, I’m finally going to write that Time-Travel that’s been rolling about in my head for many years, is set in Dallas (Present day) and Galveston (1900).

Most of the time, whether the characters go back in time or come forward, we portray them as a fish out of water. Since I’d used that premise with my last book, Laurel: Bride of Arkansas, where a mail order bride from Philadelphia society married a widower living on an Arkansas farm. While anyone most certainly would fir this description, I didn’t want to use it as the whole plot point.

My heroine, Faith Daniels, needs to have a career she loves in the twenty-first century that she can draw on when she travels back in time.

Inspiration for Faith - 1900

Inspiration for Faith Daniels

Lately I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the home remodeling and do-it-yourself shows on certain channels. One in particular holds me captive each week, where the star of the show rehabs old homes to their former/original glory. Sooooooo, one day the “lightbulb” came on over my head and stirred the what-ifs. Aha! By jiminy, that’s it. 

Faith is a modern-day house rehabber living in Dallas. Her friend, Stella, travels with her to Galveston to see and work on the turn-of-the-century house she’s bought in a blind auction.

Inspiration for Faith's house.

Now, if you know me, you know that isn’t all Faith is going to go through. It seems to me there was a little storm passed through Galveston in 1900. She’s going to meet a special, tortured gentleman, Joe Benning, and I wonder if they’ll get together. Will she stay in the twentieth century or will she come back home to Dallas? The working title for this time-travel is, The Texan’s Redeeming Faith.

I’ll keep you posted on all the goings on just in case you’re interested. Do you like time-travel stories? Let me know.

Carra

Carra's Amazon Author Page