I am amazed sometimes how much life can be crammed into a week. Work, Bible study, rehearsals for the Christmas play at church, phone calls and emails with the lawyers involved in Rick’s case, lunch meetings about the condition of today’s prison system, private investigating assignments… I’d love some down time but need to be at an architectural committee meeting first thing this morning. I’m going to make plans to go to Monterrey soon and spend some time on Cannery Row. I don’t think I’ll have time to visit historic Monterrey for a few months but I can dream. I’ve been working on a book about women outlaws of the Mid-West and focusing on a lady named Victoria Woodhull. When she was arrested in 1872 for obscenity, she was one of the most notorious female outlaws at the time. And what was considered obscene at that time consisted of Woodhull sharing with readers of her newspaper the notion of “free love.” She believed women should be able to select her own lovers – such a controversial idea in the late eighteen hundreds. A few times during the day I check to see how many people have visited my website. I average about 65 visitors a day. Yesterday however I had 209 visits. I was very excited until I did a check and found out the hits came from one location in Lees Summit, Missouri. The user is a repeat visitor to the site who works at a hospital. I guess it’s to be expected. As Voltaire once said, “Fear follows crime and is its punishment.” That fear will only intensive as the year progresses. I’ve been waiting a long time for justice to be served – even longer to write about it. The Plea will be the full story of what happened to Rick and I’m more anxious to write about that than I’ve been about writing anything in a long time. It almost seems as though the desire to write at all was leading to this pivotal point. Amazing how God works.
Month: December 2011
Never Forget
“No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.” General George S. Patton, Jr.,in Patton by Francis Ford Coppola. Patton never was one for tact, but this quote reminds me of the events that took place today seventy years ago. I’m grateful to the men and women who fought for my freedom. I’m thankful for those souls in faraway countries today that are protecting this nation. I pray that the people in this country never forget the price that was paid for freedom. WWII Vets are passing away at an alarming rate and with them goes the history of that time. My grandfather served in WWII, my father in Vietnam, my brother Corey in the Gulf War, and my brother Rick served in Desert Storm. I spoke a bit about Rick and his service to our country last night at a women’s ministry mixer. Rick was one of the most patriotic men I ever met. His pride in country, as have mine, eroded away when we saw how the justice system really works. Part of the lesson at last night’s event was to write down the name of one person who was hindering you in your walk with the Lord. We were challenged to write down the name of one or two people we couldn’t forgive. I know who they are. I see their faces every day in my mind’s eye but I couldn’t bring myself to write their name on a paper. These two women have taken so much – more than they will ever realize. I have my own war against them that will hopefully come to a close in the New Year. I will not rest until they pay for the lives they have ruined. They grossly underestimated the devotion to what is decent and right. As Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto said to his superiors upon learning of the success of the attack on Pearl Harbor, “I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve.” The war rages on.
This Day…
It happened this week in 1841 – Two Hawaiian ambassadors were in Washington, D.C., for about two weeks, when they received a letter from Daniel Webster, secretary of state. It declared “as the sense of the government of the United States, that the government of the Sandwich Island (Hawaii) ought to be respected; that no power ought either to take possession of the islands as a conquest or for the purpose of colonization, and that no power ought to seek for any undue control over the existing government, or any exclusive privileges or preferences in matters of commerce.’ Armed with this informal recognition of independence by the US Government, the two ambassadors soon set off for London and Paris. Meanwhile, various Americans had already assumed positions of some influence in the Hawaiian Government, and increasing numbers of American whaling ships are putting into Hawaii for supplies.
Want Ads
With any luck I’ll be able to turn in the last chapter for the second edition of the mail-order bride on the frontier book. The publisher hasn’t decided on a title yet, but they are always good at coming up with great titles so I have no doubt they will do the same for the next book. I met a gentleman a few days ago that had appeared on an episode of the program History Detectives and spoke about mail-order brides. He and his wife found several photographs of mail-order brides at an antique store and used them in the episodes. It seems like many great historical pieces are in private hands. I’d love to find such a collection in my travels – some wonderful artifact hidden behind a velvet photo of Dogs Playing Poker maybe. There was quite a bit of interest expressed in mail-order brides among the readers at the convention I attended this past week. I thought I’d share a bit of what I learned about the subject and included in the introduction of the new book. When gold was discovered in the far west during the 18th century, a billowing mass of humanity swept toward the setting sun with the swiftness of a tidal wave. Prospectors, businessman, and explorers came seeking a better way of life and the hope of amassing a fortune. No matter what riches were to be had or the endless territories yet to be conquered, unattached settlers who made the journey longed for a companion to share the new land. Due to the rigors of the frontier the males were in the vast majority. The few women that did migrate to points beyond the Mississippi were laundresses, cooks, or adventurers with no desire to wed, pioneers with children, or soiled doves. The need for marriageable women in the west immediately following the Gold Rush was great. According to the October 6, 1859 edition of the Daily Alta California newspaper, it was estimated that there were 200 men to every women. At the close of the Civil War the need for men in the East was as pronounced. Capitalizing on that need on both sides of the country were mail order bride publications. Women and men in search of a spouse placed advertisement and corresponded with individuals they hoped would agree to marry them. The couples could exchange as few as three letters before accepting a proposal. Others choose to write one another for several years before committing their lived to the interested party. Prior to 1865, the cost to mail a letter more than four-hundred and fifty miles was $.22 from where the correspondence originated. Many of the mail order brides were at least that far away. Women en route to the place where their future husbands were located carried the few personal belongings they owned in a trunk or satchel. An additional dress, bed clothes, lace collars and cuffs, (used to wear over an old dress for a Sunday church service), a family Bible, photographs, and a book or two were all they usually brought with them.
Brides who consented to move west to wed endure a difficult journey whether traveling by stage, with a wagon train or by steamship. The desire to be a wife and have children was so overwhelming women happily agreed to make the strenuous one hundred and twenty nine day trip from Independence to San Francisco. Wagon trains and stagecoaches were hot and crowded and the vehicles easily overturned. Sea travels wasn’t any more comfortable and could be dangerous as well. Mail order brides boarding steamships on the East Coast ventured up the Pacific for a trip that lasted more than three months. Between 1852 and 1867, one hundred and sixty steamships burned, two hundred and nine blew up, and more than five hundred and seventy vehicles hit an obstruction in the water and sank. The popularity of two mail order bride catalogues, Matrimonial News and the New Plan, sparked entrepreneurs to tap into the market and create their own publications. All were devoted to the proposition that every man should have a mate. Traditionalists criticized the patrons that employed the unconventional method of selecting a spouse. Prospective brides and grooms defended their decision to court via mail with a quote all the matrimonial newspapers and magazines carried. “Correspondence between intelligent young ladies or gentlemen cannot fail to sharpen the wits and brighten the intellect and is an excellent discipline for the mind. It is an educator in many ways, and the practice of friendly letter writing should be encouraged.”
More than one hundred and sixty years after the first mail order bride was sent for, the method of choosing a life partner is still being used. Hearts West II contains stories of the origin of the practice, the romantic unions that came about as a result, as well as the disappointments and desertions. As I mentioned, the title of the book will not be Hearts West II. I’ll keep visitors to the site updated on the change.
No Place Like Home
Saturday night and I can’t wait to be home. Although I met some wonderful people at the SASS Convention in Vegas, I’m not a Vegas fan. It’s been a long trip. It’s been a long year. Watching It’s A Wonderful Life while I wait to leave for the airport. I love the movie but George Bailey is never able to leave Bedford Falls. Happy ending not withstanding I always felt badly for him because of that. People at this conference were incredibly long suffering and let me prattle on about the books. At some point, and for reasons that escape me at the moment, I talked to the audience about my brother. He’s always at the forefront of my thoughts especially so at this time of year. Each man’s life touches so many other lives and when they aren’t around it leaves an awful hole. I’m on the lookout for a miracle.
