Only 27 Days Left until the Biggest Giveaway EVER

I’m cleaning out the office and getting ready for a library of new books—AND I want you to subscribe to this blog so you never miss an update, a giveaway or an appearance in your area! And speaking of appearances, I’m adding two more to the 2016 calendar:

The weekend of June 11 at the Buffalo Bill State Historic Park in North Platte, Nebraska and August 18-19 at the Adams Museum in Deadwood, South Dakota. Details I’ll be coming soon, and if you’re interested in hearing more about future appearances register to receive a copy of the monthly newsletter.

Now, back to the big giveaway!!!

GRAND PRIZE: Win a copy of ALL of my books in print including: Entertaining Women: Actresses, Singers, and Dancers of the Old West, Hearts West: Mail Order Brides of the Frontier, The Young Duke: The Story of John Wayne’s Early Life, The Cowboy and the Senorita: The Life and Times of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Happy Trails: A Pictorial of Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Trigger, Sam Sixkiller: Cherokee Frontier Lawman, and fifteen other titles about women of the Old West. For a total of 20 books!! PLUS a western book bag and $50 Amazon gift card! Now is that a prize or what??

Second prize: You choose TEN of my books and a $25 gift card to Amazon.

Third prize: You choose FIVE of my books and a $15 gift card to Amazon.

All you have to do to enter is use the registration form below. You’ll also provide your mailing address and you must be a subscriber of the blog to win. Easy enough, right? If you want to comment and tell me where you’d put that big collection of books in your home, I’d love to hear about it!

Love Lessons from the Old West: Wisdom from Wild Women is just one of the books in this BIGA GIVEAWAY. From Calamity Jane’s relentless pursuit of Wild Bill Hickok to Emma Walters, who gave it all up for the dashing Bat Masterson—and learned to regret it, these romantic stories from the Old West are still familiar and entertaining to readers today. Meet Agnes Lake Hickok, the intrepid wife of Wild Bill Hickok and learn about the last love letter he sent before being dealt the dead man’s hand. Learn the story behind the charming performer Lotta Crabtree’s heartaches. And discover the tale of the dashing Kit Carson and his beautiful bride. This collection features the lessons learned by and from the antics of the women who shaped the West

Winners of the BIG GIVEAWAY will be chosen on Thursday, December 31 and will be posted in the comments of THIS blog, so watch for news on that day! Ready, set, GO!

Biggest Giveaway EVER

I’m cleaning out the office and getting ready for a library of new books—AND I want you to subscribe to this blog so you never miss an update, a giveaway or an appearance in your area! And speaking of appearances, I’m adding two more to the 2016 calendar:

The weekend of June 11 at the Buffalo Bill State Historic Park in North Platte, Nebraska and August 18-19 at the Adams Museum in Deadwood, South Dakota. Details I’ll be coming soon, and if you’re interested in hearing more about future appearances register to receive a copy of the monthly newsletter.

Now, back to the big giveaway!!!

GRAND PRIZE: Win a copy of ALL of my books in print including: Entertaining Women: Actresses, Singers, and Dancers of the Old West, Hearts West: Mail Order Brides of the Frontier, The Young Duke: The Story of John Wayne’s Early Life, The Cowboy and the Senorita: The Life and Times of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Happy Trails: A Pictorial of Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Trigger, Sam Sixkiller: Cherokee Frontier Lawman, and fifteen other titles about women of the Old West. For a total of 20 books!! PLUS a western book bag and $50 Amazon gift card! Now is that a prize or what??

Second prize: You choose TEN of my books and a $25 gift Amazon gift card.

Third prize: You choose FIVE of my books and a $15 gift Amazon gift card.

All you have to do to enter is using form below. You must be a subscriber of the blog (signed up to the email newsletter) to win.

Easy enough, right? If you want to comment and tell me where you’d put that big collection of books in your home, I’d love to hear about it!

Winners will be chosen on Thursday, December 31 and will be posted in the comments of THIS blog, so watch for news on that day! Ready, set, GO!

Last chance to enter to win a copy of the book Mochi’s War: The Tragedy of Sand Creek. Purchase a copy and help support the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site.

A portion of the book’s proceeds will go to the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site.

One hundred fifty-one years ago today the full impact of the tragedy at Sand Creek was just being realized. Colonel John Chivington and his Colorado volunteers massacre a peaceful village of Cheyenne camped near Sand Creek in Colorado Territory, setting off a long series of bloody retaliatory attacks by Indians.

Chivington, a former Methodist preacher with ambitions to become a territorial delegate to Congress, saw in the Indian wars an opportunity to gain the esteem he would need to win a government office. Disappointed that the spring of 1864 failed to produce any major battles, Chivington apparently determined to burn villages and kill Cheyenne whenever and wherever he could, making little distinction between peaceful or aggressive bands. Angered by frequent Indian attacks on settlers and the theft of their horses and cattle, many Colorado settlers supported Chivington’s methods, and a number of men volunteered to join his forces on hundred-day enlistments, forming the 3rd Colorado Volunteers.

Fearing that U.S. troops might mistakenly identify his band of peaceful Cheyenne as having participated in the attacks on settlers, Chief Black Kettle traveled to Denver under escort of U.S. Army Major Edward Wynkoop to affirm his non-hostile intentions. Chivington and the territorial governor of Colorado clearly did not want peace, yet they could not openly reject the overtures of Black Kettle. Believing that he had a promise of safety if he brought his people into Fort Lyon, Black Kettle lead the band of Cheyenne to a spot designated by Major Wynkoop near the fort along a small stream known as Sand Creek. The tribe flew an American flag and a white flag at the camp to indicate their alliance with the U.S. and alert all to their generally peaceful intentions.

Determined to have his glorious battle, Chivington refused to recognize that Black Kettle’s settlement was peaceful. At daybreak, Chivington and his 700 volunteers, many of them drunk, attacked the sleeping village at Sand Creek. Most of the Cheyenne men were away hunting, so the women, children, and elders were largely defenseless. In the frenzied slaughter that followed, Chivington and his men killed more than 100 women and children and 28 men. Black Kettle escaped the attack. The soldiers scalped and mutilated the corpses, hacking off body parts that included male and female genitals, and then returned to Denver where they displayed the scalps to approving crowds during intermission at a downtown theatre.

Because of Chivington’s depraved slaughter, the central plains exploded with retaliatory attacks from Cheyenne, Sioux, and Arapaho Indians. Fortunately, not everyone applauded Chivington’s behavior–many Americans, particularly in the east, strongly condemned Chivington’s attack and the barbaric mutilations. Subsequent congressional and military investigations denounced Chivington, but claimed they could not punish him because he had resigned from the army and was no longer under military jurisdiction. Nonetheless, Chivington spent the rest of his life trying to escape the stigma of his deplorable behavior at Sand Creek.

Mochi, a Cheyenne woman who survived the massacre, went on to avenge the death of her husband and parents who were slaughtered by Chivington’s men.

To learn more about Mochi read Mochi’s War: The Tragedy of Sand Creek.

A portion of the book’s proceeds will go to the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site.

Enter now for a chance to win a copy of Mochi’s War: The Tragedy of Sand Creek

On the morning of November 27, 1868, the stillness in the camp along the Washita River was broken by rifle shots and cavalrymen that descended upon the lodges from all directions, and the unfamiliar strains of “Garry Owen” blasted through the early dawn.

When the sun made its full appearance Cheyenne leader Black Kettle got his first look at the chaos in and around the camp. Riding at the lead of the main column was General George Custer. Confused tribesmen scurried in every direction; each sought refuge from the stinging, death-dealing fire of the soldiers’ guns. High-pitched screams of tiny children mingled with the dying groans of old men. Brave Indian youths sacrificed their lives so others might have a few minutes longer on earth.

Grief-stricken mothers clutched the limps bodies of children as they, too, turned the white snow scarlet with their blood. Cheyenne history notes that Mochi fought valiantly during the Battle at Washita, but, while defending her home and children from the soldiers, she was separated from her daughter, Tahnea. The five-year-old girl panicked when she saw the people in the village running for cover. Tahnea fell in with the other racing about and became disoriented by the screams and gunfire. She ran toward the river behind several women and children who plunged themselves in to the icy water.

To learn more about Mochi read Mochi’s War: The Tragedy of Sand Creek.

A portion of the sales of each book will go to the

Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site.

Enter now for a chance to win a copy of Mochi’s War: The Tragedy of Sand Creek

At daybreak on November 29, 1864, the sound of the drumming of hooves on the sand flats interrupted the hushed routine of the Indian women and children. Some of the women believed it was only buffalo running hard in the near distance, but it was Col. John Chivington and his men and they had come to attack and kill the Cheyenne in the camp.

Mochi was among the numerous Indians frantic to escape the slaughter. She watched her mother get shot in the head and heard the cries of her father and husband as they fought for their lives. Mesmerized by the carnage erupting around her, she paused briefly to consider what was happening. In that moment of reflection one of Chivington’s soldiers rode toward her. She stared at him as he quickly approached, her face mirrored shock and dismay. She heard a slug sing viciously past her head. The soldier jumped off his ride and attacked her. Mochi fought back hard and eventually broke free from the soldier’s grip. Before the man could start after her again she grabbed a gun lying on the ground near her, fired, and killed him.

To learn more about Mochi read Mochi’s War: The Tragedy of Sand Creek.

A portion of the book’s proceeds will go to the

Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site.