Journal Notes

I was only in Dodge City for a short time, but I miss it. The people, the history. It was a delightful place and I look forward to going back when the book is released. I heard from the producers of the film project I’m working on. The screenwriter finished the rewrite and they are heading out to the studios soon. Wish I could have been the one to rewrite the piece, but they needed a name writer and that ain’t me.

I’m pinning a lot of hope on this book I’m writing entitled Thunder Over the Prairie. I am working very hard to make sure it’s accurate and I have every source listed. I want this western to open the door to other writing opportunities. Lately, I don’t have the passion I used to…for anything. A personal crisis has left me drained. Bad things happen and the hurt that accompanies it is overwhelming. The hurt should kill you, but you keep going. Sometimes the only thing that keeps me going is the story, the next writing project. Don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t write.

I’m disappointed in the sales for Tales Behind the Tombstones. I thought it would do better than what it has. Maybe it needs to be out there a bit longer. The Lady Was a Gambler comes out in October. I think that will do well. I always thought writing books would look like it did for Kathleen Turner’s character in Romancing the Stone. The words would pour out of her fingers onto the typewriter. She’d celebrate the completion of the book with her cat, deliver it to her publisher, who would read it right then and who loved the work, and would put the promotional staff at the publishing house to work promoting the book. Few things are as good as they appear in the movies.

I’ll be running an ad for the book about women gamblers of the Old West in the Nov/Dec edition of the magazine American Cowboy. From what I understand the magazine will be distributed to guests at the upcoming NFR conference in Las Vegas. The ad should be well received. I hope. Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing the ad in the publication.

It’s my dad’s birthday today. He recently went with me to Dodge City, Kansas on a research trip for the book I’m writing about the “most intrepid posse.” My real father left my brothers and I when I was about eight and never looked back. How blessed I am that I have someone in my life that wanted to be a dad and hung in there. It’s made all the difference in the world.

I just had to post the following note from a kind person who read Tales Behind the Tombstones.

Dear Chris,
Congratulations on the publication of your book Tales Behind The Tombstones. I just received a copy (complimentary) today. Thank you for thinking of us. It will be displayed in a prominent place in our Archives and lent to the many avid readers we have in our Community.
You have chosen many interesting people to write about and I find it fascinating reading. it prompts me to do more research on many of the subjects of your book.
It is very readable and written in an easy-reading style.
Again, many thanks for the book. Good luck in your future ventures.

Sincerely,
Sister Kathleen Padden
Archivist, Ursuline Convent of the Sacred Heart
Toledo, OH 43606

At times I think I like having written more than writing. I am always amazed at the finished product – the cover, the typesetting. It seems like the real work starts after that, however. Lots of promotion. I’m looking forward to getting the posse book done and promoting that work. Thought I’d include a bit of the new book today. Let me know what you think.

All at once the hard thud of a pair of bullets charging through the wall of the tiny room cut through the routine noises of the cattle town with an uneven, gusty violence. The first bullet was halted by the dense plaster partition leading into the bed chambers. The second struck Dora on the right side under her arm. There was no time for her to object to the injury, no moment for her to cry out or recoil in pain. The slug killed her instantly.

More to come later…

I’ve been spending a great deal of time working on the book about the “most intrepid posse.” I want to make sure that I cover all my bases and note all my sources. I always include a bibliography with my books, but this time I am going to mark particular sentences with numbers and list the sources for particular statements. I should have been doing that all along, with every book. Wish I could go back in time. There are so many things I would change. So many know-it-all historians I’d avoid. Oh, well…

The Doctor Wore Petticoats is a fascinating glimpse into the heretofore unseen world of female physicians in horse and buggy days. Despite an urgent need for trained doctors in the Old West, women were told that they need not apply. Flora Hayward Stanford actually worked on such legendary folk heroes as Buffalo Bill Cody and Calamity Jane. Susan La Flesche was the first Native American woman to become a licensed physician – so women today have no excuses for not fulfilling their potential.

Anyone who believes in the equality of the sexes will love this book. Chris Enss has given us an inspirational journey through time.

Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book at www.curledup.com. © Karri Watson, 2007

Hearts West: True Stories of Mail-Order Brides on the Frontier
Chris Enss
Falcon (2005)
ISBN 9780762727568
Reviewed by April Sullivan for Reader Views (7/06)

Around the 1850s, pioneering American men left the east and headed west to uncharted territory like California, Oregon, and Wyoming to find gold or claim land. But what happened when they got out there and realized there were no women to share their land or riches with? How did they entice women to the wild west? And what type of woman was likely to make that journey across America? Hearts West tells us these stories.

Hearts West relays the true stories of mail-order brides and bachelors during the late 1800s in Americas wild west. Chris Enss has done her research and provides the reader with accurate information collected through journals, newspapers, letters, photographs, and other historical documents. She adds just the right amount of fictionalized commentary to draw the reader in, but not intrude upon the facts. This book is appropriate to use as a textbook or for research since it is so well documented. But it is also a good read for anyone interested in the topic.

Many methods were used to bring women to the west. Matrimony magazines and newsletters were the most common method. Men and women both wrote ads and answered by letter to find a suitable mate. Samples in the book were surprisingly similar to todays online dating service ads. More innovative methods include renting boats and shipping groups of women across country.

This book is filled with short anecdotes that tell a much larger story and provide a historical viewpoint of relationships. This is a viewpoint that we dont often get enough of. Without these brave men and women many of us wouldnt be here today. I found that there were two overwhelming themes in this book  the power of survival and the power of love. After only a few letters passed between them, a man and a woman were brave enough to decide to meet and marry. Why would they take this risk? For many of the women it was a chance to make more of their life. Stuck in poverty, dead-end servant jobs, or just the thought of spinsterhood drove them to take that plunge. While some of these matches ended in disaster, others ended in long happy relationships. Hearts West provides a good mix of humor, disaster, sweetness, and sadness to give an overall picture of what our American ancestors went through, all for the sake of love and survival.