As an historical western writer, there is always something new to learn, or some aspect of life in the wild west to track down. Still, the learning is fun and the things you discover are amazing. This month I had the privilege of visiting the Laura Ingles Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove Minnesota the actual town where the young author lived. The museum has many interesting items and a great deal of information about life on the plains as well as interactive stations where you can experience the way things were done back then.I especially appreciated being able to see what a real prairie schooner was like and what items a family might bring along with them on the wagon train trip to their new home. They are much smaller than most of us realize or are led to believe in popular television series. As I looked through the items used daily by pioneers looking for a fresh start in the west, it made me imagine the long days and multiple hardships one would face on the long trail. It is amazing to think that so many people would have been willing to endure the difficulties and uncertainties of moving their family west. It is easy to forget that even in the Little House on the Parie tales Charles Ingles struggled to make the new homestead work and had to take his family back to the little house in the big woods in Pepin Wisconsin. A combination of warm weather and a series of devastating grasshopper swarms meant a retreat at least for a time.
Wagon's were only one way that travelers headed west. Many other intrepid people set sail from ports in the East to travel around the treacherous Cape Horn traveling to a California, Oregon, or Washington in hopes of a better life and a patch of land of their own. Sailing would have taken nearly as long as traveling by wagon depending on your destination and held a variety of other perils at sea. Still, hundreds of immigrants made their way by sea or land to the western lands in hopes of a new and better living for their families. In the Sailor and the School Teacher aspects of this adventure on the high seas are explored.The entire Sailors and Saints series explores the transition of life of the sea to a new hope and a happily ever after. Starting something new is always a daunting endeavor but the heroes in the states have a little help, as the set sail for love. Sailors and Saints Series Page I hope you'll join us to find out what it would have been like to leave one life and try to star another when the prairies were wide open and the call of free land proved irresistible to so many.
Whether traveling by sea or land one can only imagine the sights that would have been seen by pioneers on their long journey. By sea, one might encounter whales, tropical ports, and even icebergs as they round the Horn. Imagine the excitement as the ships slowly made port and the challenges of outfitting a family to start over again once more.
As I've been rolling through the northern states and seeing so many different landscapes, animals, and sights I can almost feel the thrill of the early pioneers as they encountered their first buffalo, antelope, or herds of wild horses. Perhaps they lived in fear of encountering raiding bands of outlaws or Indians, or perhaps they quaked at the river crossings that could prove so dangerous. The sights, sounds, and scenery must have at once amazed, then wearied the travelers. Traveling by wagon a good day would see fifteen miles of forwarding motion and I'm sure that the early pioneers would have eventually become weary of the same rolling plains stretched out before them day by day. I'm loving seeing so many sights but I travel a little faster in my rolling home. I'll be exploring more of these ideas and thoughts in a new series coming out later this year as well so keep watching for The Brides of Needful along with my other offerings. Please feel free to follow me at my website you can find my series, multi-author projects, blog, and even sign up for my newsletter. Or following at these sights: Facebook Bookbub AllAuthor
Wow, so much hard work on everything on those days evening just for existing! All I can say is we must never take anything for granted! I am so thankful that I was born many years after all that. God Bless you . The books look and sound Awesome!
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