Is Western History affected by the Telephone Game?

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I truly hated doing research in college. Hours in a dusty library (remember those), looking for answers to someone else's boring questions. Very rarely did I happen on to anything that awakened my imagination. Yet I fumbled forward through bone dry historical texts, praying something poignant would pop out of a book so I could finally finish my report and join my friends at the university pub.
     It wasn't until I became a writer, much later in life, that I learned how interesting research could be. History is amazing. Every event that occurred before set in motion the cause and effect for our modern world. Everything we know, do, have, want, need, and hear has a history to tell. But here's where it gets a little curious. If we take the willy-nilly subjectivity of human nature and mix it with a little innocent exaggeration, how can we be so sure those recollections are the absolute truth?
     How could those well-intentioned historians remain unaffected by time and circumstance and possibly even social pressures the same as you and me? Even an innocent sugar-coating could skew the facts exponentially. What if we've not been given the actual truth but rather the 'opinion' of the author instead?
     One small example, the fairly well-known idiom, Circle the Wagons. My family used it often when I was a child and sometimes even now. If a loved one needed support or protection, we'd come together to help however we could. We'd Circle the Wagons. But several meanings have evolved since it was first coined in the 1800s.
     I always thought it referred to settlers on an old west wagon train who created a circle of protection from raiding marauders. But further research revealed another meaning. Circle the Wagons was the practice of settlers using a circle of wagons to corral their very expensive cattle. Hah? No way. How did that get so mixed up?
     So, I wondered, how do we know what is fact and what is fudged in all things historical? Does it matter if we've learned the complete truth? Or is it better to carry on the slightly watered-down or worse yet, overly dramatized, version for those who follow in our footsteps? Has the recollection of events evolved into something far from the truth as in the fun, yet revealing Telephone Game suggests?
     This is just me going off on a philosophical journey. It makes me thankful I write fiction, so if I miss a fact or two, I'll be okay. What are your thoughts?

Thanks for listening.
Rhonda Frankhouser
Award-Winning Contemporary and Western Romance Author

 

rhondafrankhouserbooks@gmail.com

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Merry Christmas from Ruby's Ranch

 

by Rhonda Frankhouser

Contemporary Romance Writer

Fa-la-la-la-la, la la la la... 

     Can you believe it's already that time of year? It's my first year to spend the holidays in Georgia. My first Christmas away from family and friends in California. We're doing our best to get as cozy and Christmas-y as we can, but it all seems a little strange. Beautiful, but strange.
     So, what do I do to get that loving feeling during the holidays, I fall back into my favorite characters and let them tell me their Christmas stories. My Ruby's Ranch characters to be more specific. These folks know how to party. When they're not solving mysteries and chasing sexy cowboys, I mean.
 

     The heroine to Book 1 of the Ruby's Ranch Series, Return to Ruby's Ranch, is Ruby Lattrell. She's a no nonsense kind of gal. A house flipper who inherits the ranch after her crazy grandmother leaves the ranch and all that comes with it, to her favorite granddaughter.
     The family history at the ranch is both jaded and beautiful in her mind. It's where she was born. Where she learned to ride and love the ranching life from her beloved father, John. It's where her mother disappeared without a trace. It's the place her father dragged her and her younger brother away from when he could no longer deal with the loss of his wife, Katherine.
     Ruby's world changes when she pulls up in front of that ranch almost two decades later. Her grandmother had lost her mind, they'd said, and her mother was never found. So many unanswered questions haunted the place she'd always considered home. Questions for which she'd demand answers.
     Billy MacCallister had waited years for Ruby to finally come home. When he saw her long legs sticking out of worn Justin boots on Granny Rube's porch, he was sure he was dreaming. But there she was, big as day, a mature, sexy version of that teenage girl he once knew. He was lost, or was he found? Destiny had finally come to call.
     Ruby and Billy are two of my favorite couples in the Ruby's Ranch Series. Sassy, serious and sensual. They tackle real life together and find each other in the meantime.

 

     Then came the answers to Katherine's mysterious disappearance as we go back in time one generation in Book 2 of the Ruby's Ranch Series - Escape from Ruby's Ranch. And no one would have ever believed.

     Katherine was never meant to be a rancher, much to her pure-cowgirl mother's dismay. She was feminine, and dainty. A painter, a thinker, an entrepreneur at heart. She dreamed of getting away to live in the big city. To dine at the finest restaurants and attend the theatre. Her eyes ached for sophisticated sites and sounds, rather than the moo of a random steer.

     And she almost had it, until John Lattrell, horse whisperer extraordinaire, two-stepped into her life. His sultry blue eyes and confident, easy ways sucked her right in and left her dangling dangerously between chasing her dreams or saddling up with this irresistible cowboy.

     Unfortunately for Katherine, wicked obsession dictated her journey. In Escape we follow our heroine through a lifetime of intrigue as she fights toward her destiny. Even I was surprised.

 

     Throughout the Ruby's Ranch story, Granny Rube aka Rube Adams, had shouldered the brunt. She had to be stronger, and wiser, and meaner than any other matriarch. But was she always so in charge? Book 3 of the Ruby's Ranch Series, Legacy of Ruby's Ranch, travels back yet another generation to where it all began.

     Rube Gautier was born into a mystical dictatorship. One in a long line of matriarchs destined to lead an ancient tribe. She never wanted it. She only wants her own ranch. Her own life. Her own love. Not a life chosen by the elders.

     When Rube lays eyes on war hero, turned rancher, MacKenzie Adams, her vision of the future comes into full view. He and a little cattle ranch in the Kern River Valley is all she needs in the world, but some traditions cannot be left behind. Legacy of Ruby's Ranch is due out in August of 2019.

 

     Book 4 of the Ruby's Ranch Series, Revenge at Ruby's Ranch, brings us full circle back to the present. It will help explain the unexplainable and right all the wrongs suffered by this powerful line of matriarchs. The answers they find will shock even the most avid Ruby follower.

     This brings me back to my thoughts of Christmas. Turns out hanging with the tight Ruby's Ranch family has made me feel like I'm part of a bigger community of beings. A community that includes all of you. A caring community who supports one another even though we may never meet in person.

    I hope you and your loved ones have the Merriest Christmas ever, Happy Holidays and a fabulous New Year to all.  See you in 2019!

 

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     If you're interested in signed copies of the Ruby's Ranch 2 book set,

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They make great gifts for those hard to buy for western romance lovers on your list.

 

 

What Ever Happened to Big Nose Kate




Big Nose Kate - Photo copyright

I don't know about you, but I'm a HUGE fan of the movie Tombstone. It's one of my top ten, must watch every year no matter what, movies. Maybe it's the intrigue of the wild west and the many barriers they faced settling in the western states or maybe it was the authentic, desperately sexy portrayals by Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton and Kurt Russell, (yum). Most likely the latter.


Tombstone Cast of Yummy Characters Photo Copyright

Doc Holliday was a well-educated dentist, with a gambler/gunslinger soul. He didn't like many, but those he trusted and respected could count on him when things got nasty. Wyatt Earp was one of those friends, as was his lady love Big Nose Kate.

 

Mary Katherine Horony, later known as big nose Kate, captured the gunslingers heart. She is said to have descended from Hungarian nobility. Her father, a physician, immigrated to American with his wife and children in 1860. After settling in Davenport, Iowa, Kate's father and his wife died within three years of settling. This sadly thrust their children into the foster care system.

At 16, Kate had had enough and ran away. Feisty even then, she stowed away on a riverboat bound for St. Louis. She reported to have married, and had a child, but no clear records were found. For a short time, it's said that she entered the Ursuline Convent, but only for a short time. In 1869, she started working as a prostitute for none other than Nellie "Bessie" Earp, James Earp's wife, and so goes her path to meeting and falling for Doc Holliday.

Doc Holliday Photo Copyright

Her real adventure started when she met Doc Holliday in 1877 in Fort Griffin, Texas in the John Shanssey's Saloon. The connection was instant and undeniable. They understood one another. Doc boasted that 'Kate was his intellectual equal.' By this time, she had already earned the nickname 'Big Nose Kate' due to her prominent nose. The couple followed Doc's good friend Wyatt Earp to Dodge City, then eventually to Tombstone, Arizona in 1880. She was his steadfast partner for many years, though many reported loud and passionate arguments and fights between the two.

Doc Holliday and Big Nose Kate Photo Copyright

In 1887, three years after Doc Holliday died of tuberculosis, Kate married an Irish blacksmith named George Cummings. They followed the excitement and intrigue of the mining boom from Colorado to several different Arizona counties. Kate moved to Dos Cabezas and started working at the Cochise Hotel, for John and Lula Rath when Cummin's alcoholism caused him to become abusive.

Cochise Hotel Photo Copyright

In 1910, Kate moved into the home of miner John J. Howard and lived a much calmer life until his passing in 1930. In 1931, 80 year old Kate contacted a longtime friend, Arizona governor George Hunt, and applied for admittance to the all men Pioneers' Home in Prescott, Arizona. It took Kate six months to be admitted. She was one of the first female residents of the home. She became an outspoken resident, assisting other residents with living comforts. 

Copyright

Kate died on November 2, 1940, just five days before her 90th birthday, of acute myocardial insufficiency. Her death certificate states that she also suffered from coronary artery disease. She was buried on November 6, 1940, under the name Mary K. Cummings, in the Arizona Pioneer Home Cemetery in Prescott, Arizona.

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Writing the Ruby's Ranch Series Brings me Home

Home can be many things...

I had a whole different post ready to go for today's blog...and then I came home for a visit. I'm not sure what it is about coming back to the town you were born and raised in, but it's brought a strange sense of happiness and a profound sadness all at the same time. Even though I've only lived in Georgia six months, Bakersfield, is still the place I know by heart. I can drive these streets without GPS, and I know all the best restaurants, even in the scary parts of town. 

It's been a year since my father passed away after a short illness. My mother and brother passed only a few years before him, and since my move, I've lost a cherished aunt and uncle. Thus the sense of sadness at returning to the place I lost them. I see where they lived and worked and where we picnicked every Easter. It's hard to visit, but we do it to remember.  

Grief is an ever evolving haze that can swallow a person whole, if they're not aware enough to recognize the signs. I've been confused and absent many times over this past year. I've preferred to hide and write about a different world, than to deal with the fact that everyone in my immediate family, aside from my amazing sister, is gone from this world. It's these times when I lay softly against the memories of a happy, chaotic childhood. It's in these places I came upon Ruby's Ranch.

I was born on a verrrrry small ranch in Kern County that was named Ruby's Ranch. There were a few horses, dogs, chickens, coyotes in the hills behind the house and a dozen feral cats that kept the critters from our door. Though my characters in my Ruby's Ranch Series endure different troubles than my own family, I feel a hug on my soul every time I write the next book because of the similarities. There's a kinship with these characters, an understanding of their struggles, and of their need to find calmness and love.

The first book in the series, Return to Ruby's Ranch, was meant as a stand alone. Don't make the mistake in thinking this is a sweet love story. I wrote this story to solve some mysteries, and there are some hard truths as well. The main character, Ruby Lattrell is the granddaughter of the original matriarch. Ruby lived on the ranch with her family for the first 15 years of her life. She was especially close to her father, John, who taught her the beauty of 'home' and nature and listening to the horses. Her mother, Katherine, was another story. Though loving with John and her children, she was raised by a very strict mother and had always craved for a life away from the ranch. When Katherine disappeared, Ruby was dragged from the ranch by her broken father, never to see her beloved ranch again, until she inherits the property from her crazy Granny Rube.

Ruby's plight to understand what happened to her mother and grandmother, along with a beautiful love story that blossoms between she and the boy next door (who loved her since they were children), drives the story through many twisted paths. I love the characters, flaws and all, I love the setting, similar to one I lived in and I love the 'ghostly' presence that protects them. (Also from my own experience as a child.)

Book 2 of the Ruby's Ranch series was requested by my editor. She said, "your readers are gonna want to know Katherine's story AND Granny Rube's story and maybe even one more after that to wrap." Writing a prequel is not for the faint of heart. Especially when menopause keeps the brain in a constant state of fog. The character bible was ESSENTIAL, and the story lines, as fun and twisted as I made them in the first book, were like unraveling a bundle of barbed wire. But I'm glad she pushed me to write Escape from Ruby's Ranch because Katherine's story is a beautiful, tragic tale that leaves the reader satisfied and hopeful.

Katherine is a strong, stubborn character in her own right. She was bound and determined to 'escape' the minute she turned eighteen, but alas a boy got involved, as they so often do. John Lattrell, horse-whispering cowboy, is a little older, a lot more experienced, and just what the doctor ordered to keep Katherine at the ranch. They had a beautiful life until a cluster of events led to her disappearance. I'm a 'pantser' writer, as you may have deciphered from this rambling blog, so believe me when I say, I was SHOCKED by what happened to Katherine. She has the heart of a warrior.

I turned in Book 3 - Legacy of Ruby's Ranch, to my editor two days before I made this trip back to my hometown. This tells the story of Rube Adams, the original matriarch of Ruby's Ranch. Another prequel, this time the trick was getting my audience to love a stern, crazy woman. Some trick, ha? Turns out, I get her more than I've gotten either of the first two. She has her reasons for being so protective of her only daughter. She has her reasons for losing it in the end, but man did she live a life. An enviable, bizarre life. The love story between with Mac Adams will make you swoon. He definitely sticks by her, no matter what. Book 3 could be my most favorite so far. It'll be out, hopefully, early 2019! And yes, the reader will be shocked again, if I've done my job.

I started telling a story about going home and how sometimes that can make a person feel sad. Writing this series has really brought my childhood back to life. The way I felt bareback riding in the back pastures. How the smell of my horse calmed me down. The quiet moments reading to the animals. The way a real man treats his woman. Sometimes, and I know I'm guilty of this, we're so busy we forget to listen to the birds chirping and the way the wind sounds through a tree thick with pecans. The way an apricot tasted when you climbed the tree to pick the best one. And the coolness of the grass beneath your feet when you pull off those hot boots. Sometimes, we forget to look deep into our partners eyes, and thank them for supporting our journey and for loving us for who we are, damaged writer or whatever else you may be.

I guess coming home has helped me more than I know. Even though I still feel the sadness of my loved ones passing more profoundly when I'm here, kneeling next to my father's grave, I can feel his arms around me, telling me everything will be okay and that he's proud of the woman I've become. He'll see me again.

Thanks for letting me chatter. Hope you'll check out the series and follow me. My journey has just begun.

Happy Halloween everyone!!!

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