FACTS LEAD TO FICTION ABOUT TEXAS COAL MINE

As writers know, the more books you've written, the more difficult finding a fresh story twist idea becomes. Which is why in my work in progress, my ranch hand hero goes undercover in a lignite coal mine to earn money to buy his own ranch. This required research into coal mining in 1885 Central Texas—fascinating in some areas and not so much in others.

I was aware of the large coal mine at Thurber in Erath County in North Central Texas and nearby smaller mines in Palo Pinto County. Thurber’s location is too far from this hero’s home base. With research, I found the perfect place, the town of Coal, Texas southwest of San Antonio. In my story, the town is called Lignite after the type of coal mined there. Also in my story, someone is causing deadly “accidents” at the mine and the owner wants to determine who is guilty. For this, he hires my hero, Finn O’Neill.

Finn O'Neill, hero

The beauty of changing the name of the town in fiction is that the town can then have whatever buildings I choose and/or need for the plot. Instead of Lytle, in my book the next town is Spencer for the same reason. That’s one of the fun things about writing historical fiction. The author is free to build the setting and only has to be true to the period in customs and dress. I love making up my stories and their settings and I hope you enjoy reading them!

The actual town of Coal was on U.S. Highway 81 and the Missouri Pacific line in southeastern Medina County. Coal mines, worked by as many as 500 people at a time, precipitated the growth of mining camps in the 1880s. In 1881 the International-Great Northern Railroad built a rail line from Austin to Laredo that passed through Lytle southwest of San Antonio.

The community of Coal developed on this line a mile southwest of Lytle and just north of the mining camps. The high-grade lignite produced at the mines was sold to the railroads until the advent of oil-burning locomotives. In 1888 Coal consisted of a store, a bandstand, a main plaza, a dance hall, a Catholic church, and at least two schools. Hmmm, in my story, Lignite has a store, both a Catholic and a Protestant church, and one two-room school where the heroine and her sister teach.

Heroine Stella Grace Clayton

Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft brown combustible sedimentary rock that is formed from naturally compressed peat. It is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat content. It is used almost exclusively as a fuel for steam-electric power generation, but is also mined for its germanium content in China.

Lignite has a high content of volatile matter which makes it easier to convert into gas and liquid petroleum products than higher ranking coals. Unfortunately its high moisture content and susceptibility to spontaneous combustion can cause problems in transportation and storage. The efficient processes that remove latent moisture locked within the structure of brown coal will relegate the risk of spontaneous combustion to the same level as black coal, will transform the calorific value of brown coal to a black coal equivalent fuel while significantly reducing the emissions profile of 'densified' brown coal to a level similar to or better than most black coals.

Lignite can be separated into two types. The first is xyloid lignite or fossil wood and the second form is the compact lignite or perfect lignite. Although xyloid lignite may sometimes have the tenacity and the appearance of ordinary wood it can be seen that the combustible woody tissue has experienced a great modification. Dark black lignite, or jet, is where the term 'jet black' originates.

Gated adit mine

Although later lignite mines were those defacing strip mines, at the time of my story, they were slant/adit mines with tunnels underground. Better for the environment, but not for the miners.

By the 1940s my model for Lignite, Coal, consisted of a Catholic church and several dwellings, situated mostly north of the railroad tracks. Lytle annexed Coal Mine in 1969, and there were about 100 people living at the Coal Mine site in 1983.

Caroline Clemmons writes western historical and contemporary romances. Her latest release is WINTER BRIDE. The book containing Lignite, Texas is O’NEILL’S TEXAS BRIDE, and will be released mid-May 2015. You can keep up with Caroline’s releases by signing up for her newsletter. Her books are listed on her website at www.carolineclemmons.com and on her Amazon Author Page.   

To Kiss or Not to Kiss, That is The Question - By Ginger Simpson

In 2013, when I first started Cowboy Kisses, I posted a blog that dealt with whether or not American Indians during the 1800s really kissed, and was their courting something we commonly read about in Romance novels.  I indicated that I was seeking the answer, and after exhausting all my own avenues, I sought an answer from "Ask the Experts." I'm sharing the answer I received here, but first...the following is the blog I posted in early 2013.

There has long been controversy over whether or not Indian lovers kissed.  Of course, no one can forget Kevin Costner (Lt. Dunbar) and his beautiful Indian woman, Stands With a Fist, and their toe-tingling liplocks in Dances with Wolves.  Did the writer take creative license and expand the romance for the sake of making the movie more appealing?  I know, as a romance author, I've had some pretty passionate scenes in my books, but I can't find much written about the "custom."  I recently sent off an email to an American Indian forum and I'm waiting for a response, but what I discovered in by book, The Sioux by Royal B. Hassrick casts a little black cloud over my passionate nature.  :)  NOTE:  I never received a response from the forum.

I quote, "Lovers were never to be seen holding hands, and man and wife never showed any affection in public.  There is no intimation here that the Sioux failed to know all that is necessary to know about the intimacies of marital affection, but this knowledge could not be bandied about.  Any overt expression of affection would be uncouth."

The author further states that in events where women and men were both in attendance, they sat separately, with the women keeping their eyes downcast and whispering only to their neighbor.  Likewise, the men did not exchange glances with the females as modesty and reserve "were the essence of fortitude."

people.ucls.uchicago.edu -

It sounds to me that what went on behind the closed tepee flaps shall forever remain secret, but the fact that it wasn't uncommon for young married couples to spend years with their elders might have provided less chance for intercourse or romance of any type.

It's great to be a fiction author.  Although I can guarantee most of my facts are historically accurate, I cannot with any certainty say that kissing was indeed a custom practiced in private by the Lakota.  I hope to get an answer from someone who might know.  :)  Feel free to share any resources here in the comments.  I think we'd all like to know.

So...now I'll share with you the questions I asked, and the answers I received.  May I say, I have no idea why I referred to an OAK tree when I correctly researched the type and have it in the opening chapter of Yellow Moon, my current WIP.


Subject: Intimacy & Kissing among early American Indians
Question:
 Hello,
I'm an author, and as someone who writes historical fiction, I try to keep my historical facts straight.  I've been able to research most of what I need in order to be credible, but very little is available about the intimacy among Native American couples, specifically whether or not they actually kissed.  I've written mainly about the Lakota and do realize that public displays of affection were frowned upon, and courting usually took place beneath a blanket away from prying eyes.  Of course, as most authors, I've taken creative license to create romance scenes as shown in movies such as Dances with Wolves, but the two main characters were both of white heritage.  I really would like an answer or an idea where I might find written resources that I can share with my peers via my blog.  Thank you in advance for your help.

Ginger Simpson
http://www.gingersimpson.com
http://mizging.blogspot.com

ANSWER: Dear Ms. Simpson;
Your question is a bit difficult, as it does vaguely date the people in question to the historic past, as if they remain an anthropological study in several folders in a storage bin somewhere. The answer is as individual as your characters will be when your work is completed. I can only answer from my own experience, as you have already stated how reserved and apparently devoid of public expressions of affection the Lakota traditional culture is.

In my relationships with many different people and families of the Hopi, Zuni, Pueblo and Navajo cultures, bear this out. A light touch on the hand or shoulder and a quick hug were all that were ever displayed in our presence. Even after many years of friendship. We attended a wedding of a Zia Pueblo couple in Zia Pueblo in the ancient adobe church there. A quick peck on the lips, and the marriage was sealed. While I've never seen an Indian couple "making out" in public, we don't think there is any social compulsion to behave differently than any other race when in private.

One tip off was experiencing the lustiness of their humor. The Hopi were the fastest to rise to "testing" us with "off-color" humor which we enjoyed immensely and when we had known Navajo families a bit longer, they too, would pull our legs and poke fun in a decidedly sexual nature from time to time. So it's pretty clear they enjoy it. They just don't show it off. The people we knew made a point of providing space and time to courting couples, so they could be alone and out of sight as necessary.

In terms of the Lakota, there are some well-documented examples of the difficulty, especially for women, within their culture, for free expression. I would recommend a book, Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog for it's personal view of Lakota culture and how it has confronted the modern society and consumer culture. As long as you're not doing Fifty Shades of Red, or some such equivalent, I think portraying your characters with a certain degree of shyness between the sexes would do the trick. Best wishes for your ongoing research. I hope this is helpful;

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you...this was indeed helpful, and I have ordered "Lakota Woman" by Mary Crow Dog as you suggested and I'm really hoping to find standards as they applied during the 1800s when the Sioux Indian were still plentiful on lands promised them by the US...specifically the Lakota in the Black Hills  My work-in-progress, Yellow Moon, is the story of a young Sioux maiden who is selected to be among those virtuous women searching for the proportionate COTTONWOOD oak  to use for the sun dance.  Since most of my reading has been of other "romance" type books about the Indians, and restricted to research based solely on the rituals and cultural life of the tribe at that time, I'm totally in the dark as to how courting would have occurred.  Would a young man have approached her at the river while she filled buffalo bladders with water? Would he have hinted that he wanted to know more about her and that the feasting during the first four nights of the sun-dance might be the appropriate time to ask her more?  I wasn't very clear in my original question, and for that I apologize, but I'm hoping between your expertise and the book, I can learn what is appropriate to history.

Thank you so much.

Ginger Simpson
Answer:
The proper forked tree for the Sundance would have doubtlessly been a Cottonwood, which are know to draw lightning strikes and live. Courting, is still very similar, in that the initial approach is through an elder female of the intended's family. Even her name, would only be revealed under proper conditions. For example, a young man might approach one of her friends to ask who he might ask about her. The referrals would progress up the chain to an elder -- probably her mother's oldest sister, who might suggest the introduction to her mother. It is complicated. Young men in that day, would not have the right to approach directly, nor would the two be seen in public unless accompanied by an elder woman. However, at night, the ritual of the Courting Flute arose, to provide an audible clue as to where the young man might wait under cover of darkness, for his intended to meet him. She would hear the melody faintly, from inside her parents' lodge and would give some excuse to rise -- bathroom call, etc. -- go outside and follow the sound of the flute to him where they might share a few moments before she returned to her parents lodge. At some point in their courtship, Once his interest in her had been accepted by the elders of her family and her parents, he would send her a gift, which, if she accepted him, would be accepted publicly in front of her parents, at which time, his identity and familial connections could be shared: clan, honors, etc. At this time, she would have accepted his betrothal. I'm not sure if anything beyond the slightest, least important contact could be arranged during Sundance, when the dancers as well as the entire community are on their best behavior, focused upon the needs of the greater community to assure the success of the intercession of the spirits upon seeing the purity of the sacrifice. Stray thoughts even, personal matters such as this, would be considered as working against the ritual, so they would be kept to chance meetings, and little else. For more detail, I suggest you contact a Lakota Community such as Rosebud, SD. The tribal government may have a public information officer who can pout you in touch with appropriate elders. Glad to be of some help.

Richard Sutton
Kiva Trading Company
www.kivatrading.com
*********

Needless to say, I have some serious re-writing to do.  So much for my opening where Yellow Moon meets him at the river because he's followed her there.  Shucks!  I guess "Watch for you wish for," could also be translated to "Don't ask unless you really want to know!"  *smile*  I guess Thunder Eyes is going to follow the chain of Elders to find out more about the woman of interest to him.  Boy...this story is taking a serious turn and I hope my character knows where she's going, cause I certainly don't.  I'm hoping Mary Crow Dog can be of help. I'll keep you posted.