A Woman's Daily Life and Chores

Living in Colorado affords the family and myself plenty of opportunities to take a drive through the mountains. The scenery is breathtaking, especially during the fall when the Aspens turn golden-yellow. My favorite part of a Sunday afternoon drive is browsing local shops in small towns. Usually, I'll happen upon books related to traversing Colorado or fiction novels written by Colorado authors. Every now and then, I find something I can use for reference material when writing my own stories; cookbooks with recipes dating back to the 1800's, well-known soiled doves living in and around the Denver area. One book I found had to do with a woman's daily chores and life in the late 1800's. While I'm not sure if these tidbits are true, some are funny. I thought I'd share a few with you here.

 

The Bedroom--the family bedroom should be on the first floor, if possible, and the head of the bed should face north. The reason being the human head must be in this direction to preserve the circulation of the nervo-electric fluids. The bed shouldn't be made up too early in the morning. Rather, it should lie open to air for several hours. The room should be plain in décor and consist of simple furniture, nothing more than an easy chair. A chair with a lot of stuffing holds too much dust.

 

Laundry Day--usually on Monday morning, but preparing the water begins on Saturday. Rain water is best. So is soft water, if you have it. Lay a white sheet on the floor, dump the clothing on top and sort according to dark colors, table linens, bed lines, delicates, flannels and wool. Build a fire Monday morning, heat water in the tubs to a temperature that you feel comfortable submerging your hands in. Use a corn cob to remove mud from clothes, and use a wash board when necessary. Clothing should be hung on the line by 10am. White clothes should hang in the sun and dark clothes in the shade. Men's underwear must never hang beside women's underwear.

Eating--when eating, chew often. Ensure your family thoroughly lubricates their food with saliva for good digestion. No drinking during the meal.

The Kitchen--this is the most important room of the home. Spend your money furnishing this room first. If you have funds left over, spend them on furnishing the parlor. Every morning clean the stove. remove the cinders and ashes, brush inside of the fire box and flues, and brush the out side with a hair brush. Sprinkle salt all over to get rid of dirt. If the salt sticks, use sandpaper to get rid of dirt. Blacken and then polish, because no other item in the home contributes more comfort than the range. To whiten unpainted floors, sprinkle with flour and clean, white sand and let family walk over them, scouring floor boards in white. For the walls, do not paint or wallpaper. Instead, white wash once a year. Whitewash is made up of 8 pounds of whitening and 1/4 pound of glue. Cover glue overnight with cold water then heat gradually until dissolved. Mix whitening with hot water, add glue and stir until thick like cream.

Ailments--to prevent from catching cold in cold months, fold a newspaper and spread across your chest to protect lungs. Having stepped on a nail, tie a piece of salt pork rind on the injury and remain quiet until it heals. To remove a wart, roll up a small amount of a spider's web, place on the wart and set on fire, letting it burn down the wart.

The book I have referenced is:   ...And You Think You've Got It Bad by Barbara Fairchild Grimm. Published by: Pig's Eye Press and available at Barnes and Noble ( I did a Google search and this is where I found it listed.)

 

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/and-you-think-youve-got-it-bad-barbara-fairchild-gramm/1103781399?ean=9780964336810    

Bent’s Old Fort - mud castle of the plains

 

We had to journey to Colorado Springs this past fall for a wedding but on our return to Dalhart, we decided to tour Old Fort Bent near La Junta, Colorado. Oh wow, but what a treat that was. They did a fabulous job of reconstructing the fort to its original design due in part to a set of plans that were drawn when the original fort was in existence.

The fort, built by Charles and William Bent along with Ceran St. Vrain in 1833 became the hub of civilization for settlers in the area. Built to cater to the growing desire to further trade between buffalo hunters and the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Plains Indians, the fort grew to provide a bevy of services.

From 1833 – 1849, many travelers stopped at the fort to replenish supplies. Situated along the

A pool table was located in one
of the second floor rooms
with a bar in thecorner.

Santa Fe Trail, the Bent’s brothers and their partner catered to many needs. With a steady influx of European-American visitors, they were able to trade for specialty items, thus providing a variety of delights. Sometimes these travelers would stay at the fort as long as three weeks while they rested and restocked supplies. Depending on the time of year, the fort might employ as many as 100 workers from clerks, guards, traders, teamsters, trappers, a tailor, blacksmith, carpenter and herders. It was the only privately owned facility of its type.

In 1847, Charles Bent was scalped and killed during the Taos Uprising thus leaving the trading empire to his brother. William married Owl Woman, the daughter of a Cheyenne chief and medicine man, White Thunder and together they had four children. The union provided William with a more solid position for trading with the Cheyenne and gave him a hostess when he entertained at the fort. White Thunder also benefited by strengthening relations with the white men.  In accordance with Cheyenne custom, Charles also married Owl Woman’s two sisters, Island and Yellow Woman.

Press used to pack down the buffalo hides for better storage.

Owl Woman did much to bridge the gap between two cultures. Her children were taught six languages, English, Cheyenne, Spanish, Arapaho, Kiowa and Comanche. They wore soft linen shirts and moccasins, ate on china, but slept on soft hides on the ground.  She died in 1847 giving birth to her daughter, Julia, but her legacy remains. In 1985, she was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame.

In 1849, tragedy struck when a cholera epidemic wiped out half the Cheyenne tribe including Owl Woman's mother. After the cholera epidemic and the decline in fur trade, William burned the fort to the ground and moved to the Big Timber area where in 1853 he built a stone fort in the area that was named Bent's New Fort. The army bought the fort six years later and renamed it Fort Wise. It was later renamed Fort Lyon and would become the staging site for Sand Creek Massacre. 

Top 10 Ways to Die in Yellowstone

By: Peggy L Henderson

I know Halloween is over, but since my posting day is one day after, I thought I could still post about something scary and terrifying…

Top Ten Ways to Die In Yellowstone

           

Boiling in a Hot Spring

People have fallen in, jumped in to rescue dogs or personal items, or thought it was safe to bathe in . Some of the springs reach temperatures in excess of 200 Degrees Fahrenheit.

Death by Bison

Gorings and stompings by bison occur often because people don’t heed the warnings to stay at least 25 yards away. These animals may look slow and docile, but a two ton bison can charge at 35 miles per hour. That’s faster than the average human can run.

Lightning Strikes

Most lightning strikes occur while out boating or hiking, and not having adequate cover when a storm hits.

Drowning

Aside from car accidents and illnesses, drowning claims more lives than any other danger in Yellowstone. Several deaths have been reported as recently as 2007–2010. Swimmers who underestimate their abilities, boaters whose boats capsize, and hikers who fall into a lake or river account for most of the drownings.

Poison Plants and Gases

Water hemlock looks a lot like an edible wild parsnip or carrot, but it's a virulent poison. For both of the confirmed deaths, it was, unfortunately, their final meal. Deadly hydrogen sulphide, which occurs naturally in Yellowstone, killed a worker helping to dig a pit in 1939.

Falling

One fall involved a driver who backed his car off a cliff, killing both himself and his wife. Several workers have died after falling from scaffoldings or buildings. Others who have fallen to their deaths from cliffs have ignored warning signs and wandered from established trails.

Exposure

A number of people froze to death or died in avalanches in Yellowstone during its early years. Since 1921, however, such deaths have been very rare; three people died in two separate avalanches in the 1990s.

Rolling Rocks

Setting a boulder tumbling into a canyon might seem like innocent fun until you realize there are hikers down below. One person died this way, while several others were killed by rocks that were unintentionally dislodged or just happened to fall.

Falling Trees

Although rare, deaths from being hit by a tree have happened several times in Yellowstone, either during logging operations or windstorms.

Grizzly Mauling

The first documented death caused by a bear in Yellowstone happened in 1916; the latest two, in summer 2011, after a gap of 25 years when no bear-related deaths were recorded. Visitors have died while hiking, sleeping in tents, or getting too close to a bear while trying to snap that perfect picture.

This list was complied from one of my favorite books about Yellowstone. For more details about deaths in America's oldest national park, check out Death in Yellowstone - Accidents and Foolhardiness in the First National Park

By park historian Lee Whittlesey.

In the introduction, the author states, “Play safely, and think before you act.”

Now go out and enjoy your national parks!

HEROIC WOMEN IN THE OLD WEST -DILCHTHE

I enjoy reading about strong women heroines in fiction and in history. Sometimes the fictional women might appear over the top or unrealistic. Historically, though, women have proven themselves to rise to a challenge—especially when it means remaining with or protecting family. Recently, I was reading about heroines of the Old West in Mike Wright’s WHAT THEY DIDN’T TEACH YOU ABOUT THE WILD WEST. 

An Apache woman named Dilchthe was a middle-aged grandmother captured by Sonoran mercenaries at then Esqueda, Mexico south of present day Douglas, Arizona in the mid 1860’s.  Dilchthe and several other women watched the Apache men executed and were then herded toward the Gulf of California. There they were sold into slavery and shipped across the Gulf to a penal colony on the Baja Peninsula. Many of the women died there, but Dilchthe hung on to life. She was sold again with several women and put to work at a nearby hacienda.

Of course we have no idea what Dilchthe looked like, but I'm including several free photos of Apache women to give readers an idea.  Above is a San Carlos Apache Woman.

She was treated fairly at the hacienda, but she wanted freedom. Wouldn’t we? She hid food and planned her escape to return to her family. I wonder if she realized how far from them she had been moved?

Finally, she freed several other women and they escaped. They traveled only at night and Dilchthe led them north along the Gulf. The women evaded the mounted guards sent to track them down and bring them back.  Even conserving supplies, they ran out of food. They ate insects and desert plants.

Apache Couple

At the mouth of the Gulf, the faced crossing the Colorado River. Imagine how forceful this river was before damning and pumping to large cities commenced a hundred years later. None of the women raised in the desert could swim. Dilchthe promised the women she would find a way.

She made friends with an elderly Mexican man who told her where she could safely ford the river. The women pushed northward to the spot the man had described. This was at the confluence of the Colorado and Gila Rivers and later became the site of the Yuma Territorial Prison. Of course the women were afraid, but Dilchthe waded into the water. Her feet struck a sandbar and she waded across the river, followed by the other women.

Near the Yuma Valley, the women met sweltering heat. She insisted they follow the river, and they persevered for she knew the mountains held powerful enemies. Three nights after they crossed the river, a band of Yuma (also called Mojaves) raiders ambushed them.  Only Dilchthe and one woman survived by fleeing into the brush.

Again they were hunted, but Dilchthe walked over the hot, mostly dry, river bottom past Gila Bend and present-day Pheonix. They skirted Puma and Papago camps and villages. Can you imagine crossed that area with no water, no food, and weary from trudging so far?  These two women were strong!

Cochise's son Nach-ti and his wife

They were too weak to travel at more than a slow walk, and almost crazed from hunger and grief. At a spot near present day Safford, they collapsed. Dilchthe managed a signal fire. Incredibly enough, the man who saw the smoke was Dilchthe’s son in law. She and her friend were saved.

She had walked more than a thousand miles to be reunited with her family. Can you imagine her welcome as a hero and how her stories were retold again and again? She had outmaneuvered pursuers, carried no map, no weapons, and almost no provisions.

I love this story. We never know what we can do until we are faced with the challenge. Would you be like Dilchthe or one of those who was killed?

Another story of trekking across the land from Central Texas’ Hill Country to North Central Texas is my new book, THE MOST UNSUITABLE COURTSHIP, now available at Amazon and Smashwords. 

Smashwords in ebook

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/361261?ref=CarolineClemmons

Amazon in print and ebook http://www.amazon.com/Most-Unsuitable-Courtship-Kincaids-ebook/dp/B00G5YXI6I/ref=sr_1_7?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1382896499&sr=1-7&keywords=caroline+clemmons

Please join me on October 30 for my Facebook Official Launch Party at https://www.facebook.com/events/680138592007079/?ref=2&ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming with lots of giveaways.

Thanks, 

Caroline

Source:

WHAT THEY DIDN’T TEACH YOU ABOUT THE WILD WEST, by Mike Wright, Presidio Press Inc., pp 285-286

Free photos from www

Writing Notebook

Why would a Canadian set her story in Texas?

Blame it on Mexico.

My sister and I had whooping cough. I was five; Joanne was two. She was the reason we had to seek out a warm, dry climate for Christmas instead of visiting family in Montreal. Since my parents weren’t exactly flush with funds, they packed up my father’s company station wagon and we drove south, headed for Mazatlan.

With the self-centered clarity of a child, I only remember the parts of the trip that had an impact on me. I remember the switchback roads in the mountains. Dad loved them. Mum and Joanne were throwing up. Me - who was car sick on a straight road - was morbidly fascinated by the sheer drops out the side window.
I remember eating peeled shrimp like candy... and my first real pineapple.

When we finally reached the beach, I stepped on a crab and was scared of the sand for years after.
For some reason, I also remembered Laredo. I don’t remember much about the town except the name. It etched itself on my consciousness; the sound of the word was as exotic and exciting to me as Paris or Istanbul might be to someone else.

Traveling to Mexico became a family habit for a while - especially after we acquired a camper. It was in the camper that I started reading Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour. I had run out of Georgette Heyer and had not yet developed an interest in the mysteries my mother brought along for the trip. Dad gave me a copy of Riders of the Purple Sage, followed a couple of L’Amour’s short story collections. Suddenly I started taking an interest in the country we were travelling through. The United States - particularly Texas - ceased to be a geographic obstacle between home and our destination.

"Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen." - Louis L'Amour 

When I needed to research Texas history and geography for Under A Texas Star, memories of those trips floated up to the surface.

One other trip cinched the deal – but it wasn’t one I took. My parents decided to go to Mexico when my mother retired. The family camper was long gone. Instead they outfitted a van with a kitchenette, bed and porta-potty. Feeling a bit envious, I wished them bon voyage one chill November morning. A couple of days later, they called from the Mexican border.

They had forgotten the vehicle permit. They couldn’t get into Mexico.

Stifling a laugh that I would have paid dearly for, I suggested they visit Texas while they were there – and bring back guide books. I was setting my mystery in the old west.

Cody, Wyoming

www.laurirobinson.blogspot.com

Our recent trip to Montana and Wyoming was rather spectacular. We stopped at museums and tourist attractions that caught our attention, as well as some national parks including the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota where we saw a wonderful herd of wild horses, including this beauty, and Yellowstone, where we saw buffalo, and buffalo, and did I mention buffalo?

Then we hit Cody, Wyoming. Officially incorporated in 1901 by Buffalo Bill Cody and several others, this little town stole my heart. The Buffalo Bill Historical Center hosts five separate museums, Buffalo Bill, Natural History and the Greater Yellowstone Area, Plains Indians, Western Art, and Firearms. It is all phenomenal and the gun museum exceptionally spectacular. 

Here are a couple ‘inventions’ that never quite made it. A prelude to the Swiss army knife, (invented in 1892) was this multifunctional folding knife with a .22 caliber pistol invented in 1880. Yes it is huge and will not fit in a pocket! And this was an attempt to make a repeating pistol in 1866. 

On a side note, here is the gun Hoss wore on Bonanza. 

After that museum we visited a place called “Old Trail Town” which was fabulous. The cabins, well over a dozen, had all been donated by the land owners of where they had been originally built. Volunteers tore down the cabins log by log, numbering each long, and then rebuilt them. 

Several of the cabins had been used by Butch Cassidy, The Sundance Kid, and the Hole in the Wall Gang. Visitors were allowed to walk inside each one, which are furnished with period and area antiques. 

To me, this little town was the highlight of the trip. Among other amazing things, John Jeremiah-Liver Eating-Johnston—the inspiration for the 1972 movie, Jeremiah Johnson starring Robert Redford is buried at this trail town. 

The shopping there was lots of fun, too. Of course they had your usual tourist shops, but I like to visit antique and pawn shops, and found two there that were amazing. If you enjoy old west museums, I’d recommend adding Cody, Wyoming to your must-visit list.

My next release isn’t set in Wyoming, but close—southern Montana. Snowbound with the Sheriff is a short Christmas tale that will be released December 1^st from Harlequin.  Here’s a short snippet: 

“Can you help us or not?” a demanding voice asked.

Chayston couldn’t remember disliking someone on sight, but it was happening. This woman was making his stomach ferment like a barrel of apples turning into vinegar.

“He’ll help, all right,” Riley said. “This here is Sheriff Williams.” Gesturing toward the window with a thumb, Riley continued, “Chayston, meet Miss Violet Ritter from Cincinnati.”

Chayston didn’t bother glancing her way. He’d already known her name and where she was from.

The snow was thick and hard to plod through. As he passed the window, she asked, “Williams? Are you related to General Williams?”

“He sur—”

“How long have you been pushing this thing?” Chayston asked, interrupting Riley before he could say more.

“Over a mile,” Riley answered. “I’ve been trying to hold up the back end. The front axels are turning, but the back one’s locked tight.”

Chayston’s well-placed kick was a mistake. The snow between the spokes was rock hard and the action shot a sting from his toe to his knee. Riley had been driving the stage for years, and there was no doubt the man had already tried everything within his power to get it rolling again. “You’ve been holding up the back end?”

“Not much else we could do,” Riley answered. “Tried shoveling, that just gave way for more snow to fall.” Lowering his rough and raspy voice, he added, “I didn’t dare pound on the axel too hard. If the wheel broke this close to the edge, the stage could tumble right over the hillside, taking your papa’s new bride with it.”

Children of Coal

 While writing LAKOTA HONOR I did a fair bit of research. One of the things I researched extensively was coal mining in the 1800’s. I came across some pretty interesting and disturbing facts about mining back then. However, what I found the most disturbing was that children were called to work in these mountains and did so up until the end of World War I. 

In an earlier blog for Cowboy Kisses I talk about Coal mining and the dangers that lurk in the belly of the mountain. I posted a picture of a group of youngsters working in a mine but never delved into what life was like for them.

I look at my twelve-year-old son and I couldn’t imagine him crawling around the inside of a mountain, putting his life in danger every day. I think about what these mothers must've gone through each day sending their child to work not knowing if they'd return safe. 

This is a seven-year-old boy in a Welsh Coal mine.

In order to rid the mines of explosive and poisonous gases, a crude ventilation system was built in the early 1800's. Young children called Trappers would sit underground for hours opening and closing trap doors that went across the mine. This created a draught and could shift a cloud of gas, but it didn't always work. Trap doors could also stop the blast of an explosion damaging more of the mine.

Crouched over a barrel boys picked out slate and other refuse from the coal for hours and hours. As they grew their shoulders hunched forward and their backs rounded, making them look far older then what they were. The coal is hard, and cut, broken or crushed fingers were common among the boys. Sometimes there are worse accidents; a boy falls down an open shaft to be pulled out later broken and dead. Cave in’s are a grave danger to these young boys who are small enough to crawl into the tiniest of places and help set dynamite, or pick away at a vein of coal.

Children were often used in the mines because of their size. They were hired to crawl into the dark dank tunnels where men could not fit. They undertook small jobs suitable for nimble fingers, like threading weaving machines, getting into nooks and crannies in the mountain, and making matches. The dangers they faced in their every day life can be imagined...add that there was no electric light, no rest breaks, no food or water provided, and they worked up to fourteen hours a day 

Miner’s consumption: pneumoconiosis A chronic disease of the lungs would eventually affect these boys, a result of repeated inhalation of dusts, including iron oxides (e.g., rust and filings), silicates (e.g., talc and rock dust), and carbonates (especially coal dust). Particles collect in the lungs and become sites for the formation of fibrous nodules. As the disease progresses, fibrous tissue increasingly replaces elastic lung tissue. Loss of lung function is signalled by shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, and difficulty in expectorating. Sufferers are particularly vulnerable to infectious lung diseases such as tuberculosis. Pneumoconiosis is incurable and treatment is purely symptomatic. Because the inhaled dusts cause darkening of the lung tissue, the disease is also known as black lung. Silicosis, the form of the disease prevalent among miners, is commonly called miner's lung.