Welcome

Grand Teton National Park’s Leigh Lake is named for Beaver Dick. Jenny Lake is named for his wife. Mountain man, Richard “Beaver Dick” Leigh, was born in Manchester, England, but immigrated to America with his sister when he was seven years old to become a fur trapper with the Hudson Bay Fur Company. A decade… Continue reading Cat’s Cafe Who’s Who ~ Richard “Beaver Dick” Leigh →

James Madison “Matt” Taylor is credited to be the founding father of Eagle Rock, which was first called Taylor’s Crossing in 1865. Matt and several partners built the first bridge across the Snake River with the intention of charging a toll to travelers using the California Trail and its northern leg, the Montana Trail, leading… Continue reading Cat’s Cafe Who’s Who ~ Robert Anderson and James “Matt” Taylor →

Another historical figure I have included in the first book of the Eagle Rock Trilogy is Fred Dubois. He became a U.S. Marshal and two-term senator in Idaho and is described in The Statesman (August 23, 2015) by Arthur Hart as “a controversial U.S. senator from Idaho, remembered today for his anti-Mormonism and relentless pursuit… Continue reading Cat’s Cafe Who’s Who ~ Fred Thomas Dubois →

My first full week of marketing ~ discoveries and successes I just spent most of a week in central Illinois meeting, greeting, and marketing. It was great! Exhausting, but great. It started with My Dear Editor and Agent’s usual arm-length to-do list. I used to think she was going to be a helpful, easygoing hire.… Continue reading And now this … →

Rebecca Mitchell is one of the real people featured in my historical fiction novel Cat’s Café who did live and work in Eagle Rock and influence the warp and weft of life not only in Idaho but throughout the West and, ultimately, the entire United States. Born in 1832 in Macoupin County, Illinois, 60 miles… Continue reading Cat’s Cafe Who’s Who ~ Rebecca Mitchell →

In the Eagle Rock of my new historical fiction novel Cat’s Cafe, the Clancy Clan plagues the town with unrestrained theft and intimidation, Sheriff Zane Gunther is the ineffectual face of the law, and the real power lies squarely with Mayor Luther Armstrong who is as corrupt as the worst criminals but under the cover… Continue reading 1870s Law and Order, local lockups →

Local lawmen and the U.S. Marshals Service Is Zane Gunther crazy? Possibly. At the very best, he lacks all sense of social propriety and personal responsibility ~ and could use a good speech teacher.  With that, permit me to introduce the sheriff of 1879 Eagle Rock, Idaho — a composite of real and fictional lawmen… Continue reading Law and order, sheriffs and marshals →

Any study of peacekeeping, or frontier justice, or self preservation in the late 19th-century Idaho Territory has to include firearms. Side arms, pocket models, long guns were considered every day tools, if not every day carries, for men and women. The so-called lawmen in Cat’s Cafe represent aspects of real-life Deputy Sheriff Ed. F. Winn… Continue reading 1870s Law and Order, firearms →

The Transcontinental Railroad was the ultimate luxury ~ for some First class passengers boarding the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1870s stepped into an elegant, extravagant world of dark, polished woods, velvet upholstery, and gilt-framed mirrors in palace Pullman cars, slept in private rooms, and enjoyed opulent “feasts of antelope, trout, berries and Champagne,” describes History.com,… Continue reading American Westward Migration, riding the Transcontinental RR →

The Transcontinental Railroad, Change and challenge The completion of the monumental task of building almost 1,800 miles of track in the late 1860s had a dramatic impact on the future of the United States. According to James P. Ronda, co-author of  The West the Railroads Made, “What the Transcontinental Railroad did was bring the West… Continue reading American Westward Migration, building the Transcontinental RR →