Here is one beguiling beauty and her early concealed carry firearm of choice, the 1849 Colt pocket model. View this photo and many others in Phil Spangenberger's article "Twelve Guns That Tamed the Wild West" at True West Magazine here. For a fascinating look at historic firearms through the decades, visit the National Firearms Museum… Continue reading 1870s Law and Order, firearms
Category: Uncategorized
American Westward Migration, riding the Transcontinental RR
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
American Westward Migration, building the Transcontinental RR
The Transcontinental Railroad, Change and challenge Central Pacific Transcontinental Railroad, Tunnel No. 27 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… Continue reading American Westward Migration, building the Transcontinental RR
Cat’s Cafe, Ch. 10 Notes
Updated August, 2022 Title from Puck, Light thrown on a dark subject (which is bad for the gas companies.) Thomas Edison, with his newly-invented electric light bulb, throws light on the gas company monopoly, personified by 2 men with monstrous gas-meter heads.Created and published 1878. Courtesy Library of Congress. Chapter Ten ~ Copper control, corporate… Continue reading Cat’s Cafe, Ch. 10 Notes
Cat’s Cafe, Ch. 8 Notes
Updated August, 2022 Chapter Eight ~ Cigars, chicanery, and collusion Photo (right) from https://www.jcnewman.com/vincente-ybor-cigar-legacy/ Connections -- Then and Now Tampa Bay earned its nickname "Cigar City" as a result of the migration of Cubans seeking and finding work in the burgeoning hand-rolled cigar industry following Cuba's 10 Years' War. The Tampa Bay History Center features… Continue reading Cat’s Cafe, Ch. 8 Notes
Cat’s Cafe, Ch. 7 Notes
Updated August, 2022 Photo courtesy Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/resource/cai.2a14792/ Chapter Seven ~Not much law, not much order until Winn Sheriff Zane Gunther is a fictional character based on two historical individuals who did serve as sheriff in the vicinity of Eagle Rock around the time I’ve portrayed. According to the book Images of America, Idaho… Continue reading Cat’s Cafe, Ch. 7 Notes
American Westward Migration, beginnings
Before there were trains on tracks, there were carts and wagons on trails Life and Death on the Trail 30-100 prairie schooners in a caravan4' x 10' size of a prairie schooner wagon15-20 miles per hour a prairie schooner could travel2,170 miles of various routes on the Oregon Trail420,000 pioneers traveled part of the Oregon… Continue reading American Westward Migration, beginnings
Cat’s Cafe ~ Ch. Five, Six Notes
Updated July 19, 2022 Read an expanded look at the Mormon theocracy in the 19th century and the 1858 "Brink of War" between the Mormons and U.S. Army in Utah, and view these photos of (left to right) Brigham Young, Joseph Smith, and Brigham Young's wives in 1852, in the Smithsonian Magazine. References of note… Continue reading Cat’s Cafe ~ Ch. Five, Six Notes
Breads that sizzle
Chuck, grub, chow, all names for chuck wagon food in the wagon train and on the cattle drive, featured basic starches and staples cooked over a fire. Beans cooked all night, bread cooked quickly in hot cast iron. Those breads are still popular today, whether cooked over a fire or on top of the stove.… Continue reading Breads that sizzle
Cat’s Cafe, Ch. 4 Notes
Updated July, 2022 Library of Congress image, [Indian delegation in the White House Conservatory during the Civil War, with J.G. Nicolay, President Abraham Lincoln's secretary, standing in center back row and interpreter John Simpson Smith at back left] / Brady, New York. About this photo, from the Library of Congress Photograph of the Southern Plains… Continue reading Cat’s Cafe, Ch. 4 Notes