Devil's Gate and Fort Seminoe by Zina Abbott

Not far from Devil’s Gate, two fur traders, Charles Lajeunesse and his business partner, Auguste Archambault, built their trading post called Fort Seminoe in 1852. Seminoe comes from Simonot, or “Little Simon,” the French Catholic baptismal name of fur trader, Charles Lajeunesse. 

The pair sold to wagon trains heading west, serviced the mail, and the military companies traveling back and forth across the plains. This trading fort operated only during the summer months. Each winter, the partners returned to St. Louis, Missouri.

 

The fort was built with fourteen buildings formed in a U shape. Besides the main trading post, Fort Seminoe included a blacksmith shop, a horse corral, a cattle yard, storerooms, and living quarters for the family of Lajeunesse, Archambault, and other traders who operated at the post. Travelers who stopped by the fort were able to buy provisions and hardware. They were also able to exchange their worn-out cattle for healthy livestock.

Fort Seminoe to South Pass

For three years, they traded with passing wagon trains during the summer and returned to St. Louis, Missouri, for the winter. In the fall of 1855, with traffic along the trail subsiding and a fight between the Sioux and the U.S. Army looming, Lajeunesse left his trading post for good.

The fort burned down in 1862. The site faded from knowledge, but in 2001, the actual fort site was discovered. After careful research, Fort Seminoe was rebuilt in 2002 near its original location. Inside are exhibits that tell the story of the French trapper’s trading post, as well as the history of what took place at the fort after it was abandoned. The story of how these buildings became a haven after its role of a trading fort ended will be featured in next month’s post.

To see photos of the reconstructed fort as well as information about how it was used following its abandonment, please CLICK HERE.

 

Pearl was my first book published in the Prairie Roses Collection (2022). Many of the same characters are in both Pearl and Clara. It also included the part of the story where the wagon train traveled passed Devil’s Gate as the wagons crossed the Sweetwater River nine times before reaching South Pass. The book is available as an ebook and in paperback, and also at no additional cost with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. To find the book description for Pearl and the purchase options, please CLICK HERE

Clara is a wagon train story. This book picks up Clara’s romance after the wagon train has already traveled the trail through Sweetwater River valley. The book is currently available for purchase as an ebook or at no additional cost with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. To find the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE

 

Sources:

Thompson, Julie Nichols, “The Winter Guard at Fort Seminoe,” Tales of Triumph. (Salt Lake City, Utah: International Society of Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 2022), pgs. 121-122.

https://www.northamericanforts.com/West/wy.html#seminoe

https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/content/historic-sites/wyoming/fort-seminoe?lang=eng

Ever Heard of Wray, Colorado?

 Post by Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Image of Pawnee National Grasslands
from Wikipedia 

A few years ago Colorado, in an effort to showcase the diverse aspects of my adopted state, divided the area into unique groupings. Over the next few posts, I will be focusing on what is called the "Pioneering Plains". This region is made up of those towns that many miss in their history of Colorado. 

The Plains also play a big part in some of my novels. It is an area of rich history from the early settlers, railroads, and ranching. 

As I journey through the histories and people who traversed and or stayed, I hope you enjoy the trip with me. 

Some of the towns I will be 'visiting' are: Brush, Limon, Fort Morgan, Burlington,

Julesburg, Ovid, Paoli, Wray, Stratton, Kit Carson, and Yuma.

Colorado: Prior to statehood
Image from Wikipedia

The Visitor Guide for the region describes the area as follows:

The Colorado Plains, spanning the eastern region of the state, are characterized by a sweeping landscape of prairies, grasslands, and gentle hills. Nestled between the Rocky Mountains to the west and the Great Plains to the east, this diverse terrain boasts an area of charming towns, and historical sites, offering visitors a glimpse into the rich heritage and natural beauty that define the Colorado Plains.

So sit back, grab a drink, and starting next month we are going to take a trip into history. Buckle up.

Until Next Time: Stay safe, Stay happy, and Stay healthy.

Doris

Devil's Gate and Emigrant Trails by Zina Abbott

Devil's Gate, or Devils Gate, is a natural rock formation. It is a gorge on the Sweetwater River located five miles (8 km) southwest of Independence Rock. Devil's Gate is a prime example of what is called an antecedent drainage stream. The Sweetwater River cuts a narrow 100-meter deep slot through a granite ridge. If the same river had flowed less than a kilometer to the south, it could have bypassed the ridge completely. The gorge was cut because the landscape was originally buried by valley fill sediments. As the river eroded downward through those sediments, once it hit granite, it kept on cutting. The cleft is about 370 feet deep and 1,500 feet long. It is about thirty feet wide at the base, but 300 feet wide at the top.

Devil's gate by Wm. H. Jackson, 1870

Goldfish 49'er, J.G. Bruff, wrote:
"...some of the boys clambered up the rock on the north side of the Gate...where they fired pistols and threw down rocks, pleased with the reverberation, which was great. I made a careful sketch of this remarkable gorge."

 

According to American Indian legend, they believed a powerful evil spirit in the form of a tremendous beast with enormous tusks ravaged the Sweetwater Valley, preventing the Indians from hunting and camping. A holy man told the tribes that the Great Spirit wanted them to destroy the beast. The Indians launched an attack from the mountain passes and ravines, shooting countless arrows into the evil monster. Enraged, the beast with a mighty upward thrust of its tusks, ripped a gap in the mountain and disappeared, never to be seen again.
Robert L. Munkees, “Independence Rock and Devil’s Gate” in Annals of Wyoming, April 1968.

There are some creatures living around Devil’s Gate that might not be monsters, but they also are not something most people wish to cross their paths. Rattlesnakes. The rock formation of which Devil’s Gate is part is known as the Granite Hills. On an 1872 map, the mountains immediately north of them were identified at Rattlesnake Mountains.

My husband and I made a visit to some of the landmarks along the emigrant trail. Stopping near Devil’s Gate, a docent advised us we could walk to the river where we could have a better view of the water going through the gorge. He also warned us there are a lot of rattlesnakes there.

This author took a pass on hiking closer to Devil’s Gate.

 

Both Devil’s Gate and Independence Rock were landmarks on the three major emigrant trails: Oregon, California, and Mormon. The above drawing by William Henry Jackson, circa 1870, shows circled wagon trains at Independence Rock, with Devil's Gate in the distance.

Emigrant Charles E. Boyle wrote in 1849:

“Although the cleft was too narrow for wagons to pass through alongside the river, emigrants frequently stopped to hike around these rocks and carve their names. Often they noticed bighorn sheep climbing the hills. The chasm is one of the wonders of the world,… The water rushes roaring and raving into the gorge, and the noise it makes as it comes in contact with the huge fragments of rock lying in its course is almost deafening.”

Map by Ezra Meeker, 1907

As mountain men and adventurers began traveling west through the territory of the Louisiana Purchase, which became United States territory in 1803, they soon discovered Devil’s Gate. It became one of the landmarks which bordered what became a popular trail. The trail allowed wagons and livestock to cross the Continental Divide through South Pass, a reasonably smooth, gentle sloping pass over otherwise steep and rugged territory.

Fr. Pierre-Jean DeSmet, S.J.,  said in 1841:
"...Travelers have named this spot the Devil's Entrance (Devil's Gate). In my opinion they should have rather called it Heaven's Avenue."

Devil's Gate was a marker along the trail that many pioneers hoped would lead to a heaven on earth. However, there is far more to Devil’s Gate’s history than being a landmark. Next month, I will share about a trading post built near Devil’s Gate.

 

Pearl was my first book published in the Prairie Roses Collection (2022). Many of the same characters are in both Pearl and Clara. It also included the part of the story where the wagon train traveled passed Devil’s Gate as the wagons crossed the Sweetwater River nine times before reaching South Pass. The book is available as an ebook and in paperback, and also at no additional cost with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. To find the book description for Pearl and the purchase options, please CLICK HERE

 

Clara picks up Clara’s romance after the wagon train has already traveled the trail through the Sweetwater River valley. The book is currently available for purchase as an ebook or at no additional cost with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. To find the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

https://plantsandrocks.blogspot.com/2014/08/sweetwater-river-at-devils-gate.html

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=95488

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_Gate_(Wyoming)

The Texas Prison Rodeo by Bea Tifton

The Texas Prison Rodeo in Huntsville, Texas, was the first of its kind in the United States, operating from 1931 to 1986.  In 1931, the general manager for the Texas prison in Huntsville, Marshal Lee Simmons, instituted the Texas Prison Rodeo.  The rodeos were held on Sunday afternoons in October with the blessings of local clergy members.

Livestock was provided by the prison farms, and Simmons trucked in spectators and inmates on “rolling jails” from the prison farms and the prison itself, called “The Walls” by many. The rodeo took place on the prisoners’ baseball field. 

The wooden stadium only seated a few hundred, so organizers had to turn away fans.  In 1938 the arena seating was doubled and in 1950 a red brick arena with a 20,000 seating capacity was built for one million dollars.

Dubbed “The Wildest Show Behind Bars” and “The Wildest Show on Earth,” the rodeo proceeds were used to provide funds for an education and recreation fund that purchased such things as textbooks and Christmas turkeys.

Participants wore black and white striped uniforms sewn by women at the Goring unit. Men and women could participate in the rodeo.  Men competed in calf roping, bronc riding, bull riding, bareback basketball, and wild cow milking.  In “Hard Money,” inmates wearing red shirts competed against each other to be the first to snatch a tobacco sack full of cash from between the horns of a bull. Women participated in calf roping, barrel riding, and greased pig sacking.

Prisoners were paid for performing.  They earned two dollars in 1938 and ten dollars in 1986, but the main draw was the satisfaction and recognition for winning. O’Neal Browning began participating in rodeos when he was sixteen. His father, who wanted Browning to help him on the farm, beat the boy regularly even though he was bringing money home from rodeo winnings. While still in his teens in a drunken rage, Browning killed his father with an ax and was sentenced to life in prison. For 30 years he participated and became a celebrity as he was the top winner in seven rodeos.

Inmate rodeo clowns distracted the bulls and entertained the spectators. During halftime shows prison gospel choirs, string bands, and the “Goree Girls” featuring the former stripper Candy Barr entertained the crowd. In the 1950s, celebrities began performing, including Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, and Willie Nelson.

The rodeo involved inmates throughout the prison systems and local businesses such as restaurants and stores benefitted from the resulting tourism. In 1975, astronauts and cosmonauts from the Apollo-Soyez space mission attended the rodeo. In 1980, the film “Urban Cowboy” filmed several scenes from the arena and included the prison rodeo in the film’s plot.

Only two inmates ever escaped. One year a pair of convicts slipped under the bleachers and put on clothes left by an outside accomplice. As they were heading toward the exit, a security guard actually threw them out of the rodeo because he thought they were sneaking in.

Several factors contributed to the rodeo’s demise.  The energy crisis and inflation in the 1970s and 1980s, along with poor advertising and bad weather dramatically reduced the crowds. As Huntsville and the surrounding area became increasingly less rural, fewer inmates had the necessary skills to participate safely.  Changing views emerged concerning the treatment of incarcerated people.  Federal funding increased to the state prison system and eliminated the pressure for the state prison system to earn its own finances.  The rodeo was still quite popular in 1986 when engineers condemned the stadium as unsafe. Efforts to revive the rodeo in the 1990s proved unsuccessful. In 2012 the rodeo grounds were demolished.

 

PREPARING FOR WILLA'S OVERLAND TRIP by Marisa Masterson

 

My heroine is making a journey across the country. Fine, but how to bring the reader into the setting so they feel like that trip is real?

Research, of course! That's me, always researching.

First, I decided to use oxen rather than horses or mules to pull her wagon. Why oxen? They did not require grain or oats like horses. The oxen (trained and castrated bulls) were willing to forage for grass. They also tolerated the long miles and hard work better.

Hard work? Definitely! The oxen typically started out from Missouri pulling 2500 pounds of supplies.

How many oxen? Two as I have read in other novels? No, usually, three sets of two pulled the wagon. 

How else could I add reality to my sweet romance? I added some of the early landmarks that overlanders would see. First, the crossing of the South Platte River. The travelers would then begin to climb the incredibly steep California Hill. 

Why go that route? After the climb, they would stop at Ash Hollow, where people would enjoy sweet, sweet water after weeks of drinking boiled river water.

Next, I included details about the significant rock formations. First, Courthouse Rock. But my travelers don't stop there. They push on to get to Chimney Rock. It's a significant spot. There, they know that one quarter of the journey is over. I'd celebrate if I was there like so many real travelers did who climbed that rock and chisled their names into it.

From Wagon Train Willa:

The company passed Courthouse Rock without much fanfare. To the travelers, it simply became one of the landmarks many knew of on the trail. Only a few days after that, they came to Chimney Rock. That was much more exciting.

The train stopped there, spending a free day at the spot. The people felt encouraged as they knew that now they had covered one quarter of the trail, over five hundred miles already walked. Most made this a celebration. The group even had a potluck dinner planned, and hunters went out to search for fresh game to add to it.

Like others in the company, Cade and Willa took the boys to the top of Chimney Rock. He carried the chisel. With a flourish, he carved their names and the date into the rock. Willy and Billy stood with their eyes wide as they watched small chips of rock fly.

“See, boys. In years to come, people will know that we made the trip across the country. A family who traveled together.” Cade grinned as he stretched a hand toward the carving.

What else happens to this family? I hope you are curious to find out. The novel is now on pre-order and will release soon from Amazon.