Dust, manure and flies...Ellsworth, Kansas in 1873, by Linda Hubalek

My latest book, HILDA HOGTIES A HORSEMAN, the third book in the Brides with Grit series, debuted this week. The setting of Ellsworth, Kansas in 1873, was easy to work with because it was a major cattle shipping town between 1872 to 1875. 

Abilene, Kansas was famous, being the first place to ship cattle by railroad to eastern towns in 1867, but that ended in 1871 when businesses and farmers got tired of the damage and disease the herds caused in the area.

Ellsworth, Kansas, 60 miles west of Abilene, became the new town to ship out of between 1872 to 1875. (The photo above is Ellsworth in 1873.)

One can find a vast amount of information on the internet about the cattle drives which went through Kansas in the 1870's. Here's some interesting tidbits, written by F. B Streeter in 1935, for an article in the Kansas Historical Quarterly.

As a means of advertising the new trail and the shipping points on the line, the Kansas Pacific issued a pamphlet and map entitled, Guide Map of the Great Texas Cattle Trail From Red River Crossing to the Old Reliable Kansas Pacific Railway. The writer has located only two editions of this pamphlet: one issued in 1872, the other in 1875. To quote from the 1875 edition:

Drovers are recommended to make Ellis, Russell, Wilson's, Ellsworth and Brookville the principal points for their cattle for the following reasons: Freedom from petty annoyances of settlers, arising from the cattle trespassing upon cultivated fields, because there is wider range, an abundance of grass and water, increased shipping facilities and extensive yard accommodations. Large and commodious hotels may be found in all these places, and at Ellsworth, especially, the old "Drovers' cottage," so popular with the trade for years, will be found renovated and enlarged. The banking house of D. W. Powers & Co., established at Ellsworth in 1873, in the interest of the cattle business, will remain at this point and continue their liberal dealings as in the past.

As stated above, Ellsworth became the principal shipping point for Texas cattle on the Kansas Pacific Railroad in 1872. The first three droves of longhorns that season arrived in Ellsworth early in June. These droves numbered 1,000 head each. Two weeks later a total of twenty-eight herds, numbering from 1,000 to 6,000 head each, had arrived and many more were on the way. The fresh arrivals contained a total of 58,850 head of longhorns. These, together with over 40,000 head which had wintered in the county, made a total of more than 100,000 head of Texas cattle in Ellsworth county. 

That season 40,161 head were transported from Ellsworth, or one fourth of the total number marketed over the Kansas Pacific...Besides those shipped by rail from Ellsworth, about 50,000 head were driven to California and the territories from that place. In the months of June and July more than 100,000 head of beef and stock cattle changed hands at Ellsworth. Drovers found buyers on their arrival, enabling them to close out at a good price and return to their homes.

The prices paid for cattle that season were as follows: $19 to $22 for beeves; $15 to $18 for three-year-olds; $9 to $10 for two-year olds; $12 for cows; and $6 for yearlings. 

My first thought on reading this? Wow! That's a lot of cattle to surround the town! 

My second? Dust, manure and flies...and a good setting for a western romance...

Here's the description for HILDA HOGTIES A HORSEMAN. Enjoy this new historical romance!

Ranch woman Hilda Hamner spent her youth traveling with her Swedish immigrant family as they drove cattle from Texas up to Kansas cow towns in the 1870s. Hilda decided to get off the cattle trail and bought an abandoned homestead in Kansas with her horse race winnings. She plans on raising horses—and finding a husband that doesn’t mind her tall, lanky body that’s usually dressed in men’s clothing. 

Noah Wilerson planned to bring his intended bride from Illinois back to the Kansas homestead he started for them, but found out his fiancée had already married someone else when arriving at her father’s doorstep. After traveling back home, Noah finds a woman has taken over his claim, leaving him homeless and jobless. 

Hilda realizes she needs help to make her horse ranch successful, and decides that Noah is the right man—to promote from horseman to husband on her ranch—if he’ll treat her as a special woman, and not just a ranching partner. 

Noah wants his homestead back, and the woman who has transformed the simple soddie into a family home. Between family dramas, outlaw danger, and butting heads, which one will hogtie the other to get to the church altar first?

Here’s the link to HILDA HOGTIES A HORSEMAN book on Amazon.  Enjoy!

Linda Hubalek

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The Wichita Mountains, an Oklahoma Treasure

I first visited the Wichita Mountains a number of years ago. I’d gotten the bright idea to write a novel about a woman geologist from Scotland who explores the Wichitas. That book never came to fruition, but I’m putting my photos and research about the mountains to good use in my WIP, Dearest Druid (Texas Druids, Vol. III.)



Elk Mountain, Wichita Mountains; photo from Wikipedia Commons;
licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

The Wichitas are among the oldest mountains in the United States. Formed some 550 million years ago, they have weathered and eroded through time. Yet, they still rise over 2,000 feet above sea level and more than 1,000 feet above the surrounding landscape. True, they can’t compare to the majestic Rockies, but seeing them rise out of the Oklahoma prairie is mighty impressive.

More impressive is the mountains’ role in history. For decades, even centuries, they were home to elk, dear, wolves and other native species. A natural pass running through the mountains, now called the Wichita Mountain Byway, provided access for Indians, white settlers and herds of buffalo to the south Oklahoma prairie, the Red River and Texas. When the Army needed an outpost from which to launch campaigns against Comanche, Kiowa, Cheyenne and other Indian raiders on the southern plains, Fort Sill was built in the foothills of the Wichitas. The fort is the only military post dating from the Indian Wars on the south plains that remains active today.

Fort Sill, 1889; courtesy of the Library of Congress

Rainy Mountain, a lone outlier of the Wichita chain, became famous with the publication of N. Scott Momaday’s book The Way to Rainy Mountain, a poetic glimpse into Kiowa Indian ways and their mystical beliefs. When the Kiowa were forced to give up their wandering life as hunters and raiders, the tribe settled near Rainy Mountain on the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation.

Established in 1901, the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge is the oldest protected wildlife area under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s management. It played a large part in saving the American bison (buffalo) from extinction. In 1907, the American Bison Society delivered fifteen bison from the New York Zoological Park to the refuge. When the animals arrived, they were greeted by Indians and whites alike. Comanche chief Quanah Parker is said to have cried at the sight of them. The refuge is now home to about 650 bison. Many other species, including a herd of Texas Longhorn cattle also live in the refuge.

Longhorn cattle in Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge

Now here's a taste of Dearest Druid, planned publication: March, 2013

Rose Devlin, youngest of the three Devlin siblings, is accompanying Choctaw Jack in an urgent attempt to save his mother's life, using Rose's healing gift. Due to past tragedies, she is fearful of men and doesn't fully trust Jack, while he is fighting his attraction to her because she's white.

Riding away from Fort Sill, Rose gazed at the jumble of mountains extending northwest from the fort. “What are those mountains called?” she inquired, lagging a bit behind Jack.

“The Wichitas. Stick close now,” he ordered, glancing at her over his shoulder. When she obediently caught up, he kneed his horse into a lope, and she followed suit.

She’d never seen mountains before and couldn’t keep from staring at them. They weren’t terribly high, surely not as tall as the majestic Rockies to the far west, which she’d seen pictured on postcards and travelers’ Guides. Cloaked in shades of gold, green and brown, these peaks reminded her of dignified old women basking in the sun. She giggled at the thought and wished she could explore them.

“Toppah!” Jack shouted, giving her a start.

“Aye?” Responding without thinking to the Indian name, she jerked her gaze away from the rocky heights. To her surprise, Jack had stopped and turned his mount to face her, some distance ahead.

There was no sign of the gentle smile he’d given her a short time ago. With a fist planted on his thigh, he scowled fiercely. “I said stick close, didn’t I?”

She kneed Brownie, hurriedly closing the gap between them. “Aye, and I’m sorry. ’Tis simply that –”

“You’re not out for a pleasure ride, woman. This is rough country.”

Pulling abreast of him, she watched him warily, half expecting him to cuff her for being so thoughtless. “I know, but --”

“And I’m not talkin’ just hills and gullies. I mean bears and panthers that sometimes come down out of those mountains. I mean the wolves I already warned you about, and poisonous snakes that can kill you with one bite. Cross paths with any of ’em, and that stallion’s liable to shy and dump you on your backside if you don’t stay alert. You want that to happen?”

His mention of snakes made her quake. “No,” she muttered, eyes downcast.

After a brief silence, he added more calmly, “There’s something else you’d best keep in mind. We’re on the Comanche-Kiowa-Apache Reservation. You don’t want to be trailing behind if we meet some braves who’ve had too much firewater. From now on, keep up. All right?”

Feeling like a fool, she nodded meekly.

 





 

Darlin’ Druid --Texas Druids book 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om4QX4NCMBw

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004ASNDES (Kindle)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1469996022 (paperback)

Dashing Druid -- Texas Druids book 2:

http://youtu.be/QEhX6N39rrE

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0069HLDJU (Kindle)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1470004003 (paperback)

White Witch (prequel novella):

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0070ZDPF0 (Kindle)