In my newest novel, the hero decides to follow the Oregon Trail in search of a newly created town, one he hoped would desperately need a blacksmith. To do this, he plans to join a wagon train for safety as he heads west.
Stop! Here's where I hit a wall. My book couldn't take place any earlier than 1871. A little research and, boom, my plan was totally blown. Any guess why? No more wagon trains.
That's right. The wagon trains were done. By 1869, the railroad was pushing westward. It was faster and safer to settle the west by train. For as little as $65, a person could take a seven day train trip.
While emigrants like my hero, Elias Kline, continued to use the trail. They didn't go with wagon trains, though. Most went alone or with another family.
Realizing this, I rethought my plot. My characters would travel only a small part of the trail. But would they start from Independence?
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| Train station in St. Joseph, MO. |
My heroine would arrive by train as a mail-order bride. I looked at maps from 1869 that showed the railroads. Because my heroine came from New England, St. Joseph, Missouri, was the best spot for her to meet up with her hunky German-American groom.
By 1871, St. Joseph was a key spot in our country, sort of a gateway for goods. Items needed in the west were first shipped to St. Joseph before being hauled to destinations further from "civilization". Even before the railroad, steamers came up the river and delivered goods to be hauled west. Pioneers came by steamboat also and used St. Joseph as a jumping off point for travel by wagon overland. This history made the town a good choice as the place where my couple would meet, marry, and start their journey.
I still want to write a wagon train romance. Ruby's Risk, my soon to be released novel, just didn't turn out to be that, exactly. Maybe some day soon a wagon train romance plot will tickle my mind. Fingers crossed!
A man might homestead, but it takes a woman to turn that
place into a home! This matchmaker will settle the West one couple at a time.
Under suspicion after his wife’s murder, Elias Kline knows
he has to leave Mills Bluff. Learning a lynch mob is planning to kill him, he
slips away from town. Taking only his smithy tools and his young son, he
chooses a new name—Ezra King. Heading west seems a fine way to start over, but
he’ll need a wife to raise his son and cook his meals. One sent by an agency shouldn’t
expect love, he decides.
A matchmaker convinces lonely Ruby Hastings to take a risk
on Ezra King. After all, the man is helping fulfill the nation's destiny of
settling the west. Reading the man’s letter, Ruby aches for the widower's
little boy and seizes on this chance to be a mama to him. After all, with a
brother on the run from the law and a newly married sister, her siblings no
longer need Ruby and this motherless boy does.
It should be a convenient arrangement. What happens when the
mail-order wife begins to push past the walls guarding Elias’ heart,
challenging him spiritually and emotionally? When danger follows him from Mills
Bluff, will Elias be able to keep his family together?
