The Gold Rush and Western Travel

I’m just getting started on my next Proxy Brides book (releasing at the end of March). A recent trip to hike in Death Valley has given me so many ideas!! Have you ever heard of the California 49ers? Yes, they are a sports team, but it also refers to the peak year of influx of people moving to California searching for gold (1849). One group who were looking for a shortcut to the gold fields got a wee bit lost and ended up wandering around the desert for a couple months. Finally they burned their wagons and ate their oxen and walked out on foot. Death Valley National Park has several monuments to their adventures and losses. I can’t even begin to imagine how terrifying that must’ve been! At least that story has a happy ending (except for the oxen).

The trains only went so far West but were a whole lot faster than travelling by wagon. You could get almost halfway across the country in a week by the late 1840s. But then, if you didn’t get lost, it would take about another month to get all the way to California from New York or Boston.

The California Gold Rush brought a sudden influx of gold into the money supply and reinvigorated the American economy. The population boom vastly altered California, leading it to become a state in 1850. Agriculture and ranching expanded throughout the state to meet the needs of the settlers. Roads, churches, schools, and other towns were built throughout the state.

I think the groom in my next book will have made his wealth through some of these exploits. It’s quite fascinating to read about the massive shift in fortunes during the 40s and 50s. We’re so used to stores, and roads, and hotels today. People must have been truly intrepid back then! I can’t wait to explore some of these themes in my next manuscript J

I’ve got a series set in Missouri centered around train travel (specifically young ladies escorting children on the Orphan Trains). It’s fascinating how much the development of train travel changed life, communication, and the economy. Check out the Orphan Train series. Here’s the blurb for book 1 – Sophie’s story:

She’d happily give him her heart … if only it wouldn’t cost her the only home she’s known

Sophie Brooks thought she had everything she could want in life. Friends, loved ones at the orphanage where she was raised, a job that gives her purpose, and a chance to help children every day … what more could she need? But a chance encounter with a handsome stranger has her wondering if a life—and love—outside the orphanage might be exactly what she never knew she needed.

Renton Robert Rexford III has never wanted for anything. Until he meets Sophie. The charming, intelligent beauty draws him like no other.  But, thanks to a disapproving benefactor who threatens to pull the orphanage’s funding, his pursuit of her could cost Sophie everything she holds dear. She’s all he wants in the world, but how can he ask her to give up so much when all she’d get in return is his heart?

It’s not long before Sophie is forced to weigh her loyalty to the only home she’s ever known against the needs of her heart. Can love prevail—or is the cost simply too high?  

And then travel along with the young women who escort the orphans in Books 2-4

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The story behind "Lorna Loves a Lawyer" by Linda K. Hubalek

I try to use a realistic situation for my historical romance stories, even if it ends up being a sweet and clean version for the reader.

For Lorna Loves a Lawyer, book nine in the Brides with Grit series, I thought about different scenarios a mail-order bride might find herself in.

I'd done the "groom died before the bride arrives" in Millie Marries a Marshal. In Lilly: Bride of Illinois, her groom turned out to be a saloon owner with plans for Lilly to be soiled dove, instead of his wife.

So what if the bride arrives, they marry, and then the groom disappears the next day? That put a whole new twist on the story, especially if she's left penniless in a frontier town. Of course Lorna Jantz's neighbor, Lyle Elison, comes to her rescue, and they fall in love along the way.

Here's the description:

A sweet historical romance set in 1873. Lorna Jantz left Boston looking for adventure, signing up as a mail-order bride for a rich Kansas rancher. But, the groom only becomes rich after taking off with her money, after their twenty-four hour marriage. Which left Lorna in a pickle, stuck in a little town with no money, no home and a growing belly.

Lyle Elison was one of Boston’s worst, a spoiled, rich merchant’s son, until enforced time on the family’s Kansas ranch made him see his purpose in life. After training in Boston, he’s back in Clear Creek, Kansas, as the town’s new lawyer.

Backgrounds make Lorna and Lyle connect, but time spent together makes them good friends, willing to help each other face their respective problems. Lorna needs help tracking down the louse who stole her money and left her in a family way. Lyle needs to be married by his birthday to receive his inheritance from his grandfather’s Will.

In between their capers, each falls in love with the other, secretly wishing they could confess their love and be together forever. But first, they have to find Lorna’s wayward husband before Lyle’s birthday.

You can find the book on: Amazon   B&N   Kobo   Apple

I'm sure situations like this in the 1800s didn't always end up as happy as Lorna and Lyle's story, but we can always hope a few did.

Thanks for stopping by to enjoy today's Sweethearts of the West blog.

Linda Hubalek

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New Release in Brides with Grit Series

Darcie Desires a Drover, book seven in the Brides with Grit series was just released so I'd like to tell you about it. 

This sweet wholesome romance series is set in 1873 near Ellsworth, Kansas.

Darcie Robbins is the sister to Millie Wilerson (Millie Marries a Marshal, book 2) and mother of Tate, the two-year old who has gotten his share of attention in the book series.

The “drover” is Reuben Shepard, all-around cowhand and cook at the Bar E Ranch. Reuben left the ranch during Cora Captures a Cowboy (book 4) to visit his family in New York. 

Here's the story line

Darcie Robbins fled St. Louis to protect her two children from their bad father. Now divorced, she’s temporarily working on the Bar E Ranch in central Kansas. She needs a permanent job—or a trustworthy husband—to help provide for her family.

Reuben Shepard went home to his family in New York after the Civil War, to find his wife had declared him dead—so she could wed another. In shock, Reuben didn’t contest her claim and wandered south, spending years as a cattle drover on western trails until settling down to work on the Bar E Ranch.

Spending time with Darcie’s toddler, Tate, makes Reuben miss his own son, Gabe. Reuben travels to New York, hoping to visit his son, and ends up bringing Gabe back to the Kansas because the boy’s step-father had just died.

When Reuben proposes marriage to Darcie for their children’s sake, the couple falls in love as they learn to trust and support each other while planning for their future. But their wedding is stalled when Reuben’s former wife arrives, stating she and Reuben are still married.

What’s the truth and what’s best for the children is their concern now instead of a wedding date. How can they clear the past so they can have a future together?

Here's the link's where the book is available. Please enjoy and share with others who like reading clean western romance books.

Amazon US   Amazon UK   Amazon CA    B&N    iTunes   Kobo    Scribd 

Also, please sign up for my newsletter on www.LindaHubalek.com to receive a free Brides with Grit short story, The Bridal Crown, and to hear about the release of future books, contests and more. And I love to connect with my readers, so please contact me through one of these social media sites, too. 

Thanks! Linda Hubalek

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