Re-write
on my novel is almost complete-I can see the end from here. I will let you know
when I have finished. For those that have been with me for a long time, I
finished this novel seven years ago and put it away. I did not want the pressure
of trying to publish; now with opportunities for self publishing and e-books,
maybe I will try again. Need to- I have another novel complete and a
non-fiction (mostly) Wyoming History Book 80% complete and two other novels of
25,000 plus words in the works.
Today I
am doing some more reading on Fort Laramie (15 miles away) while thinking about
another novel or part of one, set there. I ran across the following and thought
it interesting.
Fort Laramie, beloved in western legend and story may
not have been quite so popular in its day. Francis Parkman in his wonderful
book, The Oregon Trail, described his visit to the famous fort in 1846.
This year was specific as 1846 was the year the fort went from a private
concern (one of the trading-posts established by the American Fur Company) to a
government owned fort with the purpose of protecting travelers along the trail
and protecting settlers, if any, in and around the fort.
Parkman described the fort itself, the buildings within
and even spent quite a few words talking about building materials, roofs and
windows. But what I found most interesting was the following. “Prices are most
extortionate: sugar, two dollars a cup; five-cent tobacco at a dollar and a
half; bullets at seventy-five cents a pound. The company is exceedingly
disliked in this country.”
Travelers along the trail often needed to re-supply by
the time they got to the fort—hope they had a lot of money with them as prices
were much more than they were expecting.
Anything to make a buck!
No comments:
Post a Comment