What To Do With All My Money

Now that I am retired thought I might look for a part time job, you know, a bit of extra cash. Looks like I am too late to go with Lewis and Clark and the Corpse of Discovery. Darn, the job paid $5.00 a month too, could have used the money.

 

Research may be the toughest part of writing; at least it is for me. The reason, it’s too easy to get off track, as evidenced by the above post. Oh, I was looking for stuff on John Colter and his famous run when I got off track dreaming of that once-a-month, five buck payday.

 

What would this ol’ boy do with the cash, puts me in a day-dreaming mood. But I am thinkin’ Ice Cream.

 

Is Little Big Man the greatest western novel/story ever?

Written by Thomas Berger,”Little Big Man,” is believed by many critics to be the greatest of all western novels. The protagonist and also the narrator, the 111-year old Jack Crabb, tells his life story to Ralph Fielding Snell, who decides that Crabb “was either the most neglected hero in the history of this country or a liar of insane proportions.”

Having been kidnapped by Indians as a boy and spending his entire life moving back and forth between the two cultures, Jack meets nearly every famous character of the Old West, from Wyatt Earp to Wild Bill Hickok (whose murder in Deadwood Jack witnesses) to Sitting Bull and Custer. In the end, Jack becomes the only survivor of the battle of the “Little Big Horn.”

True or not, this is a wonderful western story – a must read.

Pemmican, Jerky or Dried Beef

What did cowboys call it? Most modern western tails have a cowboy, the army or an Indian chewing on jerky somewhere in the story. But did they really call it jerky?

I have only been looking for a few days but can’t find a western tail written before the 1950s or maybe the 60s that mentioned jerky. If you look at supply lists for the Oregon Trail or cattle drives they list many foods, but no jerky. (Lots of salt pork, bacon, beans and even canned tomatoes and peaches)

 

 I found many references to the word jerky coming from the Spanish word, Charqui, which was corrupted to jerky, sounds plausible, but I have also found mountain man tails where they referred to all dried meat as pemmican, even though it did not fit the American Indian idea or recipe of pemmican.

I have published several short stories/historical pieces over the years and have a just completed (unpublished) novel. Now believe I may have made an historical error by calling dried meat, jerky.  Just wondering—any thoughts?

Summer Reading

My reading seems to slow down in the summer and speed up in the winter. Guess that makes sense for someone living in Wyoming. Fishing, Golf, hiking, walking and gardening seem to be taking up most of my daylight hours. But I still get through a book every week or ten days and the one I am reading now is terrific.

 Six Bits a Day, is another of Elmer Kelton’s, Hewey Calloway novels. The most famous of the trilogy, The Good Old Boys, was published before this one but the Calloway brothers of this novel are the same but younger, making this book a prequel and the three books, the other one is, The Smiling Country, a very nice western trilogy.

 

This novel is fun and moves along at a good pace. I like the way Kelton throws in enough facts to make the book come to life. It is nearing the end of trail drives and open range and maybe the cowboy but Hewey Calloway is a real fun loving, honest to goodness, cowboys, cowboy.

 Kelton spun many great western tails; this one is a fine example and might even make a good read for people that are not necessarily western novel fans.

Fourth of July at Fort Laramie

Celebrated the fourth watching a parade in our little town then spent the afternoon at Fort Laramie.  It’s been a while but we (my wife and I) have spent an Independence Day there before-but many years ago. We live only 18 miles from Fort Laramie so it is not too much of a drive. Watched the kid’s game, gunny sack races, sampled some army bread, and listened to a very good presentation on Plains Indian culture. The highlight of the day was the 38 gun salute, along with cannon, to celebrate the fourth. Some people in period uniforms made the day memorable and a family entertained playing music under a tarp attached to their covered wagon.

As we walked the grounds I started to wonder, not about Fort Laramie and the history of the west, but wondered about old fashioned fun. No water park, no rides, no glitz, just a hot day on the grounds of the old Fort and everyone seemed to be having a great time. Did not see one person with headphones or connected to an iPod, listening to their own music. It was refreshing-almost as refreshing as the bottle of old fashioned Root Beer I sipped as we walked the grounds.

All and all a nice relaxing afternoon, no fireworks at night when we got home as we are in a fire ban area, did miss that. We live in Wyoming and wildfires have been as close as two miles from us this summer. One burning now, about 40 miles west of town, 90,000 acres, think I have seen enough real fireworks this summer for one lifetime.

July 4th on the Oregon Trail

July 4^th, Independence Day, but it was a lot more than that for travelers on the Oregon Trail. July Fourth was the day to reach Independence Rock (thus the name) almost in the middle of Wyoming. If you reached the rock by the fourth you could make it through the passes before the snows. Legend says (because I cannot find a better fact here) that Independence Rock got its name from Ashley’s men who camped there on July Fourth 1825. By 1840 there were so many names carved into the rock that Father DeSmet referred to the rock as,   “the register of the Desert.”

The Virginian --Nope

Ever wonder where writers come up with characters for their novels? Well this guy was sure he was the Virginian. He lived at the right time and was in the same general area as Owen Wister was when he wrote the famous novel, but I doubt he was the Virginian. He may have been the basis for a physical description of the famous cowboy, or as Wister wrote, cow-boy, but he was not the Virginian, of that I am sure.

The summer of 1914 may have truly marked the end of the old west. Why, because that was the year of the last stagecoach holdup, and it took place near Shoshone Point in Yellowstone Park. Other places claim the last holdup, including one of the Cheyenne-Deadwood Stage and one in Nevada, but I like this one. The year marked the end of the horse’s only transportation in the park, as cars came for the first time the next year, and a year after that, 1916 would mark the end of the coaches in the park.

I like this bit of history because the robber, Edward Trafton, (Ed Harrington) did not just hold up a stagecoach, he held up fifteen in a row. The stages carried tourists seeing the sights of the park, and the sixteenth coach, sniffing out something bad, turned around and went for help.

Wearing several layers of extra clothes and a black mask,Trafton stopped each coach rustled out the passengers and asked them, while holing a rifle, to put their money in a sack lying at his feet. For his days work he collected a little over nine hundred dollars and jewelry worth another one- hundred and thirty dollars. Trafton, a ladies’ man, or one who believed he was, laughed and asked the ladies to hide their jewelry, he was only interested in cash. Not sure how or why he ended up with more than a hundred dollars worth anyway, maybe he didn’t like some of the women as much as others.

Trafton had so much fun holding up a stage every half hour that he even allowed some of the passengers to take his photo. Not sure Tafton was the smartest of outlaws, but he likely believed he was, because of this day, famous, and needed to secure his place in history. It did secure a place but maybe not what he had in mind.

The well photographed outlaws next stop was Leavenworth, where he rested up for five years. He died more than a decade later
with a letter in his pocket claiming he was the cowboy Owen Wister based the Virginian on. More likely, if Wister ever met him and put him in the famous novel, he was one of the bad guys or less than bright characters in the story. Trampas?

Wyoming and the Code of the West

Last March the Wyoming legislature passed senate file 51. This bill, while not a true law as much as it is a suggestion has been both admired and critized. Some say it makes those of us who live in Wyoming look like a bunch of hicks, others say, yes, this is what we are all about.

Here it is - The Code of the West, bill.

Adapted from the book, "Cowboy Ethics," by James P. Owen

-The code includes-


1. Live each day with courage
2. Take pride in your work 3. Always finish what you start
4. Do what has to be done
5. Be tough, but fair
6. When you make a promise, keep it
7. Ride for the brand
8. Talk less, say more
9. Remember that some things are not for sale
10.Know where to draw the line

The Code of the West, alive and Well in Wyoming –click here to watch a great four minutes of Wyoming.

http://www.vimeo.com/7931683

Christmas and Sledding

Christmas is over and I am sitting in my recliner playing with my brand new Kindle. (I have downloaded my first book - a Wm Johnstone Western)
All four kids and all seven grandkids made it. BUT as always there had to be a mishap and this one was a dozy. Our four year old granddaughter broke her leg sledding. It was our second day on the hill (yesterday) she is a tough little kid but when she said she needed to go to the doctor we knew it was hurting. Now it is all cast up (hip to foot) and in about eight weeks she will be as good as new. Thank God for grandkids, good doctors and quick healing for four year olds.

The Old West and Root Beer too

Just for Fun – Spring is Here

The tall stranger bellied up to the counter and watched as the patrons lowered their heads and shuffled away. A wry smile turned the corners of his mouth into his drooping mustache. He dug in his pocket and pulled out a weathered dollar bill, unfolded it and placed it on the counter. He didn’t have to say a word—they all knew and they all watched.

The bar-keep reached slowly, after first making eye contact he couldn’t hold, under the counter and pulled out a clean mug, filled it, and carefully sat the still foaming mug in front of the tall stranger with the big thirst. Then he turned again reaching low, a glint of metal showed in his right hand. His hand came up quickly, but not too fast and placed a large scoop of vanilla ice cream into the glass.

The stranger nodded, pulled the paper end from his straw and shot the barkeep with the paper in the center of his chest. The patrons fell silent and moved farther from the action as the tall stranger took a long cool drink. Man-oh-man how the stranger loved the first Monday of spring—Root Beer floats, only a buck every Monday until June 1st.

Five minutes later it was all over, as fast as it had started. The glass was empty, the stranger smiled and wiped the dripping root beer flavored ice cream from his mustache with the back of his straw paper shooting hand. He stepped back as the other patrons held their breath—what would happen next.

He turned walked three steps, pushed open the glass door and walked once again into the stifling mid-day heat. Inside the patrons let out a collective sigh and ordered floats all around.

Cowboy Ethics

The Wyoming legislative session just ended for another year. They passed the Cowboy Code of Ethics as the official state code. Pretty neat! But it is what they didn’t pass that has me fuming, I had great hope that they would pass an anti-snow in March law. Didn’t happen, states regulate everything else why not the weather? Five inches of snow Friday and Saturday—oh my aching back.
The Cowboy Code—Taken from the Laramie Boomerang 2010
Live courageously
Take pride in their work
Finish what they start
Do what's necessary
Be tough but fair
Keep promises
Ride for the brand
Talk less and say more
Remember that some things aren't for sale
Know where to draw the line

Ranch Research

Working on a short non-fiction magazine story on the Swan Land and Cattle Company in Southeast Wyoming.
-Some facts on the ranch-
Over 3 million acres
100+ brands and nearly 100,000 cattle (actual count not book count).
The ranch was owned by investors in Scotland and managed by Alexander Swan. They paid him $10,000 per year (about that per month in todays money)
It was Wyoming’s largest 1880’s ranch.
Some of the original buildings still stand.

Why I hate editing and other horror stories

I understand that there are writers that enjoy editing. Somewhere there are probably people that enjoy flat tires, painting the fence and swatting mosquitoes, but I am not familiar with any of those folks. I do not like editing, I try anything to get out of it and it always works—trouble is the material stays the same. Yep, you guessed it, needs editing.
I have a completed manuscript and have edited seventeen pages (of nearly 300) in the last fourteen months. Instead of editing I have spent my time writing stories. Writing is more fun and more rewarding than editing. So I chose to write not edit.
Do you know why people blog—I do, no editing. Not here anyway.
Well back to editing and my unending search for the extra adjective and the hated adverb.
Now I am too tired to tell other horror stories—good night!

-N-

Reading and Writing

I have been reading a lot and only writing a little lately. This is the time of year I write the most. I will be posting some chapters soon.

Good Guys and Bad Guys

What makes a good read? I am on the final pages of my second western novel and just realized that after two books and a hundred thousand plus words there have been no: draw downs on main street, bar fights, serious injures from getting thrown from a horse, drinking red-eye till they can’t see scenes and no fat rich guys ruling the west like the mob. But they do have good guys and bad guys, romance and card playing, some shooting and second guessing about life and what I believe are really good stories.

Reading & Writing

It is often hard to balance reading with writing. I try to read as much as I write. Most writers I know write a lot and read a little. This usually happens when an author fears he/she will start sounding too much like the novels they are reading. This might not be all bad. I read about a book a week, light by Stephen King standards, but quite a bit by the standards of most writers, or for that matter most readers. I just finished another of the late Tony Hillerman’s great Navajo mysteries. If someone told me I wrote or sounded a little like him I would take it as a complement.

I spent only a few hours writing this week—three hours on my YA mystery and four hours on my nonfiction work on early Indian tribes in the west. About the same seven or eight hours I spent reading. If I could get away from the TV I might get more done. But working nine to eleven hour days at a regular job plus working Saturdays keeps me starved for some time to relax.

I enjoy the process of writing but find if I am too tired it soon turns to crap. Then it is time to read, relax or sleep.

Reading and Writing since 1954 and Mrs. Brandenburg’s first grade class at Central Ward elementary.



Comming soon a new page from my nonfiction work.

No Cowboy Stuff Today

Today we have a new president number 44. I watched the inauguration and much of the additional coverage and was highly impressed with everything. If we could keep that same feeling of patriotism, togetherness and usefulness all year long everyone on earth would think—wow, they really are the greatest nation on the face of the earth.
Good Luck President Obama and God speed.

John G Neihardt

Today it the birthday of the great John G Neihardt, I have read “Black Elk Speaks,” at least a half dozen times. As a kid growing up in rural Nebraska we were fed a steady diet of Neihardt and I am sure that, at the time, I did not appreciate him as I do today. If you have never experienced any of his stuff, take a look, what a great writer he was. He was first published at 16 and last published at 90, a remarkable career.

He is a word sender. This world is like a garden and over it go his words like rain, and where they go they leave everything greener. After his words have passed, the memory of them shall stand long in the West like a flaming rainbow. —Black Elk

http://www.neihardt.com/jgn/index.html

Back to work

Well it’s a new year and I am back to work. It was great to have 2 weeks to sleep-in, nearly overdose on food and football and just to relax. One of the few real perks of being a public school teacher. Next year will be my 40th in front of the class, wow. With a New Year comes New Year’s resolutions—mine, to write more. I have a tendency to get in and out of the writing groove and looks like right now, I am in. My YA modern western mystery is once again moving along. I am hoping for 40 to 50 thousand words and am closing in on 30 thousand right now and writing, at a pace of, nearly a thousand a day.

Just a little excerpt from the chapter I am presently working on. (First Draft)

Jimmy heard the shot, flattened out in the sand of the dry creek and tried to quickly scoot backwards down the washed out canyon. He had not made it the twenty feet to the bend in the old creek bed when a startling reality came to him, he had not heard a slug hit and there was only one shot, again. Were they trying to scare him off, again? Or had someone shot at something else, maybe not him at all. His mind started to clear as he rethought the last thirty or so seconds. He slowly crept back to the spot where he had watched for the past hour or more. What he saw was strange or as Robert would say, “there is some weird stuff going on—supernatural---wo-oow-wo?”
The older, stockier, of the two men he had been watching was hitching the pick-up to the back of his Suburban. In what seemed like only seconds he brushed his hands on the back of his blue jeans, lit a new cigar and appeared to be laughing out loud. He flipped his match stick into the canyon, climbed into the Suburban and headed down the trail, but this time north, not south.
Jimmy sat back down, to rest or maybe to think. Possibly he needed to do both.

Can not wait to see what happens next--I will have to keep on writing.

Check the Facts

Recently I was reading a novel by a famous American western writer. The book was fun, well written and I liked the characters—but—in the first few chapters some historical inaccuracies just about drove me to drink. As a matter of fact I did crack open an ice cold Diet Pepsi. I understand it was a work of fiction but facts are facts and a work of fiction, if based on something real, should stay true to the facts.
Research is important in any short story or novel but when writing Westerns or Historical Fiction It is even more important to be very careful to write with historically accurate facts. It is easy to find conflicting information and dates and I always use the double check method. Using internet only sources can be especially exasperating, I have found information on Indian-Calvary battles to be especially hard to authenticate. If you have a great library near-by, like I do, use it. Recently I was doing some research for a non-fiction piece I am working on about the famous, Wagon Box fight in Wyoming. I started with some, over fifty year old sources, thinking they would be the most accurate—boy was I wrong. Two different books gave a completely different count of killed and wounded on both sides, although the story of the fight was pretty much the same. I ended up looking through a dozen more sources before I felt I had some approximate numbers I could work with in the story.
Below is a list of things to research carefully before publishing about the old west.

Clothes-no blue jeans or tee shirts in the old west
Guns-get a good resource and go out and shoot some different guns, it will really help
Language- not too many hosses, injuns and dad gum its
Dates- like Santa, look them up and check them twice
Transportation—how far can one horse go in one day?
Food-Did all the cowboys have steak for every meal—not really

Almost anything else is just about the process, sometimes slow and tedious, of writing. But to tell a great story—get the facts correct.