Buried by Research - Who was Who

Research can, at times, be more than I can take. I spent two days working on one obscure commander at Fort Laramie. Not only was there not much about him but there were two of him. Not really two of him, but another with the same name. Both men held the same rank, captain, achieved six-weeks apart and both were with the same group of Kansas Volunteers. After a few more hours I was able to separate them as one went east to fight in the War Between the States, and the other, the one I was looking for, came west to Fort Laramie. 

Thought I had it all figured out, except now when my man coming west should have been listed as the fort commander, he is not. Now I have another dilemma to work through. So goes the life of a researcher.

At some point I will go down to Fort Laramie and see if I can find answers in their files, actually looking forward to it. As of now, I am swallowed up in books, military records, and online research sites. Fun, but it can be exasperating.

Oh, I didn’t mention when doing the research I ran across a murder at the fort and another of a past Fort Laramie Commander in Texas, a few years after he left Laramie. Two stories I will likely use in my book.

Hard work, but highly interesting and entertaining. 

All photos are from Fort Laramie - I took them on an April visit. 

Neil A. Waring - Writing Update

Update time

As seems to be my M-O, when it turns to summer my writing becomes sporadic at best. I have done a bit of work on a few smaller projects and posted a handful of blogs, but, otherwise, have been pretty silent when it comes to writing. I have finished one short story I like and another is nearly finished. I spent a few hours in research for my next nonfiction and wrote less than a thousand words on my novel in progress, the third of my Blade Holmes novels.

So – What have I been up too?

Just returned from the state Cal Ripken League, (11 and 12-year-olds), state tournament. Not much that beats watching a grandson play baseball on a hot summer day. We watched four games the past two days.

I have also been out and about with my camera watching wildlife

and watching where I step.

Question - Why was the Rattlesnake crossing the road
Answer - To see how far, and how high, and old guy could jump

The garden is doing well, picked our first tomato on July third. We are picking many raspberries and harvesting some very nice onions, peas, radishes, and soon, it looks like Bell Peppers.

Now Reading

Thomas McGuane’s, Nobody’s Angel and Tony Hillerman’s, Talking God, very different but both good reads. We are also listening to a pretty good thriller as we travel, might need to look at the title so that I can mention it here.

June Book Sales

June was a pretty good sales month, as my softcover books and my, KENP, (Kindle Edition Normalized Pages Read), were up significantly, my Kindle pages read was my best ever month! My E-Books continued an upward trend started a few months ago for which I am most thankful. All in all, a nice month.

Check out all my books here - and thanks for reading.

Why Do We Like Summer?

That is the question my neighbor often poses. We spent time working on the lawn, working in the garden, traveling, visiting and hosting visitors, relatives, and friends. We also have to put on sunscreen, mosquito repellent and take constant showers to wash away sweat from the hot summer days.

A pool of clear water in a mountain rock crevice

My neighbor lady suggests we should embrace winter rather than summer as it is the time for relaxing. A time for sitting around reading books, watching movies, and complaining about the cold as we happily sit by the fire sipping a favorite hot beverage. I think she may be on to something.

Maybe not!

Meanwhile

Keep on reading and for all you writers, keep on writing, even if it is hot and time for summer at the lake, pool or on the golf course.  

Not many know that all the horses and mules from Rocky Mountain National Park are taken to Fort Laramie for the winter. Old animals from the park are also retired there.

Reading the Old Letters

I spent much of the late afternoon and early evening reading through many letters written by Owen Wister. I never found what I was looking for, but something did hit home as I read through about a dozen letters. Where will letters be for researchers in the future? I love Twitter, texting and sending short emails but doubt that this type of correspondence, by people of interest in today’s world, would make for much research material.

Got me to thinking that if future generations need to learn more about today’s world it may take historical research into their topic person’s blog posts to find anything. And if they didn’t blog? Well, we will be left with things like this.

 Text Messages!

C U @ 10

K

Or maybe something like this.

How R U feeling

Ok wht ur it gone

Not sure that kind of reading would give much insight into someone’s life. Maybe Twitter, but I don’t think so. 140 characters does not allow much to be said. That is also one of the reasons I like it, but there is no depth.

Possibly, video blogs and news articles, most highly slanted in today’s world, will do for research of this generation.

Sad, I love reading through those old letters, it can give insight into a subjects, real life, real thoughts, and to the person outside of the public spotlight.  This week alone I have read through three collections of letters.  Other than Wister I have spent time combing through letters from soldiers at Fort Laramie and another few hours looking at some of the personal correspondences of one of my Wyoming heroes, Edgar Wilson Nye.

Might just be nostalgia.