Is reading fiction underrated?
If you read to understand another culture, to feel emotions or (yes, let’s say it) to time travel, then you’re reading fiction.
Metis children connected two worlds
In an earlier blog, I wrote about the fur trappers who explored of the lands west of the Mississippi River. The voyageurs (“travelers” in French) worked for the fur trade companies to transport trade goods throughout the territories to rendezvous posts, connecting two worlds: the Native Peoples and the Europeans. Oftentimes, Metis children — children of mixed […]
Here’s to the women who tamed the frontier
Traditions. This time of year is all about traditions. And who are the keepers of traditions? Women. It’s women who create and kindle the memories. It’s women who tamed the frontier. Historically, it was the women who tamed the frontier. They built the church congregations. They were the school teachers, the midwives and the mothers […]
Fun on the frontier
Today people often think of homesteading as hard work mixed with some fear and boredom. Pioneer life was viewed as lonely and frightening. That’s not what I found when researching Proving Her Claim. Women homesteaders found fun and games on the frontier — and invented reasons to party. In the book Land in Her Own Name H. Elaine Lindgren […]
What is a ‘spinster’?
“Why are they called ‘spinsters’?” That was a question I heard at a recent book event. The press release for “Proving Her Claim” opens with this line: The Civil War created countless spinsters and widows. Anna Olson was one of them. Like many words in the English language, “spinster” historically refers to women who literally spun […]
Judging a book by its cover
In 1860 George Eliot wrote “You can’t judge a book by its cover” in her book The Mill on the Floss. (And yes, George Eliot was the pen name of Miss Mary Ann Evans.) But in the publishing world, people do judge books by their cover. In fact, book covers are one of the most important factors in […]
Fur trappers and traders made their mark
Proving Her Claim is set in Rendezvous, Dakota Territory. According to the story, the town was founded during those halcyon days when French Canadian and Scots fur trappers were the only white men in this new wilderness. The town was named for the rendezvous — the annual gatherings where fur trappers and traders would meet to celebrate […]
What motivates you?
I volunteer on several boards, and at a recent meeting the organizer asked a “warm up” question to get the group ready for work. She asked : “Tell us about a meaningful extra curricular activity you did as a child or teen.” Not being athletic or musical, my extra curriculars were mostly academic — like […]
Women’s Suffrage on the frontier
The Women’s Suffrage Movement — the right to vote — took nearly 100 years before it was the law of the nation. In the 1820s and 1830s, men in most states could vote, regardless of whether they had property. For many historians, the Seneca Falls Convention was the turning point for Women’s Suffrage. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a […]