On Monday nights my husband and I get together with some friends down the street.  They live just eight houses away, so we walk.  No big deal, except last Monday it was snowing and my husband was at work.  I braved the cold and the wind alone, feeling the sting on my face and the ache in my fingers. In spite of my polka-dot boots, my toes were cold.

I had one thought as I kicked my way through the oh-so-deep ten inches of snow on my driveway.  I’m a weather wimp! Considering the amount of snow in the Midwest and the piles of white stuff in Virginia and Washington DC, I have nothing to complain about.  Our cars have good tires, and the county will (eventually) plow our street. I’ve got food in my fridge, electric heat and a fireplace. I’m as snug as the proverbial bug in a rug.

How different things were when America experienced what became known as “The Little Ice Age of the 1880s.”  

This period of intense bad weather began with the winter of 1880-81. If you’ve read The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder, you’ve got an idea of the intensity of that time.  Her books are fiction but largely based on fact. Set in South Dakota, the story portrays days and days of snow, white-out conditions, a lack of firewood and a food shortage. The snow was so deep the trains couldn’t reach the town with fresh supplies.

In Brown County, Nebraska, this winter is one of the most severe ever. The snow buried the natural grazing, and at times it was so deep cattle could barely move. Thousands of head starved to death. Of the 3000 cattle on the Cook Ranch, only 800 survived. This winter had a secondary impact. Devastating losses forced cattlemen to shut down their operations, which opened the prairie to farmers and new settlement.

Ironically, the winter of 1881-82 was unseasonably warm. The average temps in the Twin City area were 27 F, but it ushered in a period of record breaking cold. For the next six years, winter temperatures (Dec. to Feb.) recorded in the Twin Cities area averaged from 0 F F to 9 F.

The cold weather in 1886-87 affected all of the United States but especially the West. Beginning in October, the country experienced waves of intensely cold arctic air, and snow fell much of December. These storms devastated the cattle industry. Winter began earlier than usual, and the summer had been unusually hot and dry. Some old timers noticed the tell-tale signs of a harsh winter–animals growing thicker coats, eating more food–but these natural warnings were largely ignored until it was too late to prepare.

The freezing temperatures killed cattle and people alike. White-out conditions made it impossible for people to see even a few feet, causing them to get lost close to their houses and thus perish in the cold.

The winter of 1887-88 offered a bit of a break temperature-wise, but in March 1888, the East Coast got a dose of the winter woes plaguing the center of the country.  A blizzard that came to be called “The Great White Hurricane” paralyzed the East Coast from Maine to the Chesapeake and killed 400 people.  More than 40 inches of snow fell in New York City. Major cities were isolated for days.

 How about you? Have you had enough winter?  Do you have snow in your yard, or are you basking in winter sunshine? I’m in Lexington, Kentucky with 6 inches of the white stuff on the ground and a midday temp of 24 degrees.  But you know what?  I’m fortunate indeed to be warm, cozy and safe.

Coming March 16th! 

 Kansas Courtship!

Pre-order at Amazon:  Kansas Courtship, Love Inspired Historical, March 2010

I really enjoyed everybody’s comments and good wishes yesterday. Thanks so much for coming to Wildflower Junction and meeting Showshoe Thompson!

In my glee, I decided to pick TWO names for copies of Marrying Minda. So Cheryl Pierson and Quilt Lady, please e-mail me at tanhanson@aol.com with your addresses. I look forward to hearing from you!

Okay, I was going to wait but I’m excited! I just learned yesterday my first effort at not only writing a contemporary Western but also an inspirational one will be published! (details will follow.) I’m kind of on Cloud Nine so to celebrate, I’ll draw a name from today’s commenters for a copy of my current release, Marrying Minda. 

Well, that said, after watching the Olympics, I’ve kind of got skiing on the brain, especially since our three-year-old grandson saw the mogul run and said, I want to do that. I know I can manage a bunny hill after all these years…I know how to get off a ski lift without crashing and down a slope without major havoc upon my person or anybody else’s, but what else do I really know about skiing?

I found out some stuff. 

Skiing developed in Scandinavian countries centuries ago for transportation, not for fun or sport. Emigrants from Norway and Sweden brought skis with them to America, and in 1841, skis were used for the first time in the United States in Beloit, Wisconsin. During the California Gold Rush of 1849, Norwegian pioneers took skis, and snowshoes, to the West. Although no documentation exists, it is believed that the first ski races in America were held by California miners as early as 1860.                                                                                        

The first skier recorded in America history is the legendary “Snowshow” John A. Thompson, who was the first mailman of the West. Born Jon Torsteinson-Rue in Telemarken, Norway, he came to Illinois in 1837 with his family at the age of ten. Although the family eventually moved to Iowa via Missouri, Jon was living with a brother in Wisconsin when Gold Fever struck.  In 1851 when Thompson was 24, he drove a herd of dairy cows to California and settled in Placerville, California, down the mountain from Lake Tahoe. He mined for a little while in Kelsey Diggins and Coon Hollow, saved some money and bought a small ranch at  Putah Creek.

At this time, despite snowshoes woven by Native Americans, all attempts by mail deliverers to cross the Sierra had failed. Johnson himself personally suffered by the lack of reliable mail—the letter explaining the flu epidemic that had claimed his mother’s life had been long delayed. When he saw an ad in late 1855 in the Sacramento Union titled “People Lost to the World; Uncle Sam Needs a Mail Carrier,” he quickly applied for the job.

For 20 consecutive winters, he used skis to bring mail to and from the Placerville area to Genoa, Nevada, and later to Virginia City. Although his nickname was “Snowshoe,” he used ten-foot skis and a single pole held by both hands at once. Never lost even in blizzards, he never carried a gun or took a blanket. And he was never paid!

 His trips east took three days uphill, two days to get home. He followed what is today’s U.S. Highway 50 from Placerville to South Lake Tahoe. The 90-mile distances also included snowdrifts up to 50 feet high and blizzards with 80 miles per winds. For the long winter months, he was the sole link between California and states to the east.

Off duty, he taught settlers how to make skis. Married with one son, Snowshoe died on May 15, 1876, from complications to appendicitis and pneumonia. He is buried in the Carson Valley and honored there in bronze.

Within ten years of his death, ski contests were held among the Norwegian and Swedish settlers in Wisconsin and Minnesota. On Feb. 21, 1904, at Ishpeming, Michigan., a small group of skiers organized the National Ski Association.

(This photo courtesy of www.VintageWinter.com)

America’s first ski lift, a simple rope tow, was constructed in 1913 in Truckee, California, near Lake Tahoe. In the 1920’s, similar rope tows appeared throughout the West, and resort skiing began to be a popular recreation about 1930. Sun Valley, Idaho built the first world’s first overhead chairlift in 1936, followed by Loveland, Colorado and Berthoud Pass, Colorado in 1937.  Ski resorts followed at Alta, Utah in 1937; Mammoth Mountain, California in 1938; Monarch, Colorado and Sugar Bowl, California 1939; Winter Park, Colorado in 1940. Understandably, ski resort development slowed during World War II.

 Of course, Squaw Valley near Lake Tahoe was the site of the Winter Olympic Games in 1960 and still proudly wears the Olympic Rings.  In 1961, the National Ski Association was renamed the United States Ski Association. Known today as the United States Ski and Snowboard Association, it now includes freestyle and disabled skiing.

It’s been a while since I hit the slopes, but I learned quickly at Loveland during my student-teaching months in Denver, Colorado, and the last time I performed on a family trip, I was still hanging in.  How about ya’ll? Who of you skis?  What winter sports blow your hair back? What’s your favorite winter Olympic competition?

(to order a copy, click on cover.)

Woo-Hoo! Miss Debra really enjoyed her day with us. And she was so thrilled with all the comments that she’s giving away three books instead of just one.

Ah put all the names in the hat and shook up the cowboy.

Lo and behold, three names popped right out……..

Tabitha

Jeanne Sheats

Estella

Congratulations, Ladies!! Please send Miss Debra your mailing address at deb@debracowan.net and she’ll get these books into your hot little hands before you can say lickety-split.

Stay tuned. You never know who’ll be giving away prizes next. You sure don’t want to miss out!

Thanks to Pam Crooks and the ladies of Petticoats & Pistols for the invitation to blog about my February release from Harlequin Historical, WHIRLWIND SECRETS.  I really enjoy this site.  The posts are so entertaining and it’s a goldmine of information. 

WHIRLWIND SECRETS is the fifth book in my Whirlwind, Texas series.  Russ Baldwin, the hero of SECRETS, and his brother have been part of the series from the beginning.  The Baldwin brothers initially began in my mind only as ladies’ men, but as I wrote book after book in this small Texas town, these two cowboys began to take on depth.  They had stories to be told as well and Russ’s story is summed up in the title. 

More often than not, the titles I give my books don’t stick, but for this book, no title other than WHIRLWIND SECRETS would really work.  Not only because Russ was previously engaged to a woman who used him to hide a secret affair with another man, but also because Lydia Kent, the heroine, is brim full of ‘em.

Because of Russ’s experience, he looks twice at people.  With him, what you see is what you get and he won’t be conned again.  But nothing about Lydia is so straightforward. 

I knew she had sued her former fiancé for breach of contract when she found out he was engaged to three other women … while engaged to her!  (My research showed that lawsuits like this were more common than I ever imagined.)

She used the settlement money to buy part ownership of a new hotel in Whirlwind, Texas, but there was still so much about her I didn’t know. 

Frequently, I’m asked where I get ideas for my books and half of the time, I can’t tell you, but it’s different for WHIRLWIND SECRETS.  One evening, I saw a docudrama about a secret network for abused women.  A week later, I saw the premise on a CBS drama and I realized the idea had been percolating in the back of my mind during that week.  That was when I knew Lydia’s buying part ownership of The Fontaine wasn’t only a business decision. 

The hotel is a fresh start for Lydia and more.  It’s a way station on an underground network that helps abused women escape their situation.  This clandestine endeavor is about more than Lydia’s desire to help; it’s personal.  Her sister died as a result of a beating by her abusive husband.

Lydia has no problem lying to protect the operation and the women fleeing abusive situations, but she never intends to put Russ in the middle of a fight that isn’t his.  

Which is exactly what happens when he begins to suspect that his curvy, sweet-talkin’ partner is doing something with their place other than renting rooms.  She’s caught up in something more tangled than bad barbed wire and Russ intends to find out what.  When he does, he learns that the only thing more dangerous than Lydia’s lies is the truth. 

To read an excerpt, please visit my website.  If you pick up a copy of WHIRLWIND SECRETS, I hope you enjoy Russ and Lydia’s story.  For a chance to win a copy of WHIRLWIND SECRETS, leave a comment.

Because of all the great comments I decided to give away THREE copies of THE HORSEMAN’S BRIDE.

The winners are: Patricia Barraclough, Renee, and Virginia C.

Please contact me with your snail mail at elizlane123@msn.com, and I’ll get your books right out.  Thanks to all who commented.

Dutchman’s Creek, Colorado, is a place I made up.  If you pointed to a map and asked me to show you where it was, I would just shrug.  But after writing five books (including my current WIP) about the little mountain valley, its town and generations of its people, Dutchman’s Creek has become as real to me as any spot on earth.

Ringed by wooded foothills, the valley is located near the eastern edge of the Rockies.  To the west, towering peaks rise against the sky.  Looking east, the mountains are gentler, sloping off to the vast prairie.  It’s a place of crisp mountain air, brutal winters, fragile springs and glorious autumns. 

The small but prosperous town serves as a center for the surrounding farms and ranches.  A railroad spur from Denver brings two trains a day, and there’s a little café adjacent to the depot.  The businesses that line the main street include several stores, a saloon, a bank and a hotel.  Off on side streets are a church and a school.

Dutchman’s Creek started as the setting for my 2005 book, HER DEAREST ENEMY.  Banker Brandon Calhoun and schoolmarm Harriet Smith, now married, still live there and show up in subsequent stories.  Young sheriff Matt Langtry transferred to Wyoming to become the hero of WYOMING WILDFIRE.

After that book, I thought I was finished with Dutchman’s Creek.  Then I realized it would be the perfect setting for my 2008 book, THE BORROWED BRIDE.  That book introduced the Seavers and Gustavson families to the valley and blossomed into a series.  Its sequel, HIS SUBSTITUTE BRIDE was set mostly in San Francisco, but the Colorado town was still home base.

My March 2010 book, THE HORSEMAN’S BRIDE, takes us back to the ranch.  Headstrong Clara Seavers, a baby in THE BORROWED BRIDE and a six-year-old in HIS SUBSTITUTE BRIDE, is all grown up and ready for a man of her own.  And Jace Denby is all man.  But Jace is one step ahead of the law.  He has to keep running or face death at the end of a rope.  How can Clara find a way to make him hers forever?

You can learn more and get a sneak preview on my web site, www.elizabethlaneauthor.com.  Hope you’ll stop by Dutchman’s Creek soon for a visit, maybe put your feet up and stay awhile…

Do you like imaginary settings or real settings?  What’s your favorite fictional setting?

I’ll be giving away a copy of THE HORSEMAN’S BRIDE to one lucky winner, drawn from all of you who post.

Hello Darlings,

Tuesday will find Miss Debra Cowan here in Wildflower Junction.

Miss Debra has a brand spanking new book to tell us about.  It’s about trying to keep deep dark secrets under lock and key.

And who among us don’t have secrets we’re guarding with our lives?

One of mine happens to be the recipe for my homemade cider that my dear old grandpappy passed down. Hee-hee! You can’t pry that out of me with a  crowbar. No siree.

Bet you have some doozy secrets too. But that’s between you, them and the fence post.

So, mark your calendars and follow the trail to the Junction. Help us show Miss Debra the kind of welcome we’re famous for. 

You might even win a book. Yippee!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Hope all you fine ladies are celebrating today with your honeys.

But ah know what you’re waiting for. No need to lollygag around.

Winners of HEARTLAND WEDDING………..

DEB

ROBYN L

JOYE

And the GRAND PRIZE winner is…………

COLLEEN

Congratulations, Ladies! Woo-Hoo! Now, you all need to drop Miss Renee a note and tell her where to send the books. Contact her at renee@reneeryan.com and she’ll get those out on the next stage.

I love stopping by Petticoats & Pistols in the role of guest blogger.  It’s always a fantastic experience for me.   Mainly because I like to think some of the amazing-ness of the lovely, talented Fillies will rub off on me.  (Hey, a gal can hope.)  I also enjoy focusing on one of my favorite topics/passion—all things Western, especially all things Old West.

I have no idea when my fascination with the Old West first started.  Unlike my husband’s side of the family, I have no direct connections to the area.  My family came from Scotland in the early 1700s (they were outcast Highlanders).  The Andersons settled in Virginia, migrated to Georgia and ultimately ended up in Jacksonville, Florida sometime in the latter part of the nineteenth century.  But that’s a whole ‘nother story that goes back to that outcast thing.

On the other hand, my husband’s family—the Halversons—came to this country much later.  They traveled directly from Norway and settled on the fertile Midwest prairie.  This was really just an interesting factoid to me until I signed on to write my latest Love Inspired Historical, HEARTLAND WEDDING: Book 2 in the AFTER THE STORM historical continuity series.  Waving to Vicki Bylin, one of the Fillies who wrote Book 3 in the series, KANSAS COURTSHIP, which will be out next month.  Valerie Hansen wrote the Book 1, HIGH PLAINS BRIDE, which came out last month.  Both books are fabulous!!!

But I digress.  One of the great things about HEARTLAND WEDDING is that it features a Norwegian Immigrant heroine.  Rebecca Gundersen is a cook at the local boarding house in High Plains, Kansas.  I loved researching Rebecca’s background because it afforded me the opportunity to explore my husband’s heritage as well.   

In my research, I came across many of the reasons why people left Norway.  I’m going to give you what I think are the top six.

1. The promise of fertile land.  This was true of many of the pioneers, but especially true of the majority of the emigrants from Norway.  These Scandinavians were mostly farmers.  Settling in the Great Plains made sense, especially the Dakotas, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.  This area was often called “New Norway” since over eighty percent of Norwegian immigration settled there.
2. Heavy promotion by emigration agents and newspapers.  These entities worked tirelessly to advertise the benefits of a new life in the United States.  The Norwegians liked what they heard and took a chance on the promise of a new life.
3. Railroad and mining companies promoted the stellar employment opportunities.  Jobs in American cities also offered more work at higher wages than was available in Norway at the time.  Are we seeing a pattern here?  Opportunity, opportunity, opportunity.
4. Handbooks were published and distributed throughout Europe, and especially Norway, praising the climate and stellar living conditions in the United States.
5. Political freedom and the opportunity to vote.  Although there wasn’t universal voting in the United States in the nineteenth century, the right to vote in Norway was only available to an elite minority of the population.  The majority of the Norwegians who came to the United States were not in the upper class.
6. Word of mouth, or rather letters sent to friends and families back home.  The sender often urged the receiver to join them in America. 

So, there you have it, the top reasons for Norwegian (and most other) immigration to the United States in the nineteenth century.  Aside from learning about the Norwegian’s motives, one my biggest pleasures throughout the research phase of this book was learning how to cook some of my husband’s favorite Norwegian dishes.  Most of Norway is above the Arctic Circle so of course these dishes are rather harder.  

Although I was bred on southern cooking, I took it upon myself to make a few of the easier Norwegian recipes in my own kitchen.  Unfortunately, I managed to fail more often than not.  I will never mastered Kumla, one of my husband’s favorites.  Essentially, Kumla is potato dumplings plopped into a boiling broth and cooked until the dumplings are cooked through the middle.  Not as easy as it sounds.  Here’s a typical recipe for Kumla:

 
Cover with water about 1/2 the depth of ham.
Boil from 2 – 3 hrs., or until tender and done.
Cook the ham in a large kettle with a lid.
When the ham is done, take out of the broth to be served later with the potato dumplings.

How you make the Dumplings:
Start preparing the dumplings about an hour before the ham is done.
5 cups grated and peeled raw potatoes
About 6 cups unsifted flour
9 tsp. baking powder, should be level

Taste the broth to see if it is salty- if not salty add 1 tsp. or a little more salt.
Mix flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to the grated raw potatoes.
Stir together, should be like biscuit dough.

Take some of the dough the size of a small baseball, roll in flour to absorb some of the
stickiness, shape into round dumplings with your hands- drop into boiling ham broth.

Boil very gently for 1 hour, turning dumplings for more even cooking.
Do not put too many in kettle, allow some room to raise.  Use the cover when boiling dumplings.  Serve with lots of butter!

ENJOY!  If you dare.  Remember, most Norwegian recipes are very, uh…hardy.  This one more than others.

Thanks again, to all the Fillies for having me here.  I’m giving away three copies of HEARTLAND WEDDING.  Leave a comment and you’ll be entered in the drawing.

Renee Ryan is a multi-published author with Steeple Hill.  She writes for both Love Inspired and Love Inspired Historical.  Find out more about her upcoming releases at www.reneeryan.com