Petticoats & Pistols » Texas History http://petticoatsandpistols.com Romancing The West Thu, 24 May 2012 07:00:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 A Texas Bonanaza http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/04/27/a-texas-bonanaza/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/04/27/a-texas-bonanaza/#comments Fri, 27 Apr 2012 05:01:39 +0000 KarenW http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32109

Quiz time!

What was the leading industry in Texas at the turn of the 20th century?

Oil? - No, that came later.

Cattle? Cotton?

The answer: Lumber.

  Lumber? Are you kidding? I live in Texas. There are no trees. Oh, we've got some scrubby little mesquite and an occasional oak, but nothing that this California native would call a tree. So how in the world did the lumber industry out-perform cattle and cotton, two Texas staples? [caption id="attachment_32121" align="alignright" width="264" caption="A virgin stand of longleaf pine in the East Texas Piney Woods region, 1908."][/caption] Well, as anyone who has ever driven across this great state can tell you, Texas is a big place. Yes we have desert regions and prairie and grassland and hill country, but over in the southeast is a lovely section called the Piney Woods. And as the railroad worked it's way west in the 1870's and 1880's, lumber men from Pennsylvania like Henry Lutcher and G. Bedell Moore saw the virgin forests of east Texas as a gold mine. Local boys like John Henry Kirby got in on the action, too, buying up and consolidating individual sawmills into complete lumber manufacturing plants. Kirby rose to success so quickly, he became known as the "Prince of the Pines," having become the largest lumber manufacturer in the state by combining 14 sawmills into the Kirby Lumber Company in 1901. Not only did the railroad boom make travel to the Texas woods easier, it was also one of the biggest  sources of demand for timber. Railroads needed lumber to construct rail cars, stations, fences, and cross ties in addition to the massive amounts of wood they burned for fuel. Each year railroads needed some 73 million ties for the construction of new rail lines and the maintenance of old ones, estimated by the magazine Scientific American in 1890. From the 1870s to 1900, railroads used as much as a fourth of national timber production. This combination of supply and demand fueled a "bonanza era" for the Texas lumber industry that lasted 50 years, from 1880 until the Great Depression. During this time, Texas became the third largest lumber-producing state in the nation. Northern investors swooped in to buy up land, sometimes even taking advantage of "use and possession laws" to seize property from families who had owned it for generations. Corruption abounded as logging companies controlled their workers, paying them only in vouchers for the company store despite the incredibly hazardous working conditions. These "cut and get out" operations left acres of land decimated. This is the climate in which my next book, Short-Straw Bride, is set. Travis Archer and his brothers own a prime piece of forested land that also happens to be the key to connecting investor Roy Mitchell's holdings to the railroad. Mitchell wants the ranch and is willing to get it any way he can. But the woman he's been courting (to get his hands on her inheritance, which just happens to be more piney woods land) overhears him plotting to take the Archers out. Meredith Hayes has secretly carried a torch for Travis since he rescued her when she was a girl of ten. When she hears the threat, she knows she has to warn Travis. Unfortunately, her good deed goes awry and she ends up with more trouble than she bargained for. She ends up a short-straw bride. Short-Straw Bride releases June 1st. If you'd like to read the first two chapters, click here.]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/04/27/a-texas-bonanaza/feed/ 19 Texas Bluebonnets http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/03/26/texas-bluebonnets/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/03/26/texas-bluebonnets/#comments Mon, 26 Mar 2012 07:00:53 +0000 Linda Broday http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30676 Nothing steals my breath more than a field covered with Texas Bluebonnets. It's simply too gorgeous for words. Each spring folks load into cars and tour buses to see the bluebonnets just like the people in the northeastern states take tours to view the spectacular fall foliage But although I've lived in Texas most of my life I found out some things I never knew that I'd like to share with you. Bluebonnets are only found growing in their natural state in Texas and no other location in the world. That means they weren't brought in from somewhere else by the early settlers. Bluebonnets are as well known as the shamrock is to Ireland and the cherry blossoms of Japan. Many of you may know that the bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas and has been since 1901. But did you know there are five different kinds and that choosing the state flower started a bitter dispute that wasn't finally settled until 1971? Arguments ensued over which variety was going to be declared the proper state flower. The Texas Legislature finally settled the dispute by declaring that any and all varieties of the bluebonnet are the state flower. The "lupinus texensis" variety is the most common and the one most visitors see when they come to Texas. It has pointed leaflets and the flowering stalk is a breathtaking blue with a white tip. But less common ones grow in pink, rosy purple and royal blue and there's even a solid white bluebonnet. Bluebonnets typically bloom in the spring from March through April and sometimes into early May. The profusion is dictated by the amount of rain and germination in the fall, long before they pop their heads out of the soil. In times of drought the amount of bluebonnets is considerably less. Although bluebonnets need heat to germinate the seed, cool weather is crucial to develop the complicated root structure. Bluebonnets are very difficult to grow in gardens and pots. They cannot tolerate poorly drained, clay based soils. And they need lots of direct sunlight. Guess that's one reason they grow so well here in Texas. We have oodles of sunshine. Other common names for the flowers are buffalo clover, wolf flower and el conejo (Spanish for "the rabbit".) Usually found blooming amid patches of bluebonnets are Indian paintbrush, Indian blanket, and coreopsis. Contrary to popular belief, it's not illegal to pick them. In 1982 the state legislature named Burnet (SW of Austin) the official Bluebonnet Capital of Texas. Each April the town holds a Bluebonnet Festival which includes street dancing, concerts, a carnival, 5K run, pet parade and wiener dog races. Sounds like fun. So, I hope you enjoyed this look at the bluebonnet. We're very proud it chose this state in which to shower us with its beauty.

]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/03/26/texas-bluebonnets/feed/ 23 Texas My Texas … http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/28/texas-my-texas/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/28/texas-my-texas/#comments Tue, 28 Feb 2012 07:32:17 +0000 Phyliss http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30564 For Christmas I was given a book about Texas, the state I was born and raised in. Although I’ve ventured away for short durations to live elsewhere, those times were little more than an extended vacation because I’ve always returned to the town where I was born. It’s been said that if you ever wear out a pair of shoes in Texas, you’ll never leave. I’m proof of that. I love Texas! And, anybody who knows me knows that I love our rich history and that’s the reason I write almost exclusively about the Texas Panhandle.  I thought I’d share some little known facts about Texas... from a true, blue Texan’s point of view. Since Spanish explorers first “claimed” us in 1519, six different national flags have flown over Texas. From 1685 to 1690, Texas was a French territory before reverting to Spain. Texas was part of Mexico when that country won its independence from Spain in 1821. We adopted our own Declaration of Independence in 1836 and became a separate republic after a brief war with Mexico.  Did you know that Texas had a Texas Embassy in London and Paris? In 1845, the United States annexed Texas, making us the 28th state until we seceded to became part of the Confederate States of America.  In 1870, after the Civil War, we were then readmitted to the United States. So, the six flags of Texas belonged to Spain, France, Mexico, Texas, the United States, and the Confederacy. Now you know where “Six Flags Over Texas” amusement parks got their name. Here’s a fact, I didn’t know and probably wouldn’t believed it if someone had just told me about it; but, during the Civil War, camels were used in our deserts. In 1855, Jefferson Davis, then the U.S. Secretary of  War, convinced Congress to allocate money to field-test the beasts of burden. The animals excelled in carrying, enduring without water, and traveling long distance through miserable conditions. By the end of the War Between the States, although camels had proven efficient for both sides, they fell out of favor. The animals smelled really bad, frightened the horses, and had horrid personalities.  Let’s just say, I don’t believe I’ve seen a herd of camels ever in Texas... not that they don’t exist. The fact that a 10-gallon hat actually holds less than a gallon of water is NOT proof of a Texas braggart. It’s simply a misunderstanding.  It’s not a gallon, but a gallon, the word is Spanish for braid, the standard decoration above the brim of the iconic headgear worn by true Texans everywhere. There is also a theory that the Stetson hat company boasted that the tight weave of most Stetsons made them sufficiently waterproof and could be used as a bucket. Early print advertising by Stetson showed a cowboy giving his horse a drink of water from a hat. The truth, the Stetson company notes that a "ten gallon" hat only holds 3 quarts! The famous Texas Rangers have a recommended dress code which states, “The Texas Ranger hat will be light-colored and shaped in a businessman’s style ... commonly called the Rancher or Cattleman. Brims must not exceed 4 inches or be flat with edges rolled up. Hat excessively crushed, rolled, or dipped are not acceptable. Members of the Ranger Division (of the Texas Department of Public Safety) will own both a quality straw and quality felt hat. The appropriate hat will usually be determined by the weather or assignment.” Throughout the history of the Republic of Texas, there were no chartered banks in the country.  When the first Texas state constitution was drafted in 1845, it prohibited the incorporation of banks.  Banking functions were performed by financial agents and other business firms.  After the Civil War, banks began to flourish in Texas ... as did bank robberies. In the 1920’s, in order to stop a rash of bank robberies, the Texas Bankers Association established the Dead Bank Robber Reward Program. Anyone who killed a bank robber caught in the act would be paid ,000. Capturing a bank robber alive would not be rewarded.  Despite a number of cases of murders staged to look like the foiling of a bank robbery, the offer of reward was not withdrawn until 1964. Our anthology “Give Me a Cowboy” was originally named “Rodeo” and we agreed that all four stories would take place over the 4th of July rodeo in 1890 in Amarillo, which was our setting for our first anthology,“Give Me a Texan”.  But, we quickly recognized a serious problem. The first rodeo, which is the official sport of Texas, was held in 1883 in Pecos. The closest rodeo to our area wasn’t held until 1888 in Canadian, Texas, so to be historically accurate, we changed to the fictional town of Kasota Springs. You might recognize the name from our “A Texas Christmas” because we returned to the town with some recurring characters during the 1887 blizzard. The West of the Pecos Rodeo is now an annual event; however, the shebang lays claim to being the descendant of that first rodeo.  Legend has it that the whole thing came out of a contest between two ranch hands ... Trav Windham and Morg Livingston.  Both had good professional reputations and people challenged them to see who was best cowboy.  Eventually, other talented cowboys who had originally come from all over the territory just to watch found themselves involved in contests of riding broncos and roping cattle.  Bullriding was considered dangerous; therefore, there was no official bullriding event in early rodeos.  But, there was a lot of money won and lost on the renegade event we now know as bullriding. I hope you enjoyed my tour of some little known facts about Texas, and since I mentioned several of our anthologies, I will give away one commenter’s choice of an autographed copy of any of the six anthologies. I’d love to hear about any of your favorite Texas experiences, if you’d like to share with us today?]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/28/texas-my-texas/feed/ 28 A Wildflower Welcome to DARLENE FRANKLIN! Win a book today! http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/15/a-wildflower-welcome-to-darlene-franklin-win-a-book-today/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/15/a-wildflower-welcome-to-darlene-franklin-win-a-book-today/#comments Wed, 15 Feb 2012 06:42:11 +0000 Guest Blogger http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30281 A hearty welcome today to  inspirational author DARLENE FRANKLIN!. Please leave a comment…Darlene has a signed hard copy of A Ranger’s Trail for one lucky person. Darlene, tell us a little bit about your latest release, fourth in your six-book series: When Susan Page Davis, Vickie McDonough and I first brainstormed about the Texas Trails series, I chose the decade that includes the Mason County “Hoo Doo” War. The brief information I read—a range war—sounded like an action-packed, natural fit for any Texas historical series. By the time we received the contract and I researched the book, I doubted the wisdom of my choice. “Range war” hardly does justice to the violence that erupted across Mason County and the surrounding area in 1874 and continued for several decades. In fact, the definitive history of the war, The Mason County “Hoo Doo” War by Johnson and Miller dates the end of the war as 1902, the year the last of the major players died! More than a range war, the Mason County turned into a blood feud between the self-styled “Americans” (we might call them “Anglos” today) and the “Germans,” more recent immigrants who had settled in the Texas in the 1840s (the subject of my first book of the series, Lone Star Trail). Charges of cattle rustling started the war. Americans were tried, found guilty, and got off with a slap on the wrist fine. Germans took the law into their own hands and murdered several of the rustlers. Before long, they had killed a close friend of a former Texas Ranger, Scott Cooley. The former ranger galvanized the Americans and made it their mission to kill the people responsible for the death of his friend. What emerged was the continuing story of blood feuds or gang war, two factions exchanging life for life. None of the principal players was ever brought to justice. My heroine’s husband was killed by the Germans—and my Ranger hero’s family is German. An unlikely romance develops between the two of them, but Ranger’s Trail is also about forgiving the unforgivable. More than that, it’s about moving forward when a bad deed isnot punished, at least not in this life. How can someone move past the trauma? This is one period of history I am thankful I did not experience first hand! Here's the blurb: When Leta Denning's husband is killed by the German mob at the beginning of the Hoo Doo War, she vows to seek vengeance on his behalf. William Meino "Buck" Morgan, one of the Texas Rangers called in to quell the violence, has ties to one of the German families. Buck is the oldest son of Jud Morgan and Wande Fleischer from Lone Star Trail. In his quest to get to the truth, Buck interviews Leta but she is not interested and believes that former rangers may be behind the violence. As Leta struggles to keep the Denning ranch afloat, Buck sees a chance to help her while searching for the truth. Their respect for eacho ther grows but will Leta's quest for vengeance keep her from forgiveness? Excerpt:  “Found not guilty of any wrong doing. Praise the Lord.” Derrick Denning lifted his cup of coffee in a mock salute to his wife Leta. “As the good book says, ‘Thou hast maintained my right and my cause.’ Though I feel bad about the fines the other fellows have to pay.” Young Ricky clapped his hands, although he didn’t know what they were celebrating. Leta looked into her husband’s eyes over their son’s head and felt a smile come from the inside out. She hadn’t had a genuine smile for about a week, ever since her husband had been arrested for helping M.B. Thomas and Allen Roberts take their cattle to Llano County from Mason County. The week might have lasted a year, as scared as she had felt. The court case had set her insides all worrying, troubling the baby growing inside her, especially when six of the cowhands had been found guilty and fined a head. Derrick’s case had been dismissed for insufficient evidence. The German cattlemen had grumbled at the verdict. Leta suppressed the niggling worry that threatened to destroy this night of celebration. God had answered her prayers. She and her family—Derrick, their son, and her brother Andy—could stay put in Mason County, Texas. They wouldn’t have to move every year or two the way Pa had dragged them all over the map. “It’s not right, the other men getting fined.” Andy stopped shoveling beans into his mouth long enough to grumble. “They didn’t do nothing wrong. The cattle belonged to Mr. Roberts and Mr. Thomas.” Tell us about a period in history YOU are glad you didn’t experience first-hand! Visit Darlene at //darlenefranklinwrites.blogspot.com   Click on cover to purchase. Her other recent releases: Lone Star Trail (Rivernorth Fiction, 2011) and Christmas at Barncastle Inn (Barbour, 2011)]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/15/a-wildflower-welcome-to-darlene-franklin-win-a-book-today/feed/ 20 REDEMPTION Now on Kindle http://petticoatsandpistols.com Romancing The West Thu, 24 May 2012 07:00:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Petticoats & Pistols » Texas History http://petticoatsandpistols.com Romancing The West Thu, 24 May 2012 07:00:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 A Texas Bonanaza http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/04/27/a-texas-bonanaza/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/04/27/a-texas-bonanaza/#comments Fri, 27 Apr 2012 05:01:39 +0000 KarenW http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32109

Quiz time!

What was the leading industry in Texas at the turn of the 20th century?

Oil? - No, that came later.

Cattle? Cotton?

The answer: Lumber.

  Lumber? Are you kidding? I live in Texas. There are no trees. Oh, we've got some scrubby little mesquite and an occasional oak, but nothing that this California native would call a tree. So how in the world did the lumber industry out-perform cattle and cotton, two Texas staples? [caption id="attachment_32121" align="alignright" width="264" caption="A virgin stand of longleaf pine in the East Texas Piney Woods region, 1908."][/caption] Well, as anyone who has ever driven across this great state can tell you, Texas is a big place. Yes we have desert regions and prairie and grassland and hill country, but over in the southeast is a lovely section called the Piney Woods. And as the railroad worked it's way west in the 1870's and 1880's, lumber men from Pennsylvania like Henry Lutcher and G. Bedell Moore saw the virgin forests of east Texas as a gold mine. Local boys like John Henry Kirby got in on the action, too, buying up and consolidating individual sawmills into complete lumber manufacturing plants. Kirby rose to success so quickly, he became known as the "Prince of the Pines," having become the largest lumber manufacturer in the state by combining 14 sawmills into the Kirby Lumber Company in 1901. Not only did the railroad boom make travel to the Texas woods easier, it was also one of the biggest  sources of demand for timber. Railroads needed lumber to construct rail cars, stations, fences, and cross ties in addition to the massive amounts of wood they burned for fuel. Each year railroads needed some 73 million ties for the construction of new rail lines and the maintenance of old ones, estimated by the magazine Scientific American in 1890. From the 1870s to 1900, railroads used as much as a fourth of national timber production. This combination of supply and demand fueled a "bonanza era" for the Texas lumber industry that lasted 50 years, from 1880 until the Great Depression. During this time, Texas became the third largest lumber-producing state in the nation. Northern investors swooped in to buy up land, sometimes even taking advantage of "use and possession laws" to seize property from families who had owned it for generations. Corruption abounded as logging companies controlled their workers, paying them only in vouchers for the company store despite the incredibly hazardous working conditions. These "cut and get out" operations left acres of land decimated. This is the climate in which my next book, Short-Straw Bride, is set. Travis Archer and his brothers own a prime piece of forested land that also happens to be the key to connecting investor Roy Mitchell's holdings to the railroad. Mitchell wants the ranch and is willing to get it any way he can. But the woman he's been courting (to get his hands on her inheritance, which just happens to be more piney woods land) overhears him plotting to take the Archers out. Meredith Hayes has secretly carried a torch for Travis since he rescued her when she was a girl of ten. When she hears the threat, she knows she has to warn Travis. Unfortunately, her good deed goes awry and she ends up with more trouble than she bargained for. She ends up a short-straw bride. Short-Straw Bride releases June 1st. If you'd like to read the first two chapters, click here.]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/04/27/a-texas-bonanaza/feed/ 19 Texas Bluebonnets http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/03/26/texas-bluebonnets/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/03/26/texas-bluebonnets/#comments Mon, 26 Mar 2012 07:00:53 +0000 Linda Broday http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30676 Nothing steals my breath more than a field covered with Texas Bluebonnets. It's simply too gorgeous for words. Each spring folks load into cars and tour buses to see the bluebonnets just like the people in the northeastern states take tours to view the spectacular fall foliage But although I've lived in Texas most of my life I found out some things I never knew that I'd like to share with you. Bluebonnets are only found growing in their natural state in Texas and no other location in the world. That means they weren't brought in from somewhere else by the early settlers. Bluebonnets are as well known as the shamrock is to Ireland and the cherry blossoms of Japan. Many of you may know that the bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas and has been since 1901. But did you know there are five different kinds and that choosing the state flower started a bitter dispute that wasn't finally settled until 1971? Arguments ensued over which variety was going to be declared the proper state flower. The Texas Legislature finally settled the dispute by declaring that any and all varieties of the bluebonnet are the state flower. The "lupinus texensis" variety is the most common and the one most visitors see when they come to Texas. It has pointed leaflets and the flowering stalk is a breathtaking blue with a white tip. But less common ones grow in pink, rosy purple and royal blue and there's even a solid white bluebonnet. Bluebonnets typically bloom in the spring from March through April and sometimes into early May. The profusion is dictated by the amount of rain and germination in the fall, long before they pop their heads out of the soil. In times of drought the amount of bluebonnets is considerably less. Although bluebonnets need heat to germinate the seed, cool weather is crucial to develop the complicated root structure. Bluebonnets are very difficult to grow in gardens and pots. They cannot tolerate poorly drained, clay based soils. And they need lots of direct sunlight. Guess that's one reason they grow so well here in Texas. We have oodles of sunshine. Other common names for the flowers are buffalo clover, wolf flower and el conejo (Spanish for "the rabbit".) Usually found blooming amid patches of bluebonnets are Indian paintbrush, Indian blanket, and coreopsis. Contrary to popular belief, it's not illegal to pick them. In 1982 the state legislature named Burnet (SW of Austin) the official Bluebonnet Capital of Texas. Each April the town holds a Bluebonnet Festival which includes street dancing, concerts, a carnival, 5K run, pet parade and wiener dog races. Sounds like fun. So, I hope you enjoyed this look at the bluebonnet. We're very proud it chose this state in which to shower us with its beauty.

]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/03/26/texas-bluebonnets/feed/ 23 Texas My Texas … http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/28/texas-my-texas/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/28/texas-my-texas/#comments Tue, 28 Feb 2012 07:32:17 +0000 Phyliss http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30564 For Christmas I was given a book about Texas, the state I was born and raised in. Although I’ve ventured away for short durations to live elsewhere, those times were little more than an extended vacation because I’ve always returned to the town where I was born. It’s been said that if you ever wear out a pair of shoes in Texas, you’ll never leave. I’m proof of that. I love Texas! And, anybody who knows me knows that I love our rich history and that’s the reason I write almost exclusively about the Texas Panhandle.  I thought I’d share some little known facts about Texas... from a true, blue Texan’s point of view. Since Spanish explorers first “claimed” us in 1519, six different national flags have flown over Texas. From 1685 to 1690, Texas was a French territory before reverting to Spain. Texas was part of Mexico when that country won its independence from Spain in 1821. We adopted our own Declaration of Independence in 1836 and became a separate republic after a brief war with Mexico.  Did you know that Texas had a Texas Embassy in London and Paris? In 1845, the United States annexed Texas, making us the 28th state until we seceded to became part of the Confederate States of America.  In 1870, after the Civil War, we were then readmitted to the United States. So, the six flags of Texas belonged to Spain, France, Mexico, Texas, the United States, and the Confederacy. Now you know where “Six Flags Over Texas” amusement parks got their name. Here’s a fact, I didn’t know and probably wouldn’t believed it if someone had just told me about it; but, during the Civil War, camels were used in our deserts. In 1855, Jefferson Davis, then the U.S. Secretary of  War, convinced Congress to allocate money to field-test the beasts of burden. The animals excelled in carrying, enduring without water, and traveling long distance through miserable conditions. By the end of the War Between the States, although camels had proven efficient for both sides, they fell out of favor. The animals smelled really bad, frightened the horses, and had horrid personalities.  Let’s just say, I don’t believe I’ve seen a herd of camels ever in Texas... not that they don’t exist. The fact that a 10-gallon hat actually holds less than a gallon of water is NOT proof of a Texas braggart. It’s simply a misunderstanding.  It’s not a gallon, but a gallon, the word is Spanish for braid, the standard decoration above the brim of the iconic headgear worn by true Texans everywhere. There is also a theory that the Stetson hat company boasted that the tight weave of most Stetsons made them sufficiently waterproof and could be used as a bucket. Early print advertising by Stetson showed a cowboy giving his horse a drink of water from a hat. The truth, the Stetson company notes that a "ten gallon" hat only holds 3 quarts! The famous Texas Rangers have a recommended dress code which states, “The Texas Ranger hat will be light-colored and shaped in a businessman’s style ... commonly called the Rancher or Cattleman. Brims must not exceed 4 inches or be flat with edges rolled up. Hat excessively crushed, rolled, or dipped are not acceptable. Members of the Ranger Division (of the Texas Department of Public Safety) will own both a quality straw and quality felt hat. The appropriate hat will usually be determined by the weather or assignment.” Throughout the history of the Republic of Texas, there were no chartered banks in the country.  When the first Texas state constitution was drafted in 1845, it prohibited the incorporation of banks.  Banking functions were performed by financial agents and other business firms.  After the Civil War, banks began to flourish in Texas ... as did bank robberies. In the 1920’s, in order to stop a rash of bank robberies, the Texas Bankers Association established the Dead Bank Robber Reward Program. Anyone who killed a bank robber caught in the act would be paid ,000. Capturing a bank robber alive would not be rewarded.  Despite a number of cases of murders staged to look like the foiling of a bank robbery, the offer of reward was not withdrawn until 1964. Our anthology “Give Me a Cowboy” was originally named “Rodeo” and we agreed that all four stories would take place over the 4th of July rodeo in 1890 in Amarillo, which was our setting for our first anthology,“Give Me a Texan”.  But, we quickly recognized a serious problem. The first rodeo, which is the official sport of Texas, was held in 1883 in Pecos. The closest rodeo to our area wasn’t held until 1888 in Canadian, Texas, so to be historically accurate, we changed to the fictional town of Kasota Springs. You might recognize the name from our “A Texas Christmas” because we returned to the town with some recurring characters during the 1887 blizzard. The West of the Pecos Rodeo is now an annual event; however, the shebang lays claim to being the descendant of that first rodeo.  Legend has it that the whole thing came out of a contest between two ranch hands ... Trav Windham and Morg Livingston.  Both had good professional reputations and people challenged them to see who was best cowboy.  Eventually, other talented cowboys who had originally come from all over the territory just to watch found themselves involved in contests of riding broncos and roping cattle.  Bullriding was considered dangerous; therefore, there was no official bullriding event in early rodeos.  But, there was a lot of money won and lost on the renegade event we now know as bullriding. I hope you enjoyed my tour of some little known facts about Texas, and since I mentioned several of our anthologies, I will give away one commenter’s choice of an autographed copy of any of the six anthologies. I’d love to hear about any of your favorite Texas experiences, if you’d like to share with us today?]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/28/texas-my-texas/feed/ 28 A Wildflower Welcome to DARLENE FRANKLIN! Win a book today! http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/15/a-wildflower-welcome-to-darlene-franklin-win-a-book-today/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/15/a-wildflower-welcome-to-darlene-franklin-win-a-book-today/#comments Wed, 15 Feb 2012 06:42:11 +0000 Guest Blogger http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30281 A hearty welcome today to  inspirational author DARLENE FRANKLIN!. Please leave a comment…Darlene has a signed hard copy of A Ranger’s Trail for one lucky person. Darlene, tell us a little bit about your latest release, fourth in your six-book series: When Susan Page Davis, Vickie McDonough and I first brainstormed about the Texas Trails series, I chose the decade that includes the Mason County “Hoo Doo” War. The brief information I read—a range war—sounded like an action-packed, natural fit for any Texas historical series. By the time we received the contract and I researched the book, I doubted the wisdom of my choice. “Range war” hardly does justice to the violence that erupted across Mason County and the surrounding area in 1874 and continued for several decades. In fact, the definitive history of the war, The Mason County “Hoo Doo” War by Johnson and Miller dates the end of the war as 1902, the year the last of the major players died! More than a range war, the Mason County turned into a blood feud between the self-styled “Americans” (we might call them “Anglos” today) and the “Germans,” more recent immigrants who had settled in the Texas in the 1840s (the subject of my first book of the series, Lone Star Trail). Charges of cattle rustling started the war. Americans were tried, found guilty, and got off with a slap on the wrist fine. Germans took the law into their own hands and murdered several of the rustlers. Before long, they had killed a close friend of a former Texas Ranger, Scott Cooley. The former ranger galvanized the Americans and made it their mission to kill the people responsible for the death of his friend. What emerged was the continuing story of blood feuds or gang war, two factions exchanging life for life. None of the principal players was ever brought to justice. My heroine’s husband was killed by the Germans—and my Ranger hero’s family is German. An unlikely romance develops between the two of them, but Ranger’s Trail is also about forgiving the unforgivable. More than that, it’s about moving forward when a bad deed isnot punished, at least not in this life. How can someone move past the trauma? This is one period of history I am thankful I did not experience first hand! Here's the blurb: When Leta Denning's husband is killed by the German mob at the beginning of the Hoo Doo War, she vows to seek vengeance on his behalf. William Meino "Buck" Morgan, one of the Texas Rangers called in to quell the violence, has ties to one of the German families. Buck is the oldest son of Jud Morgan and Wande Fleischer from Lone Star Trail. In his quest to get to the truth, Buck interviews Leta but she is not interested and believes that former rangers may be behind the violence. As Leta struggles to keep the Denning ranch afloat, Buck sees a chance to help her while searching for the truth. Their respect for eacho ther grows but will Leta's quest for vengeance keep her from forgiveness? Excerpt:  “Found not guilty of any wrong doing. Praise the Lord.” Derrick Denning lifted his cup of coffee in a mock salute to his wife Leta. “As the good book says, ‘Thou hast maintained my right and my cause.’ Though I feel bad about the fines the other fellows have to pay.” Young Ricky clapped his hands, although he didn’t know what they were celebrating. Leta looked into her husband’s eyes over their son’s head and felt a smile come from the inside out. She hadn’t had a genuine smile for about a week, ever since her husband had been arrested for helping M.B. Thomas and Allen Roberts take their cattle to Llano County from Mason County. The week might have lasted a year, as scared as she had felt. The court case had set her insides all worrying, troubling the baby growing inside her, especially when six of the cowhands had been found guilty and fined a head. Derrick’s case had been dismissed for insufficient evidence. The German cattlemen had grumbled at the verdict. Leta suppressed the niggling worry that threatened to destroy this night of celebration. God had answered her prayers. She and her family—Derrick, their son, and her brother Andy—could stay put in Mason County, Texas. They wouldn’t have to move every year or two the way Pa had dragged them all over the map. “It’s not right, the other men getting fined.” Andy stopped shoveling beans into his mouth long enough to grumble. “They didn’t do nothing wrong. The cattle belonged to Mr. Roberts and Mr. Thomas.” Tell us about a period in history YOU are glad you didn’t experience first-hand! Visit Darlene at //darlenefranklinwrites.blogspot.com   Click on cover to purchase. Her other recent releases: Lone Star Trail (Rivernorth Fiction, 2011) and Christmas at Barncastle Inn (Barbour, 2011)]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/15/a-wildflower-welcome-to-darlene-franklin-win-a-book-today/feed/ 20 REDEMPTION Now on Kindle http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/04/27/a-texas-bonanaza/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/04/27/a-texas-bonanaza/#comments Fri, 27 Apr 2012 05:01:39 +0000 KarenW http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32109

Quiz time!

What was the leading industry in Texas at the turn of the 20th century?

Oil? - No, that came later.

Cattle? Cotton?

The answer: Lumber.

  Lumber? Are you kidding? I live in Texas. There are no trees. Oh, we've got some scrubby little mesquite and an occasional oak, but nothing that this California native would call a tree. So how in the world did the lumber industry out-perform cattle and cotton, two Texas staples? [caption id="attachment_32121" align="alignright" width="264" caption="A virgin stand of longleaf pine in the East Texas Piney Woods region, 1908."][/caption] Well, as anyone who has ever driven across this great state can tell you, Texas is a big place. Yes we have desert regions and prairie and grassland and hill country, but over in the southeast is a lovely section called the Piney Woods. And as the railroad worked it's way west in the 1870's and 1880's, lumber men from Pennsylvania like Henry Lutcher and G. Bedell Moore saw the virgin forests of east Texas as a gold mine. Local boys like John Henry Kirby got in on the action, too, buying up and consolidating individual sawmills into complete lumber manufacturing plants. Kirby rose to success so quickly, he became known as the "Prince of the Pines," having become the largest lumber manufacturer in the state by combining 14 sawmills into the Kirby Lumber Company in 1901. Not only did the railroad boom make travel to the Texas woods easier, it was also one of the biggest  sources of demand for timber. Railroads needed lumber to construct rail cars, stations, fences, and cross ties in addition to the massive amounts of wood they burned for fuel. Each year railroads needed some 73 million ties for the construction of new rail lines and the maintenance of old ones, estimated by the magazine Scientific American in 1890. From the 1870s to 1900, railroads used as much as a fourth of national timber production. This combination of supply and demand fueled a "bonanza era" for the Texas lumber industry that lasted 50 years, from 1880 until the Great Depression. During this time, Texas became the third largest lumber-producing state in the nation. Northern investors swooped in to buy up land, sometimes even taking advantage of "use and possession laws" to seize property from families who had owned it for generations. Corruption abounded as logging companies controlled their workers, paying them only in vouchers for the company store despite the incredibly hazardous working conditions. These "cut and get out" operations left acres of land decimated. This is the climate in which my next book, Short-Straw Bride, is set. Travis Archer and his brothers own a prime piece of forested land that also happens to be the key to connecting investor Roy Mitchell's holdings to the railroad. Mitchell wants the ranch and is willing to get it any way he can. But the woman he's been courting (to get his hands on her inheritance, which just happens to be more piney woods land) overhears him plotting to take the Archers out. Meredith Hayes has secretly carried a torch for Travis since he rescued her when she was a girl of ten. When she hears the threat, she knows she has to warn Travis. Unfortunately, her good deed goes awry and she ends up with more trouble than she bargained for. She ends up a short-straw bride. Short-Straw Bride releases June 1st. If you'd like to read the first two chapters, click here.]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/04/27/a-texas-bonanaza/feed/ 19 Petticoats & Pistols » Texas History http://petticoatsandpistols.com Romancing The West Thu, 24 May 2012 07:00:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 A Texas Bonanaza http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/04/27/a-texas-bonanaza/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/04/27/a-texas-bonanaza/#comments Fri, 27 Apr 2012 05:01:39 +0000 KarenW http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32109

Quiz time!

What was the leading industry in Texas at the turn of the 20th century?

Oil? - No, that came later.

Cattle? Cotton?

The answer: Lumber.

  Lumber? Are you kidding? I live in Texas. There are no trees. Oh, we've got some scrubby little mesquite and an occasional oak, but nothing that this California native would call a tree. So how in the world did the lumber industry out-perform cattle and cotton, two Texas staples? [caption id="attachment_32121" align="alignright" width="264" caption="A virgin stand of longleaf pine in the East Texas Piney Woods region, 1908."][/caption] Well, as anyone who has ever driven across this great state can tell you, Texas is a big place. Yes we have desert regions and prairie and grassland and hill country, but over in the southeast is a lovely section called the Piney Woods. And as the railroad worked it's way west in the 1870's and 1880's, lumber men from Pennsylvania like Henry Lutcher and G. Bedell Moore saw the virgin forests of east Texas as a gold mine. Local boys like John Henry Kirby got in on the action, too, buying up and consolidating individual sawmills into complete lumber manufacturing plants. Kirby rose to success so quickly, he became known as the "Prince of the Pines," having become the largest lumber manufacturer in the state by combining 14 sawmills into the Kirby Lumber Company in 1901. Not only did the railroad boom make travel to the Texas woods easier, it was also one of the biggest  sources of demand for timber. Railroads needed lumber to construct rail cars, stations, fences, and cross ties in addition to the massive amounts of wood they burned for fuel. Each year railroads needed some 73 million ties for the construction of new rail lines and the maintenance of old ones, estimated by the magazine Scientific American in 1890. From the 1870s to 1900, railroads used as much as a fourth of national timber production. This combination of supply and demand fueled a "bonanza era" for the Texas lumber industry that lasted 50 years, from 1880 until the Great Depression. During this time, Texas became the third largest lumber-producing state in the nation. Northern investors swooped in to buy up land, sometimes even taking advantage of "use and possession laws" to seize property from families who had owned it for generations. Corruption abounded as logging companies controlled their workers, paying them only in vouchers for the company store despite the incredibly hazardous working conditions. These "cut and get out" operations left acres of land decimated. This is the climate in which my next book, Short-Straw Bride, is set. Travis Archer and his brothers own a prime piece of forested land that also happens to be the key to connecting investor Roy Mitchell's holdings to the railroad. Mitchell wants the ranch and is willing to get it any way he can. But the woman he's been courting (to get his hands on her inheritance, which just happens to be more piney woods land) overhears him plotting to take the Archers out. Meredith Hayes has secretly carried a torch for Travis since he rescued her when she was a girl of ten. When she hears the threat, she knows she has to warn Travis. Unfortunately, her good deed goes awry and she ends up with more trouble than she bargained for. She ends up a short-straw bride. Short-Straw Bride releases June 1st. If you'd like to read the first two chapters, click here.]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/04/27/a-texas-bonanaza/feed/ 19 Texas Bluebonnets http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/03/26/texas-bluebonnets/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/03/26/texas-bluebonnets/#comments Mon, 26 Mar 2012 07:00:53 +0000 Linda Broday http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30676 Nothing steals my breath more than a field covered with Texas Bluebonnets. It's simply too gorgeous for words. Each spring folks load into cars and tour buses to see the bluebonnets just like the people in the northeastern states take tours to view the spectacular fall foliage But although I've lived in Texas most of my life I found out some things I never knew that I'd like to share with you. Bluebonnets are only found growing in their natural state in Texas and no other location in the world. That means they weren't brought in from somewhere else by the early settlers. Bluebonnets are as well known as the shamrock is to Ireland and the cherry blossoms of Japan. Many of you may know that the bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas and has been since 1901. But did you know there are five different kinds and that choosing the state flower started a bitter dispute that wasn't finally settled until 1971? Arguments ensued over which variety was going to be declared the proper state flower. The Texas Legislature finally settled the dispute by declaring that any and all varieties of the bluebonnet are the state flower. The "lupinus texensis" variety is the most common and the one most visitors see when they come to Texas. It has pointed leaflets and the flowering stalk is a breathtaking blue with a white tip. But less common ones grow in pink, rosy purple and royal blue and there's even a solid white bluebonnet. Bluebonnets typically bloom in the spring from March through April and sometimes into early May. The profusion is dictated by the amount of rain and germination in the fall, long before they pop their heads out of the soil. In times of drought the amount of bluebonnets is considerably less. Although bluebonnets need heat to germinate the seed, cool weather is crucial to develop the complicated root structure. Bluebonnets are very difficult to grow in gardens and pots. They cannot tolerate poorly drained, clay based soils. And they need lots of direct sunlight. Guess that's one reason they grow so well here in Texas. We have oodles of sunshine. Other common names for the flowers are buffalo clover, wolf flower and el conejo (Spanish for "the rabbit".) Usually found blooming amid patches of bluebonnets are Indian paintbrush, Indian blanket, and coreopsis. Contrary to popular belief, it's not illegal to pick them. In 1982 the state legislature named Burnet (SW of Austin) the official Bluebonnet Capital of Texas. Each April the town holds a Bluebonnet Festival which includes street dancing, concerts, a carnival, 5K run, pet parade and wiener dog races. Sounds like fun. So, I hope you enjoyed this look at the bluebonnet. We're very proud it chose this state in which to shower us with its beauty.

]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/03/26/texas-bluebonnets/feed/ 23 Texas My Texas … http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/28/texas-my-texas/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/28/texas-my-texas/#comments Tue, 28 Feb 2012 07:32:17 +0000 Phyliss http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30564 For Christmas I was given a book about Texas, the state I was born and raised in. Although I’ve ventured away for short durations to live elsewhere, those times were little more than an extended vacation because I’ve always returned to the town where I was born. It’s been said that if you ever wear out a pair of shoes in Texas, you’ll never leave. I’m proof of that. I love Texas! And, anybody who knows me knows that I love our rich history and that’s the reason I write almost exclusively about the Texas Panhandle.  I thought I’d share some little known facts about Texas... from a true, blue Texan’s point of view. Since Spanish explorers first “claimed” us in 1519, six different national flags have flown over Texas. From 1685 to 1690, Texas was a French territory before reverting to Spain. Texas was part of Mexico when that country won its independence from Spain in 1821. We adopted our own Declaration of Independence in 1836 and became a separate republic after a brief war with Mexico.  Did you know that Texas had a Texas Embassy in London and Paris? In 1845, the United States annexed Texas, making us the 28th state until we seceded to became part of the Confederate States of America.  In 1870, after the Civil War, we were then readmitted to the United States. So, the six flags of Texas belonged to Spain, France, Mexico, Texas, the United States, and the Confederacy. Now you know where “Six Flags Over Texas” amusement parks got their name. Here’s a fact, I didn’t know and probably wouldn’t believed it if someone had just told me about it; but, during the Civil War, camels were used in our deserts. In 1855, Jefferson Davis, then the U.S. Secretary of  War, convinced Congress to allocate money to field-test the beasts of burden. The animals excelled in carrying, enduring without water, and traveling long distance through miserable conditions. By the end of the War Between the States, although camels had proven efficient for both sides, they fell out of favor. The animals smelled really bad, frightened the horses, and had horrid personalities.  Let’s just say, I don’t believe I’ve seen a herd of camels ever in Texas... not that they don’t exist. The fact that a 10-gallon hat actually holds less than a gallon of water is NOT proof of a Texas braggart. It’s simply a misunderstanding.  It’s not a gallon, but a gallon, the word is Spanish for braid, the standard decoration above the brim of the iconic headgear worn by true Texans everywhere. There is also a theory that the Stetson hat company boasted that the tight weave of most Stetsons made them sufficiently waterproof and could be used as a bucket. Early print advertising by Stetson showed a cowboy giving his horse a drink of water from a hat. The truth, the Stetson company notes that a "ten gallon" hat only holds 3 quarts! The famous Texas Rangers have a recommended dress code which states, “The Texas Ranger hat will be light-colored and shaped in a businessman’s style ... commonly called the Rancher or Cattleman. Brims must not exceed 4 inches or be flat with edges rolled up. Hat excessively crushed, rolled, or dipped are not acceptable. Members of the Ranger Division (of the Texas Department of Public Safety) will own both a quality straw and quality felt hat. The appropriate hat will usually be determined by the weather or assignment.” Throughout the history of the Republic of Texas, there were no chartered banks in the country.  When the first Texas state constitution was drafted in 1845, it prohibited the incorporation of banks.  Banking functions were performed by financial agents and other business firms.  After the Civil War, banks began to flourish in Texas ... as did bank robberies. In the 1920’s, in order to stop a rash of bank robberies, the Texas Bankers Association established the Dead Bank Robber Reward Program. Anyone who killed a bank robber caught in the act would be paid ,000. Capturing a bank robber alive would not be rewarded.  Despite a number of cases of murders staged to look like the foiling of a bank robbery, the offer of reward was not withdrawn until 1964. Our anthology “Give Me a Cowboy” was originally named “Rodeo” and we agreed that all four stories would take place over the 4th of July rodeo in 1890 in Amarillo, which was our setting for our first anthology,“Give Me a Texan”.  But, we quickly recognized a serious problem. The first rodeo, which is the official sport of Texas, was held in 1883 in Pecos. The closest rodeo to our area wasn’t held until 1888 in Canadian, Texas, so to be historically accurate, we changed to the fictional town of Kasota Springs. You might recognize the name from our “A Texas Christmas” because we returned to the town with some recurring characters during the 1887 blizzard. The West of the Pecos Rodeo is now an annual event; however, the shebang lays claim to being the descendant of that first rodeo.  Legend has it that the whole thing came out of a contest between two ranch hands ... Trav Windham and Morg Livingston.  Both had good professional reputations and people challenged them to see who was best cowboy.  Eventually, other talented cowboys who had originally come from all over the territory just to watch found themselves involved in contests of riding broncos and roping cattle.  Bullriding was considered dangerous; therefore, there was no official bullriding event in early rodeos.  But, there was a lot of money won and lost on the renegade event we now know as bullriding. I hope you enjoyed my tour of some little known facts about Texas, and since I mentioned several of our anthologies, I will give away one commenter’s choice of an autographed copy of any of the six anthologies. I’d love to hear about any of your favorite Texas experiences, if you’d like to share with us today?]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/28/texas-my-texas/feed/ 28 A Wildflower Welcome to DARLENE FRANKLIN! Win a book today! http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/15/a-wildflower-welcome-to-darlene-franklin-win-a-book-today/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/15/a-wildflower-welcome-to-darlene-franklin-win-a-book-today/#comments Wed, 15 Feb 2012 06:42:11 +0000 Guest Blogger http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30281 A hearty welcome today to  inspirational author DARLENE FRANKLIN!. Please leave a comment…Darlene has a signed hard copy of A Ranger’s Trail for one lucky person. Darlene, tell us a little bit about your latest release, fourth in your six-book series: When Susan Page Davis, Vickie McDonough and I first brainstormed about the Texas Trails series, I chose the decade that includes the Mason County “Hoo Doo” War. The brief information I read—a range war—sounded like an action-packed, natural fit for any Texas historical series. By the time we received the contract and I researched the book, I doubted the wisdom of my choice. “Range war” hardly does justice to the violence that erupted across Mason County and the surrounding area in 1874 and continued for several decades. In fact, the definitive history of the war, The Mason County “Hoo Doo” War by Johnson and Miller dates the end of the war as 1902, the year the last of the major players died! More than a range war, the Mason County turned into a blood feud between the self-styled “Americans” (we might call them “Anglos” today) and the “Germans,” more recent immigrants who had settled in the Texas in the 1840s (the subject of my first book of the series, Lone Star Trail). Charges of cattle rustling started the war. Americans were tried, found guilty, and got off with a slap on the wrist fine. Germans took the law into their own hands and murdered several of the rustlers. Before long, they had killed a close friend of a former Texas Ranger, Scott Cooley. The former ranger galvanized the Americans and made it their mission to kill the people responsible for the death of his friend. What emerged was the continuing story of blood feuds or gang war, two factions exchanging life for life. None of the principal players was ever brought to justice. My heroine’s husband was killed by the Germans—and my Ranger hero’s family is German. An unlikely romance develops between the two of them, but Ranger’s Trail is also about forgiving the unforgivable. More than that, it’s about moving forward when a bad deed isnot punished, at least not in this life. How can someone move past the trauma? This is one period of history I am thankful I did not experience first hand! Here's the blurb: When Leta Denning's husband is killed by the German mob at the beginning of the Hoo Doo War, she vows to seek vengeance on his behalf. William Meino "Buck" Morgan, one of the Texas Rangers called in to quell the violence, has ties to one of the German families. Buck is the oldest son of Jud Morgan and Wande Fleischer from Lone Star Trail. In his quest to get to the truth, Buck interviews Leta but she is not interested and believes that former rangers may be behind the violence. As Leta struggles to keep the Denning ranch afloat, Buck sees a chance to help her while searching for the truth. Their respect for eacho ther grows but will Leta's quest for vengeance keep her from forgiveness? Excerpt:  “Found not guilty of any wrong doing. Praise the Lord.” Derrick Denning lifted his cup of coffee in a mock salute to his wife Leta. “As the good book says, ‘Thou hast maintained my right and my cause.’ Though I feel bad about the fines the other fellows have to pay.” Young Ricky clapped his hands, although he didn’t know what they were celebrating. Leta looked into her husband’s eyes over their son’s head and felt a smile come from the inside out. She hadn’t had a genuine smile for about a week, ever since her husband had been arrested for helping M.B. Thomas and Allen Roberts take their cattle to Llano County from Mason County. The week might have lasted a year, as scared as she had felt. The court case had set her insides all worrying, troubling the baby growing inside her, especially when six of the cowhands had been found guilty and fined a head. Derrick’s case had been dismissed for insufficient evidence. The German cattlemen had grumbled at the verdict. Leta suppressed the niggling worry that threatened to destroy this night of celebration. God had answered her prayers. She and her family—Derrick, their son, and her brother Andy—could stay put in Mason County, Texas. They wouldn’t have to move every year or two the way Pa had dragged them all over the map. “It’s not right, the other men getting fined.” Andy stopped shoveling beans into his mouth long enough to grumble. “They didn’t do nothing wrong. The cattle belonged to Mr. Roberts and Mr. Thomas.” Tell us about a period in history YOU are glad you didn’t experience first-hand! Visit Darlene at //darlenefranklinwrites.blogspot.com   Click on cover to purchase. Her other recent releases: Lone Star Trail (Rivernorth Fiction, 2011) and Christmas at Barncastle Inn (Barbour, 2011)]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/15/a-wildflower-welcome-to-darlene-franklin-win-a-book-today/feed/ 20 REDEMPTION Now on Kindle http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/03/26/texas-bluebonnets/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/03/26/texas-bluebonnets/#comments Mon, 26 Mar 2012 07:00:53 +0000 Linda Broday http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30676 Nothing steals my breath more than a field covered with Texas Bluebonnets. It's simply too gorgeous for words. Each spring folks load into cars and tour buses to see the bluebonnets just like the people in the northeastern states take tours to view the spectacular fall foliage But although I've lived in Texas most of my life I found out some things I never knew that I'd like to share with you. Bluebonnets are only found growing in their natural state in Texas and no other location in the world. That means they weren't brought in from somewhere else by the early settlers. Bluebonnets are as well known as the shamrock is to Ireland and the cherry blossoms of Japan. Many of you may know that the bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas and has been since 1901. But did you know there are five different kinds and that choosing the state flower started a bitter dispute that wasn't finally settled until 1971? Arguments ensued over which variety was going to be declared the proper state flower. The Texas Legislature finally settled the dispute by declaring that any and all varieties of the bluebonnet are the state flower. The "lupinus texensis" variety is the most common and the one most visitors see when they come to Texas. It has pointed leaflets and the flowering stalk is a breathtaking blue with a white tip. But less common ones grow in pink, rosy purple and royal blue and there's even a solid white bluebonnet. Bluebonnets typically bloom in the spring from March through April and sometimes into early May. The profusion is dictated by the amount of rain and germination in the fall, long before they pop their heads out of the soil. In times of drought the amount of bluebonnets is considerably less. Although bluebonnets need heat to germinate the seed, cool weather is crucial to develop the complicated root structure. Bluebonnets are very difficult to grow in gardens and pots. They cannot tolerate poorly drained, clay based soils. And they need lots of direct sunlight. Guess that's one reason they grow so well here in Texas. We have oodles of sunshine. Other common names for the flowers are buffalo clover, wolf flower and el conejo (Spanish for "the rabbit".) Usually found blooming amid patches of bluebonnets are Indian paintbrush, Indian blanket, and coreopsis. Contrary to popular belief, it's not illegal to pick them. In 1982 the state legislature named Burnet (SW of Austin) the official Bluebonnet Capital of Texas. Each April the town holds a Bluebonnet Festival which includes street dancing, concerts, a carnival, 5K run, pet parade and wiener dog races. Sounds like fun. So, I hope you enjoyed this look at the bluebonnet. We're very proud it chose this state in which to shower us with its beauty.

]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/03/26/texas-bluebonnets/feed/ 23 Petticoats & Pistols » Texas History http://petticoatsandpistols.com Romancing The West Thu, 24 May 2012 07:00:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 A Texas Bonanaza http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/04/27/a-texas-bonanaza/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/04/27/a-texas-bonanaza/#comments Fri, 27 Apr 2012 05:01:39 +0000 KarenW http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32109

Quiz time!

What was the leading industry in Texas at the turn of the 20th century?

Oil? - No, that came later.

Cattle? Cotton?

The answer: Lumber.

  Lumber? Are you kidding? I live in Texas. There are no trees. Oh, we've got some scrubby little mesquite and an occasional oak, but nothing that this California native would call a tree. So how in the world did the lumber industry out-perform cattle and cotton, two Texas staples? [caption id="attachment_32121" align="alignright" width="264" caption="A virgin stand of longleaf pine in the East Texas Piney Woods region, 1908."][/caption] Well, as anyone who has ever driven across this great state can tell you, Texas is a big place. Yes we have desert regions and prairie and grassland and hill country, but over in the southeast is a lovely section called the Piney Woods. And as the railroad worked it's way west in the 1870's and 1880's, lumber men from Pennsylvania like Henry Lutcher and G. Bedell Moore saw the virgin forests of east Texas as a gold mine. Local boys like John Henry Kirby got in on the action, too, buying up and consolidating individual sawmills into complete lumber manufacturing plants. Kirby rose to success so quickly, he became known as the "Prince of the Pines," having become the largest lumber manufacturer in the state by combining 14 sawmills into the Kirby Lumber Company in 1901. Not only did the railroad boom make travel to the Texas woods easier, it was also one of the biggest  sources of demand for timber. Railroads needed lumber to construct rail cars, stations, fences, and cross ties in addition to the massive amounts of wood they burned for fuel. Each year railroads needed some 73 million ties for the construction of new rail lines and the maintenance of old ones, estimated by the magazine Scientific American in 1890. From the 1870s to 1900, railroads used as much as a fourth of national timber production. This combination of supply and demand fueled a "bonanza era" for the Texas lumber industry that lasted 50 years, from 1880 until the Great Depression. During this time, Texas became the third largest lumber-producing state in the nation. Northern investors swooped in to buy up land, sometimes even taking advantage of "use and possession laws" to seize property from families who had owned it for generations. Corruption abounded as logging companies controlled their workers, paying them only in vouchers for the company store despite the incredibly hazardous working conditions. These "cut and get out" operations left acres of land decimated. This is the climate in which my next book, Short-Straw Bride, is set. Travis Archer and his brothers own a prime piece of forested land that also happens to be the key to connecting investor Roy Mitchell's holdings to the railroad. Mitchell wants the ranch and is willing to get it any way he can. But the woman he's been courting (to get his hands on her inheritance, which just happens to be more piney woods land) overhears him plotting to take the Archers out. Meredith Hayes has secretly carried a torch for Travis since he rescued her when she was a girl of ten. When she hears the threat, she knows she has to warn Travis. Unfortunately, her good deed goes awry and she ends up with more trouble than she bargained for. She ends up a short-straw bride. Short-Straw Bride releases June 1st. If you'd like to read the first two chapters, click here.]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/04/27/a-texas-bonanaza/feed/ 19 Texas Bluebonnets http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/03/26/texas-bluebonnets/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/03/26/texas-bluebonnets/#comments Mon, 26 Mar 2012 07:00:53 +0000 Linda Broday http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30676 Nothing steals my breath more than a field covered with Texas Bluebonnets. It's simply too gorgeous for words. Each spring folks load into cars and tour buses to see the bluebonnets just like the people in the northeastern states take tours to view the spectacular fall foliage But although I've lived in Texas most of my life I found out some things I never knew that I'd like to share with you. Bluebonnets are only found growing in their natural state in Texas and no other location in the world. That means they weren't brought in from somewhere else by the early settlers. Bluebonnets are as well known as the shamrock is to Ireland and the cherry blossoms of Japan. Many of you may know that the bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas and has been since 1901. But did you know there are five different kinds and that choosing the state flower started a bitter dispute that wasn't finally settled until 1971? Arguments ensued over which variety was going to be declared the proper state flower. The Texas Legislature finally settled the dispute by declaring that any and all varieties of the bluebonnet are the state flower. The "lupinus texensis" variety is the most common and the one most visitors see when they come to Texas. It has pointed leaflets and the flowering stalk is a breathtaking blue with a white tip. But less common ones grow in pink, rosy purple and royal blue and there's even a solid white bluebonnet. Bluebonnets typically bloom in the spring from March through April and sometimes into early May. The profusion is dictated by the amount of rain and germination in the fall, long before they pop their heads out of the soil. In times of drought the amount of bluebonnets is considerably less. Although bluebonnets need heat to germinate the seed, cool weather is crucial to develop the complicated root structure. Bluebonnets are very difficult to grow in gardens and pots. They cannot tolerate poorly drained, clay based soils. And they need lots of direct sunlight. Guess that's one reason they grow so well here in Texas. We have oodles of sunshine. Other common names for the flowers are buffalo clover, wolf flower and el conejo (Spanish for "the rabbit".) Usually found blooming amid patches of bluebonnets are Indian paintbrush, Indian blanket, and coreopsis. Contrary to popular belief, it's not illegal to pick them. In 1982 the state legislature named Burnet (SW of Austin) the official Bluebonnet Capital of Texas. Each April the town holds a Bluebonnet Festival which includes street dancing, concerts, a carnival, 5K run, pet parade and wiener dog races. Sounds like fun. So, I hope you enjoyed this look at the bluebonnet. We're very proud it chose this state in which to shower us with its beauty.

]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/03/26/texas-bluebonnets/feed/ 23 Texas My Texas … http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/28/texas-my-texas/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/28/texas-my-texas/#comments Tue, 28 Feb 2012 07:32:17 +0000 Phyliss http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30564 For Christmas I was given a book about Texas, the state I was born and raised in. Although I’ve ventured away for short durations to live elsewhere, those times were little more than an extended vacation because I’ve always returned to the town where I was born. It’s been said that if you ever wear out a pair of shoes in Texas, you’ll never leave. I’m proof of that. I love Texas! And, anybody who knows me knows that I love our rich history and that’s the reason I write almost exclusively about the Texas Panhandle.  I thought I’d share some little known facts about Texas... from a true, blue Texan’s point of view. Since Spanish explorers first “claimed” us in 1519, six different national flags have flown over Texas. From 1685 to 1690, Texas was a French territory before reverting to Spain. Texas was part of Mexico when that country won its independence from Spain in 1821. We adopted our own Declaration of Independence in 1836 and became a separate republic after a brief war with Mexico.  Did you know that Texas had a Texas Embassy in London and Paris? In 1845, the United States annexed Texas, making us the 28th state until we seceded to became part of the Confederate States of America.  In 1870, after the Civil War, we were then readmitted to the United States. So, the six flags of Texas belonged to Spain, France, Mexico, Texas, the United States, and the Confederacy. Now you know where “Six Flags Over Texas” amusement parks got their name. Here’s a fact, I didn’t know and probably wouldn’t believed it if someone had just told me about it; but, during the Civil War, camels were used in our deserts. In 1855, Jefferson Davis, then the U.S. Secretary of  War, convinced Congress to allocate money to field-test the beasts of burden. The animals excelled in carrying, enduring without water, and traveling long distance through miserable conditions. By the end of the War Between the States, although camels had proven efficient for both sides, they fell out of favor. The animals smelled really bad, frightened the horses, and had horrid personalities.  Let’s just say, I don’t believe I’ve seen a herd of camels ever in Texas... not that they don’t exist. The fact that a 10-gallon hat actually holds less than a gallon of water is NOT proof of a Texas braggart. It’s simply a misunderstanding.  It’s not a gallon, but a gallon, the word is Spanish for braid, the standard decoration above the brim of the iconic headgear worn by true Texans everywhere. There is also a theory that the Stetson hat company boasted that the tight weave of most Stetsons made them sufficiently waterproof and could be used as a bucket. Early print advertising by Stetson showed a cowboy giving his horse a drink of water from a hat. The truth, the Stetson company notes that a "ten gallon" hat only holds 3 quarts! The famous Texas Rangers have a recommended dress code which states, “The Texas Ranger hat will be light-colored and shaped in a businessman’s style ... commonly called the Rancher or Cattleman. Brims must not exceed 4 inches or be flat with edges rolled up. Hat excessively crushed, rolled, or dipped are not acceptable. Members of the Ranger Division (of the Texas Department of Public Safety) will own both a quality straw and quality felt hat. The appropriate hat will usually be determined by the weather or assignment.” Throughout the history of the Republic of Texas, there were no chartered banks in the country.  When the first Texas state constitution was drafted in 1845, it prohibited the incorporation of banks.  Banking functions were performed by financial agents and other business firms.  After the Civil War, banks began to flourish in Texas ... as did bank robberies. In the 1920’s, in order to stop a rash of bank robberies, the Texas Bankers Association established the Dead Bank Robber Reward Program. Anyone who killed a bank robber caught in the act would be paid ,000. Capturing a bank robber alive would not be rewarded.  Despite a number of cases of murders staged to look like the foiling of a bank robbery, the offer of reward was not withdrawn until 1964. Our anthology “Give Me a Cowboy” was originally named “Rodeo” and we agreed that all four stories would take place over the 4th of July rodeo in 1890 in Amarillo, which was our setting for our first anthology,“Give Me a Texan”.  But, we quickly recognized a serious problem. The first rodeo, which is the official sport of Texas, was held in 1883 in Pecos. The closest rodeo to our area wasn’t held until 1888 in Canadian, Texas, so to be historically accurate, we changed to the fictional town of Kasota Springs. You might recognize the name from our “A Texas Christmas” because we returned to the town with some recurring characters during the 1887 blizzard. The West of the Pecos Rodeo is now an annual event; however, the shebang lays claim to being the descendant of that first rodeo.  Legend has it that the whole thing came out of a contest between two ranch hands ... Trav Windham and Morg Livingston.  Both had good professional reputations and people challenged them to see who was best cowboy.  Eventually, other talented cowboys who had originally come from all over the territory just to watch found themselves involved in contests of riding broncos and roping cattle.  Bullriding was considered dangerous; therefore, there was no official bullriding event in early rodeos.  But, there was a lot of money won and lost on the renegade event we now know as bullriding. I hope you enjoyed my tour of some little known facts about Texas, and since I mentioned several of our anthologies, I will give away one commenter’s choice of an autographed copy of any of the six anthologies. I’d love to hear about any of your favorite Texas experiences, if you’d like to share with us today?]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/28/texas-my-texas/feed/ 28 A Wildflower Welcome to DARLENE FRANKLIN! Win a book today! http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/15/a-wildflower-welcome-to-darlene-franklin-win-a-book-today/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/15/a-wildflower-welcome-to-darlene-franklin-win-a-book-today/#comments Wed, 15 Feb 2012 06:42:11 +0000 Guest Blogger http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30281 A hearty welcome today to  inspirational author DARLENE FRANKLIN!. Please leave a comment…Darlene has a signed hard copy of A Ranger’s Trail for one lucky person. Darlene, tell us a little bit about your latest release, fourth in your six-book series: When Susan Page Davis, Vickie McDonough and I first brainstormed about the Texas Trails series, I chose the decade that includes the Mason County “Hoo Doo” War. The brief information I read—a range war—sounded like an action-packed, natural fit for any Texas historical series. By the time we received the contract and I researched the book, I doubted the wisdom of my choice. “Range war” hardly does justice to the violence that erupted across Mason County and the surrounding area in 1874 and continued for several decades. In fact, the definitive history of the war, The Mason County “Hoo Doo” War by Johnson and Miller dates the end of the war as 1902, the year the last of the major players died! More than a range war, the Mason County turned into a blood feud between the self-styled “Americans” (we might call them “Anglos” today) and the “Germans,” more recent immigrants who had settled in the Texas in the 1840s (the subject of my first book of the series, Lone Star Trail). Charges of cattle rustling started the war. Americans were tried, found guilty, and got off with a slap on the wrist fine. Germans took the law into their own hands and murdered several of the rustlers. Before long, they had killed a close friend of a former Texas Ranger, Scott Cooley. The former ranger galvanized the Americans and made it their mission to kill the people responsible for the death of his friend. What emerged was the continuing story of blood feuds or gang war, two factions exchanging life for life. None of the principal players was ever brought to justice. My heroine’s husband was killed by the Germans—and my Ranger hero’s family is German. An unlikely romance develops between the two of them, but Ranger’s Trail is also about forgiving the unforgivable. More than that, it’s about moving forward when a bad deed isnot punished, at least not in this life. How can someone move past the trauma? This is one period of history I am thankful I did not experience first hand! Here's the blurb: When Leta Denning's husband is killed by the German mob at the beginning of the Hoo Doo War, she vows to seek vengeance on his behalf. William Meino "Buck" Morgan, one of the Texas Rangers called in to quell the violence, has ties to one of the German families. Buck is the oldest son of Jud Morgan and Wande Fleischer from Lone Star Trail. In his quest to get to the truth, Buck interviews Leta but she is not interested and believes that former rangers may be behind the violence. As Leta struggles to keep the Denning ranch afloat, Buck sees a chance to help her while searching for the truth. Their respect for eacho ther grows but will Leta's quest for vengeance keep her from forgiveness? Excerpt:  “Found not guilty of any wrong doing. Praise the Lord.” Derrick Denning lifted his cup of coffee in a mock salute to his wife Leta. “As the good book says, ‘Thou hast maintained my right and my cause.’ Though I feel bad about the fines the other fellows have to pay.” Young Ricky clapped his hands, although he didn’t know what they were celebrating. Leta looked into her husband’s eyes over their son’s head and felt a smile come from the inside out. She hadn’t had a genuine smile for about a week, ever since her husband had been arrested for helping M.B. Thomas and Allen Roberts take their cattle to Llano County from Mason County. The week might have lasted a year, as scared as she had felt. The court case had set her insides all worrying, troubling the baby growing inside her, especially when six of the cowhands had been found guilty and fined a head. Derrick’s case had been dismissed for insufficient evidence. The German cattlemen had grumbled at the verdict. Leta suppressed the niggling worry that threatened to destroy this night of celebration. God had answered her prayers. She and her family—Derrick, their son, and her brother Andy—could stay put in Mason County, Texas. They wouldn’t have to move every year or two the way Pa had dragged them all over the map. “It’s not right, the other men getting fined.” Andy stopped shoveling beans into his mouth long enough to grumble. “They didn’t do nothing wrong. The cattle belonged to Mr. Roberts and Mr. Thomas.” Tell us about a period in history YOU are glad you didn’t experience first-hand! Visit Darlene at //darlenefranklinwrites.blogspot.com   Click on cover to purchase. Her other recent releases: Lone Star Trail (Rivernorth Fiction, 2011) and Christmas at Barncastle Inn (Barbour, 2011)]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/15/a-wildflower-welcome-to-darlene-franklin-win-a-book-today/feed/ 20 REDEMPTION Now on Kindle http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/28/texas-my-texas/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/28/texas-my-texas/#comments Tue, 28 Feb 2012 07:32:17 +0000 Phyliss http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30564 For Christmas I was given a book about Texas, the state I was born and raised in. Although I’ve ventured away for short durations to live elsewhere, those times were little more than an extended vacation because I’ve always returned to the town where I was born. It’s been said that if you ever wear out a pair of shoes in Texas, you’ll never leave. I’m proof of that. I love Texas! And, anybody who knows me knows that I love our rich history and that’s the reason I write almost exclusively about the Texas Panhandle.  I thought I’d share some little known facts about Texas... from a true, blue Texan’s point of view. Since Spanish explorers first “claimed” us in 1519, six different national flags have flown over Texas. From 1685 to 1690, Texas was a French territory before reverting to Spain. Texas was part of Mexico when that country won its independence from Spain in 1821. We adopted our own Declaration of Independence in 1836 and became a separate republic after a brief war with Mexico.  Did you know that Texas had a Texas Embassy in London and Paris? In 1845, the United States annexed Texas, making us the 28th state until we seceded to became part of the Confederate States of America.  In 1870, after the Civil War, we were then readmitted to the United States. So, the six flags of Texas belonged to Spain, France, Mexico, Texas, the United States, and the Confederacy. Now you know where “Six Flags Over Texas” amusement parks got their name. Here’s a fact, I didn’t know and probably wouldn’t believed it if someone had just told me about it; but, during the Civil War, camels were used in our deserts. In 1855, Jefferson Davis, then the U.S. Secretary of  War, convinced Congress to allocate money to field-test the beasts of burden. The animals excelled in carrying, enduring without water, and traveling long distance through miserable conditions. By the end of the War Between the States, although camels had proven efficient for both sides, they fell out of favor. The animals smelled really bad, frightened the horses, and had horrid personalities.  Let’s just say, I don’t believe I’ve seen a herd of camels ever in Texas... not that they don’t exist. The fact that a 10-gallon hat actually holds less than a gallon of water is NOT proof of a Texas braggart. It’s simply a misunderstanding.  It’s not a gallon, but a gallon, the word is Spanish for braid, the standard decoration above the brim of the iconic headgear worn by true Texans everywhere. There is also a theory that the Stetson hat company boasted that the tight weave of most Stetsons made them sufficiently waterproof and could be used as a bucket. Early print advertising by Stetson showed a cowboy giving his horse a drink of water from a hat. The truth, the Stetson company notes that a "ten gallon" hat only holds 3 quarts! The famous Texas Rangers have a recommended dress code which states, “The Texas Ranger hat will be light-colored and shaped in a businessman’s style ... commonly called the Rancher or Cattleman. Brims must not exceed 4 inches or be flat with edges rolled up. Hat excessively crushed, rolled, or dipped are not acceptable. Members of the Ranger Division (of the Texas Department of Public Safety) will own both a quality straw and quality felt hat. The appropriate hat will usually be determined by the weather or assignment.” Throughout the history of the Republic of Texas, there were no chartered banks in the country.  When the first Texas state constitution was drafted in 1845, it prohibited the incorporation of banks.  Banking functions were performed by financial agents and other business firms.  After the Civil War, banks began to flourish in Texas ... as did bank robberies. In the 1920’s, in order to stop a rash of bank robberies, the Texas Bankers Association established the Dead Bank Robber Reward Program. Anyone who killed a bank robber caught in the act would be paid $5,000. Capturing a bank robber alive would not be rewarded.  Despite a number of cases of murders staged to look like the foiling of a bank robbery, the offer of reward was not withdrawn until 1964. Our anthology “Give Me a Cowboy” was originally named “Rodeo” and we agreed that all four stories would take place over the 4th of July rodeo in 1890 in Amarillo, which was our setting for our first anthology,“Give Me a Texan”.  But, we quickly recognized a serious problem. The first rodeo, which is the official sport of Texas, was held in 1883 in Pecos. The closest rodeo to our area wasn’t held until 1888 in Canadian, Texas, so to be historically accurate, we changed to the fictional town of Kasota Springs. You might recognize the name from our “A Texas Christmas” because we returned to the town with some recurring characters during the 1887 blizzard. The West of the Pecos Rodeo is now an annual event; however, the shebang lays claim to being the descendant of that first rodeo.  Legend has it that the whole thing came out of a contest between two ranch hands ... Trav Windham and Morg Livingston.  Both had good professional reputations and people challenged them to see who was best cowboy.  Eventually, other talented cowboys who had originally come from all over the territory just to watch found themselves involved in contests of riding broncos and roping cattle.  Bullriding was considered dangerous; therefore, there was no official bullriding event in early rodeos.  But, there was a lot of money won and lost on the renegade event we now know as bullriding. I hope you enjoyed my tour of some little known facts about Texas, and since I mentioned several of our anthologies, I will give away one commenter’s choice of an autographed copy of any of the six anthologies. I’d love to hear about any of your favorite Texas experiences, if you’d like to share with us today?]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/28/texas-my-texas/feed/ 28 Petticoats & Pistols » Texas History http://petticoatsandpistols.com Romancing The West Thu, 24 May 2012 07:00:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 A Texas Bonanaza http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/04/27/a-texas-bonanaza/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/04/27/a-texas-bonanaza/#comments Fri, 27 Apr 2012 05:01:39 +0000 KarenW http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32109

Quiz time!

What was the leading industry in Texas at the turn of the 20th century?

Oil? - No, that came later.

Cattle? Cotton?

The answer: Lumber.

  Lumber? Are you kidding? I live in Texas. There are no trees. Oh, we've got some scrubby little mesquite and an occasional oak, but nothing that this California native would call a tree. So how in the world did the lumber industry out-perform cattle and cotton, two Texas staples? [caption id="attachment_32121" align="alignright" width="264" caption="A virgin stand of longleaf pine in the East Texas Piney Woods region, 1908."][/caption] Well, as anyone who has ever driven across this great state can tell you, Texas is a big place. Yes we have desert regions and prairie and grassland and hill country, but over in the southeast is a lovely section called the Piney Woods. And as the railroad worked it's way west in the 1870's and 1880's, lumber men from Pennsylvania like Henry Lutcher and G. Bedell Moore saw the virgin forests of east Texas as a gold mine. Local boys like John Henry Kirby got in on the action, too, buying up and consolidating individual sawmills into complete lumber manufacturing plants. Kirby rose to success so quickly, he became known as the "Prince of the Pines," having become the largest lumber manufacturer in the state by combining 14 sawmills into the Kirby Lumber Company in 1901. Not only did the railroad boom make travel to the Texas woods easier, it was also one of the biggest  sources of demand for timber. Railroads needed lumber to construct rail cars, stations, fences, and cross ties in addition to the massive amounts of wood they burned for fuel. Each year railroads needed some 73 million ties for the construction of new rail lines and the maintenance of old ones, estimated by the magazine Scientific American in 1890. From the 1870s to 1900, railroads used as much as a fourth of national timber production. This combination of supply and demand fueled a "bonanza era" for the Texas lumber industry that lasted 50 years, from 1880 until the Great Depression. During this time, Texas became the third largest lumber-producing state in the nation. Northern investors swooped in to buy up land, sometimes even taking advantage of "use and possession laws" to seize property from families who had owned it for generations. Corruption abounded as logging companies controlled their workers, paying them only in vouchers for the company store despite the incredibly hazardous working conditions. These "cut and get out" operations left acres of land decimated. This is the climate in which my next book, Short-Straw Bride, is set. Travis Archer and his brothers own a prime piece of forested land that also happens to be the key to connecting investor Roy Mitchell's holdings to the railroad. Mitchell wants the ranch and is willing to get it any way he can. But the woman he's been courting (to get his hands on her inheritance, which just happens to be more piney woods land) overhears him plotting to take the Archers out. Meredith Hayes has secretly carried a torch for Travis since he rescued her when she was a girl of ten. When she hears the threat, she knows she has to warn Travis. Unfortunately, her good deed goes awry and she ends up with more trouble than she bargained for. She ends up a short-straw bride. Short-Straw Bride releases June 1st. If you'd like to read the first two chapters, click here.]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/04/27/a-texas-bonanaza/feed/ 19 Texas Bluebonnets http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/03/26/texas-bluebonnets/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/03/26/texas-bluebonnets/#comments Mon, 26 Mar 2012 07:00:53 +0000 Linda Broday http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30676 Nothing steals my breath more than a field covered with Texas Bluebonnets. It's simply too gorgeous for words. Each spring folks load into cars and tour buses to see the bluebonnets just like the people in the northeastern states take tours to view the spectacular fall foliage But although I've lived in Texas most of my life I found out some things I never knew that I'd like to share with you. Bluebonnets are only found growing in their natural state in Texas and no other location in the world. That means they weren't brought in from somewhere else by the early settlers. Bluebonnets are as well known as the shamrock is to Ireland and the cherry blossoms of Japan. Many of you may know that the bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas and has been since 1901. But did you know there are five different kinds and that choosing the state flower started a bitter dispute that wasn't finally settled until 1971? Arguments ensued over which variety was going to be declared the proper state flower. The Texas Legislature finally settled the dispute by declaring that any and all varieties of the bluebonnet are the state flower. The "lupinus texensis" variety is the most common and the one most visitors see when they come to Texas. It has pointed leaflets and the flowering stalk is a breathtaking blue with a white tip. But less common ones grow in pink, rosy purple and royal blue and there's even a solid white bluebonnet. Bluebonnets typically bloom in the spring from March through April and sometimes into early May. The profusion is dictated by the amount of rain and germination in the fall, long before they pop their heads out of the soil. In times of drought the amount of bluebonnets is considerably less. Although bluebonnets need heat to germinate the seed, cool weather is crucial to develop the complicated root structure. Bluebonnets are very difficult to grow in gardens and pots. They cannot tolerate poorly drained, clay based soils. And they need lots of direct sunlight. Guess that's one reason they grow so well here in Texas. We have oodles of sunshine. Other common names for the flowers are buffalo clover, wolf flower and el conejo (Spanish for "the rabbit".) Usually found blooming amid patches of bluebonnets are Indian paintbrush, Indian blanket, and coreopsis. Contrary to popular belief, it's not illegal to pick them. In 1982 the state legislature named Burnet (SW of Austin) the official Bluebonnet Capital of Texas. Each April the town holds a Bluebonnet Festival which includes street dancing, concerts, a carnival, 5K run, pet parade and wiener dog races. Sounds like fun. So, I hope you enjoyed this look at the bluebonnet. We're very proud it chose this state in which to shower us with its beauty.

]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/03/26/texas-bluebonnets/feed/ 23 Texas My Texas … http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/28/texas-my-texas/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/28/texas-my-texas/#comments Tue, 28 Feb 2012 07:32:17 +0000 Phyliss http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30564 For Christmas I was given a book about Texas, the state I was born and raised in. Although I’ve ventured away for short durations to live elsewhere, those times were little more than an extended vacation because I’ve always returned to the town where I was born. It’s been said that if you ever wear out a pair of shoes in Texas, you’ll never leave. I’m proof of that. I love Texas! And, anybody who knows me knows that I love our rich history and that’s the reason I write almost exclusively about the Texas Panhandle.  I thought I’d share some little known facts about Texas... from a true, blue Texan’s point of view. Since Spanish explorers first “claimed” us in 1519, six different national flags have flown over Texas. From 1685 to 1690, Texas was a French territory before reverting to Spain. Texas was part of Mexico when that country won its independence from Spain in 1821. We adopted our own Declaration of Independence in 1836 and became a separate republic after a brief war with Mexico.  Did you know that Texas had a Texas Embassy in London and Paris? In 1845, the United States annexed Texas, making us the 28th state until we seceded to became part of the Confederate States of America.  In 1870, after the Civil War, we were then readmitted to the United States. So, the six flags of Texas belonged to Spain, France, Mexico, Texas, the United States, and the Confederacy. Now you know where “Six Flags Over Texas” amusement parks got their name. Here’s a fact, I didn’t know and probably wouldn’t believed it if someone had just told me about it; but, during the Civil War, camels were used in our deserts. In 1855, Jefferson Davis, then the U.S. Secretary of  War, convinced Congress to allocate money to field-test the beasts of burden. The animals excelled in carrying, enduring without water, and traveling long distance through miserable conditions. By the end of the War Between the States, although camels had proven efficient for both sides, they fell out of favor. The animals smelled really bad, frightened the horses, and had horrid personalities.  Let’s just say, I don’t believe I’ve seen a herd of camels ever in Texas... not that they don’t exist. The fact that a 10-gallon hat actually holds less than a gallon of water is NOT proof of a Texas braggart. It’s simply a misunderstanding.  It’s not a gallon, but a gallon, the word is Spanish for braid, the standard decoration above the brim of the iconic headgear worn by true Texans everywhere. There is also a theory that the Stetson hat company boasted that the tight weave of most Stetsons made them sufficiently waterproof and could be used as a bucket. Early print advertising by Stetson showed a cowboy giving his horse a drink of water from a hat. The truth, the Stetson company notes that a "ten gallon" hat only holds 3 quarts! The famous Texas Rangers have a recommended dress code which states, “The Texas Ranger hat will be light-colored and shaped in a businessman’s style ... commonly called the Rancher or Cattleman. Brims must not exceed 4 inches or be flat with edges rolled up. Hat excessively crushed, rolled, or dipped are not acceptable. Members of the Ranger Division (of the Texas Department of Public Safety) will own both a quality straw and quality felt hat. The appropriate hat will usually be determined by the weather or assignment.” Throughout the history of the Republic of Texas, there were no chartered banks in the country.  When the first Texas state constitution was drafted in 1845, it prohibited the incorporation of banks.  Banking functions were performed by financial agents and other business firms.  After the Civil War, banks began to flourish in Texas ... as did bank robberies. In the 1920’s, in order to stop a rash of bank robberies, the Texas Bankers Association established the Dead Bank Robber Reward Program. Anyone who killed a bank robber caught in the act would be paid ,000. Capturing a bank robber alive would not be rewarded.  Despite a number of cases of murders staged to look like the foiling of a bank robbery, the offer of reward was not withdrawn until 1964. Our anthology “Give Me a Cowboy” was originally named “Rodeo” and we agreed that all four stories would take place over the 4th of July rodeo in 1890 in Amarillo, which was our setting for our first anthology,“Give Me a Texan”.  But, we quickly recognized a serious problem. The first rodeo, which is the official sport of Texas, was held in 1883 in Pecos. The closest rodeo to our area wasn’t held until 1888 in Canadian, Texas, so to be historically accurate, we changed to the fictional town of Kasota Springs. You might recognize the name from our “A Texas Christmas” because we returned to the town with some recurring characters during the 1887 blizzard. The West of the Pecos Rodeo is now an annual event; however, the shebang lays claim to being the descendant of that first rodeo.  Legend has it that the whole thing came out of a contest between two ranch hands ... Trav Windham and Morg Livingston.  Both had good professional reputations and people challenged them to see who was best cowboy.  Eventually, other talented cowboys who had originally come from all over the territory just to watch found themselves involved in contests of riding broncos and roping cattle.  Bullriding was considered dangerous; therefore, there was no official bullriding event in early rodeos.  But, there was a lot of money won and lost on the renegade event we now know as bullriding. I hope you enjoyed my tour of some little known facts about Texas, and since I mentioned several of our anthologies, I will give away one commenter’s choice of an autographed copy of any of the six anthologies. I’d love to hear about any of your favorite Texas experiences, if you’d like to share with us today?]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/28/texas-my-texas/feed/ 28 A Wildflower Welcome to DARLENE FRANKLIN! Win a book today! http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/15/a-wildflower-welcome-to-darlene-franklin-win-a-book-today/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/15/a-wildflower-welcome-to-darlene-franklin-win-a-book-today/#comments Wed, 15 Feb 2012 06:42:11 +0000 Guest Blogger http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30281 A hearty welcome today to  inspirational author DARLENE FRANKLIN!. Please leave a comment…Darlene has a signed hard copy of A Ranger’s Trail for one lucky person. Darlene, tell us a little bit about your latest release, fourth in your six-book series: When Susan Page Davis, Vickie McDonough and I first brainstormed about the Texas Trails series, I chose the decade that includes the Mason County “Hoo Doo” War. The brief information I read—a range war—sounded like an action-packed, natural fit for any Texas historical series. By the time we received the contract and I researched the book, I doubted the wisdom of my choice. “Range war” hardly does justice to the violence that erupted across Mason County and the surrounding area in 1874 and continued for several decades. In fact, the definitive history of the war, The Mason County “Hoo Doo” War by Johnson and Miller dates the end of the war as 1902, the year the last of the major players died! More than a range war, the Mason County turned into a blood feud between the self-styled “Americans” (we might call them “Anglos” today) and the “Germans,” more recent immigrants who had settled in the Texas in the 1840s (the subject of my first book of the series, Lone Star Trail). Charges of cattle rustling started the war. Americans were tried, found guilty, and got off with a slap on the wrist fine. Germans took the law into their own hands and murdered several of the rustlers. Before long, they had killed a close friend of a former Texas Ranger, Scott Cooley. The former ranger galvanized the Americans and made it their mission to kill the people responsible for the death of his friend. What emerged was the continuing story of blood feuds or gang war, two factions exchanging life for life. None of the principal players was ever brought to justice. My heroine’s husband was killed by the Germans—and my Ranger hero’s family is German. An unlikely romance develops between the two of them, but Ranger’s Trail is also about forgiving the unforgivable. More than that, it’s about moving forward when a bad deed isnot punished, at least not in this life. How can someone move past the trauma? This is one period of history I am thankful I did not experience first hand! Here's the blurb: When Leta Denning's husband is killed by the German mob at the beginning of the Hoo Doo War, she vows to seek vengeance on his behalf. William Meino "Buck" Morgan, one of the Texas Rangers called in to quell the violence, has ties to one of the German families. Buck is the oldest son of Jud Morgan and Wande Fleischer from Lone Star Trail. In his quest to get to the truth, Buck interviews Leta but she is not interested and believes that former rangers may be behind the violence. As Leta struggles to keep the Denning ranch afloat, Buck sees a chance to help her while searching for the truth. Their respect for eacho ther grows but will Leta's quest for vengeance keep her from forgiveness? Excerpt:  “Found not guilty of any wrong doing. Praise the Lord.” Derrick Denning lifted his cup of coffee in a mock salute to his wife Leta. “As the good book says, ‘Thou hast maintained my right and my cause.’ Though I feel bad about the fines the other fellows have to pay.” Young Ricky clapped his hands, although he didn’t know what they were celebrating. Leta looked into her husband’s eyes over their son’s head and felt a smile come from the inside out. She hadn’t had a genuine smile for about a week, ever since her husband had been arrested for helping M.B. Thomas and Allen Roberts take their cattle to Llano County from Mason County. The week might have lasted a year, as scared as she had felt. The court case had set her insides all worrying, troubling the baby growing inside her, especially when six of the cowhands had been found guilty and fined a head. Derrick’s case had been dismissed for insufficient evidence. The German cattlemen had grumbled at the verdict. Leta suppressed the niggling worry that threatened to destroy this night of celebration. God had answered her prayers. She and her family—Derrick, their son, and her brother Andy—could stay put in Mason County, Texas. They wouldn’t have to move every year or two the way Pa had dragged them all over the map. “It’s not right, the other men getting fined.” Andy stopped shoveling beans into his mouth long enough to grumble. “They didn’t do nothing wrong. The cattle belonged to Mr. Roberts and Mr. Thomas.” Tell us about a period in history YOU are glad you didn’t experience first-hand! Visit Darlene at //darlenefranklinwrites.blogspot.com   Click on cover to purchase. Her other recent releases: Lone Star Trail (Rivernorth Fiction, 2011) and Christmas at Barncastle Inn (Barbour, 2011)]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/15/a-wildflower-welcome-to-darlene-franklin-win-a-book-today/feed/ 20 REDEMPTION Now on Kindle http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/15/a-wildflower-welcome-to-darlene-franklin-win-a-book-today/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/15/a-wildflower-welcome-to-darlene-franklin-win-a-book-today/#comments Wed, 15 Feb 2012 06:42:11 +0000 Guest Blogger http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30281 A hearty welcome today to  inspirational author DARLENE FRANKLIN!. Please leave a comment…Darlene has a signed hard copy of A Ranger’s Trail for one lucky person. Darlene, tell us a little bit about your latest release, fourth in your six-book series: When Susan Page Davis, Vickie McDonough and I first brainstormed about the Texas Trails series, I chose the decade that includes the Mason County “Hoo Doo” War. The brief information I read—a range war—sounded like an action-packed, natural fit for any Texas historical series. By the time we received the contract and I researched the book, I doubted the wisdom of my choice. “Range war” hardly does justice to the violence that erupted across Mason County and the surrounding area in 1874 and continued for several decades. In fact, the definitive history of the war, The Mason County “Hoo Doo” War by Johnson and Miller dates the end of the war as 1902, the year the last of the major players died! More than a range war, the Mason County turned into a blood feud between the self-styled “Americans” (we might call them “Anglos” today) and the “Germans,” more recent immigrants who had settled in the Texas in the 1840s (the subject of my first book of the series, Lone Star Trail). Charges of cattle rustling started the war. Americans were tried, found guilty, and got off with a slap on the wrist fine. Germans took the law into their own hands and murdered several of the rustlers. Before long, they had killed a close friend of a former Texas Ranger, Scott Cooley. The former ranger galvanized the Americans and made it their mission to kill the people responsible for the death of his friend. What emerged was the continuing story of blood feuds or gang war, two factions exchanging life for life. None of the principal players was ever brought to justice. My heroine’s husband was killed by the Germans—and my Ranger hero’s family is German. An unlikely romance develops between the two of them, but Ranger’s Trail is also about forgiving the unforgivable. More than that, it’s about moving forward when a bad deed isnot punished, at least not in this life. How can someone move past the trauma? This is one period of history I am thankful I did not experience first hand! Here's the blurb: When Leta Denning's husband is killed by the German mob at the beginning of the Hoo Doo War, she vows to seek vengeance on his behalf. William Meino "Buck" Morgan, one of the Texas Rangers called in to quell the violence, has ties to one of the German families. Buck is the oldest son of Jud Morgan and Wande Fleischer from Lone Star Trail. In his quest to get to the truth, Buck interviews Leta but she is not interested and believes that former rangers may be behind the violence. As Leta struggles to keep the Denning ranch afloat, Buck sees a chance to help her while searching for the truth. Their respect for eacho ther grows but will Leta's quest for vengeance keep her from forgiveness? Excerpt:  “Found not guilty of any wrong doing. Praise the Lord.” Derrick Denning lifted his cup of coffee in a mock salute to his wife Leta. “As the good book says, ‘Thou hast maintained my right and my cause.’ Though I feel bad about the fines the other fellows have to pay.” Young Ricky clapped his hands, although he didn’t know what they were celebrating. Leta looked into her husband’s eyes over their son’s head and felt a smile come from the inside out. She hadn’t had a genuine smile for about a week, ever since her husband had been arrested for helping M.B. Thomas and Allen Roberts take their cattle to Llano County from Mason County. The week might have lasted a year, as scared as she had felt. The court case had set her insides all worrying, troubling the baby growing inside her, especially when six of the cowhands had been found guilty and fined $25 a head. Derrick’s case had been dismissed for insufficient evidence. The German cattlemen had grumbled at the verdict. Leta suppressed the niggling worry that threatened to destroy this night of celebration. God had answered her prayers. She and her family—Derrick, their son, and her brother Andy—could stay put in Mason County, Texas. They wouldn’t have to move every year or two the way Pa had dragged them all over the map. “It’s not right, the other men getting fined.” Andy stopped shoveling beans into his mouth long enough to grumble. “They didn’t do nothing wrong. The cattle belonged to Mr. Roberts and Mr. Thomas.” Tell us about a period in history YOU are glad you didn’t experience first-hand! Visit Darlene at //darlenefranklinwrites.blogspot.com   Click on cover to purchase. Her other recent releases: Lone Star Trail (Rivernorth Fiction, 2011) and Christmas at Barncastle Inn (Barbour, 2011)]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/15/a-wildflower-welcome-to-darlene-franklin-win-a-book-today/feed/ 20 Petticoats & Pistols » Texas History http://petticoatsandpistols.com Romancing The West Thu, 24 May 2012 07:00:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 A Texas Bonanaza http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/04/27/a-texas-bonanaza/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/04/27/a-texas-bonanaza/#comments Fri, 27 Apr 2012 05:01:39 +0000 KarenW http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32109

Quiz time!

What was the leading industry in Texas at the turn of the 20th century?

Oil? - No, that came later.

Cattle? Cotton?

The answer: Lumber.

  Lumber? Are you kidding? I live in Texas. There are no trees. Oh, we've got some scrubby little mesquite and an occasional oak, but nothing that this California native would call a tree. So how in the world did the lumber industry out-perform cattle and cotton, two Texas staples? [caption id="attachment_32121" align="alignright" width="264" caption="A virgin stand of longleaf pine in the East Texas Piney Woods region, 1908."][/caption] Well, as anyone who has ever driven across this great state can tell you, Texas is a big place. Yes we have desert regions and prairie and grassland and hill country, but over in the southeast is a lovely section called the Piney Woods. And as the railroad worked it's way west in the 1870's and 1880's, lumber men from Pennsylvania like Henry Lutcher and G. Bedell Moore saw the virgin forests of east Texas as a gold mine. Local boys like John Henry Kirby got in on the action, too, buying up and consolidating individual sawmills into complete lumber manufacturing plants. Kirby rose to success so quickly, he became known as the "Prince of the Pines," having become the largest lumber manufacturer in the state by combining 14 sawmills into the Kirby Lumber Company in 1901. Not only did the railroad boom make travel to the Texas woods easier, it was also one of the biggest  sources of demand for timber. Railroads needed lumber to construct rail cars, stations, fences, and cross ties in addition to the massive amounts of wood they burned for fuel. Each year railroads needed some 73 million ties for the construction of new rail lines and the maintenance of old ones, estimated by the magazine Scientific American in 1890. From the 1870s to 1900, railroads used as much as a fourth of national timber production. This combination of supply and demand fueled a "bonanza era" for the Texas lumber industry that lasted 50 years, from 1880 until the Great Depression. During this time, Texas became the third largest lumber-producing state in the nation. Northern investors swooped in to buy up land, sometimes even taking advantage of "use and possession laws" to seize property from families who had owned it for generations. Corruption abounded as logging companies controlled their workers, paying them only in vouchers for the company store despite the incredibly hazardous working conditions. These "cut and get out" operations left acres of land decimated. This is the climate in which my next book, Short-Straw Bride, is set. Travis Archer and his brothers own a prime piece of forested land that also happens to be the key to connecting investor Roy Mitchell's holdings to the railroad. Mitchell wants the ranch and is willing to get it any way he can. But the woman he's been courting (to get his hands on her inheritance, which just happens to be more piney woods land) overhears him plotting to take the Archers out. Meredith Hayes has secretly carried a torch for Travis since he rescued her when she was a girl of ten. When she hears the threat, she knows she has to warn Travis. Unfortunately, her good deed goes awry and she ends up with more trouble than she bargained for. She ends up a short-straw bride. Short-Straw Bride releases June 1st. If you'd like to read the first two chapters, click here.]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/04/27/a-texas-bonanaza/feed/ 19 Texas Bluebonnets http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/03/26/texas-bluebonnets/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/03/26/texas-bluebonnets/#comments Mon, 26 Mar 2012 07:00:53 +0000 Linda Broday http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30676 Nothing steals my breath more than a field covered with Texas Bluebonnets. It's simply too gorgeous for words. Each spring folks load into cars and tour buses to see the bluebonnets just like the people in the northeastern states take tours to view the spectacular fall foliage But although I've lived in Texas most of my life I found out some things I never knew that I'd like to share with you. Bluebonnets are only found growing in their natural state in Texas and no other location in the world. That means they weren't brought in from somewhere else by the early settlers. Bluebonnets are as well known as the shamrock is to Ireland and the cherry blossoms of Japan. Many of you may know that the bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas and has been since 1901. But did you know there are five different kinds and that choosing the state flower started a bitter dispute that wasn't finally settled until 1971? Arguments ensued over which variety was going to be declared the proper state flower. The Texas Legislature finally settled the dispute by declaring that any and all varieties of the bluebonnet are the state flower. The "lupinus texensis" variety is the most common and the one most visitors see when they come to Texas. It has pointed leaflets and the flowering stalk is a breathtaking blue with a white tip. But less common ones grow in pink, rosy purple and royal blue and there's even a solid white bluebonnet. Bluebonnets typically bloom in the spring from March through April and sometimes into early May. The profusion is dictated by the amount of rain and germination in the fall, long before they pop their heads out of the soil. In times of drought the amount of bluebonnets is considerably less. Although bluebonnets need heat to germinate the seed, cool weather is crucial to develop the complicated root structure. Bluebonnets are very difficult to grow in gardens and pots. They cannot tolerate poorly drained, clay based soils. And they need lots of direct sunlight. Guess that's one reason they grow so well here in Texas. We have oodles of sunshine. Other common names for the flowers are buffalo clover, wolf flower and el conejo (Spanish for "the rabbit".) Usually found blooming amid patches of bluebonnets are Indian paintbrush, Indian blanket, and coreopsis. Contrary to popular belief, it's not illegal to pick them. In 1982 the state legislature named Burnet (SW of Austin) the official Bluebonnet Capital of Texas. Each April the town holds a Bluebonnet Festival which includes street dancing, concerts, a carnival, 5K run, pet parade and wiener dog races. Sounds like fun. So, I hope you enjoyed this look at the bluebonnet. We're very proud it chose this state in which to shower us with its beauty.

]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/03/26/texas-bluebonnets/feed/ 23 Texas My Texas … http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/28/texas-my-texas/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/28/texas-my-texas/#comments Tue, 28 Feb 2012 07:32:17 +0000 Phyliss http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30564 For Christmas I was given a book about Texas, the state I was born and raised in. Although I’ve ventured away for short durations to live elsewhere, those times were little more than an extended vacation because I’ve always returned to the town where I was born. It’s been said that if you ever wear out a pair of shoes in Texas, you’ll never leave. I’m proof of that. I love Texas! And, anybody who knows me knows that I love our rich history and that’s the reason I write almost exclusively about the Texas Panhandle.  I thought I’d share some little known facts about Texas... from a true, blue Texan’s point of view. Since Spanish explorers first “claimed” us in 1519, six different national flags have flown over Texas. From 1685 to 1690, Texas was a French territory before reverting to Spain. Texas was part of Mexico when that country won its independence from Spain in 1821. We adopted our own Declaration of Independence in 1836 and became a separate republic after a brief war with Mexico.  Did you know that Texas had a Texas Embassy in London and Paris? In 1845, the United States annexed Texas, making us the 28th state until we seceded to became part of the Confederate States of America.  In 1870, after the Civil War, we were then readmitted to the United States. So, the six flags of Texas belonged to Spain, France, Mexico, Texas, the United States, and the Confederacy. Now you know where “Six Flags Over Texas” amusement parks got their name. Here’s a fact, I didn’t know and probably wouldn’t believed it if someone had just told me about it; but, during the Civil War, camels were used in our deserts. In 1855, Jefferson Davis, then the U.S. Secretary of  War, convinced Congress to allocate money to field-test the beasts of burden. The animals excelled in carrying, enduring without water, and traveling long distance through miserable conditions. By the end of the War Between the States, although camels had proven efficient for both sides, they fell out of favor. The animals smelled really bad, frightened the horses, and had horrid personalities.  Let’s just say, I don’t believe I’ve seen a herd of camels ever in Texas... not that they don’t exist. The fact that a 10-gallon hat actually holds less than a gallon of water is NOT proof of a Texas braggart. It’s simply a misunderstanding.  It’s not a gallon, but a gallon, the word is Spanish for braid, the standard decoration above the brim of the iconic headgear worn by true Texans everywhere. There is also a theory that the Stetson hat company boasted that the tight weave of most Stetsons made them sufficiently waterproof and could be used as a bucket. Early print advertising by Stetson showed a cowboy giving his horse a drink of water from a hat. The truth, the Stetson company notes that a "ten gallon" hat only holds 3 quarts! The famous Texas Rangers have a recommended dress code which states, “The Texas Ranger hat will be light-colored and shaped in a businessman’s style ... commonly called the Rancher or Cattleman. Brims must not exceed 4 inches or be flat with edges rolled up. Hat excessively crushed, rolled, or dipped are not acceptable. Members of the Ranger Division (of the Texas Department of Public Safety) will own both a quality straw and quality felt hat. The appropriate hat will usually be determined by the weather or assignment.” Throughout the history of the Republic of Texas, there were no chartered banks in the country.  When the first Texas state constitution was drafted in 1845, it prohibited the incorporation of banks.  Banking functions were performed by financial agents and other business firms.  After the Civil War, banks began to flourish in Texas ... as did bank robberies. In the 1920’s, in order to stop a rash of bank robberies, the Texas Bankers Association established the Dead Bank Robber Reward Program. Anyone who killed a bank robber caught in the act would be paid ,000. Capturing a bank robber alive would not be rewarded.  Despite a number of cases of murders staged to look like the foiling of a bank robbery, the offer of reward was not withdrawn until 1964. Our anthology “Give Me a Cowboy” was originally named “Rodeo” and we agreed that all four stories would take place over the 4th of July rodeo in 1890 in Amarillo, which was our setting for our first anthology,“Give Me a Texan”.  But, we quickly recognized a serious problem. The first rodeo, which is the official sport of Texas, was held in 1883 in Pecos. The closest rodeo to our area wasn’t held until 1888 in Canadian, Texas, so to be historically accurate, we changed to the fictional town of Kasota Springs. You might recognize the name from our “A Texas Christmas” because we returned to the town with some recurring characters during the 1887 blizzard. The West of the Pecos Rodeo is now an annual event; however, the shebang lays claim to being the descendant of that first rodeo.  Legend has it that the whole thing came out of a contest between two ranch hands ... Trav Windham and Morg Livingston.  Both had good professional reputations and people challenged them to see who was best cowboy.  Eventually, other talented cowboys who had originally come from all over the territory just to watch found themselves involved in contests of riding broncos and roping cattle.  Bullriding was considered dangerous; therefore, there was no official bullriding event in early rodeos.  But, there was a lot of money won and lost on the renegade event we now know as bullriding. I hope you enjoyed my tour of some little known facts about Texas, and since I mentioned several of our anthologies, I will give away one commenter’s choice of an autographed copy of any of the six anthologies. I’d love to hear about any of your favorite Texas experiences, if you’d like to share with us today?]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/28/texas-my-texas/feed/ 28 A Wildflower Welcome to DARLENE FRANKLIN! Win a book today! http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/15/a-wildflower-welcome-to-darlene-franklin-win-a-book-today/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/15/a-wildflower-welcome-to-darlene-franklin-win-a-book-today/#comments Wed, 15 Feb 2012 06:42:11 +0000 Guest Blogger http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30281 A hearty welcome today to  inspirational author DARLENE FRANKLIN!. Please leave a comment…Darlene has a signed hard copy of A Ranger’s Trail for one lucky person. Darlene, tell us a little bit about your latest release, fourth in your six-book series: When Susan Page Davis, Vickie McDonough and I first brainstormed about the Texas Trails series, I chose the decade that includes the Mason County “Hoo Doo” War. The brief information I read—a range war—sounded like an action-packed, natural fit for any Texas historical series. By the time we received the contract and I researched the book, I doubted the wisdom of my choice. “Range war” hardly does justice to the violence that erupted across Mason County and the surrounding area in 1874 and continued for several decades. In fact, the definitive history of the war, The Mason County “Hoo Doo” War by Johnson and Miller dates the end of the war as 1902, the year the last of the major players died! More than a range war, the Mason County turned into a blood feud between the self-styled “Americans” (we might call them “Anglos” today) and the “Germans,” more recent immigrants who had settled in the Texas in the 1840s (the subject of my first book of the series, Lone Star Trail). Charges of cattle rustling started the war. Americans were tried, found guilty, and got off with a slap on the wrist fine. Germans took the law into their own hands and murdered several of the rustlers. Before long, they had killed a close friend of a former Texas Ranger, Scott Cooley. The former ranger galvanized the Americans and made it their mission to kill the people responsible for the death of his friend. What emerged was the continuing story of blood feuds or gang war, two factions exchanging life for life. None of the principal players was ever brought to justice. My heroine’s husband was killed by the Germans—and my Ranger hero’s family is German. An unlikely romance develops between the two of them, but Ranger’s Trail is also about forgiving the unforgivable. More than that, it’s about moving forward when a bad deed isnot punished, at least not in this life. How can someone move past the trauma? This is one period of history I am thankful I did not experience first hand! Here's the blurb: When Leta Denning's husband is killed by the German mob at the beginning of the Hoo Doo War, she vows to seek vengeance on his behalf. William Meino "Buck" Morgan, one of the Texas Rangers called in to quell the violence, has ties to one of the German families. Buck is the oldest son of Jud Morgan and Wande Fleischer from Lone Star Trail. In his quest to get to the truth, Buck interviews Leta but she is not interested and believes that former rangers may be behind the violence. As Leta struggles to keep the Denning ranch afloat, Buck sees a chance to help her while searching for the truth. Their respect for eacho ther grows but will Leta's quest for vengeance keep her from forgiveness? Excerpt:  “Found not guilty of any wrong doing. Praise the Lord.” Derrick Denning lifted his cup of coffee in a mock salute to his wife Leta. “As the good book says, ‘Thou hast maintained my right and my cause.’ Though I feel bad about the fines the other fellows have to pay.” Young Ricky clapped his hands, although he didn’t know what they were celebrating. Leta looked into her husband’s eyes over their son’s head and felt a smile come from the inside out. She hadn’t had a genuine smile for about a week, ever since her husband had been arrested for helping M.B. Thomas and Allen Roberts take their cattle to Llano County from Mason County. The week might have lasted a year, as scared as she had felt. The court case had set her insides all worrying, troubling the baby growing inside her, especially when six of the cowhands had been found guilty and fined a head. Derrick’s case had been dismissed for insufficient evidence. The German cattlemen had grumbled at the verdict. Leta suppressed the niggling worry that threatened to destroy this night of celebration. God had answered her prayers. She and her family—Derrick, their son, and her brother Andy—could stay put in Mason County, Texas. They wouldn’t have to move every year or two the way Pa had dragged them all over the map. “It’s not right, the other men getting fined.” Andy stopped shoveling beans into his mouth long enough to grumble. “They didn’t do nothing wrong. The cattle belonged to Mr. Roberts and Mr. Thomas.” Tell us about a period in history YOU are glad you didn’t experience first-hand! Visit Darlene at //darlenefranklinwrites.blogspot.com   Click on cover to purchase. Her other recent releases: Lone Star Trail (Rivernorth Fiction, 2011) and Christmas at Barncastle Inn (Barbour, 2011)]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/15/a-wildflower-welcome-to-darlene-franklin-win-a-book-today/feed/ 20 REDEMPTION Now on Kindle http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/14/redemption-now-on-kindle/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/14/redemption-now-on-kindle/#comments Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:00:57 +0000 Linda Broday http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=30195 I'm so excited. The re-release of my third single title western romance in Kindle format is almost as thrilling as it was when it first hit the bookstores in 2005. I tell you it's been a while coming. REDEMPTION is set in 1869 in the East Texas fictional town of Redemption. It's a small town on the banks of Caddo Lake and Big Cypress Bayou, not far from the real town of Jefferson. This story is one of secrets and what happens when they start unraveling. Laurel James and Brodie Yates, who is also known as Shenandoah, have to come to terms with their past mistakes.

Here's the blurb:

Two brothers…one woman…and a secret that can destroy them all. Laurel James thinks she's found the respectability she craves when she agrees to marry the town mayor. While she doesn't love him, she hopes to build a comfortable life with him. And everything goes according to plan…until Shenandoah rides into town. Shenandoah just wants to see family and find a place to rest his weary body. The swamps of East Texas offer a respite from the men who hunt him. Temporary or not he'll take the peace he finds. But then he runs into Laurel and his dreams of a wife and family that he'd counted lost give him reason to hope. He'll do anything to have Laurel in his arms…and in his bed. But they wonder if redemption will ever be possible for people like them. I had to do a lot of research when I wrote this story, specifically about Jefferson, Texas. Looking at the town today, it's hard to imagine that The Queen of the Bayou as it was called was an important and thriving port city from 1845 to 1872. It was the sixth largest town in Texas and boasted a population of almost 30,000 at one time. A 100 mile long logjam on the Red River made it possible for paddleboats and steamships to travel from New Orleans and even St. Louis to dock at Jefferson. Tons of goods arrived and departed from Jefferson making it Texas's chief inland port that was second only to Galveston. To say it was a bustling city put it mildly. But all good things must come to end. When nitroglycerin came along in 1873, the Army Corps of Engineers blasted through the logjam and cleared it away. This lowered the water level of Caddo Lake and Big Cypress Bayou and made it impossible for steamships to get to Jefferson. Today the population is a little over 3,000. But the citizens have done a great job preserving the history. Almost every commercial building and house on the main thoroughfare has a historical marker in front of it. And it's become one of the most haunted towns in Texas. Tourists flock there, staying in the many Bed and Breakfast businesses and taking part in their annual events. REDEMPTION is available in the Amazon Kindle Store for $2.99. Just click HERE and it'll take you there. Very easy. I'm giving away one copy of the book in Kindle format to one commenter. Plus, as a special Valentine gift I'm also giving away one copy of BE MY TEXAS VALENTINE to another commenter. ]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/02/14/redemption-now-on-kindle/feed/ 33