19th Century History

Spring Cleaning – 19th Century Style

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Hello – Winnie Griggs here. With spring settling in across my corner of Louisiana, I’ve started noticing that familiar urge to open the windows, let in some fresh air, and maybe tackle a few long-postponed chores around the house. It’s something many of us think of as “spring cleaning”.

It got me wondering what that looked like for folks living back in the late 1800s, so of course I had to do a little research. And as it turns out, spring cleaning back then wasn’t just a good idea – it was practically a necessity.

Why Spring Cleaning Mattered

During the winter months, homes were kept tightly closed up against the cold. Wood stoves and fireplaces burned day and night, leaving behind soot and ash that settled on just about every surface. Fresh air was in short supply, and by the time spring arrived, things could feel a bit…stale.

So when the weather finally warmed, it wasn’t just about tidying up – it was about restoring a home to something fresh and livable again.

Not Just on the Surface

And when I say cleaning, I don’t mean a quick once-over.

Rugs were hauled outside and beaten to remove months of dust. Bedding and mattresses were carried into the sunshine to air out. Curtains were taken down and washed, which was no small task when every bit of it had to be done by hand.

Floors were scrubbed, often on hands and knees. Walls might be wiped down, especially in areas where soot had built up. Windows were thrown open and cleaned to let in as much light and fresh air as possible.

It was hard, time-consuming work – the kind that could take days to complete.

There were no shelves of cleaning products to choose from, of course. Most families relied on homemade solutions.

Lye soap was a common staple – effective, but harsh. Scrub brushes, rags, buckets, and a good bit of elbow grease did the rest. And spring cleaning often doubled as a time to take stock – deciding what needed mending, what needed replacing, and what had simply worn out over the winter.

A Town-Wide Effort

In a small town, this wasn’t something happening in isolation.

Chances are, your neighbors were doing the same thing at the same time. Doors and windows would be open, rugs draped over fences, voices carrying from one yard to the next. There may have even been a bit of neighborly helping going on – especially when it came to heavier tasks.

It created a kind of shared rhythm – a sense that the whole town was shaking off winter together and stepping into something new.

Not Just Inside the Home

Of course, it wasn’t just the inside of the house that got attention this time of year.

Barns and stables needed clearing after a long winter, with fresh bedding laid down and repairs made where weather and wear had taken their toll. In a small town, the livery stable would have been especially busy – stalls mucked out, doors and hinges checked, and everything set back in good working order.

Harnesses and saddles were cleaned and oiled, wagon wheels inspected, and tools sharpened in preparation for the months ahead. Fences might be repaired, sheds cleared, and yards straightened up after winter storms.

Spring was also a common time to whitewash fences, outbuildings, or even parts of a home’s exterior.

And for many families, attention also turned to the kitchen garden. Beds were cleared of winter debris, the soil turned and worked, and early plantings set in as soon as the ground allowed. It was another sign of the season shifting – not just putting things back in order, but preparing for what would grow in the months ahead.

All of it was part of the same seasonal shift – a quiet but steady effort to move from the stillness of winter into the activity of spring.

More Than Just Cleaning

And maybe that’s the part I find most interesting.

Spring cleaning wasn’t only about dust and dirt. It marked a turning point. A chance to put winter behind you and look ahead to planting, travel, gatherings, and all the activity that came with warmer days.

In a way, it was as much about clearing out the old as it was about making room for what was to come.

 

 We may have more conveniences today, but that pull toward a fresh start each spring hasn’t really changed. There’s still something satisfying about opening the windows, letting in the breeze, and putting things back in order after a long season.

Maybe that’s why the idea of spring cleaning has lasted this long – because deep down, it’s never really been just about cleaning. It’s about fresh starts, open windows, and the quiet hope that a new season might bring something better with it.

What about you – do you have a spring cleaning routine you follow each year, do you change things up from time to time, or is it something you tend to put off as long as possible? Leave aa comment about this or any aspect of this post to be entered in a drawing for a signed copy of one of my books.

When “The West” Was Still East of the Mississippi

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Last month, my writing bestie, Liz Flaherty, and I went on our biannual retreat. Even though we talk every day on gChat, these retreats are our shared personal moments of Zen. We’ve been going on retreat together every late winter and early fall for at least ten years. The late winter is usually four nights, 5 days in a place that offers decent restaurants, a few shops, and quiet places to set up to write. Think boutique hotels and state park inns. We’ve actually been going to the same boutique hotel in the hills of southern Indiana for several years, but this year, we tried a new adventure.

We chose the hills of southern Indiana again, but this trip, we booked four nights at an inn in New Harmony, Indiana. Neither of us had ever been there before, so we were taking a chance, but the website looked good and the history looked downright fascinating.

New Harmony is the site of two early American Utopian communities formed when “out West” was the frontier in what is now the Midwest United States. George Rapp, who began the Harmony Society settled on the banks of the Wabash River in 1814. The Harmonists, a religious sect, believed that Jesus was coming back very soon, so they lived their lives in striving for perfection in everything they did. They formed a community together, building over 150 log structures and creating the town of Harmony. They were entirely self-sufficient, although they did trade goods with towns along the Wabash, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers, including places as far away as New Orleans and Pittsburgh.

In 1824, Rapp sold the community to Robert Owen, who had enough money to simply buy the whole town. Owen was more of a secularist, focused on social equality and education, as well as nature rather than perfection. The people who settled in New Harmony were progressive thinkers, scholars, even early feminists who all lived together communally. New Harmony was bastion of social progress out on the frontier. They founded one of the nation’s first co-ed public schools, they had trade schools, and they studied nature, in particular geology. The experiment thrived in some ways, but also failed due to internal conflicts, lack of strong leadership, and a lack of skilled labor and production.

The town is now a National Historic Landmark, and although it is no longer a “Utopia,” they’ve done a great job at preserving the stories of the utopias and ideals that both Rapp and Owen tried to create. The whole town just reeks of history, and Liz and I found something new to explore each afternoon after we got done writing for the day. It’s different from other small tourist towns in that it doesn’t cater to shoppers, it caters to lovers of history. The town is quite walkable. As a matter of fact, we saw more golf carts than cars.

The thing we noticed most about our stay in New Harmony was how incredibly peaceful the town was—the quiet, which could’ve been disconcerting, was actually extraordinary. We wandered–oh, how we wandered! All through an old hilly cemetery,  through the spectacular cathedral labyrinth, past home after restored home, and into a lovely old church that remains open twenty-four hours. The beautiful magnolia trees, the spring flowers, the friendly folks we met while walking, the labyrinths and museums, even the restaurants exuded the harmony and peace that was the cornerstone of the town in the early nineteenth century.

This place was the frontier, the West in 1814, but it wasn’t the Wild West. It wasn’t cowboys and cattle drives and saloons and ranches. Rather it was one group of people’s vision of what paradise could be.

What’s your vision of paradise? Mine varies—sometimes it’s a house in a small town on Lake Michigan that is easy walking distance to the lake where I can walk the beach whenever I want. Other times it’s a small cottage in Provence, living among the lavender fields and vineyards. But my paradise always includes Husband, my kids, my friends, and books!

FYI: Make It Real, book 2 in my Walkers of River’s Edge series is still on sale for just 99 cents, but only for a few more days! If you haven’t been to River’s Edge yet, now’s your chance. More sweet, small town romance in beautiful southern Indiana!

 

Victorian Flirtations and Silent Communication

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I’ll be the first to admit, I was never good at flirting. And, a few years ago when I ran across the way that entire conversations or flirtations could be done, silently, I laughed. Not because they aren’t clever. Oh, yes, they are. Though, if everyone knew what was being said, I guess it wasn’t completely discreet? I laughed because I would never be clever enough to remember all of these. With my luck (and clumsiness!) I’d be saying the very, very wrong things! Take a look at what I mean!

 

 

 

Aren’t these terribly clever? So much could be said! Now, while many people swear this existed, and it’s likely that it did in some fashion, others have claimed it was a marketing ploy or a myth, something that only a few did or pretended to do to be mysterious. Still…can you imagine the fun a couple might have had with this?

Fans and gloves served as more than a beautiful accessory for a woman or man. There was an incredible practical side as well.

Gloves acted as a barrier against germs in public spaces, and not only kept the hands clean, but for women, protected them from the sun, keeping them soft and pale, and proving that they were a woman of leisure, not one who had to work. However, wearing gloves as a woman was mandatory, as a women without them would be consisted inappropriately undressed! And, did you know that they were different gloves for different activities? One would not wear the same gloves to ride, to go church, or attend a party. 

For fans, they served multiple purposes as well. As electric fans and air conditioners didn’t exist, a fan was the only way to get a welcome breeze and to find a bit of relief on hot days. In a crowded place, they also helped provide air flow, to decrease unpleasant odors. A fan could protect the face from sunlight, protecting it, and a woman could hide behind it or be distracted by it in uncomfortable social situations.

I have also heard that there were secret languages created with hankies, others with parasols, and I think we are all familiar with flowers or herbs having meanings. I wonder what other things might have been used to create a secret language and communicate or flirt in silence.

Did you have a favorite way to communicate from those lists? Or one you might do by accident, just out of habit with that gesture? If so, drop it here and tell me! 

 

 

A Ground-Breaking Post

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Hello – Winnie Griggs here. Earlier today (Thursday) I heard news that caught my attention – an earthquake had been recorded about eighty miles south of where I live here in NW Louisiana. Even more surprising, it registered as a 4.9, making it the largest earthquake ever recorded inland in the state (There was a 5.2 registered offshore about 20 years ago). Luckily there weren’t any reports of serious injuries or property damage.

While we’re used to hurricanes, tornadoes and the occasional ice storm, earthquakes aren’t one of the natural disasters normally associated with my home state. That got me wondering what earthquakes must have been like for folks living in the Old West, long before modern seismology explained what was happening beneath the ground. Naturally this event sent me down one of my research rabbit holes.

Without modern scientific explanations, earthquakes could be deeply unsettling events. Many people initially assumed the shaking was caused by thunder, a mine explosion, or even distant artillery fire. It sometimes took time for residents to realize that towns across an entire region had felt the same tremor.

When we think of earthquakes in the USA, most folks usually think of California – events like the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906, the Owens Valley earthquake of 1872, or the Hayward earthquake of 1868.

In 1872, in California’s Owens Valley a particularly powerful and destructive earthquake struck. Often called the Lone Pine earthquake, it’s estimated to have been somewhere between magnitude 7.5 and 7.8. Much of the town of Lone Pine was destroyed as buildings collapsed, chimneys toppled, and the ground itself cracked open in places.   Newspaper accounts from the time give us a vivid sense of what people experienced. One report described the moment this way:

“The shock came with a deep rumbling sound, and the earth rocked so violently that people could scarcely keep their feet. Buildings swayed, chimneys fell, and citizens rushed into the streets in alarm.”

Another observer later wrote that the ground seemed to move “like waves upon the sea.”

Of course, the earthquake most people think of when California is mentioned is the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906. That disaster struck early in the morning on April 18 and devastated the city. The shaking itself caused widespread damage, but the greatest destruction came from the fires that followed. With water mains broken and fire crews struggling to respond, flames swept through neighborhood after neighborhood. By the time the disaster ended, much of San Francisco had been destroyed and hundreds of thousands of residents were left homeless.

But earthquakes aren’t limited to the west coast. Tremors have been recorded in places like Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma—and yes, even Louisiana. The Rocky Mountain states, including Montana and Wyoming, have experienced their share as well.

While California experienced many of the best-known earthquakes, other parts of the American West were not immune. A powerful quake struck along the Arizona–Mexico border in 1887, sending tremors across much of the Southwest. The Rocky Mountain region – including parts of Montana and Wyoming – has also experienced periodic seismic activity caused by geological forces deep beneath the mountains.

Even the Mississippi River Valley has a remarkable earthquake history. A series of massive earthquakes struck near New Madrid, Missouri, in 1811 and 1812. These shocks were so powerful they were felt across much of the young United States, and church bells reportedly rang in Boston more than a thousand miles away. According to the US Geological Survey, the New Madrid earthquake was 10 times large than that of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

During the strongest shocks, witnesses reported that the Mississippi River itself appeared to run backward for a short time as powerful waves surged upstream before the river returned to its normal flow. I blogged about that several years ago – you can find it HERE.

 

A Few Earthquake Tidbits;

  • Large earthquakes could leave dramatic marks on the land. After the 1872 Owens Valley quake, observers reported ground fissures several feet wide and stretches of earth that had shifted dramatically.
  • After major earthquakes, springs sometimes appeared in new places and wells occasionally went dry—changes that could be alarming in communities where water was vital.
  • Animals were often said to behave strangely before earthquakes. Horses and livestock sometimes became restless shortly before the shaking began.
  • Early settlers sometimes mistook earthquakes for mine explosions, thunder, or distant cannon fire.
  • Aftershocks could continue for weeks or even months, which made some residents reluctant to sleep indoors for a time.
  • Much of what we know about earthquakes in the Old West comes from newspaper accounts, letters, and diaries, since modern seismology was still in its infancy.

Hearing about the earthquake near my home today made me grateful it did such minor damage. Still, it’s fascinating to realize that people living in the Old West occasionally faced the same unsettling experience of feeling the ground move beneath their feet.

What about you? Did any of this information surprise you?  Do you have any personal experience with an earthquake you can share with us? Leave a comment to be entered in a drawing for a signed copy of any of my available books.

 

The Tattoo Culture in the Civil War

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If you read the Fillies’ “It’s Yee-Haw Day” on Monday, you know that I got a tattoo…my very first (and probably my last!) in early February. My nephew owns a tattoo business in Florida. At the invitation of my son and daughter-in-law, we flew down for a long (and I might add, VERY COLD) weekend. While I was getting the tattoo, we talked about the history of the art of tattooing.

My daughter-in-law immediately got on her phone, offering information. When I heard that it was popular during the Civil War, my radar went up as I was researching interesting tidbits for my next book.

Tattoos have a long history as a means of identification in the military. In ancient Rome, mercenaries were marked with a permanent ink from acacia bark, corroded bronze and sulphuric acid to help in identifying deserters. When King Harold II was disfigured beyond recognition at the Battle of Hastings, his common-law wife was only able to recognize him based on his tattoos.

Tattoos were used to mark slaves, criminals, and gladiators, and the Latin word “stigma” was used to mean a brand, or scar–any permanent mark left on a person’s skin. When French and British traders met native people, they often recorded the markings on their bodies, instead of their names in trading logs. During the Revolutionary War, colonial sailors decorated themselves with symbols of their newborn country–the “goddess” Columbia, the face of George Washington, eagle with sheaves, or the American flag. 

“A sailor may not wear his heart upon his sleeve, but he does wear it upon his chest.”                                                                  E. Barnes

With the onset of the Civil War, these patriotic themes gained in popularity. Martin Hildebrandt, a talkative man with a crucifix inked on his back was happy to tell newspaper reporters about his unusual trade.

“During the war time I never had a moment’s idle time. I must have marked thousands of sailors and soldiers…I put the names of hundreds of soldiers on their arms or breasts, and many were recognized by these marks after being killed or wounded.” 

Tattooing can be excruciating (I can testify to that!) and in the Civil War, methods were relatively primitive and conditions less than sanitary. Hildebrandt’s tattoo method required about six #12 needles, bound together in a slanting form, dipped into India ink. The puncture of the skin was made at an angle, ensuring that the needles pricked only the surface. Colorants could be made up of ink and wet gunpowder. However, he was restricted to only two colors, blue and red.

       

“If we could only get a green to work into a wreath, the contrast would be charming, but I am afraid it can’t be done.”      M. Hildebrandt

After the tattoo was done, any excess blood and ink was washed off with water or alcohol, usually rum or brandy. Many a soldier had his name, regiment, and residence inked for identification. 

“Every regiment had its tattooers, with outfits of needles and India-ink who for a fee decorated the limbs and bodies of their comrades with flags, muskets, cannon…and patriotic emblems…It was like writing one’s own epitaph, but the custom prevented many bodies from being buried in ‘unknown’ graves.”                                           William Hinman

In addition to identification and patriotism, tattooing during the war was used to memorialize the experience of war and the lives of fellow soldiers. Much like the sailors who pioneered tattooing before them, these soldiers wanted to honor the memories of fallen comrades, to show regimental pride, and demonstrate their love for their homelands.

But beneath their clothes, many men held the marks from the war–voluntary scars to commemorate a shared trauma, claims of individuality in the face of mass death, assertions of humanity that couldn’t be taken away.

*******************A Giveway!*****************

To win a digital copy of “No Finer Dream,” comment on the following question…

Have you gotten OR would you be interested in getting a tattoo?

 

New release coming tomorrow, March 6th…

“Your journey doesn’t have to end in disappointment.”

Lila Hartley had waited for hours on the frozen train platform, a mail-order bride no one came to claim, her trunk beside her like a tombstone. The man who’d promised her marriage, a home, and a future, left her stranded two thousand miles from Boston with nothing but the clothes on her back and a heart full of shattered dreams.
Just when hope was fading, a man emerged from the white curtain of snow like an apparition, took off his coat, and changed her life.

Clay McCallister viewed every woman who had taken a chance on the frontier as the sister he’d failed…a woman who’d risked everything for the possibility of something better, much like the woman standing on the platform in the bitter cold.

Sometimes warmth doesn’t always come from fire — sometimes it comes from the heart.

Pre-Order Link

 

 

Dental Care in the Old West

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Hello – Winnie Griggs here. If you were in the path of the latest winter storm, I hope you stayed warm and safe. Here in northwest Louisiana, we had an unusual-for-us amount of snow and ice that brought much of daily life to a standstill.

I took advantage of the downtime to get a head start on this blog. While searching for a topic, I paged forward on my calendar and discovered that today, February 9th, is National Toothache Day (ugh – made my jaw ache just to think about it!). That, in turn, made me wonder how tooth trouble was actually handled by people in the American West.

I mean, I know how it’s usually depicted in Western novels, movies, and television shows. The familiar image usually involves a grimacing patient, a pair of pliers, and a generous dose of whiskey.

But I thought I’d dive deeper, do some research, and see if I could discover just how true-to-life that was. And what I found was that while there is some truth behind that picture, it represents only part of the story. And usually the earliest and roughest part at that. In reality, dental care on the frontier evolved over time, improving steadily as towns grew, training expanded, and access increased. Below is a summary of what I learned.

 

Early 1800s

In the early decades of the nineteenth century, dentistry was not yet a clearly defined profession, especially in frontier regions. Tooth problems were often handled by whoever was available and willing, including physicians, barber-surgeons, or occasionally a well-meaning neighbor or family member.

Extraction was often the only option once pain became severe. Preventive care was minimal, and pain relief was limited to home remedies or alcohol. Many people simply endured toothaches as long as they could, knowing that treatment options were few and often unpleasant.

This era, more than any other, is where many of the grim legends of Western dentistry originate.

 

Mid-1800s

As settlement pushed westward and towns became more established, dental care began to change. Dentistry was becoming recognized as a profession. One thing that surprised me was that traveling or itinerant dentists popped up during this time. Some had formal training, while others learned through apprenticeship or experience, and the quality of care could vary widely.

These itinerant dentists often announced their arrival ahead of time. They would set up temporary offices in hotel rooms or rented storefronts and stay just long enough to treat as many patients as possible before moving on to the next town. Their arrival was often welcome news, since even temporary access to dental care was better than waiting months, or even years, for help.

During this period, people typically tried home remedies first. Clove oil, herbal poultices, and alcohol were commonly used to dull pain or soothe inflammation. Tooth extraction was still common, but it was often delayed until pain became unbearable or infection set in. This is also the period most often depicted in popular culture—and often exaggerated for dramatic effect.

1880–1895

This was a time of real progress for dentistry and it also happens to be the timeframe where I set most of my stories. Dentistry became increasingly recognized as a distinct profession. Dental schools were more established, professional standards were improving, and trained dentists were far more common than many people (myself included!) realize, particularly in larger towns and railroad hubs.

Dental tools had improved, and while procedures were still uncomfortable by modern standards, they were often more controlled and deliberate. In better-equipped settings, anesthetics such as ether or chloroform might be used, though access varied depending on location and resources.

That said, progress was uneven. A resident of a well-connected town might have access to competent dental care, while someone living miles from the nearest rail line could still face long delays or limited options. Toothaches remained a serious concern—not just a matter of discomfort, but a threat to health, livelihood, and daily function.

 

Everyday Reality Across the Frontier

No matter the decade, tooth pain could interfere with nearly every aspect of life. Eating, sleeping, and working became difficult. Infections could spread, sometimes with dangerous consequences. Winter months made matters worse, limiting travel and access to care.

Because of this, dental care, however imperfect, was taken seriously. People feared toothaches not because they were weak, but because they understood the risks of letting them go untreated.

 

A Few Old West Dentistry Tidbits

  • Early telegraph, railroad, and mining towns were more likely to attract trained dentists due to steady populations and income.
  • Many early dentists traveled from town to town, staying only as long as there was enough work to justify the stop.
  • Skilled dentists in the late 1800s often emphasized preservation over extraction whenever possible, reflecting growing knowledge and professionalism.
  • A skilled practitioner could extract a tooth quickly, but accuracy mattered as much as speed—mistakes could lead to serious complications.
  • On the subject of dental hygiene, toothbrushes did exist by the late nineteenth century, though regular brushing wasn’t yet a universal habit. Some people used manufactured brushes, while others relied on cloths, chew sticks, or tooth powders to clean their teeth.

Looking back, dental care in the Old West wasn’t quite as crude or hopeless as I’d always imagined. It wasn’t uniformly primitive, and by the late nineteenth century, real strides had been made—even if access still depended on where you lived. I’ve dealt with toothaches myself – not fun! So what strikes me most is the grit of everyday people who coped with toothaches when options were limited, and the very real gratitude they must have felt when skilled help was finally available.

So there you have it. Did any of this change your previous view of what dental care was like in the old west? Leave a comment to be entered in a drawing for a signed copy of one of my books.

 

 

The Famous Jim Bridger and a Giveaway! by Charlene Raddon

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FORT BRIDGER, WYOMING: Everyone knows who Jim Bridger was, right—the famous, 19th-century frontiersman, fur trapper, and wilderness guide, who was among the first to visit the Yellowstone region and to explore the Great Salt Lake area, reaching it by bullboat in 1824. Jim left his mark on much of the American West.

My husband and I have done a lot of camping in the Uintahs and visited Fort Bridger a few times. And the mountains looking over Fort Bridger feature in some of my books, like Taming Jenna, Priscilla, Thalia, Cadence, and Ophelia. I especially enjoy attending the Mountain Man fair at Fort Bridger; lots of fascinating things to see and do, intriguing people in costume, demonstrations, and fabulous wares for sale.

Jim Bridger and Louis Vasquez established Fort Bridger in 1843 on the Black’s Fork of the Green River to trade with the Native American tribes Jim had befriended over the years, and with westward-bound emigrants. The area, known as Bridger Valley, served as a crossroads for the Oregon/California Trail, the Mormon Trail, the Pony Express, the Transcontinental Railroad, and the Lincoln Highway.

Consisting of two, 40-foot-long, rude double-log houses, joined with a pen for horses, the first fort also boasted a blacksmith’s shop, which many emigrants welcomed after months on the trails. Some found the fort disappointing, poorly outfitted, and little more than a few rough-hewn log buildings.

On July 7, 1847, the Mormon Pioneer Company spent a day there but disliked the inflated prices. Still, a small group of them settled nearby, causing tensions between them and Bridger, who claimed he violated federal law by selling liquor and ammunition to the Indians. In response, Brigham Young, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a federal Indian agent, sent his Mormon militia to the fort in 1853. Knowing the militia’s reputation, Bridger fled. Later that year, the Mormons established Fort Supply, about 12 miles south of Fort Bridger, specifically to serve the Mormon emigrants.

Bridger complained to U. S. Senator Gen. B. F. Butler, claiming the Mormons robbed him of over $100,000 in goods and supplies and threatened to kill him. The following spring, Young sent a detachment of well-armed Mormons to take control of both Fort Bridger and the Green River ferries, both of which became integral parts of the Mormon settlement plans for the region. Alterations included a thick stone wall around the fort. In July 1855, Bridger returned and agreed to sell to the Mormons.

Jim spent the next decade as a guide and an army scout in the early Indian wars. By 1868, Bridger’s rheumatism and failing eyesight sent him home to retire at his Westport farm, where he cared for his apple trees. He died at the age of 77 on July 17, 1881. After his first wife, a Flathead Indian, died in childbirth, and his second wife, a Ute, also died in childbirth, he married the daughter of Shoshone Chief Washakie. These three wives, however, managed to give Jim five children who lived.

In the fall of 1857, Jim’s old fort became embroiled in a new controversy when President Buchanan sent U.S. troops to Utah Territory to enforce federal authority and to install federally appointed territorial officers. This began what became known as the Utah War. To keep the fort from being seized, Mormon militia under “Wild Bill” Hickman and his brother burned both it and Fort Supply. Johnston’s army spent a miserable winter with little shelter and food.

Wikipedia says that in the winter of 1857, the army established temporary Camp Scott on the site. In the spring of 1858, tension between the Mormons and the U.S. military subsided. The army took over and rebuilt Fort Bridger as a base for troops whose later jobs included protecting laborers on the transcontinental railroad, gold miners at South Pass, and Shoshone Indians near the fort, and later, after the establishment of the reservation on Wind River.

When the Utah War ended, the U.S. government refused to honor either Bridger’s or the Mormons’ claim to the property. Instead, it turned the commercial parts of its operation over to William Alexander Carter, who had come west with Johnston’s army as a sutler. Along with his family, Carter lived at the fort, rebuilding and stocking it and eventually becoming Wyoming’s first millionaire.

Various volunteer units of the U.S. Army occupied the post during the Civil War. Regular army units manned the post from 1866 to 1878. It stood abandoned until the army occupied it from 1880 to 1890. At the end of the Indian Wars, the army closed it for good. Many buildings were sold and dismantled.

In 1993, the thirty-eight-acre site was named a Wyoming Historical Landmark and Museum. Parts of the 1850s Mormon stone wall have recently been the subject of archaeological explorations. Some restored buildings remain at the fort, along with a reconstructed trading post, an interpretive archaeological site, and a museum housing artifacts from the fort’s various periods of use. It is well worth visiting.

Have you been there? Tell me about it. I’m giving away  a $10 Amazon gift certificate to one commenter and a copy of one of the ebooks mentioned in this blog  to another commenter. 

Let’s stay in touch! 

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The Wires That Changed the West

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Hello everyone – Winnie Griggs here. I hope you all had a joyful and blessed Christmas and that 2026 is starting out well for you.

Yesterday—January 11—marked the birthday of Ezra Cornell, one of the founders of Western Union. That bit of calendar trivia caught my attention because I’m beginning work on a new story which has a heroine who’s a telegrapher. As often happens, one small detail led me down a research rabbit trail—and I thought it would be fun to share a bit of that history with you today, along with some telegraph trivia.

Western Union was founded in 1851, at a time when the United States was expanding rapidly westward. What began as a network of regional telegraph lines soon grew into a nationwide system as smaller companies merged and new wires were strung across vast distances.

As railroads pushed west, telegraph lines often followed alongside them. By the late 1860s and 1870s, telegraph offices could be found in cities, railroad depots, military posts, and many small frontier towns. Messages that once took days or weeks to arrive by mail could now be sent in minutes.

For communities in the American West, this changed everything. News traveled faster. Businesses operated more efficiently. Law enforcement and railroads coordinated more safely. Families separated by miles of open country could remain connected—at least in brief, carefully worded messages.

Construction of telegraph lines with Pony Express rider in foreground

And of course, as the territory the wires reached grew so did the need for telegraphers. Telegraphy was skilled work. Operators had to learn Morse code, develop speed and accuracy, and be able to translate rapid clicks into written messages without error. Training came through private telegraph schools, which often lasted three to six months, or through apprenticeships and on-the-job instruction in telegraph or railroad offices.

By the late 19th century, a notable number of telegraphers were women. Historians estimate that roughly 20–30 percent of telegraph operators in the United States were female by the 1880s and 1890s, with even higher percentages in some locations. For many women, telegraphy offered something rare for the era—respectable work, steady wages, and a measure of independence.

Skilled operators often developed what was known as a telegrapher’s “hand.” Just as handwriting varies from person to person, so did the rhythm and cadence of Morse code. Experienced telegraphers could sometimes recognize one another simply by listening to the pattern of taps coming through the sounder.

During the 19th century, the telegraph was not an automatic system. A trained operator had to be present, listening to the sounder, for a message to be received.

You may have seen telegraph recorder tapes in old photographs or classic movies—long strips of paper embossed with dots and dashes. Early telegraph systems did include recording registers, but by the late nineteenth century many offices, especially in smaller Western towns, had moved away from them. The machines were slower and could be mechanically finicky, and they required extra steps to translate the markings into readable text. Skilled operators could receive messages more quickly and accurately by ear, so the sounder became the preferred tool in most everyday offices.

Which meant if a message was sent while the telegrapher was away from the desk in one of these small Western towns, it simply wasn’t received. The sending office would get no acknowledgment and would try again later. There was no visual alert, no saved record, and no way for the operator to know a message had been attempted.

In shared spaces—such as a railroad depot—someone nearby might hear the sounder clicking and later mention that the wire was active. But unless that person was trained in Morse code, they wouldn’t know who sent the message or what it concerned. As it does today, timing mattered and could even be critical – but delays were simply part of life on the wire.

A Few Telegraph-related Tidbits

  • Telegraph messages were typically billed by the word, encouraging brevity—and sometimes confusion.
  • Early telegraph companies experimented with burying insulated wires underground, often in pipes, but moisture quickly made the lines unreliable. Stringing wires on poles proved far more practical and became the standard across the West.
  • Operators often worked long or irregular hours, especially when tied to train schedules.
  • Telegraph offices were rarely silent; the frequent clicking of the sounder became part of the background noise of daily life.
  • In many towns, the telegraph office was the first place news arrived, making the operator one of the best-informed people in the community.
  • Reliability mattered. In many towns, the telegrapher was one of the most quietly important people in the community, and their discretion was a key requirement.
  • Skilled operators commonly transmitted 20–30 words per minute, with especially fast telegraphers exceeding that speed.
  • Accuracy mattered as much as speed; a single missed word could delay a train or change the meaning of a message entirely.

Learning more about the telegraph and the people who worked it has given me a deeper appreciation for the skill and responsibility involved in keeping those lines of communication open across miles of open country.

Did any of this information surprise you? Do you think you would have made a good telegrapher—and if not, what part of the job would you have found the most challenging? Leave a comment to be entered in a drawing for a signed copy of one of my books.

A Journey Through History and Charm

by

 

There’s something timeless about a covered bridge. These historic wooden structures are scattered across the American landscape, each one a reminder of a simpler era when horse-drawn wagons and early automobiles rumbled over creaky floorboards, protected from the weather by the bridge’s iconic roof and walls.

Three weeks ago, after a nasty fall with a glass in my hand, I found myself unable to do much of anything around the house. After my husband handed me a drink (in a plastic cup, no less!) and insisted I sit down, I scanned the movies on YouTube. Much to my delight, I found two favorites, “Friendly Persuasion” and “The Bridges of Madison County.”

   

It wasn’t until the next day that I realized both featured covered bridges and it ignited a quest to find out more about this iconic structure.

Simply having a roof doesn’t necessarily make a structure a true covered bridge, though. Underneath every authentic covered bridge is its truss system, a network of beams, often in the shape of triangles, that distributes the weight of the bridge and the load it carries on its deck. The trusses, though rugged in appearance, require precision, and building one often took a whole village — quite literally.  Dozens, if not hundreds, of skilled workers from the community were involved: sawyers to prepare the rough-cut logs, timber framers to properly place the beams, and stonemasons to build the abutments, to name a few. Throughout the 19th century, covered bridges popped up wherever rivers and streams needed crossing — especially in the Northeast and Midwest. Each bridge showcased the craftsmanship of local builders and engineers, many of whom developed their own unique truss designs, like the Burr Arch or the Town Lattice.

Covered bridges first appeared in the United States in the early 1800s. The very first was built in 1805 over the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Known as the “Permanent Bridge”, it was designed by Timothy Palmer and set the stage for thousands more to come.

But why cover a bridge? The simple answer is durability. Wooden bridges exposed to rain, snow, and sun would quickly deteriorate. By adding a roof and siding, builders could protect the timber trusses, extending a bridge’s life from just 10-15 years to more than 70 or even 100 years.

Building a bridge was a major undertaking that required careful planning and a substantial community investment of time, labor, and materials. In the days before weatherproofed lumber, walls and a roof could extend a valuable bridge’s lifespan by shielding the truss system and keeping structural timbers dry.

With the increasing importance of locomotive transportation in the 19th century, iron was adopted for covered bridges to carry the heavy loadings of the railroad. At first metal was used for only part of the truss, in either vertical or diagonal members, and later for the whole truss. Cast iron and wrought iron were soon replaced by steel, and a principal form of the modern railroad bridge rapidly evolved.

At their peak in the 1800s, the United States had an estimated 12,000 covered bridges. Today, that number has dwindled to around 700-1,000, thanks to modernization, floods, fires, and neglect. But these survivors are now fiercely protected by local historical societies, states, and bridge enthusiasts.

Fun fact: Pennsylvania still holds the record for the most covered bridges in the country, with over 200 remaining!

In spite of their pure functionality, people came up with their own interpretations for covered bridges. Common beliefs emerged that a roof strengthened a bridge or protected the floor planks from rain and snow. Many came to think that covered bridges were built to shelter the people and animals traversing them, and some claimed the barn-like appearance calmed uneasy animals crossing over rushing water. Storytellers showcased covered bridges in tales ranging from the romantic to the mythical. These misunderstandings and cultural references encouraged the association of covered bridges with a “simpler time.”

They also served as gathering places and even inspired local lore — such as the tradition of couples sharing a covert kiss under the roof, inspiring the name “kissing bridges.”  It’s an old tradition from the horse-and-buggy days, when a boy would stop halfway across a covered bridge where it was quiet to give his girl a kiss.

 

 

While covered bridges once dotted nearly every state, today you’ll find the highest numbers mostly in the Northeast and Midwest — plus a few surprising spots out West.

Pennsylvania: ~210                            Vermont: ~100+
Ohio: ~125+                                            Indiana: ~90+
New Hampshire: ~50+                     Oregon: ~50+
New York: ~30+                                   Iowa: ~20+
Virginia: ~7                                           California: ~10
Georgia: ~15                                         West Virginia – 17

Covered bridges, like a piece of living history, connect us to a time when engineering was practical, beautiful, and built by hand. They’re reminders of our rural heritage and the communities that rallied to preserve them.

Roseman Bridge in Winterset, Iowa

So, the next time you spot a covered bridge sign on your travels, make a detour. Walk through it, snap a photo, and imagine the echo of horses’ hooves or wagon wheels rolling through the past.

 

An Upcoming Release…Just in Time for Christmas!

This anthology contains three standalone, yet inter-connected, books based in Harmony, Kansas. It’s nearing Christmas and the Circle of Friends Quilting group is planning the Annual Christmas Quilt Giveaway. Here, the quilts are stitched with love and where the quilter weaves dreams into reality, one thread at a time.

Noelle
A widow reluctant to love again…
A deputy determined to win her heart…
With Christmas looming, will the growing attraction between Noelle and the deputy reveal the gift of a second chance? Or could a stranger from the deputy’s past threaten the man who captured her heart?

Hope
He was the most stubborn and prideful man she’d ever met.
She was a busybody who stuck her nose in his business at every turn!
As Christmas approaches, will they look beyond each other’s faults and see a future blossom from a special, once-in-a-lifetime friendship?

Ivy
He was the town bully.
She was his target.
Had anything changed?
Was Ivy Sutton willing and able to forgive the boy who made her childhood unbearable?
Can Grady Walsh make up for the reckless actions of his youth?
Or will another steal her away before they have a chance to discover a kind of love that might heal the pain from the past?

 

Pre-Order Link

Margaret Borland: Rancher, Survivor, Trail Driver

by

I’m constantly amazed at the larger-than-life men and women who settled the western states and Texas. Men and women who, despite great personal sacrifice, became a strong symbol of extraordinary strength and courage. The ghosts of those people hover around us to this day with a reminder to keep carrying the torch they lit for us long ago.

One such woman gave her all and scrawled her name across the land – Margaret Heffernan Borland. It’s fair to say that life dealt Margaret a poor hand, but she didn’t stand around crying and moaning. She anted-up and made things happen each time adversity came calling. I admire this woman’s tenacity and pure grit so much.

Margaret was five years old when she arrived on the first ship bringing Irish colonists to Texas in 1829. Her family settled on the wild prairies around San Patricio, but her father died in an Indian attack a few years after they put down roots. Then they found themselves in the crosshairs of the Texas Revolution. Margaret’s mother fled with her children to the fort at Goliad. When the Mexican army won the battle of Goliad, it’s said they escaped the massacre by speaking Spanish so fluently that the officers believed them to be native Mexicans. After the war, the Heffernan family returned to San Patricio where nineteen-year-old Margaret met and married Harrison Dunbar. Shortly after the birth of a daughter, Harrison was killed in a pistol duel on the streets of Victoria. Margaret found herself a widow and single parent at the age of twenty.

A year later, she married again, this time to Milton Hardy and they settled down to ranch on 2,912 acres of land. Margaret gave birth to a son and three daughters, one of whom died in infancy. Again, tragedy struck and her second husband along with her young son succumbed to cholera. She was left with one daughter.

In the four years that followed, she worked the ranch near Victoria and raised her children. Then she met Alexander Borland. He was one of the richest ranchers in South Texas. After a short courtship, she married him and bore this husband four children. In 1860, Alexander and Margaret Borland owned 8,000 head of cattle and they began to hear about trail drives from Texas to Missouri and beyond. They dreamed of together taking a herd to northern markets. But before they could realize their dream, Alexander died in a yellow fever epidemic. Despite Margaret’s best efforts, she was unable to halt the terrible toll yellow fever took on her family. Before it was over, in addition to her husband, she buried three of her daughters, a son, and an infant grandson. Only three children out of nine survived. I’m sure this rocked the very foundation of her soul. She’d given Texas almost everything she had.

After the devastating loss, she threw herself into running the ranch and managing the huge herd of livestock alone. Yet, tragedy again struck. A great blizzard swept down upon the plains during the winter of 1871-1872 and tens of thousands of Texas cattle froze to death, their carcasses dotting the landscape. The storm took a huge toll on Margaret’s herd. When early spring rolled around, Margaret weighed her options. In April 1873, she concluded that her only choice was to drive 2,500 head of the cattle that weathered the blizzard up the famed Chisholm Trail where she could get $23.80 per head compared to $8.00 in San Antonio. But no woman had ever driven a herd up the trail by herself.

Although Margaret was 49 years old, she never backed down from a challenge or doing what she felt in her gut she must. She gathered her three remaining children (aged sixteen, fourteen and eight,) a six-year-old granddaughter, her 25 year-old-nephew, and with a handful of hired drovers embarked on the long, grueling trip. It took them two months to reach Wichita, Kansas. Upon arriving, Margaret and the children took a room at a boardinghouse, The Planter House. Word quickly spread through town of the amazing feat she’d accomplished. The newspaper wrote articles about her saying she had “pluck and business tact far superior to many male trail drivers.” One article remarked that she had “become endeared to many in town on account of her lady-like character.”

Before Margaret was able to complete the sale of her cattle, she took ill. On July 5, 1873, the woman who’d spent her entire lifetime staring down the barrel of calamity and misfortune died in her room at The Planter House in Wichita. Speculation quickly spread that she died from “brain congestion” and “trail driving fever.” Whatever that was. It sounds like something quickly made up by men who envied her accomplishment. Cause of death was never determined but doctors today think she contracted meningitis. Here’s a map of the trail and you can see it went right across dangerous Indian Territory.

Compliments of artist Jose Cisneros

The nephew was saddled with the difficult task of getting her body home in addition to the children. She’s buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Victoria, Texas.

The woman who’d once single-handedly managed over 10,000 head of cattle, and did it quite expertly, became a legend up and down the Chisholm Trail. She overcame such adversity and is revered to this day for her courage and strength to take what life handed her and make the best of it.

I always love when I find little gold nuggets like this that add depth and emotion to my books. History is full of these remarkable pioneers who did the impossible and etched their stories in the sands of time. They’re just waiting for us to stumble across the indelible marks they left.

I ran across Margaret’s story when I researched for  THE HEART OF A TEXAS COWBOY about cattle drives. CLICK HERE The story revolves around Houston Legend and his attempt to take two thousand head of longhorns up the Great Western Trail to Dodge City. I reference Margaret Borland in this book and her fame provides Houston’s new wife, Lara, ammunition in attempts to convince him to let her go along. He does but soon regrets it, when two days out, he discovers three shadowy riders trailing them. Soon, their very survival is left in question. This was one of my favorite stories to write but please note, this is not a sweet romance. There are a few love scenes.

I’m giving away an ebook copy only of my current book, Cade’s Quest to two commenters. Just tell me if Margaret Borland’s story touched you in any way. Would you have attempted what she did?