The last time I visited with Petticoats & Pistols, I shared about “The British Are Coming” series and my latest release in that series, To Marry an English Lord. When I planned to return in December, I thought the next book in the series would be out. However, the writing of another biblical novel for Guideposts and a contemporary Christmas romance pushed back my schedule a bit. While that next book, To Capture a Mountain Man, won’t release until February, I am pleased to say it is written and on its way through the editorial and publishing process.
Isaiah, the hero of To Capture a Mountain Man, is a game scout in Yellowstone National Park in 1895, and he and my British heroine, Lady Amanda, meet after she is shot at by poachers in the park. Thus, I thought I would share a little information about the first national park in the world.
Yellowstone National Park’s story is one of awe-inspiring natural beauty, scientific discovery, and a pioneering spirit of
conservation that shaped the future of protected lands globally.
Long before Yellowstone was known to explorers or tourists, it was home to Native American tribes who lived in and around the area for thousands of years. Tribes such as the Shoshone, Crow, and Nez Perce recognized the land’s unique geothermal features and its abundance of wildlife. They considered it a sacred space, rich in resources and spiritual significance.
The first written accounts of Yellowstone’s wonders came from mountain men and trappers in the early 1800s. Tales of “boiling mud,” “fire and brimstone,” and geysers were initially dismissed as exaggerated. It wasn’t until organized expeditions in the mid-19th century that the true scope of Yellowstone’s geothermal phenomena and scenic beauty was documented.
On March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act into law, designating Yellowstone as the world’s first national park. This groundbreaking legislation aimed to preserve its unique features “for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.” It marked the beginning of a global movement to protect natural spaces from exploitation.
In its early years, Yellowstone faced significant challenges. Poaching, illegal mining, and logging
threatened its fragile ecosystems. Lacking a formal management structure, the park struggled to enforce its protection policies. In 1886, the U.S. Army stepped in to manage Yellowstone, building infrastructure and curbing illegal activities. The military’s stewardship laid the groundwork for the establishment of the National Park Service in 1916, which took over management and continues to oversee Yellowstone today.
The park is a haven for wildlife, home to bison, elk, grizzly bears, wolves, and numerous bird species. Efforts to reintroduce wolves in the 1990s successfully restored balance to the ecosystem, a testament to the park’s ongoing commitment to conservation. Note: At the time of To Capture a Mountain Man, the buffalo had been reduced from the tens of millions to less than 1,000. There is something grand about seeing the herds of American Bison in the park today. But don’t get out of your car. They are a wild animal!!
Yellowstone National Park is more than a protected area; it is a symbol of the human capacity to recognize and safeguard the extraordinary. Its history reminds us of our responsibility to cherish and preserve the natural world.
If you want to be ready for To Capture a Mountain Man, here are the links to the first books in the series:
To Enchant a Lady’s Heart
To Marry an English Lord
Since it’s December, I’m giving away an autographed copy of my new release, a contemporary Christmas romance,
Wishing for Mistletoe.
To be entered into the drawing, just tell me
what Christmas books are in your TBR this year?
Hello! I’m Tanya Agler, and this is my first guest blog post on Petticoats & Pistols. It’s an honor to be here and thank you so much for the opportunity to sit back and spend some time with you.
Regardless, this nomadic ethnic group came to America in the 1500s as slaves, then eventually migrated across the country living their itinerant lifestyle, becoming such a curiosity that they were often feared and mostly despised. They disdained formal education and community rules, shunned foreigners in their midst, often got into trouble with the law from their thievery and drinking, and generally made nuisances of themselves upon their arrival.
Back in the 1850s, when New York was being flooded with immigrants, cheap
housing became scarce. Poverty raged, and parents, either due to illness, death, or lack of jobs, compelled their children to fend for themselves on the streets. These desperate children sold matches, rags, or newspapers to survive. As one would think inevitable, they fell victim to gangs and crimes. Overwhelmed police would capture the vagrant children and lock them up in jail with adults.
Using funds donated by wealthy New Yorkers, the children were given new clothes and sturdy shoes, then put onto trains. With no formal social welfare system in place, parents signed agreements allowing the children to be taken to new homes, but with the caveat that they could return if the adoption didn’t work out.
I’ve always found the topic of mail-order brides fascinating. Men predominantly settled the western part of the United States. They went in search of gold, to build ranches and homesteads and soon found themselves desiring to have a wife for companionship and to enjoy the new life they’d built. They didn’t want to go back east to find a bride, so they advertised for one to join them in their new endeavor. In fact, there’s was a whole magazine devoted to this called Matrimonial News. Others ran ads in newspapers across the country.
But it wasn’t only men who were looking for a bride. On rare occasions, women advertised for a mail-order husband. Which is the premise of the beginning of my new book, Wooing Gertrude. My heroine sends off for a mail-order groom. But things don’t turn out quite the way she intended. Here’s a look at my new book.
When I started writing Mercy in Montana, I knew I wanted to have the sisters and their father together at the Kentucky Derby. I don’t know why I wanted that, but I did. Maybe I was using fiction to imagine being there myself.
morning dress.” Col. Meriweather Lewis Clark Jr. attended the Grand Prix de Paris in 1872 and decided to create a high-profile horse race when he returned to America. The high fashion of the Kentucky Derby added to the allure of the event and drew in crowds wanting to show off their finest apparel.
scarcely put together a nice outfit to save my life. I worked in the office of a country club some 13 years ago, and was required to dress much nicer than at any job I’d previously held. I became quite thankful for the styled mannequins in various stores. I would buy exactly the clothes to make the outfit on the mannequin. I never did master mixing and matching my pieces to make multiple outfits.
Regina Walker, a spirited author with a passion for penning captivating tales, finds her inspiration in the enchanting fusion of Jesus and horses. As she roams the great outdoors, her heart sings in harmony with nature’s melodies, as the Holy Spirit whispers secrets to fuel her vibrant storytelling.