by Linda Carroll-Bradd
In the mid-1800s, people needed determination and patience
to travel from one side of the country to the other. Stagecoaches ran on a
weekly or bi-weekly schedule. A trip from St Louis to San Francisco involved
about 25 days of travel. The coaches were drawn by six horses and stops were
made every 12 miles for fresh teams. Depending on the terrain, coaches covered
between 5 and 12 miles per day—running day and night. Passengers were grateful
to get hot coffee, biscuits and jerky at these stops; on rare occasions, hot
meals were available.
True, the Transcontinental Railroad was completed in the
summer of 1869 but that line served a route of the most-populous cities and only in the
northern part of America. How was someone, like my character Vevina Bernhard raised
in Ohio, to travel to a small town like Comfort, Texas? Trips on different
railroad lines (Ohio to St. Louis on Pennsylvania RR and from St. Louis, a
smaller spur line) would have transported her to Dallas where she would have
boarded a stagecoach—most likely a Concord coach (built with sturdy braces for
a more comfortable ride), that ran a north/south route between the two east/west
lines that bisected Texas.
The suggested items to travel with would have filled a large
satchel or three. In addition to their clothing, passengers were admonished to
pack 6 pair of thick socks, woolen underdrawers, blankets—one in summer and two
in winter, 3-4 towels, heavy overcoat, light coat, hat and their choice of
pistol or knife for personal protection. Imagine being a lady raised on a dairy
farm near a city with creature comforts reading that list.
Once she got inside the stagecoach, she would have had her
choice of window or middle position (approximately 15” in width) on either a
forward or backward-facing bench seat. As she set out on her journey, she could
read the rules about men forgoing swearing and smoking in a lady’s presence,
but tobacco chewing was allowed, as long as the chewer spat downwind. I would hope so. Or if the person
(presumed to be a male) couldn’t refrain from drinking alcohol, then he must
pass the bottle around. Yum. Snoring
loudly or using another passenger’s shoulder as a pillow were frowned upon.
Improper advances toward a woman could get the male kicked off the stagecoach
in the middle of nowhere. Forbidden topics of conversation were stagecoach
robberies and Indian uprisings. Sounds like
a smart rule. Shooting at wildlife (Texas had a huge population of deer)
was prohibited. Passengers were encouraged not to jump from the stage in case
of runaway horses so as not to be left victim to the weather, hostile Indians
or hungry coyotes. Yikes.
Like I mentioned, Vevina had a purpose and she looked at all
these strictures as part of her great adventure. To lessen her impact on her
family’s limited resources, she’d answered an advertisement for a mail-order
bride from a rancher in central Texas. Although the match wasn’t all she’d
hoped for, she made the best of the situation. Five years later, she’s a widow
with a young son but her ranch is being haunted by mysterious lights. She’s in
town, making a plea to the sheriff about investigating what’s happening and that’s
the first time ex-Texas Ranger/bounty hunter Kell Hawksen sees her and their
story begins.
Wanderer, Come Home is part of the Cowboys, Creatures and Calico, Vol 1. Halloween anthology. http://amzn.com/B00NVX5Y2C
One copy of the anthology will be awarded to a person who
leaves a comment (be sure to include your email address in the comment). Winner
to be contacted Monday, November 17.
Bio:
As a young girl, Linda was often
found lying on her bed reading about fascinating characters having exciting
adventures in places far away and in other time periods. In later years, she
read and then started writing romances and achieved her first publication--a
confession story. Married with 4 adult children and 2 granddaughters, Linda
writes heartwarming contemporary and historical stories with a touch of humor
from her home in the southern California mountains.
Linda’s Links:
