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| THE PATHFINDER |
https://youtu.be/tH2w6Oxx0kQ
How many of you have seen the movie "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure"? A 'live' lesson in history. There is the scene where Bill and Ted meet with Socrates and they quote from a song by Kansas, that makes me laugh every time. https://youtu.be/TiMO3PWziZk
I have noticed that death is a catalyst in a lot of my writing. I don't think I am morbid, but it does touch all of us. In "Home For His Heart", both Sam and Clara have lost parents early. Losing someone, while normal, seemed more prevalent in the Old West. The landscape, the people, the wars, all created situations where loss was a large part of lives.
In Victorian times, many were the photographs taken of the baby who died, the parents holding them, prior to placing them in the casket for burial. It was there way of keeping the memory alive. Weaving hair and placing it on a brooch was another way of remembering. Back East and in England there were prescribe periods of mourning, with designated clothing to be worn. Here is a link for a brief overview: http://www.tchevalier.com/fallingangels/bckgrnd/mourning/ . Mysteries, such as the "Silver Rush" series by Ann Parker, usually have a death. We may sometimes forget the West we want to create also had many of the habits and rules brought by those from back East.
For the deceased, they would either have been embalmed, if you had someone with the skill to do so, or simply placed in a casket or grave. If the ground were too hard or frozen, the bodies may have been placed in a cool place until burial was possible. The chapel in Evergreen Cemetery, built in 1909, has 'racks' to place the bodies or caskets until such time as the ceremony takes place. Below are photos of the 'bloat balls', as the cemetery calls them, the shelves and the downstairs.
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| "Bloat Ball" |
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| Interior Downstairs, Evergreen Chapel |
When the research bug strikes, one of the first places I go is to a cemetery. If I'm stuck with finding names for my character, I go to the cemetery. Now before you think I'm morbid, the stories told on the stones are priceless. My current research is on a town, a very short lived town, in southeastern Colorado. It came into existence in the late 1880's and was gone by 1910. Nothing is left of the town site, it is plowed fields. There may be a cemetery, but I need to find it, and photograph the headstones. Newspapers can tell some of the story, but many times they contradict each other.
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| Headstone in cemetery near SilverCliff, CO |
Of course, medicine was not as we know it today. A majority of doctors practiced homeopathy, there were no antibiotics, and germ theory was in its infancy. Colorado was a place many came to recover from consumption, which was considered any wasting disease. The air was clean and clear, unlike the coal laced air in the cities back East. Many were those who came for the cure, or to cure those who were coming. The first documented woman doctor in Colorado Springs, Julia E. Loomis, born in 1816, was one who came to cure. She graduated medical school in 1870-71 and arrived in Colorado Springs around 1876.Unfortunately she passed away in 1880, at sixty-four.
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| Julia E. Loomis headstone |
As you can see, life and research are like dust in the wind. It is scattered this way and that. Now lest you think I'm going to leave you on such a depressing note, here is another clip. This one from the second Bill and Ted adventure, where the two are playing games with death. https://youtu.be/PA5ryowAyLk
To a wonderful, creative and beautiful May. Let you thoughts be joyful and follow the wind as you create your worlds and characters.
I will leave you with a snippet from an upcoming work:
Drew
looked down, wondering if he should set the doctor straight. Rafe
looked at him with such intelligence and a slight shake of his head.
That convinced Drew against correcting the doctor's impression.
"He
is special, I'll give you that," Drew replied.
"Well,
I've got to be going, been away from the office too long, and it's a
bit of a trip back. Unless you have a relapse, I doubt I'll need to
return. Just keep that arm immobile for a couple more days to let
your shoulder heal." With that advice, the doctor left the room
and Drew relaxed. So he'd survived the bullets and Lizzie had brought
him back to her cabin. Drew was grateful, but still didn't know where
he stood. Still pondering the question he closed his eyes in thought
and was soon asleep.
Doris McCraw/Angela Raines:
Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in Colorado and Women's History.
Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in Colorado and Women's History.
Photo and Poem: http://fivesevenfivepage.blogspot.com
