With spring well underway in the Rocky Mountains, thoughts naturally turn to tourist destinations and new ways to enjoy them. Our current culture did not invent the concept of traveling for fun and education. Far from it. The West can look to western expansion to explain much of its history, good and bad. After the Civil War, young men scrambled to find their fame and fortune in the West. Pioneers and tourists came in many…
Waiting for a book in production conjures up a combination of excitement and drama. After concentrating and struggling with many edits, it is hard watch the little bird fly from the nest as it wings its way off to the print shop. As the author, it is hard to let it go after a couple of years of concentrated effort, and it seems too soon to watch it fly away, out of reach and beyond…
Publication date of my latest book, Baby Doe Tabor: Matchless Silver Queen, is fast approaching. As we struggle through final edits in an attempt to provide the most interesting and correct factual information possible, I am enjoying revisiting Colorado’s mining history as I have throughout the process. Just as I learned about railroads and their impact on our country’s western expansion during my work on General William Palmer: Railroad Pioneer, I have experienced a similar…
Why was I riveted to an old Indiana Jones movie last evening? Besides Spielberg’s magic and a young Harrison Ford, it had a lot to do with the archealogical tale of unfolding mysteries through material evidence of past human life. The story also touched lightly on the issue of truth as opposed to myth, one of my favorite speech topics regarding our more modern western history. How cool is that! Recently, I visited Petroglyph National…
My spring calendar has two dates related to Mrs. J.J. “Margaret” Brown, the inspiration of this Unsinkable blog site. One event will be a Women’s History gathering at the Molly Brown House Museum 5:30-7:30 on Wednesday, March 23. The other will be my presentation, “Red Hot Activism: Molly Brown Style” at the Aurora History Museum, during their lunchtime gathering on Wednesday, February 16. I’m looking forward to both, and am happy to revisit this interesting…
I’ve always enjoyed January for its fresh start after the holidays, and its sunny crisp weather punctuated by occasional sparkling powdery snow swirling around at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. It is also a good time to enjoy indoor diversions and activities. I don’t know what you might be thinking, but here are some of my favorite January activities. The Post Card Club had a sale and show this month. My pal Christie and…
The New Year is a great opportunity to set goals and plan new projects. Before we leave December, I hope you will visit my interview on the Writers of the West blog site created by Jean Henry Mead at http://writersofthewest.blogspot.com/ The interview will be featured for a few days until the end of 2010. The interview was a great exercise to review my writing life, where I have been, and where I am going. In…
It always happens sooner or later. The subject eventually returns to food and cooking. It is especially appropriate now with the Thanksgiving holiday looming. As you think about these types of cooking, consider the experience of roasting a turkey using either method. A trip to the Wheat Ridge Historical Museum was instructive. Their restored sod house offers two styles of cooking in close proximity. At the hearth is the traditional style used by pioneers. They…
Nothing beats a road trip from Colorado to Arizona to get in touch with the Old West. Once again, Women Writing the West outdid themselves by producing the best conference experience ever near Wickenburg, Arizona. We took advantage of the destination by taking to the highway to get there, via the Grand Canyon. As if the stupendous beauty of the Grand Canyon was not enough to feed our spirits, there was plenty of western culture…
Sometimes it is easy to become complacent and forget about the rich history in our own backyards. A walk on a sunny Saturday morning in Denver led us to Civic Center Park, where we stepped into the recently restored Greek Theater in the South Pavilion to enjoy a historic scene called “The Trapper”, a 1920 Allen True mural. Allen True was a local artist and illustrator who provided the city with public art, which we…