October is National Family History Month—a month for those with an interest in genealogy to spend a little extra time on their hobby, and a month for all of us to reflect on our forebearers and on how our pasts have shaped our todays and tomorrows. For tips on activities […]
Continue readingTag Archives: history
The Wizard of Oz: Stories and Memories for Kids (and Writers) of Every Age
Last Friday, September 20, 2013, NBC Nightly News aired a piece narrated by Brian Williams about The Wizard of Oz. Although the reason for this news segment was the just-released 3D version of the film, Brian Williams waxed nostalgic about the world in 1939 when the original movie came out. He […]
Continue readingStepping Back To See the Big Picture: Exhibits at the National Archives
When I researched the 1840s for my Oregon Trail novels, I started with the big picture—the general route the emigrants took, their modes of transportation, what was going on in the East at the time, etc. Much of this research never made its way into my early drafts, but I […]
Continue readingFort Nez Perce to The Dalles: By Water or By Land?
In 1817, the North West Company established Fort Nez Perce where the Walla Walla River met the mighty Columbia. In 1821, that fur trading company merged with Hudson’s Bay Company in 1821, which then operated the fort. Fort Nez Perce remained active until 1857, when the U.S. Army built a […]
Continue readingSilent Skies: Returning to September 11
So much has changed in the twelve years since September 11, 2001. The security lines at airports, where we shuffle forward in stocking feet carrying our plastic bags of three-ounce liquids. Newspaper stories of bombs in shoes and in underwear. Attempts to blow up Times Square, and the actual blowing […]
Continue readingLife Without Electricity
Sunday morning the electricity went out in our house. It seems to happen more and more frequently. The lines in our subdivision are underground, so usually the lights just flicker, or we get our power back after a minute or two. But Sunday morning it was out for over an hour, from […]
Continue readingLake Crescent, Olympic National Park
My father and I took a day last week to go to Lake Crescent in the Olympic National Park in Washington State. It was the first time either of us had seen this part of the park. The lake itself is a gem, nestled between forested hills. When we arrived, the […]
Continue readingHusbands, History, Trivia, and Corsets
My husband has always been a student of military and naval history. He spouts off bits of arcane knowledge – types of cannon, length of ships, dates of battles – which really don’t matter to anything or anyone (at least, they don’t matter to me). On our recent visit to […]
Continue readingClear Lakes and Surprises
This summer my husband and I visited two Clear Lakes – one in Iowa, and one in Oregon. Despite their same names, the lakes are quite different. But each lake delighted us with surprising features and surroundings. We stopped by the Clear Lake in Iowa on our way back to […]
Continue readingThree Island Crossing on the Snake River
As I mentioned in my August 15 post last year, by mid-August the wagon trains to Oregon were following the Snake River. At the time, the Snake was called the “Lewis Fork” of the Columbia River (named after Meriwether Lewis). The Oregon Trail followed this river for 300 miles from […]
Continue reading