I’ve written before about rail development in Oregon and the fierce competition between the East Side line and the West Side line in laying rails around Portland. Ben Holladay was the owner of the successful East Side line, and he had his finger (indeed, his whole fist) in many other […]
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Railroad Development in Oregon
The Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869, linking California to the Eastern United States. But it took many more years for Oregon to become a part of the national railroad network. I wrote in an earlier post about Byron Pengra, who started a military road in Oregon in 1864, intending […]
Continue readingEarly Railroad Bridges Across the Missouri River
Although I have a lot of editing to do on my current work-in-progress (the sixth book in my Oregon series), I am beginning to think about the next book. I’m planning for the seventh novel to be the last book in the series, but who knows? I only have the […]
Continue readingResearch for My Next Historical Novel: Oregon in 1864
One of my goals for 2020 is to research Oregon history for my next historical novel. The characters of the book I’m planning will be the same families as in my earlier Oregon Chronicles novels, though I’m sure new characters will demand to be included as well! Part of the […]
Continue readingEarly Roads and Railroads in Oregon in the 1850s
As I write my fourth historical novel about the West, I’m finding more and more things I need to research. Researching travel along the Oregon Trail itself was easy by comparison—all I needed to do was to decide on a route, describe the landmarks and the difficulties of daily life, […]
Continue readingWhat Happened in Oregon City in 1850-52? Researching My Work-in-Progress
My current work-in-progress takes place mostly in the Oregon City area, beginning in October 1850. I think the novel’s timeline will take me into 1852, but I don’t know for sure yet. When I did the research for Now I’m Found, which was set in Oregon and California between 1848 […]
Continue readingThe Development of Time Zones in the Nineteenth Century
One of my challenges in writing about the 19th century has been trying to determine how to account for time of day. In my descriptions of travel along the Oregon Trail, I mostly refer to time in generalities—midmorning, noon, sunset, and the like. I rarely give a precise hour. The […]
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