The History of Custom Combining

By Terrie Todd

 
If you live in the Great Plains or have ever driven through them during the harvest season, you have probably seen combines at work—sometimes ten or more at a time in staggered rows, and frequently working long into the night, headlights beaming across the field. Since no one farmer can afford that much equipment, you know you’re probably witnessing a custom combine crew in action. But the industry’s glory days are past. Starting in Texas and Oklahoma in July and working their way north up through the Dakotas and sometimes into the Canadian prairie provinces, custom combining reached its peak in the 1970s. But let’s go further back.

Using scythes in 1900

Threshing crews predate Combine crews. Early farmers cut grain with a sickle, then separated grain from straw by beating it with a flail and throwing the grain into the air to let the wind drive out the chaff. Those with more resources might have used horses or oxen to tread out the grain. Naturally, cooperative threshing made sense as agricultural land grew more populated and neighbors could work together to bring in each other’s harvests. A group of farmers might pool their resources to purchase machinery shared by all. An enterprising thresherman might assemble a crew of workers and offer his machinery, animals, and labor in one package to farmers, threshing the grain the farmer had already harvested.

By the early 1920s, around 100,000 men found seasonal work on threshing crews. Some were farmers hoping to supplement their income. Many were veterans home from the war or students hoping to earn another year’s tuition. 

1920 - a team of 20 mules

The coming of the combine, which both cut and separated the grain, was revolutionary to the industry. These early machines were powered by eight pairs of horses with a driver walking behind each pair. A wagon drawn alongside received the grain. Tractors began to replace horses in the 1930s, and by the 40’s, the self-propelled combine ruled the day.

The life of a Custom Combine crew member left little time for recreation. His day began at dawn with breakfast, immediately followed by the ritual of servicing the machines, greasing and gassing everything up, checking fluids and tires. When the boss declared the crop was dry enough to cut, the combines roared into action and kept going until dark. As each truck filled, it hauled the grain away to the elevator while another took its place. Laborers earned the whopping wage of a dollar an hour.

Accommodations included tents or trailers—often little more than a wooden bunkhouse on wheels. Rainy days were used to catch up on laundry or move to the next location. A typical crew might consist of the boss, one combine operator and one truck driver per combine, a mechanic, and a cook—often the boss’s wife. If she were lucky, she had a helper.

When the team didn’t travel with their own cook, the farmer’s wife became the meal provider. Meals consisted of huge, hot breakfasts that included eggs, ham, potatoes, homemade bread and jam, and gallons of coffee. By midmorning, she’d be taking fresh cinnamon rolls or muffins to the field. The noon meal would be the biggest of the day—roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, fresh garden vegetables, and homemade pie were considered normal. Meals were eaten in shifts so the machines could keep rolling. A lighter evening meal of sandwiches, followed by another dessert of homemade cake, was typical. The women who prepared and served all this food worked even longer hours than the men, setting the next morning’s bread and washing dishes until midnight, then rising by four a.m. to start again.

With the changing times, more farm operations have grown to where it’s more economical for them to own their own combines, though some custom combining crews are still in operation, with much more advanced, computerized equipment.

Sources:

Custom Combining on the Great Plains: A History, Thomas Isern, University of Oklahoma Press, 1981. Canadian edition, Western Producer Prairie Books, 1982.

 Not a single incident of wheat harvest occurs in The Reluctant Healer of Halifax, a novel of the Great Halifax Explosion of 1917. It’s a story of love, loss, faith, and honor set against Canada’s most devastating moment of the First World War.

 

Terrie Todd is the award-winning author of ten historical novels, all set in Canada,
where she lives with her husband Jon. A former church drama team leader and newspaper columnist, she’s also a frequent contributor to Guideposts Books, a mother of three, and grandmother of five.

 

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GOODNE MORGEN

 

By Mary Davis

 

Good morning, or some derivative of it, isn’t as old as I thought it was. I figured it would go back to the beginning of time. It seems like the perfect way to greet the day. However, it only hales from about a thousand years ago. So where did this cheerful greeting start?

Before good morning, people greeted each other with a variant of good day. But someone in medieval times must have decided to greet their neighbor in Old English with a more time specific salutation and say “I wish you a goodne morgen”, which eventually got shortened to “goodne morgen”.

 

The first known reference to “good morning”, or some form of it, is found in Europe in the late Middle Ages. Now, when I see Middle Ages, I say “Huh? When was that?” It is from the 5th century to the 15th century. I know, confusing. So, the late Middle Ages would have been the 1300s to the 1500s. A form of good morning was used in Germanic languages (German, English, Swedish, Norwegian, and Icelandic).

Le Morte d’Arthur by Thomas Malory, published in 1485, seems to be the first recorded use of good morning—then gode morwene. However, the use of it was likely well before that but didn’t get written down until then.

Old English used goodne morgen, while in German it was guten morgen, Swedish was god morgon, and Norwegian, god morgen. However, Iceland never conformed to good morning and remained with the equivalent of good day.

“Goodne morgen” turned into good morwe which in turn became good morrow that gave way to good morning. And in modern times might simply be “mornin’.”

The romance languages like French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian stuck with good day as in bonjour, buenos días, and buon giorno.

Ancient Rome and Biblical times had no comparable term for good morning but used phrases of wishing people health and peace.

 

Author Image

Conversely, gōd niht (good night) has been around only a little bit longer, since the 1200s. This also stems from Old English. Where good morning is a greeting, good night is a farewell.

 

Willow says “Fare thee well until the morrow.”

 

 

 

NEWLYWED GAMES

A "little white lie" grows into a very big problem. Meghann Livingston invents a husband to soothe her dying mother. But when her mom miraculously recovers and comes to visit, Meghann is hard-pressed to explain her "husband's" absence! Before Meghann can come clean, her handsome, elusive boss, Bruce Halloway, inadvertently steps into her romantic charade...and to Meghann's shock and horror, insists upon playing along. The masquerade's success depends upon them playing their newlywed games extremely well. When they do, both Meghann and Bruce—even as they struggle to overcome the consequences of their deceptions—find themselves falling in love...for real!

 

MARY DAVIS, bestselling, award-winning novelist, has over thirty titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her latest release is THE LADY’S MISSION. Her other novels include THE DÉBUTANTE'S SECRET (Quilting Circle Book 4) THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (The Quilting Circle Book 3) is a SELAH Award Winner. Some of her other recent titles include; THE WIDOW'S PLIGHT, THE DAUGHTER'S PREDICAMENT, “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection, Prodigal Daughters Amish series, "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection, and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Rocky Mountains with her Carolina dog, Shelby, and her pocket black Lab, Willow. She has three adult children and three incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at: Books2Read Newsletter Blog FB FB Readers Group Amazon GoodReads BookBub

 

Sources

https://vintage.tn/how-long-have-people-been-saying-good-morning/

https://www.etymonline.com/word/good%20morning

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/awakening-history-untold-story-good-morning-maureen-mugi-6hqzf

https://fluentvista.com/where-did-the-term-good-morning-come-from/

https://www.calendar-uk.co.uk/frequently-asked-questions/who-invented-the-word-good-morning

https://selfexploration.academy/the-academic-glossary/good-night

Bonbons, Bribery, and the Regency Sweet Tooth

By Camille Elliot/Camy Tang

The best part about writing Regency novels is researching the food.

AI-generated image of an actual 1810 bonbonnière and the cover of the March 1809 issue of The Repository of Arts ladies’ magazine

I had just written the passage below in my Christian Regency suspense novel, Lady Wynwood’s Spies, Volume 7: Spinster:

My hero, Barron, returns home after a garden party. He’d been sitting beside and conversing attentively with other eligible young women when Lena—the woman he actually wants—arrived looking unexpectedly beautiful and was immediately surrounded by male admirers.

Worse, instead of responding to Lena the way he wished he had, he froze, barely complimented her, and then allowed himself to be drawn into another lady’s conversation.

Barron found his sister in the drawing room before dinner. He flung himself in a chair and pronounced, “I do believe I felt like a man caught cheating on his wife.”

Tabitha looked up in surprise from the ladies’ journal she was reading—a publication only just come from London. “I feel very sorry for your wife. Perhaps she might forgive you if you come to her with remorse and bonbons?”

“Are you requesting bonbons in an unsubtle manner?”

“I am never unsubtle. I am the picture of subtlety.” She sighed. “Bonbons would go marvelously with this ladies’ journal.”

“I suppose I could send to town for some,” he grumbled.

Tabitha smiled with all the satisfaction of a fat tabby cat who had successfully stolen a fish. “Now, what is this about your imaginary wife?”

I did some research to double-check that there were indeed bonbons in Regency England, and I discovered that they were not chocolate truffles.

The word is from the French—literally “good-good”—but in the late 1700s, most knew them as sweet, expensive confections. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, author Fanny Burney first used the term in print in 1796.

In The Complete Confectioner by Hannah Glasse and Maria Wilson in 1800, they were called “bomboons”:

Bonbon (or Bomboon) recipe from The Complete Confectioner by Hannah Glasse and Maria Wilson, 1800

To Make Nut Bomboons.

Take a pound of Spanish nuts, and boil them in an iron pan ; when they are well boiled, rub off their skin with a napkin; if some stick too hard, pare it off with a knife; take a tin grater and grate your nuts very tine on a sheet of paper; then take a pound of powdered sugar to a pound of nuts, put it in a pan over a slow fire; when your sugar is all melted in stirring it perpetually with a wooden spoon, put your nuts in and work them well till all is well mixed, and pour it upon a tin plate; take a wooden rolling-pin to spread it, which you must be very quick in doing, for it cools very fast; and when it is cold cut it into what form you please; you must take care the sugar should not be too much melted, for it is very apt to soften when the nuts arejoined to it.

The “Spanish nuts” are hazelnuts/filberts, which sounds delicious to me. It would turn into a firm hazelnut praline or nut brittle, but with finely grated nuts rather than left whole. It wouldn’t be like our modern hard candy, however, but a bit more crumbly because of the 1:1 nut to sugar ratio.

In the same cookbook, the bamboons could also be flavored with lemon or orange zest, coffee, or orange water.

March 1809 issue of The Repository of Arts ladies’ magazine

I also found this delightful paragraph about bonbons in the ladies’ magazine, The Repository of arts, literature, commerce, manufactures, fashions and politics for March, 1809 by R. Ackermann, pages 145-146:

Bonbons were in ancient times in France an allowed medium of bribing judges and people of rank, of whom a favour was solicited. This practice was carried so far, that Louis IX. by a decree, forbade judges to take more than ten sous worth of bonbons in a week ; and Philip the Fair limited the quantity to as much as they could use in their housekeeping in a day. Soon afterwards these sweetmeats were converted into money, and a M. de Tournon, instead of ten boxes of bonbons, paid ten gold francs.

Like my character Tabitha above, I would most certainly be willing to be bribed with bonbons.

In a diary entry in September 1816, Lady Shelley also mentioned the physician bribing Princess Esterhazy with bonbons:

The family physician, Capellini, tells the Princess what she is to eat ; and presents her daily with a dose of quinine, which, after many grimaces, and with plenty of bonbons, she contrives to swallow.

Here is the first printed mention of bonbons in the novel Camilla, by Fanny Burney, published in 1796:

Miss Margland, perceiving what she regarded as a fair vacancy, made up to the spot, and saying, ‘Sir, by your leave,’ was preparing to take possession of the place, when the gentleman, as if without seeing her, dropt suddenly into it himself, and, pouring a profusion of eau suave upon his handkerchief, exclaimed: ‘What a vastly bad room this is for dancing!’

Camilla, concluding herself addressed, turned round to him; but, seeing he was sniffing up the eau suave, without looking at her, imagined he meant to speak to Miss Margland.

Miss Margland was of the same opinion, and, with some pique at his seizing thus her intended seat, rather sharply answered: ‘Yes, sir, and it’s a vast bad room for not dancing; for if every body would dance that ought, there would be accommodation sufficient for other people.’

‘Incomparably well observed!’ cried he, collecting some bonbons from a bonboniere, and swallowing one after another with great rapidity: ‘But won’t you sit down? You must be enormously tired. Let me supplicate you to sit down.’

Like the gentleman, I now feel the need to stuff my face with some bonbons, although mine will likely be the chocolate variety. Alas for the gluttonous fellow above, those will not be created until the 1840s.

About the Author

Camy Tang writes Christian historical and contemporary romance filled with intrigue, adventure, and faith. Under the pen name Camille Elliot, she writes the Christian Regency romantic suspense series Lady Wynwood’s Spies, set in 1811 London where secrets, espionage, and slow-burn romance unfold against the glittering backdrop of high society.

If you’d like to meet Barron and Lena and see how their story begins, you can read the opening chapters of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, Volume 7: Spinster for free on my blog. Although Spinster is part of an ongoing series, Volume 7 opens in a new setting with a largely new cast of characters, so you can sample the opening without knowing everything that came before.

New to the series and prefer to begin at the beginning? Lady Wynwood’s Spies starts with Archer. Read the first few chapters on my blog.

References:

The Complete Confectioner by Hannah Glasse and Maria Wilson, 1800

The Repository of arts, literature, commerce, manufactures, fashions and politics for March, 1809 by R. Ackermann

The Diary of Frances, Lady Shelley, 1787-1817, edited by her grandson, Richard Edgcumbe (published in 1912)

Camilla, by Fanny Burney, 1796

Rome's Gardens of Eden: Beauty, Temptation, and Betrayal Part 1

by Liisa Eyerly

Rome had no shortage of power-hungry, ego-maniacal emperors, but why should the men get all the notoriety? If power and wealth corrupt, the empresses were not immune.

Enter Valeria Messalina, the third wife of Roman Emperor Claudius, paternal cousin of Emperor Nero, second cousin of Emperor Caligula, great-grandniece of Emperor Augustus, and the mother of Claudia Octavia, the stepsister and first wife of Emperor Nero. There was a large amount of inbreeding in the family. Messalina Louvre Museum, CC BY-SA 3.0  <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The ideal Roman stood in sharp contrast to the luxury and excess embraced by

many emperors and aristocrats, whose vast fortunes came from Rome's conquests and the wealth of its provinces.

Romans called their cultural identity Romanitas—a commitment to shared values such as devotion to country, respect for parents and family, reverence for the gods, hard work, honesty, and self-discipline. Above all, they prized gravitas: the seriousness of character, moral virtue, and sense of duty that defined the ideals of early Republican Rome. Claudius Sergey Sosnovskiy, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Messalina enters history with a reputation as ruthless, predatory, and sexually insatiable, while her husband, the emperor Claudius, is painted as easily led by her and unaware of her many adulteries. Not exactly a Roman role model. But before we completely vilify her, remember that many records written by men of the time were "suspicious of women" and were not completely free of "scandalous gossip." Messalina Sailko, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons Messalina statue

That said, Messalina is hard to excuse. Her husband's family, especially the females, seemed to be specially targeted by Messalina. Her list of enemies was long—and often fatal.

· She persuaded Claudius to exile his niece Julia Livilla a second time on charges of adultery with the philosopher Seneca. Julia was later executed, though Seneca survived and returned from exile seven years later.

· Messalina accused another niece, Julia Livia, of immorality and incest and had her executed on Claudius's orders.

· Agripina the Younger, Claudius’s last surviving niece, was accused of leading Statilius Taurus in crimes of "magical and superstitious practices.” Taurus committed suicide, and Messalina was only prevented from further persecuting Agrippina because she was distracted by her new lover, Gaius Silius.

According to later accounts, Messalina even plotted to kill the young Nero, sending assassins to his bedchamber. Though the attempt failed, she continued trying to eliminate both Nero and his mother. 

· Poppaea Sabina the Elder, Messalina’s rival for the affection of the actor Mnester, was harassed until she took her own life.

· Marcus Vinicius was allegedly poisoned after rejecting her advances. Painting Hans Makart, Public domain

· She arranged the execution of Polybius, one of Claudius's influential freedmen secretaries.

· She instigated the deaths of two prominent senators, Appius Silanus and Valerius Asiaticus. Silanus was married to Messalina's mother, Domitia Lepida. Messalina restricted her mother’s loyalty to herself.

· Messalina coveted a property owned by Asiaticus, the magnificent Gardens of Lucullus. He was accused of adultery and engaging in homosexual acts, and Claudius condemned him to death.

Claudius remained devoted to Messalina even after learning that she had gone 

through a marriage ceremony with her latest lover, Senator Gaius Silius, while still legally married to the emperor. Historians speculate the union was part of a plot to overthrow Claudius and place Silius on the throne. When the conspiracy unraveled, Messalina fled with her mother to her beloved refuge, the Gardens of Lucullus. Max Roeder, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Despite the evidence against her, Claudius arranged a private meeting. Before it could take place, however, his freedman—claiming to act on the emperor's orders—sent the Praetorian Guard to execute her. At the Gardens of Lucullus, Messalina was offered the honorable choice of suicide. Unable to take her own life, she was killed by a guardsman's sword. Italiano: Fotogramma del film muto Messalina, dir Enrico Guazzoni, prod Guazzoni Film, Roma, 1923

In next month's blog, we'll step inside the fabled Gardens of Lucullus, a place of breathtaking beauty and deadly intrigue, where Messalina reportedly entertained lovers, plotted against rivals, and spent her final hours before execution.


Step into the shadowy streets of 96 AD Ephesus, where danger lurks around every corner, and the line between friend and foe is razor-thin. Fortunes of Death, plunges you into a world where faith is tested, alliances are shattered, and one woman's courage could be the difference between life and death.

Sabina, a fierce young Christian widow, is thrust into a deadly game when a wealthy citizen is murdered. With her friend’s life hanging in the balance, Sabina must unravel a web of lies, deceit, and hidden motives. Every clue she uncovers brings her closer to the truth—and closer to becoming the next victim.

This isn't just a murder mystery. It's a gripping tale of faith, resilience, and the power of one woman standing against the darkness.

Visit me at my website, on my Author Facebook page,

or purchase my books at:

Fortunes of Death

Obedient Unto Death

My Amazon book page

Mystery, murder, and mayhem aren’t your typical Christian themes—but why should secular authors have all the fun solving crimes in ancient Rome? My love of history, scripture, and whodunits led me to blend faith with intrigue, bringing the world of the early Christians to life. Writing from my home in the woods of northern Wisconsin, I also draw inspiration from my travels to Turkey, Greece, and Italy, where I’ve walked the same streets my characters once did. Through historical mysteries, I explore a time when faith was a matter of life and death—literally. 

Western Hearths: Harvest Suppers

Harvest time in the Wild West rewarded months of hard work in gardens, fields, and orchards. Days remained long, but the crisp evening air whispered of winter to come. The bounty of the land overflowed larders, cupboards, and tables. Harvest suppers brought friends and family together to enjoy the bounty and thank God for His provision. Americans still observe this tradition, which is deeply embedded in the Christian heritage of this nation.

Pioneer Life at Harvest Time

For western homesteaders and settlers in a small town, September meant early mornings and long afternoons busy with gathering eggs, harvesting crops, and any number of tasks—like shelling beans, drying apples, and putting up vegetables for winter. The livestock bawled for food, firewood needed cutting, the fire in the stove needed tending, and the bread box was empty again.

Despite the multitude of tasks to do each and every day, harvest time brought joy. Special meals had family tables groaning under the weight of savory vegetables, fragrant strews, fruit pies, and fresh bread. Neighbors stopped by with extra produce, and never went away empty-handed. In a large and untamed land, Americans very survival depended on looking out for one another. The heritage of hospitality prevalent throughout America today has its roots in this culture of kindness.

Corn and Potato Bake

A harvest supper from pioneer days often included a corn and potato bake. This simple dish combines staple ingredients with the season’s freshest vegetables. Filling, warming, and easy to prepare in a single pot or skillet, it graced many homestead tables in September.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter, lard, or bacon drippings
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cups potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 cup corn kernels (fresh, canned, or frozen)
• 1 cup milk or cream (or water for a more rustic version)
• 2 eggs
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: a pinch of nutmeg or chopped herbs like thyme or parsley

Instructions

• Preheat a cast-iron skillet or oven-safe pan over medium heat. Grease with butter or lard.
• Sauté onions in fat until soft and fragrant.
• Add diced potatoes and cook until lightly tender, about 10 minutes.
• Stir in corn kernels.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and milk (or cream), then pour over the vegetables.
• Season with salt, pepper, and optional herbs. Cook covered on stovetop or bake in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C) until eggs are set and top is golden, about 20–25 minutes.
• Serve hot from the skillet, with fresh bread if desired.

Tip: For extra flavor, fry a small piece of salted pork with the onions before adding the potatoes.

Bringing the Harvest Home

Harvest suppers gave busy western families a chance to pause, offer thanks, and savor the fruits of their labor with the people they treasured most. 

These meals furthered the quiet romance found in every happy home. A shared smile across the table might spark a tender moment amid the bustle of harvest work. 

Bring the warmth of the western pioneer spirit to your own table by recreating this simple pioneer dish.

About Janalyn Voigt

Janalyn Voigt fell in love with literature at an early age when her father read chapters from classics as bedtime stories. When Janalyn grew older, she put herself to sleep with tales "written" in her head. Today Janalyn is a storyteller who writes in several genres. Romance, mystery, adventure, history, and whimsy appear in all her novels in proportions dictated by their genre. Janalyn Voigt is represented by Wordserve Literary.

Learn more about Janalyn Voigt, author of the Montana Gold series.

Fall in Love with the Wild West

The Montana Gold series explores faith, courage, and love in the Wild West. Learn more about the books>>

Hills of Nevermore (book 1) - Can a young widow hide her secret shame from the Irish preacher bent on protecting her?

Cheyenne Sunrise (book 2) – After her wagon journey goes terribly wrong, a woman disillusioned in men must rely on a half-Cheyenne trail guide.
Stagecoach to Liberty (book 3) – A young Hessian girl must decide to trust a handsome Irish stranger or remain with her alarming companions.
The Forever Sky (book 4) - Can a young widow with no faith in love hope for a future with the man who broke her heart?
The Promise Tree (book 5) - A preacher’s daughter shouldn’t encourage a troublemaker’s advances—no matter what her wayward heart desires.

The Whispering Wind (book 6) - A beautiful woman can have her pick of suitors but never the man she wants.

Gilded Age Hotels of the Thousand Islands

During the Gilded Age, the Thousand Islands transformed from a quiet river frontier into one of North America’s most fashionable summer destinations. Central to this transformation were the grand hotels that lined the St. Lawrence River—monuments to leisure, luxury, and the era’s faith in progress. Among the most celebrated were the Thousand Island House Hotel, the Crossmon House Hotel, and the New Frontenac Hotel on Round Island, each shaping the region’s social and economic life.

The Thousand Island House Hotel, located in Alexandria Bay, was the crown jewel of the region. Opened in 1874, it quickly became one of the largest resort hotels in the world. With sweeping verandas, elegant dining rooms, and manicured grounds, the hotel catered to politicians, industrialists, and international travelers. Steamers arrived daily, unloading guests eager for concerts, formal dinners, and river excursions. The Thousand Island House firmly established Alexandria Bay as the gateway to the islands.

Nearby, the Crossmon House Hotel offered a similarly grand experience with a more intimate atmosphere. Built in the 1870s, Crossmon House was known for refined service, spacious rooms, and commanding river views. Guests enjoyed boating, fishing, and organized social events, reinforcing the hotel’s reputation as a place where relaxation and social display went hand in hand. Like many wooden Gilded Age hotels, it faced the constant threat of fire.

The New Frontenac Hotel on Round Island embodied the romance of island resort life. Accessible only by boat, it offered guests seclusion without sacrificing luxury. Wide porches overlooked the river’s shipping channel, allowing visitors to watch steamers and freighters pass while enjoying cool breezes. The hotel’s island setting made arrival an event in itself, heightening the sense of escape that defined Thousand Islands tourism.

Together, these hotels shaped the social rhythms of the Thousand Islands. Though none survive today, their influence remains, defining the region’s Gilded Age character and proving that leisure could rival industry in grandeur.

ABOUT A SUMMER AT THOUSAND ISLAND HOUSE:

Addison Bell has always had an enduring love for children, so she nannies at the renowned Thousand Island House on Staple’s Island? As Addi thrives in her work, she attracts the attention of the recreation pavilion’s manager, Liam Donovan, as well as the handsome Navy Officer Lt. Worthington, a lighthouse inspector, hotel patron, and single father of mischievous little Jimmy. But when Jimmy goes missing, Addi finds both her job and her reputation in danger. How can she calm the churning waters of Liam, Lt. Worthington, and the President, clear her name, and avoid becoming the scorn of the Thousand Islands community?

ABOUT SUSAN:

Susan G Mathis is an international award-winning, multi-published author of stories set in the beautiful Thousand Islands in upstate NY. Susan has been published more than thirty times in full-length novels, novellas, and non-fiction books. She has sixteen in her fiction line. Susan is also a published author of two premarital books, stories in a dozen compilations, and hundreds of published articles. Susan lives in Northern Virginia and enjoys traveling the world. Visit www.SusanGMathis.com/fiction for more.

"Cut and Get Out": The Devastating Timber Boom of East Texas

 by Tom Goodman 

What comes to mind when you picture old Texas?

Comanche scouts atop inhospitable mesas? 

Cattle drives across dusty plains?

Oil derricks pulling black gold from the ground?

How about a forest so immense that enormous pines towered overhead and little grew beneath their canopy but pine straw?

This was once the landscape of much of East Texas.

In her post-Civil War novel Chenneville, Paulette Jiles sends her protagonist through this country in pursuit of a murderer. (Every historical novelist hoping to hone our craft should read Paulette Jiles.) She writes:

The road was cut through heavy timber, and there was very little undergrowth. The pines were enormous. He rode through that pine forest that stretches from southeastern Missouri through Western Arkansas and Louisiana and East Texas, a primeval and uncut dark fabric grown up untouched since God made the hills. Beneath these giant trees were darknesses without end…. The giant trees reached up to 180 feet, trees that were 10 feet around and made reedy, hushing noises in the evening wind. The trees seemed to possess a huge indifferent intelligence that lay just beyond the reach of human knowledge.

The description is not far from the historical record—and a forest like that could not remain untouched for long.

By the late nineteenth century, lumbermen whose forests in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Minnesota had been depleted were looking southward for new timber. They found an extraordinary supply in East Texas.

Mills appeared. Railroads followed. Settlements became boomtowns.

By 1907, Texas was the nation’s third-largest supplier of lumber, and lumber companies were the largest employers in the state.

But the timber barons had no reforestation plans. Their policy at the turn-of-the-century was “cut and get out.” In the second decade of the twentieth century, conservationist W. Goodrich Jones said: 

“Like the buffaloes, the timber is going and going fast: what escapes the big mill is caught by the little mill, and what the little mill does not get, the tie cutters and rail splitters soon have chopped down … [until it looks like] shell-torn areas of France after the Great War."

Here’s a photo of what the forest looked like under such a policy:

In Chenneville, Paulette Jiles’ protagonist observed how sawmills “had begun to eat their way into the stands of massive pines with the villainous, aggressive noises of circle saws to reduce them to planks, siding, and railroad ties. The air was filled with drifting sawdust that caught the long bars of sunlight.”

Companies harvested the timber and moved on, with little thought of reforestation. The work was highly transient, and that rootlessness appears to have contributed to the region’s reputation for violence and lawlessness.

That history gave me one of the central images for my new novel.

One of my fictional characters is a lumber baron whose fortunes are collapsing under gambling debts. He treats the forest much as he treats the people around him: as something to be used up for his own benefit. He cuts the timber without concern for what will remain after he is gone, while using an illegal liquor operation to profit from the weaknesses of the people around him.

Into this grim setting rides twenty-eight-year-old Rick Burleson, who moves his young family to the timber boomtown of Groveton to lead his first church. 

The lumber baron in my story is fictional, but not the pastor. He’s based on Jesse Lee, a young Methodist minister who faced down a violent bootlegging gang that was ruining his town. In response to threats against his life and family, he began carrying a pistol, even laying his Colt revolver on the pulpit as he preached.

He became known as the pistol-packing preacher. 

That forgotten episode inspired my new historical novel. Through Many Dangers: A Novel of the 1905 Pistol-Packing Preacher releases October 1, but signed copies are available now through my online store.

Only a fraction of the original longleaf pine forest survives, but forestry practices changed during the twentieth century, and second-growth pine forests blanket East Texas once again. Groveton, the setting of my novel, still exists, too, its population down from about 5,500 during the timber boom to fewer than 1,000 today. But 120 years ago, it was a place of towering pines and screaming saw blades, lumber camps and transient workers, where men could make fortunes from what they cut down—and a young Methodist pastor found himself confronting another kind of exploitation in the town’s illegal saloons.

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A deadly train stunt. A pistol-packing preacher. A UFO crash in 1897. A town that outlawed dancing. In Ten Texas Tales, you'll find stories like this from turn-of-the-century Texas. I mine that seam of history for my novels and for anecdotes to put in my monthly newsletter. Each month, I’ll give you nuggets of history, recommended books and films, and behind-the-scenes looks at my novels.