The Adams House, a Modern Marvel and yet Abandoned

By Kathy Kovach

Adams House Museum, Deadwood South Dakota

Sitting on a prime piece of land, four parcels to be exact, is Deadwood, South Dakota’s crowning architectural glory. The Adams House. Many articles had been written about it in its heyday. One local newspaper reporter wrote: “When completed the residence will equal in point of beauty anything of its kind west of Omaha.”

Harris Franklin was a Jewish immigrant who had become successful through wholesale liquor and later diversified into cattle, gold mining, and banking. He, his wife, Anna, and his son Nathan moved to Deadwood in the Dakota Territory in 1877. He purchased the aforementioned land and commissioned Jewish architect Simeon D. Eisendrath to design their new home.

Bells not located in Adams House

Built in the elegant Queen Anne style, it included wonders such as central heat and plumbing, with hot and cold running water. Electricity powered the home, and servants were summoned with electric bells. The most modern addition was the telephone. Gorgeous oak trim and stained-glass windows adorned the house, as well. When the Franklins took residency in 1883, they were truly the talk of the town.

The first social gathering in the elegant home was for their son who married Ada F. Keller on September 14 the year they moved in.

Anna Franklin later hired a Chicago firm to redecorate her house a mere three years after moving in. Soon, her health failed, and on January 10, 1902, she died. Three years later, Harris sold the house to Nathan and Ada for a token $1.

Deadwood, South Dakota

Nathan Harris continued his father’s legacy as a successful businessman and, on two different occasions in 1914 and 1916, was elected mayor of Deadwood. He and Ada raised their only daughter, Anna Mildred, in the stylish home. At some point, Mildred moved to New York, along with her grandfather Harris, and by 1918, Nathan and Ada decided to relocate there as well to be closer to their daughter and his father.

Enter William E. (aka W.E.) Adams and his wife Alice who bought the house for $8,500 in 1920.

Tragedy struck several times under the new occupancy. Five years after moving in, Alice was diagnosed with cancer. Even so, she traveled to California to visit her daughter, Helen, who was pregnant. While Alice was there, she died. Helen went into premature labor, also perishing along with the baby girl. W.E. was distraught as he had also lost a daughter thirteen years earlier. All alone now, he donated $35,000 to Deadwood to create the Adams Museum to honor his family.

Adams Museum

Sometime afterward, the 73-year-old W.E. married 29-year-old Mary Mastrovish Vicich. They had only been married seven years when W.E. succumbed to a stroke and passed away. Mary couldn’t stay in the house after the death of her husband, and she vacated the premises suddenly—it’s said she thought it was haunted—leaving everything intact, including music sheets on the piano and cookies in the cookie jar.

The house was closed up for fifty years.

Finally, in 1987, the house was bought and restored. By 2000, it was opened to the public and everything, including the cookies, was just as Mary had left them.

To see the elegant home at 22 Van Buren Street in Deadwood, South Dakota, one would never know the tragic history. However, the daily tours apprise visitors of happy and sad times within the walls of the Adams House.

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Titanic: Legacy of Betrayal

A TIME-SLIP NOVEL

A secret. A key. Much was buried on the Titanic, but now it's time for resurrection.

Follow two intertwining stories a century apart. 1912 - Matriarch Olive Stanford protects a secret after boarding the Titanic that must go to her grave. 2012 - Portland real estate agent Ember Keaton-Jones receives the key that will unlock the mystery of her past... and her distrusting heart.

To buy: Amazon

Kathleen E. Kovach is a Christian romance author published traditionally through Barbour Publishing, Inc. as well as indie. Kathleen and her husband, Jim, raised two sons while living the nomadic lifestyle for over twenty years in the Air Force. Now planted in northeast Colorado, she's a grandmother, though much too young for that. Kathleen is a longstanding member of American Christian Fiction Writers. An award-winning author, she presents spiritual truths with a giggle, proving herself as one of God's peculiar people.

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Weddings in the Roaring '20s

A hundred years ago, America was recovering from World War I, enjoying an economic boom, and the culture shifted. Jazz blossomed, technology such as automobiles, moving pictures, and radio were at hand, and women could vote. 

Bride Peggy Fish, 1920s, Public Domain

Many of these women either became or were influenced by Flappers, a generation of women who bobbed their hair, wore short skirts (to their knees), drove cars, wore makeup, smoked cigarettes in public, and even drank alcohol, despite Prohibition. In an age of flouted conventions, weddings changed, too, and many usual trappings or traditions were set aside to reflect the times.

Naturally, weddings are cultural affairs, and every wedding was different, but the 1920's saw a trend towards smaller, more informal weddings. Elopements were popular, as were wedding performed in city hall. Church weddings still occurred, of course, but for the first time, brides refused to have their fathers walk them down the aisle toward their grooms.

Alice Joyce and James Regan, Jr. married in July, 1920. Public Domain.

Reflecting current fashions, waistlines and necklines of wedding dresses dropped, and hems rose. Some went to the knee, others were shorter in the front and longer in the back. Atop bobbed hairdos, brides wore cloche hats, headdresses, or Juliet caps rather than veils (although the headgear often had a trailing veil attached). All these could be intricately embroidered or beaded, however: simpler wedding didn't necessarily mean less ornate.

Nor did all brides wear white. Some wore black as a statement against the "white wedding" idea, but other brides chose gowns of other colors to suit their tastes. Bridesmaids wore matching or complementary gowns.

New York Bridesmaids, early 1920s. Public Domain.

Brides wore makeup in the 1920's, as well, even if it meant they had to make it themselves. Many a young lady mixed charcoal with petroleum jelly to create eyeliner and shadow.

Bouquets were not tiny in this decade. On the contrary, brides favored large, trailing bouquets--for themselves as well as their bridesmaids.

1929 Wedding. Public Domain.

Wedding cake was an important part of a reception, of course. Often brides or members of their families baked a sponge cake, but sent it to a confectioner's shop to be iced. Others decorated the cakes themselves, and in the spirit of the times, the icing was piped into Art Deco designs like chevrons, or the cakes were topped with feathers, flowers, or other ornamentation.

The photograph is Australian, but it shows the tiered cake, food, and decorations well. 1920s, Public Domain.

White icing was still popular, since white refined sugar was expensive and had become a symbol of affluence.

One thing is clear: American weddings of the Roaring '20s reflected the changing culture.

**

Carousel Dreams includes The Carousel Wedding by Susanne Dietze, set in 1922 San Diego, California.

Susanne is an award-winning author of stories with timeless heart.

A Hero for all Time – Hercule Poirot (with Giveaway) By Donna Schlachter

Hercule Poirot (David Suchet)

If somebody asked you to name your favorite television hero, who would that be? Depending on your age, you might choose Roy Rogers, John Wayne, Tarzan, Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman. Perhaps one of the Ninja Teenage Mutant Turtles would come to mind, or an Incredible.

For me, my all-time hero would be none other than Hercule Poirot. A persnickety retired Belgian detective who appeared in 35 books by the late Dame Agatha Christie, M. Poirot solved his cases using his brain and not his brawn.

Perhaps one of the most interesting facts about M. Poirot, who loomed large on the screen as well as the page, is that he was but 5 foot, 4 inches tall. Perhaps his balding, egg-shaped head gave him the appearance of more stature. Or maybe it was his huge ego. He never accepted that a mystery would go unsolved, a criminal never brought to justice, on his watch.

His sense of justice was such that he wouldn’t give up. Not even to his dying breath, where, once again, he set the world right, ensuring the murderer paid for his crimes, even if nobody else knew.

 
As with all heroes, his sidekick, Hastings, was a true and loyal friend. In fact, were it not for Captain Hastings, we may never have been introduced to Poirot. For indeed, as with Doctor Watson and Sherlock Holmes, it was Hastings’ writing of Poirot’s cases that put the little man first page in the news and in the hearts of London of the 1920’s through 1975.

Over the years, several actors played the part of Poirot in television and movies. Austin Trevor was the first to bring the detective to theaters in 1931, with David Suchet playing him both on public television and in movies. In fact, Suchet was such a talented actor, he portrayed the great sleuth in 70 stories, double the number of books Dame Christie wrote. 

Humility was never one of Poirot’s characteristics, and he often claimed to be the greatest detective in the world. Prior to arriving on the shores of England as a refugee after World War 1. In some places, he is referred to as having retired from police work, but in others, only that he fled Belgium and landed in England, alone and knowing nobody.

In Dame Agatha’s autobiography, she described the creation of Poirot as happening during a time when, in 1914, she worked at a Red Cross Hospital in Torquay. Beginning as a nurse, she later moved to the dispensary, where began her interest in poisons. Her sister Madge had challenged her to write her own detective stories, and so Agatha thought about that while surrounded with drugs and compounds that could kill. She said, “Since I was surrounded by poison, perhaps it was natural that death by poisoning should be the method I selected.”

Dame Agatha’s writing process began with the crime, then extended to the procedure, leaving room for a twist that readers could detect and perhaps solve. In August 1914, a colony of Belgian refugees lived near her, and she thought, “Why not make my detective a Belgian? There were all types of refugees. How about a refugee police officer? A retired police officer.”

She wanted her detective to be as unlike her as possible, which meant he was a tidy little man, since Christie was the opposite. His moustache came next, along with his immaculate and almost compulsive grooming habits and dress code. In fact, Hastings commented, “I believe a speck of dust would have caused him more pain that a bullet wound.” Since she considered herself to be less than intelligent, he would be brilliant. A big man needed a big name, so Hercules was the first. Then came Poirot. However, not liking the sound of that, she dropped the S and Hercule Poirot was born in The Mysterious Affair at Styles.

For the initial book, Dame Agatha had the beginning and the end, and worked hard at filling in the middle. However, realizing she had an over-complicated set of plot lines going, she wisely rewrote the entire middle.

She sent the book to a publisher, who promptly returned it. But she wouldn’t let that stop her, so she sent it to another company, and Poirot was finally introduced to the world in 1921, four years after it was written. 


Her final book about the great detective, Curtain, was written in the 1940s, but didn't appear in print until 1975.


Leave a comment, and I will randomly draw for a print copy (US only) of another favorite author of mine, Patricia Moyes, in her novel from the 1960s Down Among the Dead Men.


About Donna:

Donna writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, and has been published more than 30 times in novellas and full-length novels. She is a member of ACFW, Writers on the Rock, SinC, Pikes Peak Writers, and CAN; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; ghostwrites; edits; and judges in writing contests.

www.HiStoryThruTheAges.wordpress.com

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What Can Be Online University: online courses on the craft of writing: https://what-can-be-online-institute.teachable.com/

Etsy online shop of original artwork, book folding art, and gift items : https://www.etsy.com/shop/Dare2DreamUS?ref=search_shop_redirect


Resources:

https://poirotchronology.blogspot.com/p/hercule-poirot-timeline.html

https://www.agathachristie.com/characters/hercule-poirot

The Secret Shame of the Turpentine Industry

By Michelle Shocklee

I love research! Not only do I learn many fascinating and cool facts about my subject, I usually take numerous rabbit trails and learn all sorts of things I hadn't anticipated. Such is the case with the new historical novel I'm working on. While researching life in America after the stock market crash of 1929, I discovered the existence of Turpentine Camps in the south during the 1930s. I'd never heard of these camps nor did I know manufacturing turpentine was a booming industry that used slave labor prior to the Civil War and forced labor afterward.

To understand the importance of turpentine products and why these camps existed, we have to go back in history.

In 1720, when America was still under British rule, the English Parliament enacted a bounty to encourage colonists to engage in the industry of "naval stores" -- products made from the sap of trees, including turpentine. These products were used in building and maintaining wooden sailing ships: Tar kept ropes and sail rigging from decaying, and rosin, or pitch, was used to caulk the seams between timbers in the ships' hulls. For this reason, turpentine products were called "naval stores." Naval stores would have been used on nearly everything we see in this picture of a British Man-of-War. In order to meet the high demand for naval stores, Parliament looked to the colonies rather than rely on Russia, the only other country producing large quantities of naval stores. By the 1770s, the production of naval stores was widespread in Eastern North Carolina where forests of longleaf pine existed. 

Turpentine also had medicinal uses that date back to the Romans who used it to treat depression. Naval surgeons during the Age of Discovery injected hot turpentine into wounds, medics used it to try and stop heavy bleeding, and Colonists used it as a laxative. Snake Oil peddlers claimed concoctions that contained turpentine could cure many ailments, including rheumatism, whooping cough, and croup. Today, turpentine, or the spirits of turpentine, is still listed as an ingredient in good ol' Vick's VapoRub. During the 19th century,  a blend of ethanol and turpentine called camphine served as the dominant lamp fuel until the arrival of kerosene.

As you can see, turpentine products were in high demand for many reasons. In order to create these highly-sought naval stores, resin from trees--specifically longleaf pine--is collected and distilled. The work was dangerous and difficult. First, Chevron-shaped gashes were carved into pine trees. Next, metal sleeves were inserted, and pots and barrels were put into place to catch the sap when it ran from early spring through October. Slave labor--men, women, and children--was used to harvest the sap until slavery was abolished after the Civil War.

Starting in the 1870s, turpentine stills dotted the piney woods of northwest Florida. Camps of employees grew up around the turpentine processing sites. The still and population became known as “Turpentine camps.” These camps, located in the forests, were isolated, away from town or city life. Many of these camps developed a culture of their own. Sadly, the camps became known for their terrible working conditions and abuses. The owner and the commissary store was the power base in the camp. It was not uncommon for workers to become virtual slaves – unable to pay their debt at the commissary and required to work until their debt was paid. The worst abuses in these camps occurred during the 1930s. The Great Depression left few alternatives for the poor. They quickly became absorbed into the endless cycle of work and debt. Workers were rarely paid in cash. Sometimes bosses used alcohol as a reward for extra work, contributing to occasional lawlessness and violence in the camps. Some Southern turpentine camps included stockades. Others, especially in Florida throughout the 1800s, were known to lease convicts for turpentining as part of their penal system.

The Convict Leasing System lasted in Florida from 1875 to 1923.

Although convict leasing was eventually outlawed, another legislative act, in 1919, authorized turpentine operators to hold non-convict workers for debt. Under this law an operator recruited black workers, and the company provided them transportation to the work site, placing them in debt for that service. The workers' annual bill for grits, pork, calico, and shoes always added up to more than his wages. The system, ensuring as it did that the blacks would never be out of debt, made quitting almost impossible. By the mid-1900s the industry started its decline due, in part, to the advent of steel ships and the development of synthetic chemicals.

I don't think I'll ever look at a can of turpentine the same after learning all this history, much of it sad and unsavory. Not only were many people taken advantage of during the height of the turpentine industry, but vast forests of trees were forever mutilated and destroyed.

Your turn. Have you heard of turpentine camps? Do you use turpentine and for what purpose? I'm curious now that I know so much about it!

Michelle Shocklee is the award-winning author of The Planter's Daughter and The Widow of Rose Hill. Her historical novella set in the New Mexico Territory is included in The Mail-Order Brides Collection. Michelle and her husband of thirty-two years make their home in Tennessee. Connect with her at www.MichelleShocklee.com.



THE WIDOW OF ROSE HILL

Widowed during the war, Natalie Ellis finds herself solely responsible for Rose Hill plantation. When Union troops arrive with a proclamation freeing the slaves, all seems lost. How can she run the plantation without slaves? In order to save her son’s inheritance she strikes a deal with the arrogant, albeit handsome, Colonel Maish. In exchange for use of her family’s property, the army will provide workers to bring in her cotton crop. But as her admiration for the colonel grows, a shocking secret is uncovered. Can she trust him with her heart and her young, fatherless son?

https://www.amazon.com/Michelle-Shocklee/e/B01MYD4TRE/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1486004955&sr=8-1

Black Tuesday: The Day the Stock Market Crashed

By Michelle Shocklee

October 29, 1929 seems like a very long time ago. Yet to put that date into perspective, my dad was born in 1921 and my mom in 1927. They were children when the stock market crashed and ushered in the worst economic depression in our country's history. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself. To understand what led to the stock market crash, let me take you back to the beginning, before there was a stock market in the United States. 

Alexander Hamilton

Back in the late 1700s, available stock was limited to insurance companies, the Bank of New York, and the new First Bank of the United States and its "Hamilton Bonds" which were bonds Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton issued to deal with America's Revolutionary war debt. Unlike today's stock market, early buyers and sellers were not trading shares in a company. Instead, they dealt with government securities, businesses securities, and individual debt. Trading took place in a coffee shop or out on the street.

Interest in the newly formed bank stock was high at first, which increased the price to a whopping $280 by August 1790. The price wasn't sustainable, and a small crisis took place that required Hamilton to step in with government money. The market rebounded in December 1791 only to crash in March 1792.

Why this up and down in the market?

Because unscrupulous speculators like William Duer and others like him obtained huge loans from banks and individuals, bought up government securities and bank stock, then hatched schemes to sell at a profit to foreign investors. Quite simply, William Duer was Wall Street’s very first insider trader, and the man behind the Financial Panic of 1792. Duer's system failed miserably, sending stocks crashing when they could not maintain their inflated value. Duer, for his part in the whole mess, went to prison, but that didn't help investors.

Fed up with Duer and the others, twenty-four stockbrokers and merchants decided something must be done. Famously, they met beneath a Buttonwood tree and formed a centralized exchange for the burgeoning securities market in the United States. The agreement eliminated the need for auctioneers—used frequently for wheat, tobacco and other commodities—and set a commission rate. The organization made the Tontine Coffee House its headquarters and focused on government bonds.

The signing of the Buttonwood Agreement on May 17, 1792

The Buttonwood Agreement read: We the Subscribers, Brokers for the Purchase and Sale of the Public Stock, do hereby solemnly promise and pledge ourselves to each other, that we will not buy or sell from this day for any person whatsoever, any kind of Public Stock, at a less rate than one quarter percent Commission on the Specie value and that we will give preference to each other in our Negotiations. In Testimony whereof we have set our hands this 17th day of May at New York, 1792.

Twenty-five years later on March 8, 1817, the group officially became the New York Stock &

Exchange Board, later simplified to the New York Stock Exchange. Throughout the early 1800s, the NYSE expanded beyond government bonds and bank stocks. New York itself soon surpassed Philadelphia as the financial center of the United States.

Trading on the NYSE floor was revolutionized by the telegraph

Advances in telegraphic communication allowed buying and selling through the telegraph. Membership increased and became more exclusive. By the start of the Civil War, securities, commodities and gold, discovered in California, excited participation in the exchange. In 1878, telephones were installed, giving investors direct access to brokers on the floor of the exchange. The increased activity made the exchange cap the number of members to 1,060, requiring future members to purchase seats from retiring members.

After WWI, the market and the economy struggled. At least 60% of the country's population earned less than $2,000 a year, the basic minimum estimated required for a family to live on. It was this financial climate that left the market ripe for disaster. On Thursday, October 24, 1929, a record 12,894,650 shares changed hands. The huge volume left the ticker tape, a fairly new invention, unable to keep up. The beginnings of a panic rumbled through the exchange. A break for lunch, of all things, saved the day, allowing trading to close with some regain of the losses. Trading continued to slow down on Friday, and the weekend was a welcome relief. 

Yet as history books reveal, Monday's trading was once again huge: over 9,250,000 shares. The losses were great. But unlike Thursday's salvation, there was no recovery. It was the prelude to Black Tuesday, the most infamous day in Wall Street's history. 

 Over 16,400,000 shares were traded on that Tuesday in 1929. People dumped their securities and caused even more downward pressure on the market. Stockbrokers were in tears, hopelessly trying to get in touch with customers. The panic of selling prevented any recovery. The Dow Jones closed at $230 -- down 23%. The market had crashed. 

From October 29, 1929, to November 13, 1929, $30 billion simply vanished from the United States economy due to falling stock prices.

Panicked New Yorkers flood Wall Street on October 29, 1929

The years between 1929 and 1942 are known as the Great Depression. During this time the unemployment rate in the United States hit a staggering 24%. Thousands upon thousands of people were without jobs, without homes, without food. Oddly enough, it was war that brought the depression to an end.

Admittedly, I've never really paid much attention to the stock market, but history makes it very clear we should. Do you dabble in the stock market?

Michelle Shocklee is the award-winning author of The Planter's Daughter and The Widow of Rose Hill. Her historical novella set in the New Mexico Territory is included in The Mail-Order Brides Collection. Michelle and her husband of 31 years make their home in Tennessee. Connect with her at www.MichelleShocklee.com.

THE WIDOW OF ROSE HILL

Widowed during the war, Natalie Ellis finds herself solely responsible for Rose Hill plantation. When Union troops arrive with a proclamation freeing the slaves, all seems lost. How can she run the plantation without slaves? In order to save her son’s inheritance she strikes a deal with the arrogant, albeit handsome, Colonel Maish. In exchange for use of her family’s property, the army will provide workers to bring in her cotton crop. But as her admiration for the colonel grows, a shocking secret is uncovered. Can she trust him with her heart and her young, fatherless son?

https://www.amazon.com/Michelle-Shocklee/e/B01MYD4TRE/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1486004955&sr=8-1

The Roaring '20's

Gabrielle Here:

The word that best describe the 1920's to me is change. After World War I, society changed overnight. The confines of culture fell away and freedom reigned. Women cut off their hair, shortened their dresses, and took off their corsets. Electrical appliance transformed the domestic life and lightened the load on the house wife. Hollywood began to transform the nation through motion pictures. Technology made it possible to spread news across the globe in a matter of minutes. Continents were connected through aviation. And women finally had the right to vote.

Ironically, in this time of freedom and relief from the confines of societal pressures, prohibition held fast. But the very law that made alcohol illegal also made crime and corruption rampant.

The year 1927 holds special interest to me, because it was the year my hometown hero, Charles A. Lindbergh, made his historic non-stop, trans-Atlantic flight in his monoplane, The Spirit of St. Louis. When I researched our local daily newspaper in the summer of 1927, many interesting tidbits of life jump out at me.

1. Aviation Ruled. On May 21st, 1927, a small airplane, carrying a young, unknown man from Minnesota, landed in Le Bourget, France, just 33 1/2 hours after it left New York. Charles A. Lindbergh instantly became the most famous man in the world. Six men died attempting the same flight in the weeks before Lindbergh successfully flew the Atlantic. The world held its breath until he landed safely, and then he became the first Super Star in history. The cameras loved this handsome Midwesterner. He captivated the world with his good looks and his daring accomplishment.

But one town on the planet was especially proud:. Little Falls, Minnesota, Lindy's hometown (and mine).

Photo courtesy of the Morrison County Historical Society

Our little, inconspicuous town was now talked about in the New York Times and known around the world. Can you imagine?

He came home to Little Falls in August of 1927 on his Goodwill Tour. Between July 1927 and October 1927 he flew to all 48 states in the Union, and it's estimated that 1 in every 4 Americans went out to see him on the tour. Our town put on quite a celebration in honor of Lindbergh!

Every day, without fail, our local newspaper covered an aviation story. After Lindbergh made his trans-Atlantic flight, others followed in his footsteps. Flights were made from California to Hawaii, New York to Paris, across the United States, and on and on. One editor put it quite well:

Photo courtesy of the Morrison County Historical Society

2. Beauty Pageants Enthralled. One of the other interesting items I'm noticing in the newspaper is the sheer volume of beauty pageants and contests held in the 1920s. The daily paper has pictures of women from all across the US winning different pageants and contests. It's an interesting cultural element that I'll be studying more.

3. Hollywood Influenced. I'm amazed at how much the daily newspaper mentioned Hollywood--and not all of it was good. One of the main themes I've noticed, especially in the editorial pieces, is the influence Hollywood had on divorce. It seems that one divorce or another is mentioned almost every day. The editor makes many comments on how flippant actors and actresses were about marriage. It seems some things never change...

Photo courtesy of the Morrison
County Historical Society

Many other fun things were going on in the summer of 1927. President Coolidge was visiting the Black Hill of South Dakota, a young maid in a wealthy mansion in Canada fell in love with the heir and was having a grand wedding in the "wilderness," women were beginning to challenge the protocol for courting (by pursuing men!), and motoring on the weekends was becoming a popular past time.

1927 is a fun year to research. The whole decade is a fascinating look at the rapid change in American culture.

Your Turn: What word would you use to describe the 1920s? What intrigues you about this decade?

Gabrielle Meyer lives in central Minnesota on the banks of the Mississippi River with her husband and four children. As an employee of the Minnesota Historical Society, she fell in love with the rich history of her state and enjoys writing fictional stories inspired by real people and events. 

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1926 Bucket List

It's May 1926 and a train trip to the American Southwest is on your bucket list. However, the thought of miles and miles of clickety-clack isn't appealing. Then, you find a brochure announcing Fred Harvey's newly formed Indian Detours.

These one to three day tours allow you to leave the train and visit Indian Reservations in New Mexico and Arizona. Visiting the painted canyons and giant masterpieces of stone in wilderness territory had been relegated to adventurers, photographers, and artists. Now these places are within your reach.

In cooperation with Fred Harvey, Major Hunter Clarkson opened the Indian-Detours headquarters in Santa Fe, New Mexico not far from the La Fonda Hotel.

Clarkson's words on August 25, 1925 (Thomas, 1978, pp. 52-53): "There is more of historic, prehistoric, human and scenic interest...than in any similar area of the world, not excepting india, Egypt, Europe or Asia...The big idea is not only to let people know what is in New Mexico, but to tell them what it is when they see it."

Tours would later originate from the Castaneda Hotel in Las Vegas, New Mexico and other Harvey hotels—the Alvarado in Albuquerque, the Ortiz in Lamy, and the Navajo in Gallup.

The most popular detours were to the Taos, San Ildefonso, and Santa Clara Indian Pueblos. Other tours included the ruins at Puye and Frijoles and the old Spanish village at Truchas. They could tour the Grand Canyon, Rainbow Arch, the Petrified Forest, and other Indian lands.

Travelers who signed up for the Detour tours were called Detourists and/or Dudes. They were met at the railroad stations by women dressed in Southwestern attire and accompanied by a cowboy-driven Harvey car.

Harvey Cars waiting for Detourist at the Lamy, New Mexico train station

The drivers of the Harvey cars were chosen for their mechanical skills and knowledge of a wide variety of emergency procedures.

Elmer Shelton—HarveyCar Driver

The female couriers were qualified by a college education, social background, character, personality, and knowledge of the Southwest. The ability to speak Spanish was a benefit. Their four-month crash course training included archaeology, Southwestern history, politics, sociology, anthropology, geology, and the arts.

Facts the Couriers may have shared with the Dudes.
> Santa Fe, at 7,000 ft. above sea level, is the nation's highest state capital.
> Santa Fe was founded in 1607—13 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth.
> Santa Fe was originally called La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asis. The name was changed in 1910.
> You can see five different states (Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, and New Mexico) from the top of Capulin Volcano.
> Taos pueblo has been inhabited for over a thousand years.
> Dancing while wearing your sombrero is illegal.
> In 1898, Carlsbad Caverns was discovered by sixteen-year-old Jim White. In 2016, we know it is the second largest cave chamber in the world.
> The Yucca, now New Mexico's state flower, has a high level of utility, functioning as a material for baskets, ropes, and footwear.

Southwest Indian Detour Couriers

The original four Southwest Indian Detour Couriers

One of the brochures for the tours

Advertisement for the tours

Couriers and driver outside Detours headquarters in Santa Fe.

Southwest Indian Detour Courier Mary Tucker

Courier Service Brochure

Dudes ready for a Detour adventure

Brochure for Indian pueblos

Would you have signed up for a tour? Would you have been interested in becoming a Courier?

What travel sites are on your bucket list?

Blessings,

Linda "Lin" Farmer Harris

Turning Tidbits of History into Unforgettable Stories

Lin and her husband, Jerry, live on a ranch in Chimney Rock, Colorado. She writes historical fiction for adults and children. Her novella, The Lye Water Bride, is included in the California Gold Rush Romance Collection (Barbour Publishing, August 2016)