If the Trees Could Talk!

 

By Cindy Regnier

 It’s a quaint little town nestled in the Kansas Flint Hills and I’m going to guess that most non-Kansans have never heard of Council Grove. But for history buffs, there are many important reasons to know about Council Grove. Its three famous trees are just one of those reasons.

Council Grove Kansas is located on what we now know as the Santa Fe Trail. For many years it was the last stop for 625 miles along the Santa Fe trail for those heading west. Wagon trains, pioneers, gold seekers and many others stopped here to gather their provisions at The Last Chance store, and perhaps mail a final letter to their loved ones before the set out of the arduous journey ahead. 

There were no post offices on the trail ahead, but in Council Grove the adventurers encountered a massive oak tree that was soon dubbed Post Office Oak. Travelers put letters in the knobs and knotholes or in a cache at the base of the 80-foot-tall tree for those coming behind them to find. From 1827 on, one could find written pages in the oak tree with information about trail conditions or advice on what to expect ahead of them. The tree was a go-to stop for everyone passing by.

 In 1855, a postmaster was finally assigned to Council Grove, but there was no post office except the oak tree. The postmaster would carry any received to the tree and simply pour it out of the sack into the tree cache. Worked well enough, I suppose. I remember seeing the tree countless times as a child and marveling at its hugeness.  

Alas, at approximately 270 years old the old oak died in 1990 leaving only its stump behind. The stump is still there, covered by a protective awning and base constructed to preserve this unique piece of history. Nowadays you can visit the stump and enter the old stone building behind it built in 1864 by Francis Xavier Hebrank, a German immigrant, as a residence with a brewery in the basement. It is now preserved as the home of the Morris County Historical Society and museum.

 Not far away from Post Office Oak, you can visit what is known as Council Oak. This oak tree was so named by a council that met under this tree on August 10, 1825. The tree was part of a mile wide grove of hardwood trees just east of the Neosho River. The council was attended by three U.S. commissioners and the chiefs of the Great and Little Osage Indians. It resulted in a treaty that, for $800 gave Americans safe passage along the Santa Fe Trail through Osage territory. This meeting also coined the name of the town, Council Grove.

Council Oak has also succumbed to age and the elements. Before it blew down in a windstorm in 1958, the oak was approximately 70 feet high and 16 feet around. A protective canopy now preserves its stump

And still another tree captures our attention in Council Grove. General George Custer and the 7th Cavalry Regiment camped under what is now known as Custer Elm while patrolling and protecting the Santa Fe Trail. While stationed here, General Custer bought a 120-acre piece of farm ground with another officer, Amos Kimball in 1869 as an investment. The tree stood on the north edge of that property near Elm Creek.

  Custer was infamously killed June 25, 1876, in the battle of the Little Big Horn by Chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, Sioux Indians. His wife Elizabeth sold the acreage on May 31, 1881.
Council Grove Kiwanis Club bought the plot of ground in 1978 to establish Custer Elm Park.

Dutch Elm disease claimed Custer Elm in the early 1970’s. At that time it was estimated to be 300 years old

Now you know about the historical importance of the trees in Council Grove. A lot of history for a little town, but that’s only the beginning of its many historical sites. I’d love to know if you’ve ever heard of any of these trees. I hope you can visit them one day.

Rand needs a wife. He's got two orphan nieces in his care and a cattle ranch to run. Carly needs an escape and she needs it quick, just in case her ruthless ex-fiance/boss follows through with his threats. She grabs her young brother and flees westward to marry someone she's never met. Is she sacrificing her dreams or putting them aside for something better? It will take every bit of courage she can muster to find out!

The History of Covered Wagons and their Design – with Giveaway By Donna Schlachter

When we hear the words Covered Wagon, we likely envision a long train of wagons with white canvas covers pulled by four prancing horses, while the parents sat side by side facing forward, and the children skipped alongside or rested in the wagon bed.

However, the reality of traveling west included long, hot days; cold, stormy nights; raging rivers overflowing their banks; miles of desert with no sign of water; discarded belongings along the trail; and five months of walking more than 2,000 miles, hoping to find something better than they left behind.

The majority of wagons were made from ordinary farm wagons, with bent metal or wooden hoops from which to hang the canvas covering. Often this cover was patched together from various sources, or perhaps wasn’t even canvas—flour sacks, saddle blankets, and bedding might be used in a pinch.

These wagons needed to be strong enough to carry the people, their goods, and supplies for the trip, without wearing out the team hauling it. Many overloaded their wagons, and found themselves forced to discard family heirlooms which impeded their progress when the wagon sank to its hubs in mud.

The use of metal was kept to a minimum, since iron and other heavy metals were all that was available. Tires were rimmed so they wouldn’t wear out, and moving joints, such as axles and hounds—which connected axles to axle assemblies and the tongue.

 

An icon of the Westward Expansion folklore is the Conestoga Wagon. With its raised floor bed, bow-shaped front, and 12,000 pound capacity, however, the Conestoga was too heavy for most of the trails heading west. Instead, this gargantuan vessel—which garnered the name of Prairie Schooner that was soon applied to all covered wagons—was better suited for the undeveloped roads of the colonial East, falling out of favor due to the arrive of the railroad, by the 1870s. However, some headed west later on, mostly used as cargo wagons that traveled the better developed trails between cities, hauling cargo and supplies. Conestoga wagons originated in Germany, and were thought to have been introduced to German settlers to haul cargo to Philadelphia around 1718. While there was a pull-out board called the lazy board where a teamster could rest if needed, usually he walked alongside.

Most often oxen were used as the draft animals hauling the wagons. They were cheaper, more reliable, and almost as fast as horses or mules. Horses had less stamina and more physical problems, particularly where fresh grass and water were in short supply, and mules—well, the saying stubborn as a mule isn’t an exaggeration.

While a covered wagon averaged about 40 square feet, additional storage was established by framing in empty spaces, such as under the driver’s seat for tools, brackets or hooks to hold water barrels, a feed box hung on the tailgate, and a bucket containing tallow or grease hanging from a nail on the rear axle to keep the joints lubricated.

You can watch a video I took of crossing a river in a covered wagon here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3xfD10YWQo



Question: What would be something you couldn’t possibly leave behind on your journey westward? Please disguise your email address so I can contact you should you win. Name AT carrier DOT extension. For example, donna AT Livebytheword DOT com



I will draw from all responses for a print (US only) or ebook copy of Calli, my latest Prairie Roses Collection release. You can learn more about Calli and the rest of the series at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R8DSMB4

About Donna:
A hybrid author, Donna writes squeaky clean historical and contemporary suspense. She has been published more than 50 times in books; is a member of several writers groups; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; ghostwrites; edits; and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, traveling extensively for both.

www.DonnaSchlachter.com Stay connected so you learn about new releases, preorders, and presales, as well as check out featured authors, book reviews, and a little corner of peace. Plus: Receive a free ebook simply for signing up for our free newsletter!

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Resources: photos from WikiPedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covered_wagon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conestoga_wagon

https://oregontrailcenter.org/the-wagon

Mahaffie Stage Stop and New Book from Vickie McDonough

About ten years ago, my husband and I visited the MaHaffie Stage Stop when I was doing research for a series I wanted to write a series set in Kansas. Little did I know then that my trip to MaHaffe's would inspire me to write a three-book trade fiction series. Years later, I penned a novella called Julia, which is set on the Santa Fe Trail where MaHaffe's is located near Olathe, Kansas. (Julia, is currently on sale for 99 cents.)  Now, I'm writing another novella, Laney, with the same setting. 

Mahaffie Stage Stop and Farm

James B. and Lucinda Mahaffie purchased the farm in 1857. In 1858, the Mahaffies used oxen to move the wood frame home from the downtown lot they purchased in November of 1857 to their new holdings, about a mile outside of Olathe. The family lived in that home until the new stone house that still stands was finished late in 1865. The Mahaffie farm was one of the most prosperous in Johnson County in the 1860s and early 1870s. The farm is located on the “Westport Route” of the Santa Fe Trail, which also carried travelers leaving Westport, Missouri and crossing what is now the Kansas City metro region for the Oregon and California Trails as well as the Santa Fe Trail.

The Barlow, Sanderson, and Company Stagecoach Line contracted with the Mahaffie family to provide one of the stops needed for their coaches carrying passengers and, in some cases, mail between Fort Scott and Fort Leavenworth, and from Independence, Missouri all the way to Santa Fe, New Mexico.

It is believed the Mahaffies started serving meals to travelers from their first home as early as 1858. By 1864, coaches began using the farm as a stop. Late in 1865 and until about 1870, coach passengers and other hungry travelers took their meals in the basement of the “new” stone farmhouse, designed to serve as a kitchen and dining hall.

In 1867, Lucinda, her daughters, and hired helpers might have served as many as 50 to 100 meals a day. While coach passengers ate, incoming teams of horses were switched for fresh animals. Follow in the footsteps of these same passengers and travelers when you visit!

What can you see there? The Heritage House Museum gives you some of the history of Mahaffie's, and you can tour the historic farmhouse, barn, ice house, cellar, smokehouse, blacksmith, and more.  Check out www.mahaffie.org

Laney

Vickie McDonough

Laney Dawson is desperate to leave Council Grove, KS. Her abusive father is getting out of prison in a week, and she refuses to allow him to hurt her again. With few options available for a young woman, she poses as Lane, a teen boy, and hires on with a family traveling the Santa Fe Trail. Laney regrets lying to the kindhearted Buckley family, especially Ethan, the oldest of the five siblings. As her feelings for Ethan grow, she knows she needs to tell him the truth, but will he leave her at the next town when he learns she's a woman? Laney is on pre-order at Amazon for just $2.99

Wagon Train, Ho! By Donna Schlachter – with Giveaway

Pioneers crossing the Plains of Nebraska (wikipedia)

Whenever somebody says “wagon train”, various images are conjured in our minds. The iconic television program of the 1950s. The multitude of westerns produced over the years. Bonnets, long skirts, horses, whips, campfires, rugged terrain, mountains, butter churns, running out of water, blazing hot sun, freezing winter storm, stampedes—but most always, the western migration to the Pacific coast is the goal.

So it might surprise you to learn that wagon trains are neither a product of the 1840s and onward, or an American invention. In fact, one of the most famous wagon designs, the Conestoga, is first officially mentioned in 1717. James Hendricks purchased the wagon named after the Conestoga River in Lancaster County, PA. The design was perhaps introduced by German settlers.

Line drawing of a Conestoga wagon with oxen (wikipedia)

Conestoga wagons were initially used during colonial times as a cargo wagon, pulled by up to eight horses or twelve oxen. A special breed of draft horse, the Conestoga, was developed for hauling these heavy freight wagons in the 1700s.

Covered wagons were a variation of the Conestoga wagon, a pared-down version because the heavy Conestoga was too weighty for the thousands of miles of travel required. Often a farmer used an ordinary farm wagon with a series of bent saplings and a canvas cover strung over the top. Oxen were most common, although mules and horses were also used. 

Perhaps the favorite of the covered wagons was the chuckwagon, a type of field wagon used to store and prepare food. The invention of the chuckwagon as we currently know it is attributed to Charles Goodnight, a Texas rancher, in 1866. Following the Civil War, the beef market in Texas expanded, and thousands of cattle drives meant tens of thousands of men on the trail for months at a time. He added a “chuck box” to the back of a wagon with drawers and shelves for storage, along with a hinged lid for a flat cooking surface. With a water barrel and a canvas firewood sling, the rig was complete.

Wagon trains had a hierarchy of sorts. There was a leader or a captain who rode in the first wagon. The rest of the wagons fell into an unspoken position usually based on the fastest team or lightest wagon. If one of the families fell sick, they were moved back in the train since they’d probably have to stop more often, and perhaps because nobody wanted the germs “blowing back” on them. Later arrivals joined the end of the train until they proved themselves worthy of moving forward. The chuck wagon usually came before the sick.

To save wear and tear on their animals, migrants walked a good part of the day. Only the very young, very old, or infirmed would ride in the wagon. With oxen, many times the driver would also walk alongside.

Scout riders rode ahead to check for safe passage, while several rode up and down the wagon train, checking that everybody was keeping up. If a wagon broke down, those behind would halt and help with the repair. Sometimes this was also a good time to light a fire and have something hot to eat.

Any cattle included in the wagon train were watched over by a couple of riders, then when the train stopped for the night, were driven into the inside of the circle of wagons for safekeeping and so they didn’t wander off in the night.

In my book, Christmas Under the Stars, I used oxen to pull the covered wagons because that was a tidbit of history that I thought readers would enjoy. Driving oxen is a skill unto itself, and so I did research into the words used, such as “gee” and “haw” (right or left).

To enter a random drawing to win a print (US only) or ebook copy of Christmas Under the Stars, please leave a comment.

About Christmas Under the Stars:

November 1858, Utah Territory

Edie Meredith strives to keep her temper and her tongue under control as she heads west with her brother to California. Raised in an itinerant preacher family, she promises she will never marry a man of the cloth.

Tom Aiken, drover of the wagon train, longs to answer his true calling: to preach, and while he realizes not every woman would choose a preacher for a husband, he hopes to soon find his help-meet.

Suspicious ‘accidents’ plague their journey. Is someone trying to keep them from reaching their destination? Or will misunderstanding and circumstances keep them apart?

Donna lives in Denver with husband Patrick. As a hybrid author, she 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 American Christian Fiction Writers, Writers on the Rock, Sisters In Crime, and Christian Authors Network; facilitates a critique group; and teaches writing classes online and in person. Donna also ghostwrites, edits, and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, and travels extensively for both. Donna is represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary Management.





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The History and Mystery of Loretto Chapel

By Michelle Shocklee

Growing up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, I couldn't help but be familiar with the famous Loretto Chapel. I recall at least one school field trip to see it, plus various visits to show it off to out-of-town relatives. Of course, kids don't always appreciate fascinating historical details or beautiful architecture the way adults do, so I can't say I was all that impressed with Loretto Chapel. That is, however, until I grew up and moved away from New Mexico. Funny how ones perspective changes as we grow wiser.

Loretto Chapel, Santa Fe, New Mexico; photo Wikipedia

Perhaps some of you aren't familiar with the history and the mystery surrounding this beautiful chapel. Let me fill you in on the details.

In 1850, the first Catholic Bishop of the newly established New Mexico Territory, Bishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy, recognized the need to provide education to young girls in Santa Fe. Mexico at that time, like many cultures around the world, offered education to boys but not girls. Lamy began writing letters to priests, brothers, and nuns in the eastern states asking for help to establish a school. In one of his letters he wrote, "I have six thousand Catholics and three hundred Americans." The Sisters of Loretto, a group of nuns founded in 1812 in Kentucky whose mission was to educate poor children on the frontier, eventually answered the call.

United States and Territories, 1850

Seven sisters were sent to open the Loretto Academy. Their arduous journey took them through St. Louis then up the river to Independence, Missouri. Unfortunately, several of the faithful women contracted cholera, and the Mother Superior died. Another nun was too ill to continue the journey and returned to Kentucky. The remaining sisters arrived in Santa Fe in 1852, but before their mission could truly begin, they faced yet another obstacle: the language. They would need to learn to speak Spanish before any mission or educational work could begin.

The academy opened in 1853 and grew from very small beginnings to a school of around 300 students. The campus covered a square block with 10 buildings, built with funds that included tuition, donations, and even money from the sisters own inheritances. By 1873, the sisters decided it was time to build a chapel for their students. They hired the same architects Bishop Lamy,

Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, Santa Fe, NM
Photos: Wikipedia

now Archbishop Lamy, used to build the famous and beautiful Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi several years earlier. (On a side note, my dearest childhood friend was married in this church. 😃)

Architect Antoine Mouly and his son Projectus Mouly from Paris, France began work on what is known today as the Loretto Chapel. Undoubtedly influenced by the French clergy in Santa Fe, the Gothic Revival-style chapel was patterned after King Louis IX's Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, a striking contrast to the adobe churches already in the area. Stone for the chapel was quarried from around Santa Fe. The sandstone for the walls and the porous volcanic stone used for the ceiling were hauled to town by wagon. The beautiful stained glass was purchased in 1876 from the DuBois Studio in Paris. It was first sent from Paris to New Orleans by ship, then by paddle boat to St. Louis. From there it was loaded into a covered wagon and carefully transported over the Old Santa Fe Trail to its permanent home in the chapel.

Some of the stained glass in Loretto Chapel

The chapel took five years to complete. Unfortunately, Projectus Mouly, who'd taken over the project, passed away before a staircase to the choir loft could be designed. Due to the height of the loft (twenty-two feet high) and the small space of the chapel, a standard staircase would not work. Various builders were consulted, but none came up with a solution that satisfied the sisters. With no other options, they took the matter to St. Joseph, Patron Saint of Carpenters. What happened next is a fascinating story and legend. 

On the ninth and final day of the sisters' prayers, a stranger arrived with a donkey and a toolbox. The sisters explained their dilemma, and when he confirmed he could build what they needed, they took it as an answer to their prayers. The stranger set to work using simple tools and wood that is not native to the Southwest. Months later, the elegant circular staircase was completed, and the carpenter disappeared without pay or thanks. After searching for the man (an ad even ran in the local newspaper) and finding no trace of him, some concluded that he was St. Joseph himself, having come in answer to the sisters' prayers.

The spiral staircase is truly a work of art. Unlike other staircases, it is not supported by a newel or central pole. No nails were used in its construction. It has two complete 360 degree turns, and the entire weight of the staircase rests on the bottom stair. The banisters were added about ten years later due to the difficulty of climbing the tall, tapered stairs with no railing. The two small brackets that can be seen on the outside connecting the stairs to the wall and pillar were added in the mid 20th century in order to provide more support and protect the staircase from negative effects due to vibrations from passing cars and trucks. The underside of the stairs were originally open, but was filled in with a horse hair and lime mixture painted to look like wood. Because of its magnificent structure as well as the mystery surrounding its builder, it is now referred to as the Miraculous Staircase.

The Loretto Academy closed in 1968, and the property was put up for sale. Today, Loretto Chapel is a private museum open to visitors as well as small weddings. If you're ever in Santa Fe, I encourage you to see Loretto Chapel and the Miraculous Staircase. You won't be sorry!

Have you been to Loretto Chapel? I'd love to hear about your visit! But even if you haven't seen it in person, what do you think about mysterious builder?

Michelle Shocklee is the award-winning author of The Planter's Daughter and The Widow of Rose Hill, historical sagas set on a Texas cotton plantation before and after the Civil War. 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/gp/product/B078CN65FH/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0