Information When We Need It

by Linda Farmer Harris

I'm adapting my mother's favorite recipes and my father's baking for our high altitude Colorado living. I grew up on the high plains of New Mexico where dryness and high winds were our cooking enemies. Dad built a proofing box so his dinner rolls could rise in a stable temperature environment. A waterbed heater served as the heat source. You can see the white thermostat on the right side.

Dad was a baker in the Merchant Marines and made bread, dinner rolls, and cinnamon rolls throughout his life. He passed his secrets down to me and my sister, and taught his great granddaughter his techniques.

On one of Mom's recipe cards she added "a pinch of salt" in the margin. I think of a "pinch" as how much salt can I pick up with my thumb and first two fingers, but is that really a true measure.

I remembered Margaret Brownley's November 24, 2015 blog "A Pinch of This and a Dash of That" and the list of some weights and measures used by pioneer cooks. A Pinch is an eighth of a teaspoon.

That made me think of some of the other pieces of great information that have flowed daily through HH&H since its inaugural post on February 1, 2013. When I started research on my novella The Lye Water Bride (Barbour, 2016) I searched for info from HH&H posts. Articles like Miralee Ferrell's "Women in the Gold Rush Era" and "The First Gold Rush in the United States" by Patty Smith Hall. Included in the more than forty blogs using "gold rush" as a search term is my own "Pie for Sale: Lucy Stoddard Wakefield."

Have you referred to a previous HH&H post for information on one of your projects, your child's history assignment, or just because you were interested in a topic?

Blessings,

Linda Farmer Harris
Turning Tidbits of History into Unforgettable Stories

Lin and her husband, Jerry, live on a hay and cattle ranch in Chimney Rock, Colorado. Her novella The Lye Water Bride is included in The California Gold Rush Romance Collection (Barbour Publishing, August 1, 2016).

Tumbleweeds

by Linda Farmer Harris

In my March 27, 2014, HH&H Blog "Wind Up the Automatons" I mentioned the 200-year-old clockwork boy—"Draughtsman-Writer" by Henri Maillardet.  

An Update: I found a 240-year-old Writer Automaton created by Pierre Jaquet-Droz, a 50 year old Swiss watchmaker. The boy doll can write any custom text up to 40 letters long. He inks his goose feather pen from time to time and shakes his wrist to preventing ink from spilling. He follows the writing with his eyes and moves his head when he dips his pen. He is on display at the  Musée d'Art et d'Histoire of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Watch the amazing video by BBC and lesterfontayne.

Courtesy of Chonday.com 

He's programmable by removing and reordering the cams that control his writing. He's called the forerunner of the modern computer. It's a shame he doesn't take dictation. Wouldn't you just love to delegate some of your writing to a cute little secretary like him?

So, what does that have to do with tumbleweeds? Nothing. I thought you might enjoy a past Blog update.

You've seen tumbleweeds in the movie shoot-out scenes rolling across the dirt street between the gunslingers and probably read passages describing them in western novels. You may have sung the 1940's Sons of the Pioneers, "Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds." They're even cast in bronze.

Tumbleweed, cast bronze, artist—Bale Creek Allen

 Seeing one rolling across the highway is interesting. Seeing a few against a ranch fence is noteworthy.

Tumbleweeds in Arizona—Photo by McDonald

 Coming home to your home covered puts a different slant on their novelty.

courtesy of The Pueblo West View newspaper

Tumbleweeds are not always small or at least knee high, some are Volkswagen size. 

Tumbleweeds along the Santa Ana River—photo by Douglas McCulloh

 I grew up in Lovington, New Mexico. High winds, sand storms, and tumbleweeds were the norm. Some creative souls turn them into decorations such as pumpkins with pinecones, and hanging lamps. Cities get in on the act, too. Albuquerque, NM, builds a giant tumbleweed snowman on Interstate 40. Not to be outdone, Chandler, AZ, erects a tumbleweed Christmas tree.

courtesy of Marilynn Andreasen's save on pinterest.com

Tumbleweed Lamp—courtesy of remodelista.com

A farm in Garden City, KS, grows the variety Salsola as a crop, advertising them as "quality tested" tumbleweeds, and shipping them as a decorative item. I wonder if they sell them to movie makers, storefront window designers, and/or Western-themed weddings. A man in Utah will send you a pack of tumbleweed seeds for $14.99.
 
According to history, the Prickly Russian Thistle seeds accidentally hitchhiked from Russia to South Dakota in an 1870's flaxseed shipment. One report cited 1877 as the year the seeds arrived in Bon Homme County, South Dakota. By 1900, it had reached the Pacific Coast. Once a tumbleweed, one of about eleven plant groups, matures and dries, it detaches from its root/stem and blows away in the wind. As it tumbles, it deposits seeds or spores that germinate in wet soil.

Whether you call it a Tumbleweed, Russian Thistle, or Wind Witch-another common name in the West, this skeleton of a shrub can disperse typically 250,000 seeds per plant. The seeds don't have protective coatings or stored food reserves. Each seed is a coiled, embryonic plant surrounded by a thin membrane and doesn't germinate until temperatures reach between 28 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit.

Tumbleweeds live up to their name and as weeds are destructive to native ecosystems. However, some good has come from them. Canadian farmers used tumbleweeds as hay and silage for livestock during a severe drought in the 1930's.

Do you have tumbleweeds where you live?
Blessings,

Linda "Lin" Farmer Harris

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 1, 2016.


Turning Tidbits of History into Unforgettable Stories

The U.S. Camel Corps

By Nancy J. Farrier

Imagine an 1800’s Cavalry charge. Men in blue charging full speed to rescue travelers in distress. Now, imagine those same cavalrymen on camels in the Southwest. This picture doesn’t have quite the same effect as the one with horses, yet for a short time, the Cavalry in the Southwest did experiment with the use of camels.

In 1855, Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis, approved the purchase of camels to use in the Southwest as an experiment in traversing the arid areas where they had little water. The first shipment of thirty-three camels arrived in Indianola, Texas in 1856. They were accompanied by an Arab caretaker, Hadji Ali, whom the cavalrymen renamed Hi Jolly. (Today, Hi Jolly’s tomb can be seen in Quartzite, Arizona.) A second shipment of over forty camels arrived the following year.

The camels were a mix of the Arabian camel with one hump, the Bactrian camel, which had two humps and a few cross breed camels, a mix of the first two. The hybrid camel was much larger and could carry twice the weight the other camels could—over 2,000 pounds. The camels proved themselves in many ways. They could go two days without water and carry approximately four times the amount of goods a mule could pack.

On the down side, the camels were temperamental. They were known to fight among themselves, spit at their handlers, and they smelled horrible. The Cavalry men, used to using force to get a mules attention found that when they slapped a camel, the animal would strike back. They were not docile at all. Plus, they scared the mules, horses and cattle to the point of sending them running.

Despite many successful trips with the camels, when the Civil War started, the use of camels discontinued. Some camels were sold to the Ringling Brothers circus, zoos or traveling shows. Some were used to carry mail or freight. Others were turned loose in the desert. Stories abound about the wild camels in the Southwest with many sightings, the last documented sighting in the early 1950’s.

One of the best known legends about camels, and my favorite, is the story of Red Ghost. Red Ghost appeared in Southeastern Arizona in the early 1880’s where two ranching families lived. One morning the men were gone and one of the women went to the spring for water while the other wife continued cleaning and watching the children. At the sound of screams, the woman in the house peered out the window expecting to see raiding Apaches. Instead, she was horrified to see a huge red beast, ridden by the devil, running through the yard. She barricaded the door trying to protect the children. The other woman didn’t return.

When the men came home that night they found the missing woman at the spring trampled almost beyond recognition. In the morning they found cloven hoof prints beside her; prints the size of horse’s hooves. Nearby they found long reddish hairs.

Not long afterwards, two prospectors were awakened in the middle of the night to the sound of

thundering hooves. The beast trampled their tent and they were sure they would be killed. The beast ran off without them getting a good look, but they were both very frightened.

Other people reported seeing the camel with the skeleton rider on its back. The angry beast was accused of tramping people and killing animals. Prospectors who finally caught sight of the animal tried to shoot it, but missed. However part of the rider became dislodged as the camel ran away. When they investigated, the men found a skeletal head on the ground.

Finally, a rancher managed to shoot the camel as it ate in his vegetable garden. He discovered the skeleton of a man, tied to the camel’s back. The straps had worn deep grooves into the animal’s hide, probably causing much pain and the reason for his bad temper.

A sad story, possibly embellished, but probably containing some truth too. I recall first reading this story in an Arizona newspaper archive years ago. I am fascinated by the possibility of truth in there, and love to consider how legends such as Red Ghost might have started. Have you heard of the camel corps? Have you heard any of the stories surrounding this interesting bit of history?

Let's start off the New Year with a giveaway. Leave a comment and you will be entered in a random drawing for a copy of my latest release, The Immigrant Brides, a collection of novellas and a $10 gift card. If you already have The Immigrant Brides, you can choose one of my previous releases.

Nancy J Farrier is an award winning author who lives in Southern California in the Mojave Desert. She loves the Southwest and interesting historical past. Nancy and her husband have five children. When Nancy isn’t writing, she loves to read, do needlecraft, play with her cats, and spend time with her family. Nancy is represented by Karen Ball of The Steve Laube Literary Agency. You can read more about Nancy and her books on her website: nancyjfarrier.com.