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Earl of Sandwich Here’s the straight skinny on the naming of the Sandwich Islands. Captain James Cook named them after the Earl of Sandwich when he “discovered” them in 1778 while on his third (and final) exploratory voyage searching for the mythical Northwest Passage on behalf of Great Britain. The Polynesian people living there referred to the islands as, “Hawaii” as the accepted name for their home. Gradually, the name Sandwich Islands faded from usage, but it was still in

Whaling has a certain romantic lore in American culture. Much like the mountain men, whalers were taking advantage of a seemingly prolific natural resource and making vast fortunes from it. In the 21 st  century, we can look back on both industries with scorn, knowing how close the beavers and whales were pushed to extinction by human greed.  While creating my stories, I have found the examination of what happened as it relates to what we know now so very interesting. And her

As I was planning this blog last summer, the western United States was, once again, aflame with wildfires. Wildfires are one thing, but fires within cities carry their own kind of devastation. All major cities have had devastating fires started many ways. In the context of my stories, the cities of St. Louis and San Francisco experienced fires that wiped out whole business districts as well as homes.  I’ll start with St. Louis. This fire began on May 17, 1849, on a steamboat

As I talked about in the last blog, having tens of thousands of men flood into an area makes for a scramble. There wasn’t enough food, materials, housing, entertainment, alcohol, and equipment to go around. So, prices skyrocketed.  Some of those who came thinking they could make their fortunes in gold quickly learned they could make an even bigger fortune by “mining the miners.” There are oodles of stories about men, and women, who came to California with the intention of get

I think it is safe to say that in 1849, when the world descended on San Francisco and California, there were a lot more men than women. Multi-national bachelors swarmed the city and surrounding country, madly searching for gold. For my stories, I read accounts from many diaries and research papers that discuss what happens when there so many men scramble to survive in such an environment. Let’s consider a few things. California was primitive. Conveniences like laundries and r

After such a long and challenging trip, I can’t imagine that there was one emigrant who hadn’t changed from the person who had left their eastern home. But they made it and now their immediate futures were coming into view.  Some families were meeting relatives who had arrived earlier so theirs was an easy decision. Others, mostly single men, were members of mining speculation companies, and they were expected to get down to the business of mining to repay the company for the

In the last blog, I painted the picture of what an arduous trip the emigrants faced when they went west. Depending on where they started, whether it was Marietta, Ohio or Baltimore, MD, their route was relatively well known. Many used the Ohio River to the Mississippi River to get to St. Louis and then the Missouri River to St. Joseph, Missouri. They would have had steamers hauling their wagons, stock, and belongings. It would have been expensive, but they factored all of tha

Have you ever taken a long airplane flight, say for six to eight hours? It is hard being cooped up with a bunch of strangers, all headed to the same place you are but handling that time together so very differently than you. After COVID, traveling seems even more tedious and behaviors even more extreme.  Now imagine traveling with folks that you know. That makes it better, right? Maybe you have had many meals together and your children are around the same age, so you know the

In my last blog, I talked about the shortcuts that some emigrant groups tried to get to California faster than others on the California Trail. I’m pretty sure we all understand FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and it surely existed in 1849.   Most emigrant groups were organized into companies, many of them from hometowns or regions. There was usually an elected captain who handled all the finances, hiring of guides, and who made judgement calls on company decisions like repair of e

There were trails and then there were cutoffs. Until I started my research, I, like many of us, assumed the Oregon Trail and the California Trail were kind of like our modern-day highways. Merge in and off you go! But, while many probably did just follow the wagon in front of them, the goldrush made folks do crazy stuff like find quicker ways to go around the masses in the name of speed. That’s where the idea of “cutoffs” came in. Here’s a little background. Emigration to Ore

Any time Joe and I have traveled on the east coast and experienced their tollways, there are so many turnouts where folks can get gas, snacks and rest. Sometimes there are police stations and car repair shops as well. Before I started writing my stories, I never really considered that what those rest areas represent are not dissimilar to what the emigrants on the California Trail found when they came upon a “fort.”  As a western kid, I always thought a fort was a military out

In the last blog, I mentioned that Narcissa Vasquez was a widow traveling west and accompanied by another man. I can’t find any mention of who he was or why he would abandon her and her two children at Fort Laramie but that is a sobering thing to contemplate.  Remember, a woman at this time in history had very few rights of any kind so if she lost her husband along the route, she would have to be very strong to want to continue. And, I would imagine, strong meant opinionated,

Jim Bridger and Louis Vasquez met in St. Louis in 1842 after having had passing associations in 1822 and 1826. Both had just lost their trading partners and it seemed like a match. They Young Louis Vasquez bought merchandise on credit and set out for the mountains in September 1842. They chose a bench of land overlooking the Black’s Fork of the Green River on the ancestral lands of the Shoshones. Technically, because the land was west of the Divide, it was considered by the E

This summer, Joe and I made a trip to Denver hauling a load of frozen beef. We packed up before dawn, made sure everything was as insulated as we could, cranked the AC to high, bundled up and took off prepared to run into the typical July temperatures once we got to the other side of the continental divide. But, after six and a half hours of driving and clouds the whole way, we arrived with the meat still solid and Denver’s high only getting to 75 degrees. As we drove along,

In my last blog , I shared Jim Bridger’s early history and ended with the building tension between he and Brigham Young. It occurs to me that ending the blog with the arrival of the US government might have been a bit premature. There are a few more details that must be explained before the government arrives. First, what was happening with the Natives in and around the area? Who were they and what did they think of all this invasion?  Chief Wa-ka-ra In and around the Great S

Let’s dig into Jim Bridger. A fascinating man, illiterate in English but fluent in all the things that made him one of the most famous mountain men. To start, I need to acknowledge two sources in my research about Jim Bridger. 

In the last historical blog about crossing unincorporated territories, I mentioned the mountain men. I will admit, I have a soft spot for these fellows. Theirs was always the ultimate in an adventurous life fraught with danger but independent and free of societal restrictions.

As a child of the west, I heard adults occasionally say, “That kid got an extra helping of ‘Try.’” I understood it as a compliment, even...

Hi folks! I’m going to interrupt my normal, history-based blogs to bring some clarification to my choice in titles. The books are...

We left off with what it was like to travel around Cape Horn on a sailing ship. But what about those who chose to travel over land? The...