Chapter 1 of Golden Spike, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book Three, can now be viewed under the Books tab on this website. Over the next two weeks I will post Chapters 2 and 3. The publication date for Golden Spike has been set by Five Star Publishing for July 19, 2017.
The front cover for Golden Spike, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book Three, is ready. Five Star Publishing is pressing ahead with final editing and production scheduling with a planned release date for the last book in my trilogy now set for July 19, 2017.
The driving of the Golden Spike at Promontory Summit, Utah, in 1869 almost didn’t happen. History books do not mention the incident. Only five people were aware of it—Will Braddock was one. Will’s arch enemy, Paddy O’Hannigan, learns Leland Stanford, president of the Central Pacific Railroad, is bringing the Golden Spike on his special train to the ceremony to mark completion of the transcontinental railroad. Paddy does not know Jenny is now Stanford’s personal chef and that Will is helping her with her duties. Paddy, broke and desperate, steals the Golden Spike from Stanford’s train right under the noses of Will and Jenny. Will must regain the spike from Paddy, or Will and Jenny will be accused of the theft.
Beginning next week I will post Chapter 1 of Golden Spike on this website, to be followed by Chapters 2 and 3 in coming weeks.
There won’t be much writing done at this desk today. I had to disconnect all my computers and remove them so that carpet installers can take the desk out of the room before re-carpeting the floor. The installers promise to do the job in one day. I have my fingers crossed that they speak the truth. Then, I’ll have to see if I can remember how all the plugs and cords are reconnected in order to get back to work.
As I type this short blog, I notice one of those anomalies that makes English such a difficult language at times. “Reconnected” is one word, but “re-carpeting” is hyphenated. Go figure!
Lincoln meets with Dodge
In The Iron Horse Chronicles I include scenes about the impact certain Presidents of the United States had on the construction of the first transcontinental railroad. In the first volume of the trilogy, Eagle Talons, I point out the fact that President Abraham Lincoln met with Grenville M. Dodge in 1859 to discuss the best route for the railroad. Lincoln was no longer living in 1867 when Eagle Talons takes place, and by that time Dodge was honored with the title “General” because of the rank he reached in Civil War. Will Braddock first meets General Dodge, Chief Engineer of the Union Pacific Railroad, when Will arrives in Omaha, Nebraska, at the beginning of his quest that leads him to become involved with the greatest engineering achievement of the mid-nineteenth century.
President Ulysses S. Grant
In 1868, General Ulysses S. Grant is running for president, and he makes a campaign tour of some of the western states and territories, including Wyoming Territory. Will Braddock meets Grant and several famous Civil War generals who are traveling with Grant to the end of track in central Wyoming. Everything I write about Grant in Bear Claws, the second book in The Iron Horse Chronicles, is true except the attempted assassination attempt on the future president that Will and his companion, Lone Eagle, prevent. That part of the story is pure fiction.
As I pointed out on January 5, 2017, in the blog post I wrote for Mad About MG History, the Presidents of the United States have always had a significant impact on the course of the history of our country. With Inauguration Day for our forty-fifth president occurring on January 20, 2017, it is an appropriate time to learn more about them. If you missed reading my article “Inauguration Day and the Presidency,” you will find it at this link: http://madaboutmghistory.blogspot.com/. You will need to scroll down a bit to reach it.
“Inauguration Day and the Presidency” is the subject of an article I wrote on January 5, 2107, for the blog Mad About MG History. If you read my blog regularly, you know I contribute periodically to the Mad blog providing information to teachers and librarians who work with middle grade students. This is an appropriate time for all students, young and old, to learn more about the history of the Presidents of the United States. You can read my Mad blog here: http://madaboutmghistory.blogspot.com/
What better way to start the New Year than to have the 2016 awards won by Bear Claws, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book Two recognized in the Winter 2017 SCBWI Bulletin. I know many of you do not read this fine publication that connects writers, illustrators, agents, and publishers of books for young readers, so I will copy the entry here.
This notice was included under Awards in the People section of the bulletin on page 30: “Robert Lee Murphy – middle grade historical novel – Bear Claws, the Iron Horse Chronicles–Book Two – Silver 2016 Will Rogers Medallion Award for Younger Readers; also First Place in Fiction 2016 – Wyoming State Historical Society.”
Thank you SCBWI for recognizing my book. Happy New Year to everybody!
Sutler’s Store and Pony Express Barn are just as Will Braddock would have seen them in 1867.
Will Braddock spent his first Christmas in the far west in 1867 at Fort Bridger, which at that time was still Dakota Territory. I reveal in Chapter 1 of Bear Claws, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book Two, that Will had wintered-over at the fort with his uncle’s survey inspection team. Since Bear Claws begins in March 1868, I did not describe what Christmas would have been like at Fort Bridger. I did point out that Will would have spent a boring, cold time isolated at the famous fort. The weather that winter was brutal!
Covered wagon like Will’s friend Jenny McNabb and her family would have used on their journey along the Overland Trail in 1867.
My wife, Barbara, and I visited Fort Bridger in the summer of 2012 when I took the photographs shown here. Famed mountain man Jim Bridger, along with his partner Louis Vasquez, founded the fort in 1843. Bridger identified an opportunity to provide supplies and blacksmithing services to fellow trappers working the nearby streams, wagon train emigrants bound west on the Overland/California Trail, and Mormon settlers trudging along the Mormon Trail. His efforts proved fairly successful.
Will Braddock probably bought jaw breakers in this Sutler’s Store.
The Mormons bought the fort in 1857, but when the US Army arrived to engage in the “Mormon War” in October of that year, the Mormons burned the fort down before retreating to Salt Lake City. After the war, the Army reestablished a fort there, occupying it almost continuously until 1890. Bridger’s original stockade fort was small, but the new, expanded one was patterned after the numerous open forts the military built to protect the route of the first transcontinental railroad. Today’s open fort is what Will Braddock would have known.
The Pony Express no longer raced through when Will Braddock was here, but the barn existed then as it does today.
Fort Bridger’s location on Black’s Fork of the Green River was a good one. Over the years, in addition to serving as a supplier to the mountain men and a stop for the Oregon Trail’s travelers, the fort was a Pony Express relay barn, a Wells Fargo stagecoach station, and a Union Pacific Railroad depot. Jim Bridger battled the United States Government for years, claiming the Mormons had forced him out, wanting compensation for a lease of what he continued to think of as his property. Following his death in 1881, Congress authorized a small payment to his widow.
Typical Army Officer’s Quarters which Will Braddock would have seen in 1867.
The site is now the Fort Bridger State Historic Site, administered by the Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources. Modern Interstate 80 bypasses Fort Bridger, abandoning the routes of the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails, the short-lived Pony Express, the Wells Fargo stagecoach, the first transcontinental railroad, and the original Lincoln Highway. Don’t let that deter you from visiting. It’s only three miles to the fort from Exit 34, just east of Evanston, Wyoming.
If Will Braddock were here today, he would join Barbara and me in wishing you a
My wife, Barbara, and I enjoyed an early Christmas dinner at Michael’s Restaurant at South Point Casino in Las Vegas last night, December 18.
Last weekend Barbara helped me conduct the best book signing yet at South Point during the last day of the National Finals Rodeo on December 10.
We extend our holiday greetings to all of my readers, to our family members, and to our friends. Merry Christmas!
On Saturday, December 3, 2106, I participated in the annual Sun City Anthem Craft Fair along with seven other members of Anthem Authors. I signed copies of Eagle Talons, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book One, and Bear Claws, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book Two. All of the clubs chartered at Sun City Anthem participate in this annual event offering their crafts for the holiday shoppers.
If you will be in the Las Vegas area on Saturday, December 10, 2106, please stop by the South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa between noon and 4 PM. This will be the third year that South Point has hosted my book signing event during the final day of the annual National Finals Rodeo. Look for my table beside the Benny Binion statue in the main hallway leading to the arena and equestrian center.
Added to my website is the Google Translate feature. By clicking on the button at the bottom of any page or posting on this website you can select any of 103 languages, in addition to the English in which I wrote it. Whether you prefer French, Arabic, Chinese, or any of one hundred other languages, Google will instantly translate the contents for your reading pleasure. Give it a try. I hope you enjoy this added feature provided by Google and WordPress.
Robert Lee Murphy
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