The Indian travois consisted of two poles lashed together at one end, which was then draped over the back of an animal and attached to the animal’s neck enabling the device to be pulled. The opposite ends of the poles spread out in a triangular shape behind the animal and dragged in the dirt. Sticks, ropes, or netting strung between the two trailing poles provided the platform on which goods or people were carried.
The travois is beautifully displayed in the Plains Indian Museum of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming. There, an Indian family is portrayed moving across the prairie with the warrior in the lead serving as a scout and being prepared to defend his family. Trailing him is his daughter guiding a dog pulling a small travois which is loaded with household items such as bedding and cooking utensils.
The warrior’s wife rides a horse pulling a large travois. The larger travois were frequently constructed with the poles from the family’s teepee. The buffalo skins that covered the poles to make the teepee were then loaded on the cargo area of the travois. The travois could also be used to transport sick or wounded people. I describe various uses of the travois in Bear Claws, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book Two.
NOTE: Perhaps you noticed that I did not post on this blog on Monday, October 10. For two years I have been posting every Monday; but effective now, I will make postings on the first and fifteenth (or close thereto) of each month. If something exciting occurs in the meantime, I shall insert a special post. I hope you continue to following my website.
On my return trip to Nevada after attending the Wyoming State Historical Society annual meeting, I passed through Cody, Wyoming, in order to visit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. The center consists of five different museums. As you can see from this photo of the entrance, the day I spent there was blustery with intermittent rain and snow.
The Plains Indians Museum contains a wealth of artifacts and information about the Northern Plains tribes. I was particularly interested in studying those items pertaining to the Sioux, the Arapahos, and the Cheyennes, because those tribes will feature predominantly in my next novel.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Draper Natural History Museum. The visitor can stand close to a grizzly bear and envision what it would be like to face one of these creatures in the wild. Will Braddock, or course had two run-ins with grizzlies in Bear Claws. I also wrote in a post on February 8, 2016, about the movie The Revenant, in which the character Hugh Glass was attacked by a grizzly.
I was fortunate to be in the Cody Firearms Museum when a member of the staff presented a fascinating review of the types of revolvers, rifles, and carbines used in the mid-1860s. I describe many of these weapons in The Iron Horse Chronicles, and I will also be covering them in my new book about the Bozeman Trail. By coincidence, the recent November 2016 issue of True West magazine contains a feature article about the collection of firearms in this museum.
On September 11, 2016, I spent the day at Fort Phil Kearny, Wyoming, touring the interpretive center, walking the remains of the old fort, and tromping the nearby battlefields. I had this opportunity because I was attending the annual meeting of the Wyoming State Historical Society in nearby Buffalo. At that meeting the society awarded Bear Claws, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book Two, the first place award in the category of fiction for 2016.
Fort Phil Kearny was built by the U.S. Army in 1866 on the Bozeman Trail to protect travelers heading to the Montana goldfields from attack by the plains Indian tribes that resisted the encroachment on their final good hunting grounds. Red Cloud’s War made life miserable and dangerous for the travelers and the military defenders for two years before the Sioux, Cheyennes, and Arapahos prevailed and drove the soldiers away. They promptly burned the fort down. No original structures remain at the site, but a marvelous layout of the dimensions with identification markers for the buildings and facilities enables the visitor to gain a valuable picture of the installation.
More fights occurred at Fort Phil Kearny between the Indians and the Army than at any other post on the western frontier. The largest loss of life (81) by the Army occurred five miles from the fort when the Fetterman Massacre took place on December 21, 1866, at what is now known as Massacre Hill. This loss was not surpassed until Custer’s Last Stand a decade later. Red Cloud’s War is the only one which the Indians are considered to have won.
On Saturday, September 10, 2016, I participated in the 63rd annual meeting of the Wyoming State Historical Society in Buffalo, Wyoming. This friendly city of about 5,000 people, provided a grand welcome to the attendees at the meeting. As this Wyoming state historical sign in the center of the town proclaims, any direction from Buffalo is Powder River Country.
The town did not exist when the US Army erected Fort Phil Kearny sixteen miles north in 1866 and precipitated Red Cloud’s War. As a result of the conflict between the Native Americans and the White settlers bound for the Montana gold fields, the Fetterman Massacre occurred on December 21, 1866. The annihilation of 79 soldiers and 2 civilians by the combined forces of hundreds of Sioux, Northern Cheyennes, and Arapahos, was the largest loss by the western Army until Custer’s Last Stand, a hundred miles north, ten years later. In 1867 the Indians forced the abandonment of all the forts along the Bozeman Trail, and they burned Fort Phil Kearny to the ground.
I enjoyed my brief stay in Buffalo. I was impressed by the enthusiasm and dedication of the members of the WSHS. Of course, I was thrilled when Bear Claws, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book Two, won First Place in the Publications Category Fiction, “in recognition of the outstanding accomplishments and contributions to Wyoming’s legacy.”
On Saturday, September 10, 2016, The Wyoming State Historical Society presented Bear Claws, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book Two, with First Place in the Publications Category Fiction, “in recognition of the outstanding accomplishments and contributions to Wyoming’s legacy.”
It is a great honor to receive this prestigious award from a dynamic historical society. I will post additional information and photographs over the next few week about my visit to Buffalo, Wyoming, my participation in the 63rd Annual Meeting of The Wyoming State Historical Society, and the research I did in the local area for the new book I am writing. My sincere thanks to the President and Awards Committee of The Wyoming State Historical Society.
As many of the readers of this blog are aware, every few weeks I contribute a blog posting to Mad About MG History. On September 1, 2016, I wrote about the 100th birthday of the National Park Service. In several previous blog postings on this website I have mentioned the research trips I have made to various National Park Historical Sites. Being able to walk the ground where the actual events occurred has been helpful in my writing of The Iron Horse Chronicles. I am thankful our nation maintains both environmental and historical sites for us to enjoy.
Three members of Anthem Authors have book blubs listed in the August 2016 issue of Roundup Magazine, the official publication of Western Writers of America. Anthem Authors is a writing and critique group comprised, at the present, of thirty-three residents of Sun City Anthem in Henderson, Nevada.
The members of Anthem Authors are prolific writers and many have published their work; but Donna, Bob, and I, also belonging to Western Writers of America, devote much of our writing to the western genre. You will find our books at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
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In Bear Claws, Will also sees the “Lone Tree” around which the UP curved the tracks in order not to have to cut down the only tree growing on the windswept summit. The railroad no longer follows the original route that Will Braddock knew. The Dale Creek Bridge is gone. The “hell on wheels” town of Sherman Summit no longer exists. The limber pine, which could be as old as 2,000 years, does exist and stands between the westbound and eastbound lanes of I-80. Stopping at this turnoff on the Interstate, one gets a feel for what Will and his friends experienced when the trains sped westward at forty miles per hour until the engineer had to apply the brakes at the Dale Creek Bridge.
The Wyoming State Historical Society Awards Committee informed me this past week that Bear Claws, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book Two has been selected to receive an award in the Publications Category for 2016. The award will be presented at a luncheon to be held in Buffalo, Wyoming, during the Society’s annual meeting on Saturday, September 10, 2016. I plan to be there.
The location is fortuitous because Buffalo is sixteen miles from Fort Phil Kearny State Historic Site where I want to do additional research on the book I am currently writing. This novel takes place in 1866 along the famous Bozeman Trail. I visited Fort Phil Kearny in 2010, but my ongoing research has generated questions that can best be answered by walking the ground and talking to local experts.
I look forward to the trip for three reasons. First, to receive an award from the Wyoming State Historical Society for Bear Claws is thrilling and gratifying. Second, to visit the site again where my characters will act out their scenes will be helpful and rewarding. Third, I always enjoy traveling through the beautiful state of Wyoming.
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