Category Archives: Animals
On the Railroad 150 Years Ago
In September 1868 both the Union Pacific and Central Pacific had departed the high mountains and were building across relatively level but difficult terrain. In Wyoming, the UP worked to cross the Red Desert between the two continental divides—one west … Continue reading
Buffalo Bill Center of the West
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 … Continue reading
Virginia Dale Station, Colorado
In Eagle Talons, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book One, Jenny McNabb buries her mother behind the Virginia Dale stagecoach station in northern Colorado. Virginia Dale served as one of the “home stations” on the Overland Trail. When Jenny passed through in 1867, the … Continue reading
The Covered Wagon
Jenny McNabb and her family travel west in a covered wagon in 1867 in Eagle Talons, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book One. Will Braddock first encounters Jenny when the family’s Conestoga wagon breaks a wheel when crossing a swollen creek near Julesburg, Colorado. … Continue reading
Sod Houses
Will Braddock, in Eagle Talons, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book One, encountered sod houses on the Nebraska prairie during his first train ride on the Union Pacific. I described what Will saw from the open doorway of the boxcar in which … Continue reading
American Buffalo and Will Braddock
[media-credit name=”Wikipedia” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit] In Eagle Talons, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book One, Will Braddock witnesses the growing plight of the American buffalo. On his first train ride from Omaha, traveling westward across the Nebraska plains, a herd of buffalo crosses … Continue reading
Bear Claws Cover Released
[media-credit name=”ENC Graphic Services” align=”alignleft” width=”194″][/media-credit] The cover art for Bear Claws, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book Two, has been released by ENC Graphic Services and Five Star Publishing. The cover conveys the power and intensity of the adventures facing fifteen-year-old Will Braddock as the … Continue reading
Will Braddock’s Belgian Horse
[media-credit name=”FantasyStock” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit] In Chapter 1 of Eagle Talons, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book One, Will Braddock runs away from his home in Burlington, Iowa, following the death of his mother, by riding the family’s Belgian draft horse, Chester. In … Continue reading
Western Historical Trails
The Western Historical Trails Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, located not far off I-80 where it crosses the Missouri River, provides an educational and informative introduction to four important trails that passed through this region before the transcontinental railroad made travel easier. … Continue reading
