Category Archives: Geography
Fort Sanders, Wyoming
Fort Sanders, Wyoming, near where the present city of Laramie arose, is the location for significant incidents in the first two books of The Iron Horse Chronicles. Unfortunately, not much remains of this installation. U.S. Highway 287 runs through the old … Continue reading
Dale Creek Bridge, Wyoming
[media-credit name=”A. J. Russell” align=”aligncenter” width=”485″][/media-credit] The Dale Creek Bridge in southeastern Wyoming figures in the first two books of The Iron Horse Chronicles. The Union Pacific Railroad completed the timber trestle in the spring of 1868. The bridge was the highest … Continue reading
Wyoming State Historical Society Award for Bear Claws
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 … Continue reading
Fourth of July 1867 in Cheyenne
Will Braddock, in Eagle Talons, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book One, experienced the Fourth of July in 1867 at the founding of the city of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Some historians hold the position that General Grenville M. Dodge, Chief Engineer for the … Continue reading
Traveling the Hundredth Meridian Expedition Route
Today, you can travel via Interstate 80 some of the Hundredth Meridian Expedition Route taken in 1866 by 150 special guests of the Union Pacific Railroad. I wrote about the “First Wild West Show” on June 6, 2016. That post discussed how the Union Pacific’s “Doc” … Continue reading
The First Wild West Show
The first wild west show was a complete surprise to its audience. The incentive for staging that performance was not to sell theatrical tickets. The show was gratuitous. It was a celebration for having won a race—the first race in … Continue reading
Orphans Preferred
Wanted. Young, skinny, wiry fellows not over eighteen. Must be expert riders willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred. So read an 1860 poster advertising for riders for the Pony Express. As many of the readers of this blog are aware, … Continue reading
Wyoming State Historical Society
I am now a proud member of the Wyoming State Historical Society. WSHS is a non-profit membership driven organization that encourages the study of Wyoming history. The Wyoming State Historical Society was founded in 1953 and has members across Wyoming and the United … Continue reading
Fetterman Massacre
The Fetterman Massacre figures only peripherally in The Iron Horse Chronicles. In Eagle Talons, Jenny McNabb and her family are forced to follow the Overland Trail on their journey westward in 1867 rather than use the Oregon Trail. Because of the Fetterman … 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
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