Man’s best friend

Posted by admin Sep 13 2011, 6:00 am in cowboys, dogs, heroes, heroines Scottish terrier, Pembroke Welsh corgi, western

Man’s best friend

Once our son’s grew up and left home, my husband and I got puppies. So now we do agility with our dogs, a Scottish terrier named Smokey and a Pembroke Welsh corgi named Bandit.

So now I’m thinking about how to incorporate dogs into my stories. Since I write (mostly) in the American west, there are plenty of opportunity to have a dog as a character.

In one story the cowboy hero brings his new wife a puppy. Ranches often had dogs, as they were useful in helping drive cattle. My husband’s family had a dog, Buster, that would help is father round up the cattle. Our Welsh corgi would be over the moon if we had some cows so we could tell him to go get and drive them in for milking.

Dogs were also served to hunt vermin, especially terrier type dogs. Cats get mice, but terriers can get rats. And farmers always have grain to protect.

And, of course, all dogs are watch dogs, who bark when something out of the ordinary happens. I was always impressed by Buster, as if you drove up to my in-laws house in the Oklahoma county side, Buster would bark a warning as you drove up the long driveway. If, however, my in-laws were not at home, Buster would just lay on the porch and give you look like ‘nobody home, silly.’

I would assume that most dogs in the American west were not the purebreds we would see today at a dog show. If a hunting dog had a reputation of being a good hunter, people would want puppies from them. Same with herding dogs, or terriers on their ability.

Finally, one of the most common reason for keeping a dog was for companionship the dog provided.

And while our dogs have the run of our house, I’m pretty sure my heroine who runs a boarding house will only allow the dog in the back kitchen. Our dogs don’t know how good they have it.

Does your family have any dog stories- or do you have dogs in your stories?

Blain’s Smokey of Santee, CGC, NA & Blain’s Sundance Bandit, CGC, NA, NJW

4 Comments

A Woman Goes Up the Trail

Posted by admin Jul 7 2011, 4:01 am in Amanda Burks, cattle drive, cattle trail, Chisholm Trail, cowboys, La Motta, Women of the West

History books would have you believe that only cowboys went “up the trail” on the cattle drives of the late 1800’s. But women went too. Though few in comparison to men, there were more women who made the trip than you might think. And they went as drovers, owners, and just plain cowhands.  One reason I enjoy this period of American history is the many “unconventional-for-the-times” roles western women were allowed to play in the midst of the Victorian Gilded Age. One of my favorite stories about a woman on the cattle trails is that of Estelle “Amanda” Nite Burks

11 Comments

A Rose By Any Other Name

Posted by Feb 13 2010, 6:00 am in characters, cowboys, daniel boone, names

A Rose By Any Other Name When starting a story, one of the things I really put thought into is the names of my characters. And when writing a historical, you want to get names that fit your characters as well as give some authenticity to the time period you’re writing. Always consider the impact of your characters names. Not just any name will do. Why do you thing Marion Morrison changed his name when he became an actor? For example, a friend of mine was writing a contemporary with a heroine who was supposed to be somewhat of a

9 Comments

Recent Posts

• May, 14: Banished to the Far Country
• May, 13: Man’s Best Friends
• May, 12: Catherine de Medici, the queen of French culture
• May, 09: Seattle Underground
• May, 07: Train Travel in 19th century America-Luxury or merely efficient?

The Latest Comments

• Angelyn Schmid: These historical events certainly provide perspective, don’t they? Thanks for stopping by,...
• Angelyn Schmid: abduction: fascinating. Was it someone famous? Lady Ferrers: I’ve heard of that one, but not in...
• Barbara Bettis: I find it just incredible people couldn/can be so cruel to each other! And prosper, at that. These...
• Nancy: A wife who was legally separated from her husband was abducted by him and hidden away. Her friends went to...
• Angelyn: Or worse. Your observation is so very true and, in a way, haunting. Thanks for commenting, Callie.

Tags

Archives

• May, 2012 (6)
• Apr, 2012 (9)
• Mar, 2012 (11)
• Feb, 2012 (13)
• Jan, 2012 (13)
• Dec, 2011 (11)
• Nov, 2011 (14)
• Oct, 2011 (15)
• Sep, 2011 (18)
• Aug, 2011 (20)
• Jul, 2011 (29)
• Jun, 2011 (14)
• May, 2011 (14)
• Apr, 2011 (11)
• Mar, 2011 (5)
• Feb, 2011 (5)
• Jan, 2011 (4)
• Dec, 2010 (4)
• Nov, 2010 (8)
• Oct, 2010 (2)
• Sep, 2010 (1)
• Aug, 2010 (4)
• Jul, 2010 (11)
• Jun, 2010 (3)
• Feb, 2010 (5)
• Jan, 2010 (10)
• Dec, 2009 (10)
• Nov, 2009 (5)
• Oct, 2009 (10)
• Sep, 2009 (7)
• Aug, 2009 (4)
• Jul, 2009 (5)
• Jun, 2009 (7)
• May, 2009 (3)
• Apr, 2009 (4)
• Mar, 2009 (3)

RSS Feeds

• Posts Feed
• Comments Feed