The best way to research a western novel would be to step into the nearest time machine and transport back to the nineteenth century. However, since time machines are only available to science fiction writers, I have to stick to more tried and true methods.
My fascination with the American West began when I was a small child sitting in front of the small screen. I’d follow the adventures of Sugarfoot, the Cartwrights, Ward Bond and his wagon train, and those cowboys who lived and worked at the Shiloh ranch. As much as I loved watching them, I have to admit they took great creative liberties and traded historical accuracy for action and adventure - something we, as writers, do not have the luxury of doing.
The readers today want a good romance mixed with historical facts (and if you mess up, they aren’t shy about letting you know). When I began writing three and a half years ago, I didn’t have access to the internet so I relied on my personal reference library on the American West. The heroine in my first book, WINTER HEARTS, was a doctor who was on the run from the law. First off, I had to ensure there were female doctors in 1870. By doing a little index searching in a few books, I was able to learn women were graduating from medical school by the middle of the nineteenth century. Reading on, I learned that female doctors were few and far between, and they had a difficult time finding jobs. Armed with this knowledge, I had to have my heroine masquerade as a schoolteacher, a vocation much more common for women at this time.
This led me to another question: what did a nineteenth century schoolhouse look like? What kind of tools did the teacher have at her disposal? A museum in a small town close to Omaha (where I was living at the time) also managed a schoolhouse that had been built in the late 1800’s. I called them and got a personal tour of this little treasure. The guide answered my questions patiently, and firsthand experience gave me a ‘feel’ for what it would have been like over a hundred years ago. I saw books that could’ve been held in the hands of a child while he or she sat on the recitation bench at the front of the classroom.
Museums should not be looked upon merely as musty-smelling rooms filled with old things. They are the storehouses of everyday items from a time we can only imagine. To put the reader in the time period, you have to surround them with those objects found in that century. Take your notebook and pen, and wander amongst the kerosene lamps, cast iron stoves, mannequins dressed in pantalettes, shirtwaists, and coal scuttle bonnets. Walk up to a preserved Concord stagecoach and imagine getting up into it wearing a corset and hoop skirt. And if your stomach isn’t too queasy, take a look at what a dentist would’ve used if you’d gone to him with a toothache. Add bits and pieces of common nineteenth century items to give your story more depth, and to place your readers right there with the hero and heroine.
Another tool I use for research is visiting historical sites and attending re-enactments. When I lived in North Dakota, I visited Fort Abraham Lincoln near Bismarck. General Custer and his wife had lived there, and their home had been restored and was open for tours. The fort was also home to a re-enactment of those days when Custer’s Seventh Cavalry was stationed there. The women dressed in period clothing, and one participant even had the honor of portraying Mrs. Custer. The men appeared as if they’d stepped out of history -- complete with cavalry uniforms and horses. I walked around, soaking up the atmosphere, and conversing with the these ‘soldiers’ and ‘camp followers’. The highlight of the day, however, was a display of the varied cavalry charges across an open field. The thundering of the horses’ hooves, the saber blades glinting sunlight, and the men’s neckscarves blown back behind them created a spectacle I won’t soon forget. I’ve also attended a rendezvous where people dressed as trappers and women made soap in the middle of the parade ground.
Books and the internet cannot take the place of actually going to a preserved historical site. Go, close your eyes, and listen to the wind in the trees, horses’ hooves plodding on hard ground, a woman’s skirt swishing about her legs, bootheels on a boardwalk, and weave these into your novel.
Living in Colorado, I’ve found an abundance of history tucked into the Rocky Mountains. Almost every city and town has a museum full of relics from the past, as well as documents written by the pioneers who settled the area. There are different types of museums: mining, pioneer, and railroad, just to name a few. There are historic buildings like the Brown Palace Hotel in downtown Denver. There are wax museums full of historic figures, which are usually more fun than educational, but still are good resources for the attire of characters in different time periods.
It’s not always possible to go to a certain place to learn more about it. The second best method is to find pictures and read about it. As I said, I have a western historical reference library that continues to grow every time I go to a bookstore. I do, however, have a few that I use religiously. “Everyday Life in the 1800’s” by Marc McCutcheon has a wealth of information regarding clothing, food, clothing, and health, just to name a few topics. If I’m looking for a fashionable dress for my heroine, I’ll open up my copy of “Victorian Fashions & Costumes from Harper’s Bazar 1867-1898”, edited by Stella Blum. For more information on time period items, I have “The 1902 Edition of the Sears, Roebuck Catalogue” and “The Historical Supply Catalogue”. To find out what was happening around the country, as well as the world, during a certain year, I rely on “The Timetables of American History.” And last, but definitely not least, is the irreplaceable “A Dictionary of the Old West” by Peter Watts, where I can learn what a churn-twister and ghost cord are.
In describing the area where my story is taking place, I often fall back on my memory or pictures since I’ve driven through almost all the states west of the Mississippi. And if the memory fails, which it does more and more, I’ve used park and state travel guides to learn what plant and animal life would inhabit a certain area. I also read Louis L’Amour westerns - he researched his areas personally and his descriptions reflect that touch.
For those of you who have internet capability, that super highway can be a fountain of knowledge. I have used it only on a few occasions; once to get in contact with someone who could tell me a horse’s birthing process and another to learn more about contraception in the old west. There are sites out there for almost any historical topic imaginable; you have only to surf the net to find them.
If you’re writing historical romance, I’m sure you love history as much as you love the romance. For me, finding a nonfiction book about women in mining towns or a book on the Pinkertons leads to new story ideas. In fact, a recent find for me was a book on Leadville’s Ice Palace, which sparked an idea for my fourth book which will be a mining story. The joy in learning about history and incorporating those details into a book is one of the main reasons I write historical romance.
Stetson hats and low-slung gunbelts on Levi-clad hips are the reason I write western historical romance.
Mo writes under the pseudonym Maureen McKade for Avon Romance. Her second western
historical A DIME NOVEL HERO is due out in January. Her first, WINTER HEARTS, was a 1995
Golden Heart finalist and a January 97 release from Avon.
For a listing of Maureen’s favorite western reference books, complete with ISBN#’s, send a legal size SASE to: Maureen McKade, P.O. Box 76442, Colorado Springs, CO 80970-6442.
Home | Membership Info | HODRW Authors | Congratulations!! | Links | Board Members | Meeting Info | Monthly Spotlight! | Articles | Calendar | Molly Contest | Aspen Gold Contest |