Wednesday in Wyoming - September 10, 2025

 

This Northern Flicker is one of my favorite birds, mostly because of its unusual coloring. How often do you see a bird that's apparently wearing a bib? 

Wednesday in Wyoming - September 3, 2025

 

This month I thought I'd stay close to home, at least for my blog posts, and so I'm featuring Backyard Birds.

This Swainson's Hawk was a frequent visitor one summer, perhaps because there was a lot of food for him in the form of ground squirrels and baby bunnies. But one day instead of taking a bath in the birdbath, he washed his food. What was it? A slice of bread. You can imagine what happened when that went into the water.

Wednesday in Wyoming - August 27, 2025

 

Since the hero of "The Sagebrush Bride" is the post trader, more commonly called the sutler, I thought you might like to see the exterior of the sutler's store. It's hardly an architectural wonder, but the stone construction made it warmer than a log cabin.

This concludes this month's exploration of Fort Laramie. What's coming in September? I haven't decided, but I hope you'll return for another glimpse into the state I call home.

Wednesday in Wyoming - August 20, 2025

 

Rank has its privilege.

I'm sure you've heard that, but if you had any doubts, compare this elegant dining room with the rather Spartan mess hall in the cavalry barracks that was the subject of last week's Wednesday in Wyoming post. 

As you undoubtedly guessed, this is how the highest ranking officers lived at Fort Laramie. 

Wednesday in Wyoming - August 13, 2025

 

Continuing our tour of Fort Laramie in honor of "The Sagebrush Bride," I thought you might enjoy seeing where the enlisted men ate.

This is the mess hall in the cavalry barracks, one of the buildings that has been restored. One of my questions when I saw it was whether the stove was adequate to heat the whole room or whether the men who were seated at the ends of the room were cold during those long, very cold Wyoming winters.

Wednesday in Wyoming - August 6, 2025

 

Since "The Sagebrush Bride," which is set at Fort Laramie, was just released, this month's Wednesday in Wyoming posts will feature the fort.

This building is not the most famous -- Old Bedlam, the bachelor officers' quarters, holds that distinction -- but it's equally important, because this was the cavalry barracks. 

You'll note that there's  a covered wagon to the left of the barracks, a reminder that Fort Laramie was a key stop on the Oregon Trail. 

What you don't see is a stockade fence or, for that matter, any kind of fencing. Hollywood did not use this fort as the model for all those westerns. 

The Story Behind "The Sagebrush Bride" Cover

 One of the most common questions I'm asked is how a book's cover was developed. The answer varies with the book.

For The Sagebrush Bride, an ebook short set at Fort Laramie, I had two requirements: I wanted it to have the same look as Brides of the Old West, and as was the case with that book, I wanted the photo to be one my husband had taken. 

You remember Brides of the Old West, don't you? In case you haven't looked at it recently, here's the cover.

There were so many things I liked about this cover that I wanted to stay as close to its design as possible. The challenge was finding a photo that would work well.

Since the first line of the book is "They called it Chimney Rock," I thought a picture of Chimney Rock might be appropriate. The problem was, it was too monochromatic -- dare I say almost depressing? -- and so I searched for another photo.

The majority of the story takes place at Fort Laramie, so I tried to find a picture of the fort. While I liked the covered wagon (the heroine is traveling with a wagon train), there was one fundamental problem: no sagebrush. There was also a secondary problem, namely that although this was taken at Fort Laramie, most readers wouldn't realize that, since Fort Laramie never looked like the Hollywood version of a western fort.

I kept looking through my files and finally found one I thought would work.

This one was taken near South Pass City, which is on the opposite side of Wyoming from Fort Laramie. I liked it because it has sagebrush and the colors work well with the sunflower spray under my name.

I thought I had the right cover design, but I wanted to be sure it would appeal to readers, so I asked my newsletter subscribers to choose which of the three they preferred. They confirmed that the South Pass cover was the right one, which is why that's the one you'll see if you look for story on Amazon.

It was a longer than usual process, but I'm pleased with the result and hope you are too.