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LeftattheAltarfinalcover
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A Lady Like Sarah
A Suitor for Jenny
A Vision of Lucy
Four Weddings and a Kiss
There Were Texas Rangers Before There Was Texas
The Texas Rangers have a long and checkered history. In 1823 by Stephan F. Austin hired ten men to protect the frontier, but the Rangers weren't formerly constituted until 1835. The Texas Rangers are the oldest law enforcement agency in the United States and have gone through many transformations through the years.
I'm on the last draft of the third book in my Haywire Brides series. My male protagonist is a Texas Ranger and, as some of you might have guessed, that's my favorite type of hero.
Men worked as volunteers until after the Civil War and were disbanded as needed. Some served for days and others for many months. Companies were called various names including mounted gunmen, mounted volunteers, minutemen, spies, scouts and mounted rifle companies. It wasn't until 1870 that the term Texas Rangers came into use.
Maintaining law and order on the frontier wasn't easy, but those early Texas Rangers still managed to move with quick speed, even over long distances, and were able to settle trouble on the spot. They were called upon to serve as infantrymen, border guards, and investigators. They tracked down cattle rustlers and helped settle labor disputes. They both fought and protected the Indians.
Being a Texas Ranger didn't come cheap. He was expected to provide his own horse and it had to be equipped with saddle, blanket and bridle. A Ranger also had to provide his own weaponry, which included rifle, pistol and knife. He would also carry a blanket, and cloth wallet for salt and ammunition. To alleviate thirst, a ranger would suck on sweetened or spiced parched corn. Dried meat, tobacco and rope were also considered necessities. What he didn't carry with him was provided by the land.
As for clothing, a Texas Ranger wore what he had. It wasn't until the Rangers became full-time professional lawmen in the 1890s that many started wearing suits. (Today, Rangers are expected to wear conservative western attire, including western boots and hat, dress shirt and appropriate pants.)
Those early Rangers received twenty-five dollars a month in pay and worked hard for it. An officer's pay was seventy-five dollars. A man seldom lasted more than three or six months in the job.
In the early days, frontier justice did not require a courtroom, and Rangers fought according to their own rules. Rangers learned to strike hard and fast. This led to many excesses of brutality and injustice. The Rangers were reformed by a resolution of the Legislature in 1919, which instituted a citizen complaint system.
Today, the Texas Rangers enjoy a stellar reputation, and recently did something that probably has legendary Rangers Tom Horn and Big Foot Wallace a-whirling in their graves; they recently hired women
So what kind of a hero do you like to read about?
Stagecoach Rules for Readers
Do not disturb the other passengers by laughing or weeping out loud.
Never applaud, sigh or swoon while reading love scenes.
Refrain from making verbal comparisons between male passengers and the hero in the book. It will only make passengers feel inferior.
Provocative book covers must be kept hidden beneath a plain buckskin wrapper.
If you must show disapproval spit only on the leeward side of the coach.
In the event of a robbery, do not insist upon finishing a chapter before raising your hands. Outlaws are not known for patience.
Do not ask the driver to guard your book while you sleep.
In the event of a runaway stage, avoid such comments as "Here comes the good part."
It's best not to read by the window during an Indian attack.
Anyone causing hysteria among passengers by revealing the end of a book will be tossed from the coach.
Posted in 19th century, stagecoach rules
Glossary of Mail Order Bride Advertising Terms (And What They Really Mean)
My June release Undercover Bride is a mail-order bride story with a twist. Some of the advertisements that appeared in the mail order bride catalogs were a hoot and it took a clever man to know how to decipher them. Here's a key that might have helped :
* Eager to learn—can't cook; can't sew; can't clean
* Accomplished—can ride, shoot and spit like a man
* Modest dowry—poor as a church mouse
*Loving nature—keep her away from the ranch hands
*Traditionally built—you may wish to reinforce the floors
*Matrimonially inclined—working on husband number three
*Maternal—has six children and one on the way
*Possesses natural beauty—don't be fooled by the false hair, cosmetic paints or bolstered bosom
*Industrious—give her a dollar and she'll figure out how to spend ten
*Young looking—doesn't look a day over sixty.
*And they lived happily ever after—AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.
Posted in 19th century, female detective, Mail order brides, New books, Pinkerton detectives, romance
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