Love your heart for this, Shelli! I think you’re right that she would be pleased:) I hope she was able to remarry & have a safer life. Can’t wait to fictionalize this & hope I convey her fearless spirit. Thank you for being here. 💛

Ann, So good to see you here! I know you love this rich history like I do and can spin many a fine yarn of your own 🙂 I do think adding real history into our stories makes them much better and it’s always fun to highlight what’s real in an author note. Thanks very much for chiming in!

I can imagine you doing this, Jennifer, with your wit and steeliness (how’s that for character summation?)! My heroine in this one even has your color hair!

And this reader had a good laugh as well! 🙂 A delightful family story to pass down. Those spoons come in very handy lol. We used to use a wooden one with our boys occasionally but on the seat of their pants. This oral history is so important for families. Maybe even more important than writing them down. Yes, please watch for a scene like this in THE FERRYKEEPER’S DAUGHTER:) I’m about to the place where it fits very well and is a different take than the usual Indian raid on the frontier homeplace. So thankful for amazing resources like this – and family stories like yours!

Stacey, Another commonality between us – Cherokee on our mother’s side (my great grandfather). He was listed as illegitimate via the census to hide the fact of his native roots. A sad commentary of that time period, late 19th-century. Your own roots sound fascinating! I wish we knew more about our family histories. More letters and diaries and such. I guess they were so busy just trying to survive that they didn’t have time for such. So I will invent it lol 🙂 Thanks so much for chiming in here!

Love your take on it, Carla, and that love turns away wrath is perfect. I wonder if she had this in mind while making that big trough of mush! Research is nearly as fascinating as writing to me and I take many a rabbit trail. I know you understand all that:)

Stephanie, You do what I do! Public domain books are quite a feast for us historical folk 🙂 Plus it gives us a little more free rein to incorporate things like this. Fun, indeed! So appreciate you reading this humble post about an amazing woman – thank you!

Love your appreciation for history, Angi, in every century! You live among some rich stories in your state, too. I so wish I could have been an eyewitness to this little picnic which would have had me on the edge of my seat. My current hero was raised by Indians so it’s been interesting to try and see both sides. Reams of research! I don’t think you can really present a Native American viewpoint well unless you’re one but I will do my best. Bless you for being here!