Upcoming Events in July!

July is a busy month for me.

July 4th - 7th I'll be at the wild and crazy CONvergence 2013 talking on a few panels and just having a fun time.

July 10th (Wednesday) I'll be giving a talk at the Maplewood Area Historical Society at 7:00 pm about the ox cart/Red River trails. This is open to the public, so if you're in the area, come on over! The MAHS is located at the Bruentrup Heritage Farm, 2170 East County Road D, Maplewood, MN 55117.

July 20 & 21, I'll be part of the Literary Landing at the Minnesota River Arts Fair. We'll be giving readings, signing books, and just chatting it up with anyone and everyone who stops on by. It's located at The Landing in Shakopee, and goes from 10 - 5 both Saturday and Sunday. Erin Hart and Paddy O'Brien are the Keynote speakers. I'll be giving a talk/reading at 1:30 on Saturday and 1:00 on Sunday. Other authors there will be Pat Dennis, Jan Dunlap, Susan Koefod, Kathryn Sullivan, Evelyn Klein, Cristina Oxtra, Sheyna Galyan, Debbie Lampi, and Connie Claire Szarke. There will also be over fifty visual artists, music, and history! Should be fun.

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Ox Cart Angel on Amazon!

Ox Cart Angel in Crosslake!

Last week I gave a talk on about the ox cart/Red River trails to the Crosslake (MN) Historical Society. The even was held outside in the middle of the Old Pioneer Village. Beautiful weather, great people, and delicious treats provided by the historical society members. I think I only got one mosquito bite during the whole thing, and that's saying something! Special thanks to Mary Hoag, the CHS president, for letting me come up and talk.

Ox Cart Angel on Amazon

Ox Cart Angel in Cold Spring - on YouTube!

I spoke at the Cold Spring, MN Historical Society on Friday, February 8th. Of course, on the way up, I had to stop at the Clearwater Travel Plaza for some of their amazing caramel apples. Anyway, the talk went well, and it was great to meet some of the folks up there.

PLUS, the talk was videotaped by Duane Kuss and put up on Youtube! So if you'd like to see it, you can view it here. It's about 43 minutes long.

I had a wonderful time.

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Ox Cart Angel on Amazon!

Ox Cart Angel in Sauk Centre

In the beginning of January, I had the privilege to give a talk at the Sauk Centre Historical Society's annual meeting. I had a nice time, and I hope the historical society members enjoyed it, too. One neat thing is that Sauk Centre was Sinclair Lewis' hometown - he based his famous novel Main Street on the city. I've read Main Street, Arrowsmith, and my favorite of his - Babbitt - and enjoyed them all. So it was quite fun to hear Pamela Borgmann, who was my contact person with the historical society, tell me that her grandfather had passed by Sinclair Lewis when they were both youths. Sinclair started throwing apples at Pam's grandfather, scaring his horse, after which the grandfather proceeded to beat up Mr. Lewis. When taken to Sinclair's father, who was a doctor, apparently the father told Pam's ancestor that Sinclair had it coming. What a great story!

Anyway, much thanks to the folks there for hosting me!

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Ox Cart Angel on Amazon!

Ox Cart Angel in Lake City, MN!

I had a wonderful time in Lake City, Minnesota on December 1^st. Much thanks to the Lake City Friends of the Library and the Lake City Historical Society for hosting me.

The shindig was in Lake City’s City Hall – the old part was built in 1899. I gave my presentation in the ball room, which had beautiful woodwork and historical displays all around.

Here’s the “Mystery Woman” that’s part of my presentation (and also the photograph that led me on a genealogy search that sparked the idea of Ox Cart Angel.)

Check out the nice spread! Cookies, crackers, cheese, fruit, coffee, cider...perfect for the day!

Also thanks to the Mississippi Mercantile for their lovely display!

Here’s me signing (again) – that’s my dad standing in the background. My mom and one of my brothers was there, too, which was fun. It’s the first time they've seen me do my thing.

After the event, Don and Alice Schwartz had us over to their beautiful home for lunch. Don’s classical guitar playing added a nice touch to the day!

Another cool thing – both my brother and I saw a white squirrel scampering around the area. The last time we’d seen one was at our grandparents’ Walt and Laura Arnold, who used to live further down the Mississippi in Wabasha. Perhaps they were there with us, too, watching and enjoying the day.

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Ox Cart Angel on Amazon!

Red River Cart Wheels

In an earlier post, I talked about why the wheels of the Red River oxcarts were so squeaky.

In this post, I'd like to tell you a few more cool things about them. Here's a picture of the wheel of an actual Red River oxcart. This particular oxcart is only one of four known to still exist intact. It's located at the Kandiyohi History Center Museum in Willmar, MN.

Notice how it's all made of wood? (The chain you see is just to keep people from climbing on the thing.) I think the band that is holding that hub together may be metal, but originally, it would've been of animal hide. The hide would've been soaked in water, wrapped around the wood, and allowed to dry. When it dries, it shrinks and tightens up. The axle was often made of strong oak, while the rest of the cart was typically pine. However, any wood would do in a pinch.

Now here is what's really unique about the Red River cart's wheels:

See how the spokes and wheel form sort of a bowl shape? It allowed for better movement across the marshy land of the Red River Valley. Again, animal hide would've been used where the metal strip is now circling the wheel rim.

Another thing about this wheel shape is that when the cart and its driver came to a river they had to cross, the wheels could be taken off, wrapped in buffalo hide, and used to float the cart across the river. The two wheels would be placed beneath the cart in order to accomplish this.

I've seen a couple replicas of these Red River carts, and they often get the bowl shape of the wheel wrong. They usually just put on wheels that are almost flat up against the wagon, more like a regular cart.

If you're ever near Willmar, MN, I recommend heading into their museum to see one of the only authentic carts remaining up close and personal!

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Ox Cart Angel on Amazon!

Perham Author Talk - Nov 3rd!

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Ox Cart Angel on Amazon!