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Western History
The real events, places, and people behind the fiction.
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From the writing desk
The Blog
Notes from the research trail, the writing life, and the world of my books. New posts gather here as they're written.
Showing: Frontier Life (show all)
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Frontier Life
The LeMat “Grape Shot Revolver”: The Strangest Sidearm of the Frontier
JT and Klint both preferred the oddball LeMat revolver — a nine-shot pistol with a hidden shotgun barrel, invented in New Orleans and smuggled through the Union blockade.
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Frontier Life
JT's Starr Model 1858: The Double-Action Revolver the War Forgot
The Starr Model 1858 could fire faster than a Colt thanks to a true double-action trigger, yet it still became the forgotten revolver of the Civil War.
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Frontier Life
Powder, Ball, and Memory
Many of my heroes came home from the War with a cap-and-ball revolver they had carried through four years of it. Some of them never quite put it down.
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Frontier Life
The Messenger's Shotgun
Short, ugly, and terrifyingly effective — the coach gun is why the man beside the driver was called 'riding shotgun,' and why so few road agents argued with him.
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Frontier Life
The Webley British Bulldog: A Pocket Monster on the Frontier
Most of my heroines and heroes carried a small derringer for a pocket advantage. The Webley British Bulldog was the little monster they probably should have been carrying instead.
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Frontier Life
Hunter's Whitworth Rifle: Reach Beyond Ordinary
Hunter carried a Whitworth rifle when he enlisted with the Louisiana Infantry—until it was taken from him at the Wilderness. Here's the story of the hexagonal-bored marvel that could strike at a thousand yards.
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Frontier Life
The Rifle They Called the Yellow Boy
Before the Winchester 1873 became "The Gun That Won the West," the 1866 Yellow Boy taught a generation of riders to trust a lever-action rifle under their knee.
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Frontier Life
The Colt That Won the West
The Single Action Army was the revolver most of my heroes would have worn on their hip in 1873 — and the reasons why say a great deal about the men who carried one.
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Frontier Life
Rachel's 1848 Colt Dragoon: A Hand Cannon on Horseback
In West of Forgotten, Rachel carried an 1848 Colt Dragoon—a four-pound horse pistol built for mounted dragoon regiments and powerful enough to stop almost anything in its path.
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Frontier Life
Everyday details of life on the American frontier.
9 posts — read them →
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Historical Research
Where I went looking — and what I found.
Posts coming soon.
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Behind the Scenes
The making of a book, from first spark to final page.
2 posts — read them →
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Character Spotlights
A closer look at the men and women who carry the stories.
8 posts — read them →
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Writing Updates
What's on the desk, what's on the way.
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The Inbox Slush Pile
Monthly: the worst of the worst unsolicited pitches — screenshots, replies, and follow-ups.
1 post — read them →