My upcoming historical romance/mystery, Gunpowder and Promises, is set in Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory, in August 1878. I try to pay careful attention to detail when I’m researching a new historical novel. Although I sometimes create people and places that didn’t truly exist, they are based in what MIGHT have been. The clothes, architecture, streets and even food is what people of the time would have experienced.
My heroine in this novel arrives in Cheyenne by train. Cheyenne was built by the Union Pacific Railroad and the tracks were completed at this time. Later, more would come. She would need to make it from the train depot to the boarding house.
My research began to reveal a business district and a rougher area with saloons and such. Within a couple blocks of that were residential homes. Within about a six-block radius, the entire town existed.
Etiquette of the time meant a respectable woman wouldn’t be caught near those saloons, too. Part of researching a historical novel is figuring out what the smells, sound and sights were at the time. My goal is to bring the place to life for my readers. I want them to feel as though they’ve stepped off that train alongside Evie Mercer and are walking with her from the train depot to the boarding house.
If you love history, you’ll probably appreciate the multiple sources I used (letters, books, diaries, maps and info about the time period and area) to pull together what I feel is a fairly accurate description of Cheyenne in August 1878.
I used more than one map to gain an idea of distance. What was walkable? What streets would my characters stroll down? What businesses or buildings were there? Where might they go to church? Where would they eat a meal out? Where would Evie stay?
I love history and could truly get lost in these details. There does come a time when I have to set it aside and write the story. I think you’ll enjoy my upcoming release Gunpowder and Promises. It relies on deep historical research and then brings in a crime that could have only happened during that time and in that place. I had so much fun writing it!
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