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Lees Ferry – Another stop along the Honeymoon Trail…

Not too far from the Vermillion Cliffs there’s another spot on the Honeymoon Trail, that I’ve visited, it’s called Lees Ferry. Another beautiful oasis in the middle of the desert, it’s called Lees Ferry because there was a ferry there that allowed pioneers, cowboys, Native Americans, mountain men, and even a writer or two to cross the wild Colorado River there – and the man who manned the ferry first was John D. Lee, ergo Lees Ferry.

The area was settled by Mormon families who of course were polygamous. The third man in charge of the Lees Ferry and the Lonely Dell Ranch, where the families lived, was Jim Emett. The reason I mention him is that he was a guide to Zane Grey when he was out that way hunting mountain lions. It was said that Zane Grey admired him and wrote about him both figuratively and literally. I thought that bit of information was cool… it set my mind to pondering what things would have been like when Jim Emett guided Zane Grey out into the vast wilderness and what sort of conversations they might have had…

Lees Ferry is now a part of Glen Canyon National Park and will always be preserved for everyone to enjoy and learn about. The history, the beauty, and the hardships are all there to inform and haunt visitors, permanently. Lees Ferry is honestly one of those places you really need to experience in person to get the grandeur of the whole thing. It’s truly breathtaking…

I try my best to capture the natural beauty that is all around here, in my books. I also try through my characters to show a bit of the history of the area, the plural marriage aspect, (in a positive way, because just like monogamous marriage, it’s not all bad), and the respect the people here have for the land and each other.

A snippet from my book New Parish, for you:

“Sarah sat listening to them without really listening, she peered out the wide panoramic windows of the plane. The scene below was amazing and filled with the exquisite desert landscape she was falling in love with. The rich colored mesas, the prairies filled with sage brush, cactus, and so much more than Sarah had imagined would be there, it was all becoming a part of her new life. This excited Sarah, it gave her something to explore and learn about while she was contemplating the next part of her life…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The links below will show you more, if you’re interested:

National Park page:

https://www.nps.gov/glca/planyourvisit/lees-ferry.htm

Loads of history and information about this beautiful place:

http://grandcanyonhistory.clas.asu.edu/sites_coloradorivercorridor_leesferry.html

There is Beauty All Around – Pipe Spring National Monument

Plural Wives Row House

One of the wonderful things about living in the “West” is the absolutely beautiful vistas. I’ve been awe struck almost on a daily basis at the grandorous, breathtaking murals of prairies, mesas, and mountains that are ever present. I can only guess what the early cowboys and pioneers experienced out here in this place that has retained most of its allurements.

A while back I visited an amazing place, not too far from where I live, called Pipe Springs National Monument. That place is almost like an oasis in the middle of a desert. It has tall trees and lots of green around, it kind of reminded me of back home. The reason for the green is that it has a natural spring that has been used by the Native Americans, pioneers, and many weary a traveler for as long recorded or verbal history can tell. There’s a large house/fort that covers the spring, which was built in the 1800’s, they used the spring to keep things cool out here in the middle of the desert. There are also some outbuildings and rustic corrals along with covered wagons. They keep a few animals, a couple of horses, a donkey, and a long-horned bull with horns longer than I am tall.

This place also holds a special bit of western history, it was a hideout for some unique outlaws, these outlaws weren’t bank robbers, murderers, nor did they ride with the “James” gang. They were plural wives who needed a place to go so their husbands (or themselves) wouldn’t get put in jail for polygamy. Many of them came there while pregnant, and had small children with them. One of the out buildings was a sort of plural wife row house. I could just imagine how they lived next to each other with their own little one room, dirt floor, apartment. This must have been a very difficult time for them, one can only imagine…

In my books the women have it so much better, and also have the freedom to live their lives the way they choose… in loving, safe, encouraging, environments.

I’m providing links so that if you’re curious you can see what it’s like there and read some of the history for yourself. There’s even a quote from one of the lady’s journal that I thought showed a since of humor and an incredible snapshot of what things were like in that time period. “One plural wife said of her move to Pipe Spring, “So about the year 1886, I moved to Pipe Spring. In other words, I went to prison to keep my husband out.””

Pipe Spring National Monument link:

https://www.nps.gov/pisp/index.htm

The virtual tour is really good, they provide loads of information and pictures.

Virtual Tour of Pipe Spring National Monument:

https://www.nps.gov/pisp/learn/photosmultimedia/virtualtour.htm

YouTube also has some pretty good videos of Pipe Spring:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Pipe+Spring+National+Monument+

This is a link to some pictures that were taken back in the 1940’s.

Link to old pictures of Pipe Springs:

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Photograph:%20az0047&fi=number&op=PHRASE&va=exact&co%20=hh&st=gallery&sg%20=%20true

Long Horn Bull at Pipe Spring

Freedoms and Rights

I’ve never been a preachy person, I believe what I believe and don’t mind sharing that if someone wants to know about it, but I don’t try to judge others by what I believe or by what they believe.

The recent legalized discrimination bill HB99 is simply a way to judge a group of people by someone else’s religion. We have laws in our country to prosecute people who assault, abuse, or illegally use others. In most parts of our country these laws work just fine, in Utah, there are some who feel the need to persecute others because they don’t believe the same way they do, so they create laws to legalize their discrimination of people who don’t believe the same exact way they do.

Recently Utah Representative Mike Noel said, “They’ve hijacked my religion and I actually resent that.” This is the man who sponsored the HB99 bill, exhibiting his prejudice against others who believe differently than he does, even though, they believe the same way as Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church.

It appears that he thinks his religion is a tool to judge others by and that others don’t have a right to believe anything else than what he believes. Our Constitution states, in the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

When asked what he believed, Joseph Smith wrote 13 Articles of Faith, in the eleventh one he wrote, “We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.” Think what you want about Joseph Smith, and I’ll think what I want. But, I believe vehemently in our constitutional right to have a belief system of our own choosing and conscience, and in respecting the rights of others to have that same right.

There’s no pretense here, I believe that everyone, (consenting adults), has the right to believe what they choose. I believe everyone, (consenting adults), has the right to choose how they want to live their lives, raise their families, and whom they will love. I also believe that no one has the right to discriminate against them for those choices… It’s my hope that when my books get published, a more favorable light can be shown on this lifestyle and the people who live it.

https://youtu.be/evSC-WZFw1c

These men, Theral Ray Dockstader and Virgel Y. Jessop along with many others were charged as felons in 1944, and put in prison for doing nothing more than being a husband and father. They were living their religion, each had more than one wife, all of whom they loved and took care of, along with the children that love brought into the world. They never hurt anyone, or robbed a bank, or even broke any laws, except the ones put in place by those who were discriminating against them because of their religion.

More Honeysuckle and Sagebrush

One thing I’ve found to be a certainty, is that things always change. The honeysuckle of my youth has become the sagebrush of my now… but in my mind, they both have a special place. I look at them a bit metaphorically, the sweet smell of the honeysuckle has become the useful wisdom of the sagebrush.

In quiet moments of pondering and staring off into the distance, memories of growing up in the “South” invade my mind. I remember my grandmother teaching me how to make biscuits, and teaching me to never devalue myself. She would tell me, “You’re just as good as anyone else, not better than them, but just as good.” We’ve all had someone in our lives who’s built us up and encouraged us. You know that voice that stays with us, the voice we hear repeating what was said, long after it’s said…

I’m drawn to that sage wisdom that sticks with you, and have found it in different places and people throughout my life. This is something I try to infuse into my characters as I write. Everything from “Don’t sit on your spurs,” to, “Don’t let a bad situation define who you are,” are included. With loads of humor of course!

We all have a journey to take, mine has been full of challenges that have helped me to become the person I am now. There have always been ways for me to find happiness on this journey, even if it was to stop and smell the honeysuckle or ponder the uses of sagebrush.

Synopsis for New Parish

Harvey Beach for websiteSarah the main character is a 27 year old, graphic artist. She lives in Atlanta but is originally from Savannah Georgia. She’s had too many bad dates over the years with guys that just weren’t quite what she wanted.

She does volunteer work at a children’s center, which she enjoys and it gives her a way to spend time with children while she longs to have her own. She meets a new friend at the children’s center, this new friend comes from a polygamous community which arouses Sarah’s curiosity, her new friend tells her about a different way of finding a companion which sets Sarah on a quest to find out the truth about this lifestyle as a viable option to dating. This leads her to consider making a decision that will affect the rest of her life… go live out west in a community where they live plural marriage or continue to date hoping to eventually find someone, maybe.

Through her investigations she finds out that the people living in the polygamous community use an old form of matchmaking. Their system sounded similar to what her grandmother described when she married her grandfather, only it involved prayer and church leaders not just parents.

She goes to New Parish to visit and asks some of the women in the polygamous community to tell her the whole story “warts and all” so she can make her decision with all the information possible. She hears some difficult stories about women who had been mistreated but also sees how happy other women living plural marriage are. Sarah struggles with both sides of this coin and finds it difficult to focus on work or anything else after she returns to Atlanta. The distraction of her new knowledge is so much that she needs to take a few days off from work and go to her family’s condo on Tybee Island to sort it out…

More later…

Next…

BabyI just finished Chapter 3 in my next book, although it’s a sequel it has a completely different feel than New Parish. Maybe it’s because of the new main character and her history… she is Sarah’s (main character from New Parish) little sister, she has a fiery temper, long curly auburn hair…. wait, I can’t tell you too much yet but her story is much different than her sister’s….

Excited!

 

I love being Julie august 22 (2)excited! I heard yesterday that publishers are looking at my manuscript! That’s very exciting! One of my favorite artists Norman Rockwell once said, “The secret to so many artists living so long is that every painting is a new adventure. So, you see, they’re always looking ahead to something new and exciting.” I agree!

Can’t wait to share “New Parish” with the world!

 

Writing Again

 

It’s like finding an old friend that I haven’t seen in a long time. I didn’t realize just how much I missed writing until a while ago. I’ve been working so hard on finishing my masters program, (still not finished) that I had not taken time to do the one thing I really love doing. I must remember to not get so caught up in “things” and forget this very important part of my world. Edits are coming along for Farquhar’s Family Secret: Fairy Notes Book 1 Part 2 and hopefully in another month it will be available. I have started book 2 for Fairy Notes and I’m also working on another book that is entirely different. I do love to write…