Gold Rush Bride Caroline by Linda Shenton Matchett
Gold Rush Bride Caroline
By Linda Shenton Matchett
Hear the words “gold rush,” and California immediately comes to mind. However, the U.S. was home to dozens of gold rushes throughout the years beginning in 1799 when a young boy found a seventeen pound nugget in North Carolina. Gold Rush Brides is an exciting new series that features female prospectors. Meet Caroline Vogel, protagonist in Gold Rush Bride Caroline that releases on July 15th!
LM: As I hear it, you took a wagon train from Georgia to Pike’s Peak to try your hand in the gold fields. Tell us about that.
Caroline: I need a change. A big change. Life in Dahlonega was strangling me. People treated me with pity or scorn, and finding love was an exercise in futility. My parents struck it rich during the 1829 Georgia gold rush, and frankly, every potential suitor was more interested in their money than me. I figured if Mother could find success in the gold fields thirty years ago, I had a good chance. The wagon trail ride was long and tedious, with only a few hair-raising incidents.
LM: Care to share one of those incidents?
Caroline: I don’t want to give too much away, but going through Indian territory is always dangerous.
LM: What was it like being one of only a few women prospectors at Pike’s Peak?
Caroline: A lot of the men didn’t like us gals there, that’s for sure. They seemed to resent us and often tried to talk us out of staying. A couple of times they tried to scare us off, and that was a little dicey. Some of the women couldn’t handle the physicality of the work and left or found jobs in town. Others gave up when their claim didn’t produce. The newspapers made it sound like gold was laying on the ground for the taking, and when people discovered that wasn’t the case, they lost interest.
LM: You mentioned the physicality of the searching for gold. Tell us about that.
Caroline: Well, the days are long. I don’t want to bore you with too much detail, but there are several ways to mine for gold, the simplest being to pan for it. That water is plenty cold, coming out of the mountains during the spring thaw. Either bending or squatting, you shovel dirt from the river bed into your pan, then pick out the largest of the rocks. You swirl the pan in a circular motion until the bulk of the sand and dirt is gone. These motions are repeated until you get down the fine grains and can pick out the gold. If you’re lucky you found nuggets which are easy to pick out and worth a lot. But a lot of the gold is flakes the size of an eyelash. Patience and stamina are crucial for any good prospector.
LM: What was the area like?
Caroline: There were a bunch of mining camps, mostly made up of tents and a few hastily built cabins. Denver City and Boulder City were two of the larger camps. The boom was initially concentrated along the South Platte River, in Clear Creek Canyon, and in Breckenridge. Some say there were over 100,000 folks who came. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case. Seemed like men were shoulder to shoulder in the rivers. There were few laws, and lots of alcohol flowed through the camps, creating all sorts of problems. One of the reasons that I’m glad I know how to shoot.
LM: Tell us about that handsome assistant trail boss.
Caroline: (flushes and waves her hand) Suffice it to say, he’s alternately intriguing and infuriating.
About Gold Rush Bride Caroline:
She thinks he’s high-handed and out for her gold. He thinks she’s difficult and money-hungry. Will they discover that love is the true treasure?
Scarred in a childhood accident, Caroline Vogel has yet to find a man willing to marry her, so she heads to the Pike’s Peak goldfields to pan enough ore to become a woman of means. When she and the handsome assistant trail boss hit it off, she begins to hope her future may not be spent alone. Then she catches wind of dark secrets from the man’s past, and she’s not sure what or who to believe.
Orphaned as a teenager, Oliver Llewellyn stole to survive, then used his skills for the army during the war. Nowadays, he applies his knowledge to catch dangerous thieves for the Pinkerton Agency, so guarding a young woman during a wagon train journey should be easy. But he didn’t count on the fact she’d angered a man bent on revenge. He also didn’t count on losing his heart.
Gold Rush Bride Caroline is part of the exciting multi-author Gold Rush Brides series set in 19th century America.
Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3gF28M2
Bio:
Linda Shenton Matchett is an author, speaker, and history geek. She writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. A volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of WWII, Linda was a trustee of her local public library for twelve years. She was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland and has lived in historic places all her life. Now located in central New Hampshire, Linda’s favorite activities include exploring historic sites and immersing herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors.
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Thanks for hosting me and Caroline! Always a pleasure to visit with you!
Linda,
Thank YOU for sharing Caroline here. I hope you come back soon!