Gold Rush Bride Tegan by Linda Shenton Matchett
The Story behind the Story Gold Rush Bride Tegan
By Linda Shenton Matchett
More than likely, you’ve heard of the California gold rush that began in 1848. Word spread around the world, and by the following year tens of thousands of people from around the world arrived to seek their fortune. But did you know there were two significant rushes prior to this? The first occurred in North Carolina in 1799 after a young man found a seventeen pound nugget near a creek. The second, that lasted longer and produced more gold occurred in northern Georgia thirty years later. Geological experts agree that the gold found in Georgia is from the same vein as the one in North Carolina. Two rushes that occurred after the California event are the 1859 Pike’s Peak rush and the 1899 Nome rush.
Gold Rush Bride Tegan (Book three in the Gold Rush Bride series) takes place during the Nome rush. My research turned up several intriguing tidbits. First of all, there were quite a few women who traveled to Nome to take part in the rush, many of whom came alone. Others accompanied husbands, brothers, or fathers. Prospectors would either take a steamship from San Francisco or Seattle, a journey of a couple of weeks. Secondly, gold was so plentiful on the beaches, that very little effort was needed to find nuggets and flakes. Because the coastline was considered public domain, miners were not required to file a claim. Land along the creeks and rivers had to be purchased and registered. Tent cities were set up, and folks stayed until the onset of winter when authorities made them leave.
Even more interesting was the information I discovered about North Dakota politician Alexander McKenzie. McKenzie began his career as a sheriff of Burleigh County, being elected five times. As time passed, he became very influential in the state, and it seems that power went to his head because he became corrupt. He was known to have stolen votes, intimidated voters, and resorting to physical violence with his opponents. After hearing about the gold strikes, he hand-picked individuals for the positions of federal judge, federal district attorney, and other important positions for the town of Nome. One of his appointees was Arthur Noyes who took allowed claim jumpers to take mines from their rightful owners, then illegally appointed McKenzie as the receiver to operate the mines while the owners appealed (having to go all the way to San Francisco to do so!) He was finally arrested and found guilty. Sentenced to one year in jail, he only served three months, then later pardoned by President McKinley.
The information about McKenzie captivated me so much, I included a fictionalized version in Gold Rush Bride Tegan. A tiny hamlet populated by various Eskimo groups until the 1898, Nome became a boomtown inhabited by more than twenty thousand people at its peak. At the end of the rush, in 1910, the population had plummeted to 2,600.
Would you leave all you know to pan for gold?
Gold Rush Bride Tegan:
She’s out to prove herself. He’s only looking for adventure. Neither one realizes they’ll find more than gold “in them thar hills.”
Tegan Llewellyn has always been different than her adopted family, except Grandmother Hannah, a prospector during the 1829 Georgia gold rush. Now, seventy years later there are reports of gold in Nome, and the opportunity is too good to pass up. But Tegan doesn’t count on the dangers that strike from the moment she steps off the steamer, including the threat of losing her heart.
Elijah Hunter has prospected for gold all over the US and Canada and likes being on the move. The last thing he expects to find on his latest search is a lady miner who proves to be nothing but trouble. Can he convince her that leaving is for her own good before it’s too late…for both of them?
Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B09R3VNY95
Bio:
Linda Shenton Matchett writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. A volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of WWII, Linda is a former trustee for her local public library. She is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry. Linda has lived in historic places all her life, and is now located in central New Hampshire where her 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!
Linda, thanks for sharing!