Meet Marianne Foster Wild Rose Ridge, circa 1885
An Introduction to Mail Order Brides in Wild Rose Ridge a long time ago.
Miss Foster is a mail order bride, arriving in Wild Rose Ridge on December 12, 1885. It’s a cold day, but the sun’s rays shoot out of an azure sky and dance on the waters of Wild Rose Lake.
That’s right. It’s 1885 in Wild Rose Ridge. A fun look back to the history of the town and lake that we already know. After the legends and the first families, who else settled this town? We are about to find out.
Miss Foster arrives in company with a group of women who traveled by train from Chicago to Oregon, then by steamboat, the Merry Jo, up the South Thorn River to Wild Rose Ridge. When they arrive, the men who commissioned brides cheer and wave their hats. It might seem a wonderful, robust welcoming, but – well – it wasn’t that pretty. After that, well – you will have to wait to find out.
The Christmas stories are scheduled to start releasing in October 2025 and go right on through November.
The first book cover reveal in the series is around the corner.
When I began my research for this story, I was surprised to learn the important role that mail order marriages played in the building of the United States as a country. With the Civil War leaving a dearth of men in the east and the lack of women in the west, a whole industry grew up. Before thinking that it sounds like trafficking, these were men and women who put ads in papers and usually wrote letters to each other before entering into any contracts. Sort of like online dating today only it had to be done the old-fashioned way in old-fashioned times. Like before online, right?
Most of the marriages started out looking for companionship, legacy and survival. Not all prospective couples married, some marriages did not last long. But others lasted for fifty years and more. Friendship was bedrock. Love was defined more on the Biblical commitments of love. It took sturdy spirits and sturdy love to overcome the obstacles they had to endure in a time when making a living took determination.
I admire them. They forged an inheritance for us who came after them.
One story might have happened this way. Stay tuned!
COVER REVEAL COMING SOON!
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