Saturday, November 28, 2009

Thanksgiving, Leadville (Soda Springs) 1879

... And apparently a "good time was had by all" for Thanksgiving at nearby Soda Springs that year. According to this Evening Chronicle tidbit (dated November 28, 1879), dancing lasted 'til dawn... a good method of working off the turkey, duck, etc., consumed earlier, I have no doubt. (Note: Soda Springs features in a key scene in the second Silver Rush mystery, Iron Ties):

THANKS AT SODASPRINGS
It was ten minutes past four o’clock this morning before Thanksgiving festivities ceased at Soda Springs. They commenced with a dinner to the school teachers of Leadville at twelve o’clock yesterday noon. This was followed by a dinner to everybody who came down to six o’clock last evening. The everybody was three of Colonel Bair’s hack loads, besides a number who came by private carriage. They kept coming till past ten o’clock in the evening. At eight o’clock the large dining hall was cleared and the dance which continued till the light of day was commenced. All together the Thanksgiving at Mount Massive Hotel for the blessings of 1879 was one that will be pleasantly remembered as the weary road down through the journey of life is traveled.
Question that pops to mind: How many people fill up a "hack?" Ten? Twenty? ... Just one of those little mysteries of the past...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Ann. Fascinating post. I'm dropping by to let you know I just finished reading LEADEN SKIES, and I loved it. I now have a better understanding of your comments on the Social Justice panel I moderated for the Poisoned Pen Web Con (which people can still read at www.ppwebcon.com), especially about your protagonists' views on women's suffrage.

My mysteries are set in present time and I rarely read historicals, but I will definitely look up your first two!

Anonymous said...

Hi Ann. Fascinating post. I'm dropping by to let you know I just finished reading LEADEN SKIES, and I loved it. I now have a better understanding of your comments on the Social Justice panel I moderated for the Poisoned Pen Web Con (which people can still read at www.ppwebcon.com), especially about your protagonists' views on women's suffrage.

My mysteries are set in present time and I rarely read historicals, but I will definitely look up your first two!

Ann Parker said...

Hi Julie,
Glad to hear you enjoyed the book! And I love that folks can still drop by and check out the panel. I'll need to highlight the PP webcon stuff on my website somewhere, just to make it easy for folks to hop on over. The Social Justice panel was lots of fun! Interesting comments/essays from all--moderator included! :-)