One Fish

What do you mean, you don't want to buy a book?

The book signing at Barnes & Noble went well. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of people who came by to support me, many of whom actually bought books! A big surprise for me was Barnes & Noble had both Madame Dorion: Her Journey to the Oregon Country and Yadh, the Ugly, my middle grade fantasy book available, and both books were bought. Here are a couple of photos from the signing. I had a lot of fun and greatly appreciate Barnes & Noble for having me.

For those of you in the Ontario OR or Baker City OR locales, I will be at Four Rivers Cultural Center in Ontario this coming Friday the 13th at 6pm for a talk and signing and on Saturday morning at 10am, I will be at the Oregon Trail shop in Baker City, so if you get a chance stop by, say hi. Buying a book is not mandatory (but it would be nice).

The author has her complimentary coffee, for what more could she want?

"Madame Dorion comes to life on the pages of this delightful book. It has just the right amount of fiction to keep it lively and interesting. The story is entertaining and paints a picture of the hardships of travel and exploration across a land that was far from empty before the white man established his presence.

            "I appreciate that the book was thoroughly researched and the fact vs fiction was clearly delineated.

            "The book was well written. The characters were consistent and believable. I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about the early days of our country—young adult, new adult, or even old adult (like me).

            "Thank you Lenora, for giving us the story of a strong woman and keeping her memory alive." –DH

They did not see the Snake like this, they saw it in the rain, snow, sleet, and
cold. This does show some of the gentle rapids and sheer walls.

After the party split into smaller groups, Marie and her family stayed with Hunt and 31 other men. Mr. Crooks did attempt to go overland to Henry's Post to collect the horses, but was unable to do so, thereby losing more valuable time. The rain was falling, the cold was bitter, and they walked upstream to find shelter where they could get water and wait.

Sometimes the men would trap a beaver, and Marie and the men brought in what food they could find, which wasn't much. I'm sure once camped, they set traps, but it was winter, and they had nothing with which to bait the traps, and the ground squirrels, etc, weren't stupid. It was cold and they were hibernating!

Note where the falls start, too far down for them to
reach for water. That's a 200-300 foot drop
to the river. If they got down, how would they
get back to the top carrying water? How would
they get back to the top at all?

On 6th November 1811, Hunt set a net in the river, and caught one fish!  Hardly enough for 30 some hungry men and boys; however, when cooked in a stew, it at least gave flavor, if not sustenance.

Again, they dug holes to cache whatever they could not carry, and would not need on an overland trek. Each man, including Marie, carried about 20 pounds of food, plus their own gear. Marie, of course, carried her gear, what was needed for her family, and Paul, her youngest. She was described as carrying him on her right hip, in a sling.

If they could get down for water, they often could not get back up, and
there was little navigable shore line for them to walk on.

On the 9th November, they again began their journey, walking. As you can tell from these photos taken near Twin Falls, ID, the banks of the gorge are high and steep. Water was 400 feet down an often vertical wall. There were few rivers to cross, and when they came to one, it had usually carved out it's own little valley, and they could get water easily. Today we understand that when the rains fell, the water went straight through the thin soil and permeable rock until a third to half-way down it came to an impervious layer, and the water moved along underground until it came to the gorge wall and fell 200 to 300 feet down to the river. This must have been difficult for everyone to hear and see the water, and be unable to get it as they suffered severe thirst. It must have been almost maddening for Marie as her boys suffered.

A slightly enlarged view of above, shooting into the morning sun. Not the
kind of terrain I'd want to hike in a seeming never-ending winter.
Come to think of it, not the kind of terrain I'd want to hike for more than a day trip ;-)

When they could, they set pots out for the rain, but that was not a good or long-term solution. Some of the men suffered so much from thirst, they began to drink their own urine.

Whatever chokecherries or prickly pear fruits (desert figs) they found were or had been frozen, and probably had little moisture, though their sugars would have been concentrated and given some nourishment.

On the 11th of November, cold, starved, and thirsty beyond measure, they found a horse trail and followed it to a Shoshone village where they were given water, food, and a place to camp.