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Cheryl Wright, when she invited me to write for her Christmas Rescue series (set in the late 1800s in the west), became and remains another major mentor.
Cheryl also introduced me to Virginia McKevitt of Black Widow Books who does all of Cheryl’s covers, and has now done most of mine. Virginia has an uncanny knack for finding exactly the right model to represent the heroine in each book. Charlie Sue’s strength of character shines through!
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All of these incredibly talented people, and many others, have provided an amazing amount of backing, ideas, and assistance, helping out with all manner of tricks of the trade. This amazing camaraderie, I have come to find, is not unusual—authors just seem to be warm, creative, and generous folks. Each of you has my undying gratitude.
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Additionally, my friends and family, especially my husband, have continued to abet my desire to pour my thoughts out on paper and its modern substitutes. They have to put up with my everyday whims and requests, so deserve special recognition for their patience and love.
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But most of all, you, the reader, make it worthwhile to share my thoughts and dreams as expressed by the characters who whisper in my ear. Thank you.
Elissa Strati
June 2020
AUTHOR’S HISTORICAL NOTES
I have taken a few liberties with Oklahoma's history, by establishing ranches run by white men in the mid-nineteenth century. At that time, Oklahoma was largely Indian Territory, and although there were whites running farms, they were the exception not the rule. The name, “Oklahoma” was in use, but it was not established as a territory until 1890. Eastern Oklahoma, actually part of the Louisiana Purchase; became known as Oklahoma Colony in about 1880. (The western panhandle section was peeled off from Texas as part of the Missouri Compromise.)
The Cherokees, who had adapted to “white” ways in North Carolina and had some very fine plantations (many with African slaves) prior to being forced West, brought their expertise—and their slaves—to their new Oklahoma reservation. The Indian Territories included the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes, running major cotton plantations in that area, with some whites leasing land. The majority of land grabbing in Oklahoma didn't really start until about 1889.
Nonetheless, there were some white settlers that came early, purchasing or otherwise negotiating for land, and I chose to have the Evans and Coulter clans be among them, significantly predating the “Sooners” who arrived . . . somewhat sooner than legal, but well after this story.
Overwhelmed in Oklahoma Page 8