Many of the events depicted are based on true events or activities. One activity, the extra coins being rescued by Mrs. Morton and hidden in the birdcage, was taken from a story in the Centennial issue of the Bulletin Journal in 1965.
The story of the threat on the Axtell train, was documented in two articles, only one article referred to the involvement of Mr. Williams with the telegraph system. I believe Mr. Williams would not have hesitated to take control of teletyping the message to the Cedar Rapids station, since he was an experienced telegrapher. The contents of the message could only be speculated from the information available.
The story of Wapsi and Pinicon was fun to throw in. The thugs that beat Gilbert up represent the corrupt part of horse racing. There was no documented attempt to poison Allerton that I found.
There really was a big tree the young adults would gather to. Mr Williams did sponsor patients from the hospital to attend the races.
Miss Timms was a female reporter from Minneapolis, her involvement was limited, but I thought she added insight to describe the relations between Williams and the media. She was also a great outlet to introduce Rush Park to the reader.
I rode the trolley up the hill in Dubuque and thought it was absolutely fascinating, so I worked it in the book.
The opening fire sequence was truly a devastating event for Independence, so I wanted to bring it out as accurately as I could.