My dad loved watching Westerns. He was partial to John Wayne, but he would watch any Western, any time of day. His favorite, by far, was Lonesome Dove. You knew Henry Whitley liked you if he asked you to “watch a little Lonesome Dove” with him. When he died in 2008, it was the most natural thing in the world for me to honor him by watching his favorite show. That, of course, led to me reading Larry McMurtry’s classic for the first time and spending the entire summer watching any and every Western shown on TCM and AMC, which led to me writing a Western.
Catherine/Laura’s story is framed around historical events in 1871—Sherman’s tour of Texas forts, the Warren Wagon Train Massacre and the resulting shift in the Army’s Indian Policy, Fort Richardson, and the trial of Satanta and Big Tree. I have tried to stay true to the tone, atmosphere, and attitudes of the frontier at the time, but took creative license with some events, specifically the Warren Wagon Train Massacre, to enhance the fictional story I wanted to tell.
The list of the sources I used while researching Sawbones can be found at melissalenhardt.com.