Roberta Writes – WordCrafter Book Blog Tour: Sarah by Kaye Lynne Booth #readingcommunity #fiction #historical

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Picture caption: Banner for the WordCrafter Book Blog Tour for Sarah depicting the cover of the book against a background of a Western homestead

The Ute Indians in Glenwood Springs, Colorado & The Legend of Chapita

Sarah is a seventeen-year-old girl who has been through a lot in life already. In Delilah, she was abducted at fourteen and sold to the Ute Indians near Telluride, Colorado. Now, in Sarah, she has found acceptance in the tribe and become Hair of Fire, but a rogue Sioux warrior steals her away from her tribe and takes her to a sacred place hidden away deep in the Colorado wilderness.

This fictional place was created from an actual place which exists just outside of Canon City, Colorado, where one can hike back into a box canyon, where the water from above has worn away the rock of the canyon wall over time, making it easy to believe that the native tribes of the region might have held this place sacred. The real place is not in a location where the story would take my character, but I wanted to use it because the legend associated with it was an inspiration for the fight that transpires when Sarah’s mate tries to rescue her, so I moved the setting deep into the wilderness of the Colorado Rockies.

I read about that legend back in 1985 in the local paper, The Canon City Daily Record, and it stuck with me, perhaps because it is a place that I had hiked to frequently with my husband and kids. It is a tragic love story. I could not access that article when I was researching for the book, but I’ll recount it here to the best of my recollection.

The Legend of Chapita

Chapita was a beloved Ute squaw, mated to a Ute chief who adored the ground she walked on. Torn from her home by a ruthless neighboring tribe in a violent raid, she was taking her to the location mentioned above, where her own tribe caught up with them and there was a great battle. As the chaos of battle unfolded around them, the chief of the neighboring tribe took her forcibly to the sacred circle above, holding her captive on a perilous ledge, threatening to kill her if the Ute warriors didn’t stop fighting and leave the canyon. The Ute chief, consumed by love for his mate, faced an impossible choice – to abandon her or sacrifice everything. In a heart-wrenching act of desperation, he chose to end her suffering with a single arrow through her heart. The echoes of their tragic love story reverberated through the canyon as the Utes emerged victorious, but at a devastating cost.

Picture caption: Chapita, called Queen of the Utes

*Note: More recently, I learned this legend couldn’t be true. Called “Queen of the Utes”, Chapita was the mate of Chief Ouray, and she survived him after his death in 1880 and went on to called a peacemaker. as she continued to strive toward peace in his footsteps. But it is still a cool legend and inspiration for my tale.

Glenwood Springs, Colorado

Lost and alone in the wilderness, young Hair of Fire doesn’t know what to do. Her tribe is on their way to their summer hunting grounds and she doesn’t know how to find them. Determined to find the place called Yampah, the young white squaw sets out through the treacherous mountain terrain in search of the place called Yampah, the place of sulfur springs believed to be big medicine by the Ute people, in hopes of being reunited with her people when they return to their winter lodgings in the fall.

That place is Glenwood Springs, Colorado, distinctive with its shimmering sulfur pools filling the air with the pungent sulfur odor and ethereal mists from their steam, creating a mystical atmosphere of the landscape. It is no wonder the Utes attributed healing powers to bubbling sulfur pools, making it a stopover to soak their weary muscles on their long journey.

Picture caption: a family of Utes outside their teepee

The infamous Doc Holliday spent his last days there, in hopes that the vapors of the sulfur pools would ease the symptoms of tuberculosis. We know today that the vapors may even have exacerbated his condition.

Today, Glenwood Springs is a tourist destination, where people soak and swim in the Glenwood Springs mineral hot springs pool, breath in the misty air of the Yampah vapor caves, and eat or have a drink at Doc Holliday’s Saloon, and visit the place rumored to be Doc’s final resting place in the Linwood Cemetery. For me, Glenwood Springs is the place where the elements of my story come together to tell the tale of Sarah.

References

“Ute History and the Ute Mountain Tribe”. Colorado History–Colorado Encyclopedia. https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/ute-history-and-ute-mountain-ute-tribe

“Ute Indian History”. Glenwood Springs Colorado. https://visitglenwood.com/history/ute-era/

“Chapter V: The Utes in Southwestern Colorado: A Confrontation of Cultures”. Frontier in Transition: A History of Southwestern Colorado. BLM Cultural Resource Center. https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/blm/co/10/chap5.htm

Cooney, Tim. 8 July 2023. “Ute removal policy comes to a head in the 1887 ‘Colorow War’”. Aspen Journalism. https://aspenjournalism.org/ute-removal-policy-comes-to-a-head-in-the-1887-colorow-war/

“Vapor Caves Historical Timeline”. Yampah Spa Hot Springs Vapor Caves. https://www.yampahspa.com/history/

Picture Caption: Promotional banner for Sarah by Kaye Lynne Booth

About Sarah, Women in the West Adventure Series book 2

Picture caption: Book cover for Sarah, featuring a young woman with red hair against a faded background of Ute teepees.

Sarah is a young girl trying to make a place for herself in the world.

Sarah is not the young girl stolen away from Delilah anymore. Now she is Hair of Fire, mate of Three Hawks, even as she blossoms into a young woman and tries to make a place for herself among the Ute tribe.

When she is stolen away from the life she’s made, she struggles to survive in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. A streak of stubbornness and determination take this tough, feisty heroine up against wild beasts of the forest and the rugged mountain landscape to Glenwood Springs, Colorado, where she receives a less than welcoming reception by some.

Will this young woman find her way back to the Ute tribe, which she’s come to think of as family, or will she discover a place among the colorful inhabitants of the Colorado hot springs and mining town?

Follow along on her journey to learn who she truly is and where she belongs in this rough, and often hostile frontier.

Universal purchase link for Sarah: https://books2read.com/Sarah-Women-in-the-West

About Kaye Lynne Booth

Picture caption: Kaye Lynne Booth’s author picture

For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

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Published by robertawrites235681907

I am a writer of young adult fiction and poetry

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70 thoughts on “Roberta Writes – WordCrafter Book Blog Tour: Sarah by Kaye Lynne Booth #readingcommunity #fiction #historical”

  7. Thanks Robbie. I love the legends and history. I’ve visited some sulpher pools in Mexico. The warm water has mist rising from it so the surrounding area is like you’re inside fog at certain times. I can see why the Utes would have considered the pools sacred. Sulpher has a strange odor but it’s very healing. Our family soaked for several hours. It cleared my psoriasis for 3 months. It’s good to learn background to stories. I am planning to read Sarah soon.

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    1. Hi Kay. Many visit Glenwood Springs for its restorative properties and today there is a huge swimming pool that is naturally heated by the sulfer springs. The irony is that Doc Holliday went there in hopes that the waters would help his tuberculosis, when the moist air probably exacerbated it. Many accounts say he died in a sanitorium for TB there, but there was any sanitorium and he died destitute in a second floor hotel room.

      I know you will enjoy the book. 🙂

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      1. I enjoyed reading Delilah so I know I’ll like Sarah! The way you’ve picked up the story of what happened to Sarah makes me eager to read the book. Did you plan to write Sarah while you wrote the first book?

        As soon as I finish reading it, I’ll write a review. Thanks, Kaye.

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  11. That sounds like a very intriguing story. I think it helps that it is based on a real place and a legend. Even if the legend isn’t true, the fact that it has been around for a long time shows it has an impact. Fiction does not have to be based on true legends. The legend is an interesting backstory in any case.

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    1. HI Thomas, I agree with you regarding legends. A Ghost and His Gold is based on two legends, one about the ‘stolen’ Kruger millions that were never found and two about a ghost that haunts Jan Smuts’ house, a museum in Pretoria. My character of Pieter is loosely based on one of the ghosts that haunts that museum.

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    2. I thought so, too, Thomas. I learned so much in researdhing for this book, including that the legend couldn’t be true, but that’s why they call it a legend, right? If you like fiction inspired and based on history, these books might be of interest. I tried to be as acurate as possible with all the historical places and facts included, but there is a lot of conflicting information. I had to dig deep. 🙂

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  12. Sarah sounds like a wonderful story of a courageous woman. I love history and legends are an interesting addition to a story. Congratulations, Kaye Lynn. 📚 Christine

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  13. This was a really interesting post. I love reading where inspiration comes from when author’s write. I love history and historical fiction, and this sounds like a great story. I still have Delilah to read, so maybe a back to back read is in store. Great post Robbie. Congratulations Kaye Lynn.

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    2. Hi Carla. I’m glad that you found the post interesting. I learned a lot during the research for this book, and for Delilah. I’m sure you will enjoy them both. The Day 4 stop has an opportunity to get a signed print copy, so be sure to stop in there. 🙂

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    2. It does Kerfe. But I don’t think learning that the legend could not be true detracted from my story. The legend is still interesting, in and of itself. Thanks for visiting and commenting. 🙂

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  18. Thanks for sharing this historical fiction. I enjoy reading stories about Native Americans and the west. Highlighting the women during this time is especially intriguing. Congratulations to Kaye Lynne Booth and the release of Sarah!

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