Learning the Craft of Writing Fiction

My first view of Virgil Ernest Christison's Rick Mountain Ranch in 2008.

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about writing the cattle rustling book. I started writing the book in 2007. Over the years, I’ve shared the changes on this blog – nonfiction to creative nonfiction to historical fiction.

I began writing the book as historical fiction on July 7, 2011. Yes, nine years ago. Friends and family have a hard time understanding why the book isn’t written by now. The reason? Writing historical fiction is hard. And it is a process. The facts and events had to become STORY. The people had to become characters, characters with emotion and motives.

The book I am writing now is very different from the book I was writing nine years ago. I am glad I didn’t rush it. And happy I didn’t give up.

Last November, I joined five other writers in a workshop series with Page Lambert at Mount Vernon Club in the mountains west of Denver. We met monthly for five months. COVID-19 hit in the middle of this. We had one meeting by Zoom and had our final workshop yesterday.

When I started the workshop, I thought I’d start at point A and be well on my way with a finished book by the end. Yes, my perfectionist tendencies kicked in. Instead, I shared chapter one at the first workshop, but Page suggested starting with an earlier event mentioned in the chapter. So, by the next workshop I had another chapter one. And this repeated two more workshops. I now have four new chapter ones, but really they are the first four chapters of my book.

Working backwards was not my intention when I started the workshop. But by working backwards, I gained a better understanding of the story. Events I thought I could summarize became their own scenes. And by settling into the story, new motives came to light. I now have a good, solid beginning for the book with an inciting incident that puts into motion all of the events of the story.

Page Lambert taught me how to write fiction. I’ve always been able write action scenes that gallop along. What I am not so good at is writing description and inner dialogue. Page’s workshops helped me learn how to do that with input from the other writers. I have also learned I can take a messy draft and reorganize and rewrite it. One of my biggest fears. Mostly, I have learned to trust myself as a writer. I have good instincts. I have good intuition. And, I am a good writer. Today I am reveling in this knowledge. It feels good.

My advice to those writing a book – don’t give up. Learn your craft and never, ever read your writing when you are emotionally tired.

Below are blog posts I've written about my journey of writing this book:

Ernest Christison - Cattle Rustler

Research is Done! It's Time to Write!  (And yes, I have to laugh about this 2009 post. Still finding new information 11 years later!)

Switching from Nonfiction to Fiction

Circling and Story Round-Up

Part 2 Circling and Story Round-Up 

Step Into The River

The Pioneer Lode Prospecting Company

My great-great-grandfather, Wilburn Christison, formed a mining company with Father Dyer and eight other men in 1864. 

In 2006, I sat in Leadville in the Lake County Courthouse looking through mining records and I ran across the articles of incorporation for the Pioneer Lode Prospecting Company. I still remember the shock of seeing the name "John L. Dyer" in the same list as my great-great-grandfather's name.

For those of you not familiar with Father Dyer, he came to Colorado in 1861, the same year as Wilburn Christison and his family. Father Dyer was an itinerant Methodist preacher. He also carried mail from Buckskin Joe over Mosquito Pass to the mining camp of Cash Creek, where several of the men in this mining company lived, including Wilburn Christison. Father Dyer is considered one of 16 Founding Fathers of Colorado. His portrait in stained glass is in the Colorado State Capitol building. For more information about Father Dyer, see this Wikipedia.

The ten men in the Pioneer Lode Prospecting Company each put up $100 in shares giving the company $1,000 in operating capital to sink shafts in two discovery claims - the Elisabeth Jessie Johnston and the Star Gold Quartz lode - in the Hope, Granite and Clear Creek mining districts. 

Here is a list of the ten men:
Wilburn Christison, Galatia Sprague, R. Mat Johnston, William Snyder, Henry C. Justice, Sullivan D. Breece, Patrick Smith, John Burnett, Charles Hilton, and John L. Dyer. 

Of these men, Sullivan D. Breece had the most successful mining operation. He later owned the Breece Iron Mine at Leadville and Breece Hill is named after him. I also found some mining claims that Breece and Christison discovered together.

For more information about the men in the Pioneer Lode Mining Company, see the book Rush To The Rockies! published by the Pikes Peak Library District. I wrote a paper about "The Cash Creek Miners and the Lake County War" which is included in this book. You might notice that the names in this Pioneer Lode list also show up ten years later in accounts of the Lake County War. 

Christison Connections to the Hutchinson Family and Ranch

Hutchinson House in 1982 (Photo by Ken Christison)

 I've had several people ask exactly how my Christison family is related to the Hutchinson family since the Colorado Experience episode on the ranch aired. (Click on this link to view the show The Hutchinson Homestead and Ranch.)The answer is there is no family relation. But there are a few connections that explain my interest in the Hutchinson Ranch.

Wilburn and Elizabeth Christison (from the Betty Regnier Collection)

My great-great-grandparents, Wilburn and Elizabeth Christison, arrived in the mining camp of Cash Creek in 1861 after crossing Kansas with team of oxen and a covered wagon along with their six children. 

Joseph Hutchinson took a job in Cash Creek in 1866 as the superintendent of the Bailey and Gaff mining company. Joseph was twelve years younger than Wilburn Christison. In 1868, Hutchinson joined Bailey and Gaff in a cattle company with the headquarters at the Hutchinson ranch near Poncha Springs. 

Wilburn Christison also moved his family down the Arkansas Valley. There is a mention of him living in Adobe Park in 1867. And Arthur Hutchinson wrote that "Christison was on the present Hutchinson ranch for a short time."

The McPherson cabin moved from Cash Creek

When the Hutchinsons settled on the ranch, they disassembled the cabin Annabelle's parents had at Cash Creek and moved it to the ranch. I was fascinated to see this cabin and have a better idea of what my great-great-grandparents' cabin may have been like at Cash Creek.

According to Joseph Hutchinson's ledgers in the book, Under The Angel of Shavano, he paid Leslie Christison (Wilburn's oldest son) $67 for work done in mining.

And, in September of 1875, Hutchinson bought two steers from Walker Sprague and Ernest Christison (Wilburn's second son).

Wilburn Christison and Joseph Hutchinson were both active in the Democratic party. Wilburn was elected the Lake County Judge and later the Park County Judge. Joseph Hutchinson served in the Colorado Territorial Legislature.

And they both died in 1882. Wilburn passed away at the age of 54 on February 7, 1882 in Fairplay after a bout of pneumonia. And Joseph Hutchinson passed away on May 16, 1882 from a brain tumor at the age of 42. 

Dec. 23, 1882 Mountain Mail (Colorado Historic Newspapers)

Wilburn's widow, Elizabeth Christison, moved back to Poncha Springs with her two youngest sons following his death. I discovered that when I found this newspaper article on the Poncha Springs school honor roll that includes my great-grandfather, Lewis Christision, and his brother Charlie. Also listed are Arthur, Bailey and Harold Hutchinson.
Did Elizabeth live in the Christison cabin? The cabin Arthur mentioned was on land near the Hutchinson ranch that Annabelle bought in 1916, included in today's Hutchinson ranch. I don't know. It is also possible Ernest Christison lived in the cabin at one time with his family.

Site of the Christison Cabin. Dr. Wendell Hutchinson with Connie Christison, John Gresham and Gayle Christison

In 1982, I wrote a research paper for my high school Colorado history class on my outlaw relative, Ernest Christison. My parents and my boyfriend, John Gresham, went to visit Dr. Wendell Hutchinson, who wrote Under The Angel of Shavano with George Everett. He took us to several places talking about the history. And he showed us the location of "the Christison cabin." What a wonderful memory it is to recall visiting with Dr. Hutchinson! His stories and taking us to places related to the Christison history made my interest in my family history and Colorado history come alive.

I spoke with Dr. Hutchinson one more time when I decided to write a book about Ernest Christison and Ed Watkins. I was told he could hear better over the phone at that time, so we had a telephone conversation. I wish I could talk to him again now that I know so much more from my research.

In 2018, I met his son, Art Hutchinson, and we visited about our family histories and more. 

Gayle Gresham and Art Hutchinson