David Milton McGowan

Here is another one of the short stories from my "The Yearlings" collection. I hope to have this collection published and available sometime in 2014. It includes stories from Ontario (where this one takes place) to British Columbia and a time frame from the late 1800s to the 1980s. Some of them are based on something that actually happened ... with some slight extrapolation . Other stories are more in the line of major extrapolation ; that is to say they may have been part of a bad dream. Another selection from the collection, the title story, was posted here several months ago. That's a lot of water!                                                                 By D...

  The last duel held in Ontario was in 1833. It was also the last fatal duel. The pistols used can be viewed at the local museum in Perth , Lanark County Ontario. The participants were Robert Lyon and John Wilson accompanied by their respective seconds, Henri Lelievre (probably Lel-ee-vray) and Simon Robertson respectively. The focus of the confrontation was a school teacher Elizabeth Hughes. Robert Lyon was born in Inverurie , Scotland on December 30, 1812 . Along with his family he moved to Canada in 1829. John Wilson was born February 5, 1807 in Paisley , Renfrewshire , Scotland and came to “the colonies” with his family in Perth , Upper Canada about 1823. In 1833 he was studying law under James Boulton. In early June of 1833 Lyon , also a law student, made disparaging remarks about Elizabeth Hughes. John Wilson heard these remarks and, since he had begun a relationship with the young school teacher, demanded that Lyon retract the remarks which at the i...

The work I perform to pay the monthly bills has exploded. I’m sure it will help to pay those bills at the end of the month but it does tend to interfere with working on the new novel, writing posts for the blog and doing things around here such as putting the summer tools away and bringing out the winter things. It is also interfering with the work I need to do on earlier novels and their promotion. Strategic Book Publishing will be and has me supplying information for the changing of the web sites for “Partners” and “Homesteader”. They will become a single site with access to both novels on the one page. As we add more novels they will appear on the same site. In regard to that I have four ready to go. There is my first, the prequel to “Homesteader” which is titled, “The Great Liquor War” but is no longer available; four of the same characters as those found in “Homesteader”. “Jake’s Justice” which I particularly like since it includes a story, or more preci...

I was actually looking for a quotation from the Bible which I wanted to use in one of my stories. However, during the process I found a great many sites with quotations, some of which I have heard and some that I haven't. Of course there are thousands out there, but before I moved on to the task that had actually started me on this journey I found several that where interesting, enlightening, and humorous. Oh, and yes, I did find the Bible quote, the chapter and verse. However, now I've decided not to use it in this particular yarn. Maybe in the next one. Life Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first. (Mark Twain)   Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. (John F. Kennedy) Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward ...

The machines in this picture have been working hard for close to three weeks. However, on the last day of Sept., 2013 they are all fueled up and ready for the final day of harvest on this particular family holdings. There are those out there who still have as much as a week's work ahead of them. Canola, wheat, barley, and oats into the food baskets of the world.

Chetwynd the logging / mining town 100 km to the east has a chain saw carving contest every summer and this year was no exception. These artists do some phenomenal work with machines of many sizes while I’m having a great day if I can get mine to cut straight.. I have been intending to stop and take some pictures of a few of the two dozen sculptures situated about the town and finally took time to get two. Many are cut from a single log. Pegasus, which has been placed in front of the town hall is one of those that has attached parts; the wings, of course. In the second one Mama Eagle is banking around the tree trunk and bear as two young eagles look out of the nest.  

I’ve been working on a story that has a “crime baron” operating in New Westminster , BC in 1881. I’ve found the research interesting, due to the great changes that were taking place at the time. For instance, Vancouver did not come into existance until five years later and twenty years later was a thriving city and one of the more important ports on the Pacific coast. However, more about that in a later post. For now, I was just looking through some of the material I collected for “Jake’s Justice” and “Cattle Business” and thought I would post some of those items. “Cattle Business” takes place west of Edmonton in the early 1890s and has to do with some of the unlikely people who, despite their lack of a proper background, eventually became the developers of Canadian Agriculture. It also introduces an aboriginal policeman. According to a couple of sources I discovered the BC Provincial Police appointed “Special Constables” (a policeman’s responsibility, little training and n...

            From the title one might think this post is all about the apparent tendency to disregard the truth, moral conduct, or equitable treatment in our society. Such actions are, or at least appear to me to be more prevalent each day and are destroying the world we live in.             Our legal system doesn’t seem to be a great help in supporting our society and ensuring its continuity. They keep making decisions that fail to reward upright behaviour, make special efforts to protect those who are trying to destroy our society (and our system of law) and fail to hold felons responsible for their actions.             But no, that’s not what this is about at all, although it’s quite apparent from what I just wrote and how I feel about it that it could be and would be very long.      ...

As mentioned earlier I took a few more pictures of Barkerville on my last trip. Those I took 3 years ago are on "my pictures" and you're welcome to take a look - a couple of coaches, the BX stables and street pics. This time I took several of plaques and a couple of buildings I missed last time. Williams Creek school. This is one of the buildings that was rebuilt from the original plans. One of my characters in the sequel to "Partners" (which, at this point I'm calling "Underbelly") is tutoring a few young people, therefore I need to know where his (fictional) students came from.  Barkerville fire. On September 16, 1868 close to 2/3 rds of Barkerville burned down. This plaque, believed to be at the site of ignition commemorates that. I plan to include this disaster in "Underbelly."  Dillar Claim  Stout's Gulch. Edward (Ned) Stout lived for many years in the BC goldfields. He was involved in the "Thomp...

Just spent some time in Barkerville again. Did some research for a story I'm working on and took a picture or two. This is a great place to visit, although the legs were getting a little shakey; I'm not used to that much walking. Here is a parlour from (I think) the John Bowron house. And here is a shot of the Mason & Daley store   And a bar sign we saw in Quesnel on the way back to Prince George. Name your Poison!    Don't forget to take a look at the video up there on the right. I don't think it's as humerous as the bar sign, but you might get a chuckle. If you're scared of that link click on this one; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cW1bxxjQAo&feature=youtube   The research I was doing while there was for a sequel to "Partners". I actually started the story more than 2 years ago but ran into a place where I needed some population info ... even though I write fiction I like to include historical events whe...

As I wrote in the last post, I have some new reviews for "Partners" and here they are. Not only do I appreciate the praise, but along with enjoying, all three also got the points I intended/   Review by Anne Boling for Reader’s Favorite “Partners” by Dave McGowan transported me back to the year 1866. Unseen, I journeyed alongside Thomas Brash in his attempt to escape memories. He left behind his hundred acre farm, a teaching position, everything he once thought was important. After burying his wife and two children he just wanted to escape all that was familiar. All Tom wanted was to be alone. Along his tiresome journey he witnessed the cruel acts of two men and the bravery of a boy. Without thinking Tom stepped in to assist the boy, Frank Clement. Frank declared he would travel with Tom to protect him. At first it irritated Tom but he knew Frank was a better shot than he was and he had more “wilderness smarts.” “Partners” is quite an adventure. Dave...

I just recieved two more reviews for Homesteader and three for Partners. I'll post the ones for Partners in a couple of days. Yes, they are both available in several digital formats and as the good old lovable book. Click on the covers to the right or take a trip to www.amazon.com/books At the last site you can "look inside  the book" to get an idea of what Brenda, Paul and Rich are talking about. From a review of Homesteader by Brenda Casto   “I found myself absorbed not only in the story, but the history lesson that I felt I was getting as the story unfolded. The plot never lags; instead it pulled me along making me wonder what might happen on the next page. Mr. McGowan skilfully crafts his words bringing to life the scenes he describes … It was easy to see that the author really did his research with this story, from the range war to the way Hank and his two Blackfoot workers build the homestead. The details really make the story seem very realist...

I've just recieved another review of "Homesteader" by Rick Follet that I'm very happy, nae, excited about and here it is: “Homesteader; Finding Sharon” by D. M. McGowan chronicles the experience of Henry ‘Hank’ James, a homesteader in British Columbia , Canada , in the late 1880’s. “Homesteader” offers a fascinating window into a brave and formative era in Canadian history. McGowan writes with a cinematographer’s eye and a playwright’s sense of dialect; the result is an easy-to-read, entertaining saga that is as determined and winning as the settlers it describes - plain spoken, honest and impossible to put down. In Henry James, McGowan has created a character readers want to cheer for. As ‘Hank’ weathers the schemes and manipulations of the portly (and aptly named) Portis Martin and struggles to keep his cattle alive against impossible odds through one of the worst winters in Canadian history, readers become personally acquainted with a colorful cast of supportin...

                 Almighty Voice , a Swampy Cree mentioned in my novel “Cattle Business” was born in Duck Lake , District of Saskatchewan , North West Territories in 1875. In the autumn of 1895 he married a young woman from a neighbouring reserve. During the preparations for that event he discovered a cow wandering on the prairie which he butchered to feed his guests.             Ownership of the cow is a question that can not be answered at the date of this writing. It has been said that it was loaned to the reserve for breeding purposes and was the property of the Canadian government. It has also been claimed as the property of a neighbouring ranch and had wandered onto the reserve. The one thing that is certain is that it did not belong to Almighty Voice, or as the white man had recorded his identity, Jean Baptiste. On October ...