Here are the clues I have gathered from a weekend reading of Willa Cather?s
"The Song of the Lark:"
1. The book was written in 1912-1913 is set around 1890.
2. ?Moonstone? is somewhere in northeastern Colorado.
3. Moonstone has a courthouse.
4. Moonstone is sited north of the railroad track.
5. There are sand hills to the south of Moonstone.
6. Moonstone?s railroad facilities include a depot and a roundhouse.
7. Using a trestle, the railroad crosses a deep ravine with a dry sand creek
in the bottom. There is no mention of a river in Moonstone.
8. Passenger train ?No. 6? serves Moonstone.
9. A conductor on a freight train has a run from Moonstone to Denver.
10. The freight run from Moonstone to Denver took about 12 hours.
11. There was a freight train number 14.
12. On the run from Moonstone to Denver the train goes past an area where
there are red sandstone boulders shaped like toadstools by wind erosion.
13. Somewhere on the line from Moonstone to Denver is the town of
?Wassiwappa.? It probably is west of the town of ?Saxony.?
14. Wassiwappa has a siding where the freight train waited for train number 36
to pass.
15. The town of ?Copper Hole? is about 15 miles to the northwest of
Moonstone.
16. The town of Saxony is 32 miles from Moonstone, on the line to Denver.
17. To go to Moonstone from Chicago apparently one first goes to Denver, then
backtracks east. Or at least that?s one option.
18. Thea took the train from Moonstone to Chicago, and she rode in a Pullman.
Apparently it was a direct train (i.e. she didn?t go to Denver and switch
trains there for one to Chicago).
From these clues I deduce that Moonstone must be a town of some importance.
Since it has a courthouse it likely is the county seat. Since it has a
roundhouse and freight trains originate and terminate there, it may be a
crew/engine change point on the railroad.
Here?s some other info I have unearthed, primarily from "The High Plains
Route," the 1948 Handy Railroad Atlas, and the Rand McNally Road Atlas:
1. The towns on the CB&Q in northeastern Colorado are (were) Ft. Morgan,
Brush, Akron, Otis, Yuma, and Wray on the more southerly Q line, and Ft.
Morgan, Union, Sterling, Fleming, Haxtun, and Holyoke on the more northerly
line. The towns on the more northerly line are on the river.
2. The CB&Q had a passenger train number 6. It ran from Denver to Chicago,
through Fort Morgan, Brush, Akron, Otis, Yuma, and Wray.
3. The county seats on the CB&Q in eastern Colorado are Holyoke, Sterling, Ft.
Morgan, Akron, and Wray.
4. According to "The High Plains Route," Akron was a CB&Q crew change point.
(I assume there were others, but don?t have any information.)
5. Sterling and Holyoke had roundhouses. (I assume other towns did too, but I
haven?t identified any others.)
I don?t know much about the geography of eastern Colorado, including key
points such as the location of the sand hills and the toadstool rocks (I know
that such things are found in western Nebraska, for instance at Agate Fossil
Beds National Monument). Ignoring my geographic ignorance, and based on the
above points, and assuming that Moonstone represents a real town in Colorado,
my preliminary nomination for the prototype for Moonstone is Akron since it
fits more clues than any other and isn't inconsistent with any clue.
Anybody want to add to the clues and info?
Rich Townsend
"David Lotz" <Dave_Lotz@m...> wrote:
> ---------------------------------------------
> Attachment:
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Anyone on the list like to help? Again, please remember to reply to all....
Dave
-----Original Message-----
From: Ann Moseley [mailto:annm@k...]
Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2000 6:00 PM
To: brhs@n...
Subject: Burlington in Colorado in Late 1880's
Below is a message that I sent to Mike Spoor at cbqrr@j... about some
research I am doing that involves the Chicago, BUrlington, and Quincy
Railroad line. I haven't heard from him yet, so I wonder if anyone at this
address can help me. I am trying to find some sources to talk to on a site
trip that I plan to make next week.
Sincerely,
Ann Moseley
>Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 12:27:30 -0500
>To: cbqrr@j... (Mike Spoor)
>From: Ann Moseley <annm@k...>
>Subject: Burlington in Colorado in Late 1880's
>
>Dear Mr. Spoor,
> Please let me introduce myself to you. I am a Professor of English at
Texas A&M University-Commerce, and I am working on a research project that
involves the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad in eastern Colorado
(and perhaps western Nebraska) during the late 1880s. Specifically, I am
writing explanatory notes for items in Willa Cather's novel THE SONG OF THE
LARK, originally published in 1915. Cather grew up in Red Cloud, Nebraska,
living in the area from about 1880 until she left to attend the University
of Nebraska C 1890, and returning periodically for visits after that. I am
contacting you because I ran across your book CHICAGO, BURLINGTON AND
QUINCY, Vol. 1 (1994)--a very interesting book but covering a period much
later than the one I am researching. However, the jacket material mentioned
the Burlington Route Historical Society, so I looked on the Internet and
found what is, I hope, your e-mail address.
> Specifically, I am trying to use geographical and railroad clues from
> the
book to pinpoint the fictional town of Moonstone, in which much of Cather's
novel is set. Cather mentions other towns or "stops" (probably fictional)
such as Wassiwappa and Saxony--and she describes a trip from "Moonstone" to
Denver, mentioning some of the things her heroine Thea saw on the way. I
know that her brother worked for the railroad in Wyoming and that Cather
would have therefore traveled through Sterling Colorado to visit him--and
it seems as if in traveling from Chicago to wherever her prototypical town
is she would have gone directly to Denver from Chicago and then backtracked
east. I have looked in several other railroad books to try to figure out
the town's location but have decided that a site-trip is necessary. I
believe that the town could be on one of two possible Burlington
routes--one through Sterling and the other through Brush (and back to
McCook and Red Cloud, I believe). If any of these few "clues" that I have
mentioned ring a bell with you and suggest to you places where I should
look, if you know of Burlington offices or museums or libraries in Colorado
that might have information for me, or if you know of any other individuals
who know Colorado (and Nebraska) railroad history and Colorado geography
with whom I might talk by telephone, e-mail, or in person, I would greatly
appreciate your letting me know. Other clues exist in the novel, but I
thought this information would give you an idea of what I am doing.
> Thank you very much for taking the time to read my e-mail and for any
help that you can give me.
>
>Sincerely,
>Ann Moseley
>Department of Literature and Languages
>Texas A&M University-Commerce
>Commerce, Texas 75429
>903-994-2264 (home)
>903-886-5269 (office)
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