My first novel, Toward the Corner of Mercy and Peace, is set in Paducah, Ky., in the early 1950s. The main character, Mrs. Minerva Place, is fascinated with her town’s history and spends much of her time researching it.
When I began writing the book, I planned to use Minerva to tell the stories of Paducah’s past. But as the novel developed Mrs. Place’s voice took over. I ended up editing out most of the characters. It still smarts just a little. It’s hard saying “so long” to characters. At least for me it is. As I write, they become so alive to me that it’s like I’m losing a friend.
Anyhooo….
Without Gen. George Rogers Clark…
Though George Rogers Clark never made an appearance in Toward the Corner of Mercy and Peace, he contributed to the book. Without him there might not be a Paducah.
This is an excerpt from a dramatization I wrote for the city of Paducah. An actor dressed in period clothing spoke these words to celebrate the fabulous new murals Robert Dafford created on the flood wall that keeps Paducah safe from the Ohio River.
The Flood Wall Murals dramatizations were performed in Paducah in the early 2000s. I researched Gen. Clark and based his monologue on what I learned. Of course, it’s embellished. That’s my job as a fiction writer!
So, here you go—Paducah’s early history as told by General George Rogers Clark…
“I Was Born to Wander”
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK: I suppose you could say I was born to wander. My family was settled in Virginia, and I had the opportunity to attend private school, but I preferred the great outdoors. When there were horses to be raced, foxes to be hunted, and shooting matches to win, who had time to master the elements of Greek, Latin, and French that my Scotch schoolmaster longed for me to acquire?
The wilderness intrigued me. Wild exotic animals, undiscovered plants, unseen rivers, unexplored forests. By the latter part of my life, I had accumulated quite a collection of the remains of extinct animals. I had petrified specimens of the vertebrae and tusks of a mammoth and petrified fish and terrapins. The president of the United States and my dear friend, Thomas Jefferson, asked me to contribute my mammoth to a museum he was starting. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Back to my youth and how I came to know and love our dear land of Kentucky…
Visions of a Wild West
At 19, I began studying surveying under the direction of my grandfather Rogers and this proved to be the opening of my career. My friends and I would often talk of the west. My imagination was captured with the possibilities of what I might find beyond the horizon. Finally, one early June morn in 1772, I set out with a few other adventurers. We crept past Indian villages, fearing discovery, and slept on stones by the riverside. It was fierce and dangerous, but this new world was filled with an irresistible exquisite beauty. Rich fertile soil, majestic walnuts, hickory, ash, elm, and oak, massive buffalo, deer, and turkeys. Such abundance. Eden really.
In April 1773, I joined a company of adventurers with the aim of surveying the interior of Kentucky. Then, the next spring I went with about 90 men to form a settlement in Kentucky. It wasn’t easy going. The Shawnee were thick in those parts, and they were a dangerous enemy. There were reports of many murders, including Daniel Boone’s son. But despite what you may hear today, many of the white men and Indians tried to forge a chain of friendship.
After surveying central Kentucky I decided that Kentucky would be my home. Not a richer, more beautiful country in the entire world existed, and I resolved to take an active role in determining the region’s future.
But That’s Not All
Come on back to my next post to read the rest of Gen. Clark’s account of settling the wilderness of Kentucky. I won’t spoil the ending, but Indians, amputation, and a name change are involved!
I, for one, know I wasn’t cut out to be a pioneer. My idea of hunting and foraging involves a deep dive into T.J. Maxx.
What about you?
Mary J White
I can’t wait to read your book, Tracy. I love history.
Tracey Buchanan
Thanks MJ! Still feels like a dream!
Rachel
Tracey, I am fascinated with fiction writing and the way that the author interacts with the characters.
This is so interesting. My husband and I own a surveying company and the history of surveying is truly remarkable. I always love reading about the adventurers who had the courage to forge new lands.
Tracey Buchanan
I’m so interested in the origins of things. I’ve never explored the history of surveying. I’ll bet it is fascinating!
Tracey Buchanan
I’ve never researched the history of surveying. I’ll bet that is fascinating! Thanks for reading and commenting.
Maury Dodson
Hi Tracey, love you
Tracey Buchanan
❤️
Nancy Wilson
Where can I get your book?
Tracey Buchanan
It won’t be published until Summer 2023. The publishing world is slowww!