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Fiction Civil War Era

In Her Own Footsteps

Flora Ross and Her Struggle for Identity and Independence in the Colonial West

by (author) D.J. Richardson

Publisher
Butterwort Books
Initial publish date
Sep 2020
Category
Civil War Era, Contemporary Women
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781735297903
    Publish Date
    Sep 2020
    List Price
    $40.99
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781735297927
    Publish Date
    Sep 2020
    List Price
    $3.99
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781735297910
    Publish Date
    Sep 2020
    List Price
    $24.99

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Description

In the summer of 1859, British and American troops stood at the brink of war over a small island in the Pacific Northwest, each claiming sovereignty over the region in a military standoff that has become known as the “Pig War” of San Juan Island. In the midst of the dispute sat a Hudson’s Bay Company farm, where seventeen year-old Flora Ross, the Métis daughter (Anishinaabe/Scottish) of a prominent company family, nursed a farmworker’s dying wife. The American instigator of the military incursion, Paul K. Hubbs, Jr., courted Flora throughout the standoff, and they were married as the two nations announced a peaceful joint occupation agreement. Their marriage was celebrated in newspapers as a second joint occupation of the island. But the marriage didn’t turn out to be peaceful, as Hubbs soon turned abusive and kept a mistress on a neighboring island. To escape, Flora had to overcome the lack of civil divorce laws in the colony of their marriage, the political power of her father-in-law in Washington Territory, and societal prejudices against a young Métis woman struggling to regain her independence and build a career as a nurse. In Her Own Footsteps is written in novel form, but tells the true story of Flora Amelia Ross—a pioneer in the B.C. healthcare industry—and her struggle for identity and independence, to the extent surviving documents permit. It is B.C. history told through the eyes of a young Métis woman caught between two communities, and caught between two nations.

About the author

Contributor Notes

D.J. RICHARDSON was born in Vancouver, B.C., and grew up with an intense love for the coastal region and its history. He graduated from Queen’s University at Kingston with a B.A. (Hons.) in history, and from Stanford Law School with a Juris Doctor. He currently lives in Los Angeles where he balances writing with a legal career.

Excerpt: In Her Own Footsteps: Flora Ross and Her Struggle for Identity and Independence in the Colonial West (by (author) D.J. Richardson)

Fires burned eerily in the braziers on the deck of the H.M.S. Tribune, ready to spark the fifteen 32-pound cannons pointed from the port side of the corvette toward the encampment of American troops on the beach. The orange light flickered across the water and along the white canvas of the American tents, marking them as easy targets. Onboard, sailors from the Royal Navy scrambled about, their long shadows thrown from the braziers to dance across the deck as the men prepared the vessel for their unannounced task. The insistent calls of the boatswain’s whistle echoed up the hillside and added to the fearful anticipation that Flora sensed she shared with the farmworkers who stood beside her atop the ridge. Yet she was fully aware that her anticipation was undoubtedly a fraction of that being felt by the five-dozen American soldiers camped on the beach below.

The heat of the summer’s day still hung oppressively in the air, despite the late hour, as the usual afternoon gusts of wind that would sweep across the island to ease the day’s heat had never arrived. The long yellow grass stood still, erect, as if the wind were holding its breath, waiting for the island’s fragile balance to erupt into a catastrophic battle at any moment.