Sulfur Springs

by Fredrick Hudgin

Sulphur Springs is the story of the friendship of two women who come from very different backgrounds. They meet by chance in Sheridan, Wyoming in 1895. Duha (pronounced DooHa) is the daughter of a slave midwife. Her mother and she are determined to escape the racism in Independence, Missouri, by migrating to Washington State. But her mother dies in Sheridan, Wyoming, leaving Duha with no money, no job, and no future but to work in the brothels outside of town. She meets Georgia Prentice, a nurse in the hospital where her mother dies. Georgia takes her in and, together, they begin a life together that spans sixty years and three generations. Sulphur Springs is historical fiction, which describes the lives, loves, children, and friends of three generations as they struggle to settle and survive among the Native Americans and racism in American Northwest. The story unfolds against the backdrop of two world wars and the Great Depression then ends with all of them coming together one last time to confront a psychotic rapist/murderer who endangers the lives of their children. I spent a lot of time researching midwifery for this book. Many thanks to Anne Frye for her help. Holistic medicine also played a large part in pioneer life since there were just no doctors available for many pioneers. I tried to incorporate as much of what I learned as possible into the storyline. The people of White Pass Museum in Packwood, Washington, were also very helpful. They proofread my early manuscripts and corrected local facts about Lewis Country, Sulphur Springs, and Packwood that I had gotten mixed up. Roy Wilson, Chairman of the Cowlitz Indians, was a superb source of information about life as a Cowlitz Indian at the end of the 19th century. His descriptions of the cedar houses and tribal mores were invaluable. I live in Ariel, Washington, with my wife, two horses, a llama, three dogs, and three cats. My e-mail address is fredhudgin at mindspring dot com (I format it this way so that spam programs won't find it). All emails will be answered.

278 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 3, 2012

Reviews

[Melvina Hudgin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wife

I enjoyed the story mix
Love, hate, history, and drama

I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this story line

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The characters just weren't as developed as I had hoped they would be. There were so many of them that I started to lose track of who was who by about halfway through the book. I think there was so much information to be provided by the author that he pushed too much too quickly. I really think that the could have broken the book into two or three separate books that split by generation. I love the character of Duha but she quickly dropped out of the plot and was only there occasionally.

I'm still glad I read the book. It most certainly was not a waste of time, but I wish there were more of it.