Lifelines The Bowen Love Letters

by Susan Lee Ward

"Katie Bowen was literate, observant, curious, compassionate, lucid, and philosophical. Her letters are informative, affectionate, and delightful to read. These letters constitute one of the finest pre-Civil War collections about military life." Dr. Leo E. Oliva, Santa Fe Trail Historian. Catherine "Katie" Bowen (nee Cary) was born and raised in Houlton, Maine, where her family ran a lumber and mercantile business. After a whirlwind courtship, Katie married a dashing young West Point graduate, Second Lieutenant Isaac Bowen, who left soon after the wedding for the Mexican War. When he returned safely from the war, Katie and Isaac embarked on the adventure of a enjoying tea and discussing philosophy with Ralph Waldo Emerson; drinking a soldier's cracker toddy and smoking cigars with General Zachary Taylor, Colonel Jefferson Davis, and Second Lieutenant Ulysses S. Grant, one of Isaac's West Point classmates; chatting fireside with Susan Shelby Magoffin, another well-known Santa Fe Trail traveler; sipping champagne at the White House with family friend, President Millard Fillmore; hearing crucial military intelligence from frontier scout, Kit Carson; and, being entertained with tall tales about Mississippi River life by steamboat Cub Pilot, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, later known as Mark Twain. The Bowen Love Letters reveal intimate details about young lives full of passion and adventure - lives that ended tragically in 1858 when Katie and Isaac were still in their early thirties. About the Author Susan Lee Ward's father served in the U.S. Army for thirty-two years. Her mother worked with the American Red Cross in New Zealand during WWII and as a librarian at various military posts. Susan spent her formative years at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, where she became familiar with the sight of canvas tents, the sound of 21-gun salutes, and the smell of saddle soap. She currently lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, William Seaton Ward.

918 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2020

About the author

Susan Lee Ward grew up on military posts, the daughter of a family who understood that history is not something that happens at a remove, it happens in tents and wagons, in letters folded and refolded by hands that loved someone far away.
She spent twenty years tracking down those hands.
It started with a single photocopied article found in a relocating family member's belongings in the late 1990s a fragment of a story about a soldier named Isaac Bowen and his wife Katie, who had traveled the Santa Fe Trail together in the 1850s, writing to each other across a continent of frontier, war, and distance. Seven hundred letters. Twelve years of a real marriage. Names her readers will recognize. Zachary Taylor, Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Kit Carson, Mark Twain, Ralph Waldo Emerson, President Millard Fillmore, seen not through a historian's lens but through Katie's own eyes: observant, warm, philosophical, and unfailingly honest.
Santa Fe Trail historian Dr. Leo E. Oliva called Katie's letters one of the finest pre-Civil War collections about military life he has ever encountered. Lifelines has been featured in Kansas History and serialized in Wagon Tracks, the journal of the Santa Fe Trail Association.
Susan is currently writing the Sergeant Bruno series, historical adventure fiction following the Bowen family dog and Margy, a formerly enslaved woman finding her way to freedom along the Santa Fe Trail. Part One is coming soon.

Reviews

[John Bosco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lifelines: The Bowen Love Letters is a touching and meaningful book about family, memories, and the stories that connect generations. What stood out to me was the way it preserves not only important moments, but also the emotions and relationships behind them.

The letters offer a beautiful reminder that every family carries stories worth remembering. This is a thoughtful read for anyone who values history, connection, and the power of personal stories.

[Maggie Rose Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. It’s an intimate glimpse into a time so removed from our own. While getting to know the people, I found myself more invested knowing they really lived and wrote those words as authentic interpersonal communication as opposed to novels whose words are written for public consumption.