“A Matter of Chastity: The High Plains Saga of a Woman’s Revenge,” by Douglas Yocom (Dusty Cover Books, 224 pages, $25)
Douglas Yocom was nearly 60 when a cousin told him that their grandmother not only had been raped but also had killed her rapist. She was charged with murder. Her 1894 trial was one of the most lurid in Kansas history.
Yocom was stunned. He also was intrigued enough to look into Ellen Lunney’s story, an episode of family history so scandalous and so secret that Ellen’s youngest son didn’t hear about the rape until 40 years after it occurred. When he heard, the son was so traumatized that he packed up and moved to California. Ellen’s fiancé, a man she met far from home, tried to call off the wedding when he discovered her secret, but changed his mind when he got a look at the Lunney family’s rich farm. That was the world in which Ellen lived: A rape victim was more tainted than her rapist.
Ellen was a teenager when neighbor Eugene McEnroe crept into her farmhouse bedroom and accosted her. Her parents were away for the night, and her brothers were asleep in the barn. Ellen’s outraged father filed charges against McEnroe, but that was small consolation for Ellen, who knew her life was ruined. At the inquest, she pulled a gun from under her cape and shot her attacker.
Ellen was tried by an all-male jury. A prosecutor charged her with cold-blooded murder, questioning whether a rape actually took place. The defense argued that, “A conviction is a warrant to every rapist. Go and despoil every virgin you can approach.”
Yocom quotes extensively from trial testimony and from articles and interviews written during the trial, making this account dry at times. But he does a fine job of re-creating the late-19th-century atmosphere in which Ellen lived, with its emphasis on female virtue. If it had been up to Ellen, she likely would have wanted her story to stay buried. But surely, she wouldn’t quibble with this fine account by a sympathetic grandson and seasoned reporter.
“A Kid’s Look at Colorado,” by Phyllis J. Perry (Fulcrum, 204 pages, $15.95)
Phyllis J. Perry, a former Boulder teacher, has the right idea: Bring Colorado to life for children and they grow up to be enthusiastic about the state. And so “A Kid’s Look at Colorado” encourages parents not only to read to their youngsters about the state but also show it to them. Here are dozens of ideas of where to take them – prehistoric sites, ghost towns, national parks and historic areas.
Perry tells about the early explorers then suggests a visit to Bent’s Old Fort. There’s a chapter on early-day mining, with a suggestion to check out the statue of Prunes the burro in Fairplay. Perry throws in intriguing bits of information, such as the fact that Katharine Lee Bates wrote “America the Beautiful” after climbing Pikes Peak.
“Kids Quilt Together: The ABCs of Group Quilts,” by Kathy Emmel (C&T, 96 pages, $24.95)
Kathy Emmel is another teacher who uses what she learned in the classroom to produce a unique children’s book. Emmel used visual arts to help children learn, and over the years, she and her 600 students made 17 quilts. The kids learned about history or science, wildlife or space travel from their piecework. They also picked up cooperation, interaction and respect for each other’s work.
In “Kids Quilt Together,” Emmel, an Arvada writer and quilter, explains her technique for encouraging children to interact as quiltmakers. She includes basic instructions on piecing, stenciling, fabric painting and embellishments, and discusses hand vs. machine quilting. She explains the difference between patchwork and appliqué and gives ideas for cooperative quilts to be made by kindergarteners and teenagers.
“In The Shadow of Wounded Knee: The Untold Final Story of the Indian Wars,” by Roger L. DiSilvestro (Walker, 272 pages, $25)
The last battle of the Indian Wars was Wounded Knee, fought in 1890. But the last white soldier to die was Edward Casey, killed in 1891, after the battle was over. Was he a victim of war, or was he just plain murdered? That’s the question Roger L. DiSilvestro asks in “In The Shadow of Wounded Knee.” The book tells about Casey’s killing by a Lakota, Plenty Horses, as well as the murders of two Indian hunters by ranchers. In earlier days, an Indian accused of killing a white man would have been put to death. But America was changing from a frontier society to an industrial nation, and Plenty Horses was put on trial.
Sandra Dalls is a Denver novelist who writes a monthly column on new regional nonfiction.
