Forever by Your Side (Willamette Brides #3) - Tracie Peterson Page 0,106
that would forever bind them to one another.
“There you two are,” Nancy declared. “Come see your wedding cake. All of us had a hand in it, including Jack, who just put his hand in it.”
Connie and Tom pulled apart, laughing.
“You’ll just have to ignore the handprint,” Nancy said. “Now, hurry. We’re all in the dining room.” She left them with a quick backward glance and smile.
“I suppose we’d better follow, or they’ll all come see where we’ve gotten off to,” Tom said with a sigh.
Connie laughed and led him off to see the cake.
Two weeks later, they boarded the Morning Star with the Brownings and Faith. Captain Gratton welcomed them aboard, heartily kissed his wife, then ordered the men to make ready to depart. It was very cold, and the dampness chilled Connie to the bone, but Tom was more than happy to wrap his arms around her as they waved good-bye to the family standing on the dock.
“You know, Tom, Mercy and I were married at sea,” Connie’s father announced.
“I’d nearly forgotten that,” Connie replied before Tom could speak a word.
“I hadn’t,” Faith said. “I was there. I thought it very romantic, and for a long time I wanted to get married on a ship. Instead, I get to live on a riverboat—at least for a while. Andrew wants to buy a house for us in Portland.”
They waved to the family who remained. Captain Gratton signaled with the horn, and Connie blew kisses.
“Don’t forget, you promised to come see us,” Connie called.
“We will when time permits,” Uncle Dean promised. He put his arm around Connie’s cousin Meg. “We shall be quite busy while we get this one settled at the seminary.”
“Come see me when you get a chance,” Isaac added.
“When everything settles down, I’m sure we’ll find time to come,” Adam Browning called to his son. “Meanwhile, I’ll pray things go well with the farm.”
As the riverboat began to move away from the dock, Connie snuggled up closer to Tom. He pulled her tighter. “We should go inside. You’re freezing.”
“In a minute. I won’t see them for a very long time, and I want this moment to last.”
The riverboat found the current and began to move more quickly. Tom watched with Connie until the city was nearly out of sight. Everyone else had gone into the salon to warm up, leaving them alone on the deck. Tom turned his wife in his arms and saw that she was smiling.
“Are you ready to start this grand adventure, Mrs. Lowell?”
She nodded and stretched up on tiptoe to offer him a kiss. “I am. What of you, my darling husband?”
“Wherever you go, I’ll be forever by your side.”
Author’s Note
The Bureau of Ethnology was established by Congress in 1879. The purpose was to transfer archives and other materials related to Native Americans from the Interior Department to the Smithsonian Institution for safekeeping and further study. Within this bureau, it was decided to catalog and study the various tribes of the United States so that their history wouldn’t be lost. The Bureau of Ethnology changed its name to the Bureau of American Ethnology in 1897, and in 1965, the department merged with the Smithsonian’s Department of Anthropology.
As for the laws against interracial marriage, Oregon set some very strict guidelines. In 1866 a law was passed that read:
Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Oregon:
Section 1. That hereafter it shall not be lawful within this state for any white person, male or female, to intermarry with any negro, Chinese, or any person having one-fourth or more negro, Chinese or Kanaka [Pacific Islander Native] blood or any person having more than one-half Indian blood; and all such marriages or attempted marriages shall be absolutely null and void.1
These Oregon laws against interracial marriage weren’t repealed until 1951, sixteen years ahead of the United States Supreme Court’s repeal of all anti-interracial marriage laws in the United States.
And sadly, although the Fifteenth Amendment passed in 1870 and granted all US citizens the right to vote regardless of race, many states still refused that right to Native Americans. The Snyder Act (passed in 1924) admitted Native Americans born in the United States to full US citizenship. However, the Constitution left it up to individual states as to who had the right to vote. It took over forty years for all fifty states to allow Native Americans the right to vote. Utah was the last state to legalize voting for Native Americans in 1962.
Tracie Peterson is the award-winning author of more than one hundred novels, both historical and contemporary. She is often referred to as the “Queen of Historical Christian Fiction,” and her avid research resonates in her stories, as seen in her bestselling HEIRS OF MONTANA and ALASKAN QUEST series. Tracie considers her writing a ministry for God to share the Gospel and biblical application. She and her family make their home in Montana. Visit her website at www.traciepeterson.com or find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AuthorTraciePeterson.