I am currently planning a story that takes place close to Ft Laramie, Nebraska and New Orleans. I’ve found enough info that I’m fairly confident my MC can take a stagecoach from Ft Laramie to Council Bluffs, then a steamboat down the Missouri to St Louis. There I’m assuming he’ll need to change to a different steamer for the trip to New Orleans. I’m figuring that trip will take about 6 weeks from what I’ve extrapolated from the info I’ve been able to find.
But here’s my problem.
Due to a family catastrophe, a letter needs to be sent to the MC’s father (near Ft Laramie) and then he will need to travel to New Orleans as quickly as possible. If I use the same route as the MC took, it will take 6 weeks for the letter to get to Dad, then another 6 weeks for Dad to make the trip down to New Orleans.
Is there any way the letter and/or Dad can get there faster? The family is quite wealthy, so expense isn’t an issue.
The letter is sent around the 15[SUP]th[/SUP] August, possibly a couple days later but definitely no earlier. If it takes a total of 12 weeks for letter and trip, that’s going to make it December before they can leave New Orleans to return to Nebraska. Which means they’ll be stuck along the route somewhere as the steamers cannot operate during the winter in the north of the country.
Ideally, I would really like for Dad to get to New Orleans by the end of September, and then they can begin the journey home in mid-October. Also, there will be at least 4 people and possibly 6 for the return journey home, so that’s not going to be a fast trip.
I can’t change the dates at all. I need the MC to arrive in New Orleans at the beginning of August 1856, and the letter can’t be sent to Dad before mid-August.
Thanks and reps to anyone who can help me with my problem!
But here’s my problem.
Due to a family catastrophe, a letter needs to be sent to the MC’s father (near Ft Laramie) and then he will need to travel to New Orleans as quickly as possible. If I use the same route as the MC took, it will take 6 weeks for the letter to get to Dad, then another 6 weeks for Dad to make the trip down to New Orleans.
Is there any way the letter and/or Dad can get there faster? The family is quite wealthy, so expense isn’t an issue.
The letter is sent around the 15[SUP]th[/SUP] August, possibly a couple days later but definitely no earlier. If it takes a total of 12 weeks for letter and trip, that’s going to make it December before they can leave New Orleans to return to Nebraska. Which means they’ll be stuck along the route somewhere as the steamers cannot operate during the winter in the north of the country.
Ideally, I would really like for Dad to get to New Orleans by the end of September, and then they can begin the journey home in mid-October. Also, there will be at least 4 people and possibly 6 for the return journey home, so that’s not going to be a fast trip.
I can’t change the dates at all. I need the MC to arrive in New Orleans at the beginning of August 1856, and the letter can’t be sent to Dad before mid-August.
Thanks and reps to anyone who can help me with my problem!