Questions for a WIP

[CapnJack]

Does anyone know of any Westerns novels/stories where the Supernatural was a part of it?

Also, would it have made sense for a woman (Who in this story is the lead character), to have dressed as a man if they were in a particularly dangerous job, such as a Bounty Hunter, or the like?

 

[CapnJack]

Also, how common would it have been for someone, in the 1880s, to carry around a type of journal with them, let alone multiple ones?

 

[MaryMumsy]

Josephine "Little Jo" Monaghan lived as a man for many years as a sheep herder and rancher. Charley Parkhurst was a stage driver for many years. Both were discovered to be women after they died.

There were other women who dressed and worked as men (Calamity Jane and Mary "Black Mary" Fields) but they didn't attempt to pass as men.

Don't have any idea about the journal.

MM

 

[CapnJack]

I have another question.

Suppose a bounty hunter, in their first year on the job, had made a fair amount of money, but besides the essentials, and maybe 100-200 dollars in a money belt, wasn't spending much of it, what might they do with it? And no, they don't trust banks. They lost confidence in banks after the 3rd to 4th bank robber that they caught.

 

[Maryn]

Educated guess? They'd do the same thing people who don't trust banks have done and still do. Does your bounty hunter have a home, even if she mostly travels? Then she will hide it here, probably in multiple places, trusting that the thief who finds one stash will think s/he has it all.

If she has no home, traveling people might use that cash to purchase a small valuable item they can carry on their person--a gem, a coin, like that. (In desperate times, a gem can be swallowed and retrieved later.) They convert it to gold and bury it in one or more places only they can find again. They leave it with a trusted relative or friend. They hide it on the property of a relative or friend without telling them. They invest in land that just sits waiting for them. They buy a share of a business run by someone they have reason to trust.

Maryn, hoping this helps

 

[CapnJack]

What kind of valuable gems might've been available in say the 1880s, that were small enough to keep on your body without being cumbersome?

 

[CapnJack]

Two other questions, actually.

What coin would've worth a lot of money, to be worth converting cash into it?

And how much would a typical bounty on say a Bank Robber be?

 

[dpaterso]

What kind of valuable gems might've been available in say the 1880s, that were small enough to keep on your body without being cumbersome?

All of 'em. Diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, whatever you want, all pretty common. Easy to hide, sewn into clothing or hidden in belts, boots, etc.

What coin would've worth a lot of money, to be worth converting cash into it?

Silver dollars? Gold Spanish doubloons? Gold French coins with Emperor Maximilian's head on them?

And how much would a typical bounty on say a Bank Robber be?

Maybe the bank would calculate the reward as a percentage of what's been stolen and how often the robber has struck, so if you said anything from $5,000 to $10,000 or even higher, I probably wouldn't blink an eye.

-Derek

 

[CapnJack]

I see her getting a lot of silver dollars and diamonds.

For a bounty hunter in her first year on the job, it'd make sense to go after whichever ones she could find, right?

And it ok if I message you?

 

[tommyb]

For a bounty hunter in her first year on the job, it'd make sense to go after whichever ones she could find, right?

It would make sense if she went after bounties that headed into a region she is very familiar with. Each year that goes by, or bounty collected, will see her (or anyone) step further out of her comfort zone as experience is gained.
If she is picking up bounties mostly for robbers, she probably gets a bit of work from mines, and if a mine were solid, she may invest her money into it and collect when she comes through again.

 

[blacbird]

Also, how common would it have been for someone, in the 1880s, to carry around a type of journal with them, let alone multiple ones?

Lots of people kept diaries, and postal correspondence was pretty common by that period. There are huge amounts of research based on such documentation during the Civil War, twenty years earlier.

caw

 

[frimble3]

And, as a new bounty hunter, it would make sense for her to keep records: expenses, 'mileage' etc for billing purposes, and to know where the money goes. Also, as a record of where she goes, and how the hunting went, new sources, friends/foes etc. Partly as a record of experience gained, and partly so that if there are official questions about particular job, she can answer them.