My dear friend and one of my favorite authors, Marilyn
Meredith, is launching the next book in her Detective Tempe Crabtree mystery
series, Seldom Traveled. Detective Crabtree is one of my favorite
characters, and I love this series. Tempe is a Native American. This is one of
the reasons I’m fascinated by her. For this post, I asked Marilyn to tell us a
bit about the real reservation and the Tule River Indians who live near her.
Marilyn and I met at a conference ten years ago and have remained friends since
then.
What Eagle Mountain
Casino has done for the Tule River Indians
Lorna asked me to write about how the casino on the
reservation has changed the lives of the Indians who live there. For those of
you who might not know, the Yokut Indians and others who live on the
reservation have been the models for the Indians in my Deputy Tempe Crabtree
books.
The reservation was established in 1873 and covers 85 square
miles of rugged foothill and mountains of the Sierra. Where the residents live,
work and play is in a narrow valley. Though picturesque, for many years, life
was hard. There was no electricity until the 1960s, and no jobs. The only
employment available was in nearby Porterville which had to be accessed by a
vehicle—and not many jobs were available to Indians.
In 1996, Eagle Mountain Casino was established. Along with
the casino came many jobs, not only for Indians but also for people from the
nearby area. Revenue from the casino made it possible for many new developments
like a Health Center, Child Care Center, Education Department, a new Fire and
Police Department, and more.
Eagle Feather, a gas station and large convenience store was
built on Highway 190, along with a large automotive shop to maintain the casino
buses. Eagle Feather 2 is located halfway between Porterville and the Pacific
Coast.
The Tule River Aero Industries is located at the Porterville
Airport and does major engine and airframe repair and has a sales department.
The tribe also has a print shop, and owns and operates the Oak Pit Steakhouse in
Porterville.
The tribe generously contributes to many different local
charities and youth groups.
Though life may still not be perfect on the reservation, the
casino has definitely made major improvements not only for the Indians but also
for all of us who live nearby.
Marilyn
Seldom Traveled
The tranquility of the mountain community of Bear Creek is
disrupted by a runaway fugitive, a vicious murderer, and a raging forest fire.
Deputy Tempe Crabtree is threatened by all three.
Buy directly from
the publisher in all different formats:
Marilyn Meredith has had so many books published, she’s lost track of
the count, but it’s getting near 40. She lives in a community similar to the
fictional mountain town of Bear Creek, the big difference being that Bear Creek
is a thousand feet higher in the mountains. She is a member of Mystery Writers
of American, three chapters of Sisters in Crime, and is a board member of
Public Safety Writers of America.
New Contest:
Winners will be randomly picked from those leaving the most
comments on the blog posts. Each winner can choose one of the earlier books in
the series as either a print book or e-book.
My last stop is tomorrow at http://www.bkstevensmysteries.com/category/the-first-two-pages.
