Ch 2 – Nuff Sed (Desert Steve), “The Old Boy Himself” (literary & historical background)

This is part 2 of a series of posts providing rich historical and literary background to my novel, Nuff Sed: a Novel of Desert Steve.

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This scene now jumps back in history to the birth of Desert Steve Ragsdale. I suppose a biography doesn’t have to begin with the birth, but I wanted to introduce some themes early on. For example, Desert Steve was quite intelligent and aware, but he could also be quite obstinate. So his birth was a bit difficult, and he is a stubborn infant, knowing what he wants, as his mother says.

I also wanted to give a feel for the time in which he was born. Kansas in the late 1800s was still a frontier. Life was not easy for regular people.

Historicity and Fiction

It is not surprising that I couldn’t find much information on Desert Steve’s birth. After all, he was born to a normal, every day family, who were not well known or anyone of real means.

However, research into genealogies and gravesites allowed me to include some historical information: who his parents were, how old they were, the date and year when Steve was born, and the birthdates of his older siblings, which gave me their ages. Likewise, It is historical that he was born in Coffeyville, Kansas.

Thus, the Ragsdale ages and place where they lived is historical. The doctor and his name are fictional, as is the necessity for calling a doctor and how it happened.

Notice the spelling of Steve’s mother’s name, “Phebe” rather than the more common “Phoebe.” Birth and census records have the first spelling, although occasionally the other spelling shows up. It’s possible the difference is merely low literacy rates, or perhaps it was just an unusual spelling.

Desert Steve’s Quotes

Since he’s an infant, he doesn’t speak at this point, of course, but all the chapter titles are from Desert Steve. This one of the monikers he gave himself on the front cover of a little booklet he wrote entitled _Philosophy and Sayings of Desert Steve_.

Other Historical Events

The 17” hailstones in Dubuque, Iowa, was a historical event. There were reports that living frogs were sound inside some of larger ones, and people in livestock were killed, just as Doc Johansson describes it in the scene. (Later in life, Steve has some encounters with Desert frogs.) for more details about the “frog hail,” visit here.

Childbirth before the 1900s was still as it had been for much of human history. Almost all births were at home, although most of them were attended by midwives by the end of the century. Maternity clothes were not even introduced until 1905, and birth did not move in the hospitals until the 1920s for those who could afford it or needed medication. (For more details on childbirth in the 19th century, visit here.)

Onward

Steve’s father, being a farmer and a rancher, knew something about delivering babies (as would Steve later in life). In this scene, I have James go into town to get a doctor because there are some complications with the birth and his wife desired it to be safe.

The next chapter, “A Human Being Farmed to Death,” jumps five years and covers until 1892 when Steve is 10 years old.

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