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Author Laurie Marr Wasmund returns to Armchair Historians to talk about her new historical novel Catching It Lovely, inspired by her great-great-grandmother Jane Morton Scott—a Scottish immigrant whose journey carried her from the textile towns of Scotland to Chicago, and finally to a homestead in Colorado Territory.
We explore how Laurie blends archival research with historical fiction, why the era surrounding World War I still shapes her worldview, and what she discovered about her family that changed everything.

In This Episode, We Discuss

• Laurie’s “favorite history”: 1900–1925, and why WWI-era America still echoes today
• Writing historical fiction from family records—without turning it into a lecture
• Immigration realities: Scotland → New York (Castle Garden era) → Chicago → Colorado
• The Great Chicago Fire as a turning point (and what didn’t burn)
• Homesteading in 1875 and how many settlers arrived by rail, not wagon train
• Research rabbit holes: newspapers, photographs, public archives, and local history collections
• The surprising mix of “Wild West” and sophistication in early Colorado (theaters, restaurants, society life)
• The “keeper of family history” role—and why some of us become the storytellers

About the Guest

Laurie Marr Wasmund is a Colorado author, presenter, and publisher (Lost Ranch Books). Her work often explores Colorado history, civic courage, and the lives of communities under pressure—now including her own ancestors’ story in Catching It Lovely.

Book Mentioned

Catching It Lovely by Laurie Marr Wasmund

Links & Resources

Laurie Marr Wasmund / Lost Ranch Books (author site)

Official author site and book pages.

Lost Ranch Books (imprint site)

Browse Laurie’s backlist and imprint info.

Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection (CHNC)

Free, searchable primary sources for Colorado history.

Isabella Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains (Project Gutenberg)

A vivid period account that helps capture the texture of early Colorado travel and frontier life.

Laurie’s earlier Armchair Historians episode (2020)

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