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hometown history

Queshire

Auror
So I'm making up the history of my main character's hometown where most of the story will take place. Admittedly this history won't come up much in the story but you know us writers, always nitpicking the tinniest thing. Anyways, I'd appreciate it if you guys could take a look at the history and tell me your opinions.

The main character's home town is named Quin's Folly, Minnesota. The story goes that in the 1800's there was this guy named Quin Queshire, (My pen name, a harmless little bit of self insertation there) who set up a larg strip mining operation in the Minnesota wilderness looking for iron, gold, and stone such as granite. The only problem was that there was a river in the way. Well, it was more of a stream. That was easy enough to fix though, he simply built a dam over it and kept mining away. It was a very successful opperation, he soon become very wealthy and had a large quarry. Unfortunately, one spring between the melting snow and severe rain, that pitiful little stream swelled up huge, broke the dam and burried the quarry under a ton of water, completely ruining the mining operation.

After that, Quin's Quarry became known as Quin's Folly, which futher became the name of the town that grew up on the shores of the artificial lake. As for Quin Queshire himself, nobody knows what happened to him after that, some say he died when the quarry flooded, other say he was simply ruined financially.

So, questions:
-Would this be a plausible story?
-Would strip mining have been invented at the time?
-Are there any other plot holes you guys can see?
-How could this history tie back into the main story? I'm thinking doing something with underwater tunnels or various stuff at the bottom of the fake lake from the mining opperation.
-Would the fake lake be pausible or would it have drained out? I mean, it has a small river feeding into / out of it plus rain, but would that be enough?
-Any other comments, suggestions, or input?
 

kadenaz

Scribe
-Would this be a plausible story?
---yes
-Would strip mining have been invented at the time?
---use wikipedia
-Are there any other plot holes you guys can see?
---no
-How could this history tie back into the main story? I'm thinking doing something with underwater tunnels or various stuff at the bottom of the fake lake from the mining opperation.
---I don't know the main story, post a link of it
-Would the fake lake be pausible or would it have drained out? I mean, it has a small river feeding into / out of it plus rain, but would that be enough?
---yes, just imagine a heavier rain
 

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
Not sure about strip mining. Open pit quarry, specifically after good quality stone - most certainly.

As to an artificial lake lasting so long - most definitely yes. Less than a mile from where I live is an old gravel pit, dug into low lying ground just after WWII - which has been a lake ever since.

Not sure about looking for iron and gold in the same pit.
 

Saigonnus

Auror
They had strip mining during the gold rush 1850s often employing pipes running downhill leading to smaller pipes, then even smaller ones to increase the water pressure as it goes along. It wasn't really all that effective at the time, but they DID have strip mining. Also, they tended to use alot of dynamite for mining as well, both in the mine shafts and outside.

You could have a character emerge into the story who is the long lost relative of Quin Queshire and they might know what happened that fateful day. Perhaps Quin was maimed during the deluge of water and timbers that comprised the dam and had only the use of one arm. He managed to pull himself to safety, and disappeared since some men from the government came searching for him with the deaths of all the workers. He'd have been hanged for the murder charges; especially if he was at fault in any way, so didn't resurface for fear of prosecution.

EDITED: Also, I had the thought that if he was a true saavy businessman, Quin wouldn't sink ALL of his money into a single venture, more likely parceling it out over two of three different projects in case one should sufffer a catastrophe. You can create an elaborate story about how he changed his name and "saved" his other companies from ruin so still maintains a modest living with other people running it to keep out of the limelight. That could help with the relative having a different surname.
 
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Queshire

Auror
thanks for all the input. I really want to play up the folly bit so I think he'd put all his assests into the one thing. Besides, it's just a bit of shameless bit of self insertation on my part, so his story would have to end there.
 

Penpilot

Staff
Article Team
If there's a folly worthy of a town being named after you, putting all you got into one venture and having it blow up in your face is a nice dooooozzy, and easily explained by him being smart but arrogant.
 

Caged Maiden

Staff
Article Team
You might want to check out the natural resources available in Minnesota. It's a big state and there are varied landscapes whether you are north or south or east or west... so just a thing to consider when you are writing it. Also, lots of parts of Minnesota were inhabited by Native Americans at the time.

I don't know whether you have already placed your town, but the region you decide on may have a very different setting depending on where you choose it to be. I like the idea of an open stone quarry best. Flooded Quarry turned lake works really well.
 
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