The "historical" part comes in a short paragraph that sets things up. "Although there is some debate, the widely told story is that in 1849 a group of Wisconsin miners founded the town of Rough and Ready, California, which they proudly named after General Zachary 'Rough and Ready' Taylor. Shortly after, Zachary Taylor became president of the United States and passed a new tax on mining claims."
Rough and Readians didn't take kindly to that idea and "voted to secede from the country and form their own independent republic. They remained a sovereign nation for nearly three months before voting to rejoin the union. There is no indication that the United States government ever knew of the secession."
So what happened between April 7 and July 4, 1850? Call it "The Ruins Of Rough & Ready" ($20.99 in paperback from White Bird Publications; also for Amazon Kindle; see clarkcasey.com).
The book is over-the-top funny and graphically violent, pretty much par for the curse in the Old West--the curse being gold-digging. Cue the get-rich-quickers. Thus, Rough and Ready, all men except for three women.
The only gatherin' spot in town is Lost Souls Church/Saloon (the reverend-barkeep forbids swearing). When Billy Fippin, the town drunk, discovers a huge gold boulder after an earthquake, it's clear the new tax will hit hard. Secession is the way out, and eventually Billy is elected President (after considerable squabbles among the bar's patrons, justice-served gunplay and a mountain of grief that lasts about a minute) with a rooster elected VP.
The question becomes how to get the huge nugget past the highwaymen and Alfred Slocum, who wants to plow under R&R since his dad owns the land. Time passes, and the reader is introduced to a host of oddballs, compelling back stories (the prissy reverend is not what he seems), and a plot so crazy it would have poor old Sisyphus LOLing.
