Creating Fiction from History: 12/22/2021

At 102 (103 February next) Granny Hotchkins, as everyone back home called her, not only looked really good for her exalted age; she was also, without doubt, the oldest person to ever dare The Falls in a barrel!

Coming from the small mid-west township of Ludlow, Iowa, just five miles from neighboring Waukon, Granny was fairly famous in her little hometown for her herbal remedies and botanical medicines.

In 1872, less than a decade after Lee officially surrendered to future president Ulysses Grant, signalling the end of what is popularly called The Civil War, small townships like Ludlow were fai...