This story took me a long time to figure out and research. In the process, I have most likely put myself on the Homeland Security watch list searching for the League's ultimate weapon against America, (One present day terrorists are making use of).
The information on the epidemics during and after the civil war along the Gulf Coast is true. Three quarters of the population of the Gulf Coast were affected. Only ten percent of people who become sick with yellow fever die from it. But ten percent of every little town in East Texas and parts of Louisiana adds up. Strict quarantines in 1867 finally ended the constant outbreaks.
The rumor about Texas becoming part of England before annexation I discovered in letters from then President Sam Houston to a representative of England. Those letters were part of archives turned over to America from England some years ago. Sam Houston refuted that rumor in his answering letter. He said that it was only something going around Galveston and Houston.
The information on castor plants, their uses and their time as a cash crop in the south was also true. The growth of castor plants moved from the south to the west coast after the war. They were also grown in France in the nineteenth century for profit. Today you can get them through any seed catalog. People buy them for shade plants and decoration and the beans are very pretty and can be used for jewelry. Beware, however. The oil from those beans (Ricin) is highly poisonous. A small child can be killed from the oil of one bean.
The story Matt told about the panther actually happened to my grandfather, who lived on a homestead off the Trinity River, for thirty years. Squirrels and possum in North America have always been good game meat and rattlesnake steaks are supposed to be quite good too. I've never had the chance to know firsthand and am not inclined to try.
There are five kinds of poisonous snakes in America and Texas does harbor all of them. I was told by my grandfather to stay away from any snake that looked pretty. It's good advice to live by.
My history of Dr. Loveless is my own. His anger toward his hometown was part of the episode that introduced him into the "Wild Wild West" series. I always thought he had surprisingly advanced scientific knowledge even compared to present day. It made perfect sense to me that he must have come by it through working with the League of Darkness. Also, the guy was highly cultured and educated. A mark of someone that had spent time in more civilized surroundings than his many hideouts in the west. According to the series, he resurfaces in 1889 or so, a partner to a scientist working on explosives for the government. He still has his anger for his hometown, and he still has his devoted Helen or Sara or Mary working beside him ready to aid his escape when things go wrong. The man may have been bad to the bone, but he never lacked for lovely loyal followers.
Thank you for reading.