Looked Over Jordan

About the Book

LOOKED OVER JORDAN is the final volume of the author’s Land of Promise trilogy. The rapid and ongoing transition of the American West from frontier to settlement is here, embodied in the lives of Abe Saunders and the women he loves. A Confederate veteran, pioneer, and rancher, he is invited to start up and edit a newspaper in a booming frontier town. In this role, he uses the opportunity to advocate for his Indian friends’ fight to regain their homeland in Eastern Oregon and Idaho. A career in state politics follows, but his growing prominence threatens the relationships he holds most dear. This multifaceted saga explores love, loss, destiny, our connection to the land, and becoming at home in a place. In the words of one of the next generation of these families, “This land we are talking about cannot be owned by any one of us. It is the land of these two families, and it will be for all of us to call home, no matter what the government’s papers say or any of the white man’s laws have to do with it. What I see is that we are all relatives, all family, and we must trust one another, take care of each other, and honor the grandfathers and grandmothers who made one family out of two families, white and Indian, who made one dream for our generation and for our children’s children. What I want to see is that the memories of our ancestors are honored and respected for as long as we live. Ah ho."

About the Author

Johnny Sundstrom has spent most of his entire life in western America, and been part-owner and manager of a livestock, forestland and food-growing ranch property in Oregon for more than four decades. As Founder and Director of the Siuslaw Institute (www.siuslawinstitute.org), he provides natural resources consultation, coordinates community-based collaboration and cultural exchanges, along with administering watershed restoration and education projects. He has worked in this arena throughout the West, and in Russia and Australia. During this time, he has visited his Arapaho relatives in Wyoming and attended the Tribe’s annual summer ceremonies every year. He graduated from Williams College with a degree in English Literature, and has written extensively over the years, with three novels previously published by Xlibris.