El Rio de las Animas Perdidas en Purgatório

About the Book

The time is before Christmas during the Winter Solstice. The place is El Rio de las Animas Perdidas – River of Lost Souls. Before the arrival of the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in Colorado, a regiment of Spanish soldiers exploring the area were lost to the river along with a box of gold coins. The river obtained its name in their remembrance. Nobody really knows what happened to the soldiers, but a young boy, Jimmy, and his mother riding the train in present day discover that the ghosts still inhabit the canyon with the river, in a place called Purgatory. After boarding the train for a winter’s ride to Silverton, they find themselves caught in the middle of an ancient battle between the ghosts of the soldiers and that of a skinwalker, a Navajo witch called Raven, who is hell-bent on revenge. In this, the right place called Purgatory, at the right time – the Winter Solstice, will the boy escape with his life? Will the cries of the ancient ghosts of the soldiers finally be silenced? Will the skinwalker finally be called to justice for his crimes against humanity? And what of the gold? An old Navajo grandfather, called Nighthawk, just might have the answers.

About the Author

Growing up on a high mountain ranch deep in the heart of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, Robert Stump is steeped in a history of “mountain man” tradition with Native American influence. He went on to pursue education in anthropology, geology and engineering. His life, education, and wilderness experiences give him a unique perspective on history, culture, and mythology, spinning tales of treasure, ghosts, and history in El Rio de las Animas Perdidas from a vantage that is uniquely his own.