Wagons West

About the Book

This story is action oriented, and presents the people, their beliefs and the places in which they lived, loved, worked and fought as they actually were in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There are fierce battles with outlaws and Indians; a struggle between honest townsmen and surrounding farmers to wrest control of the settlement from a vicious despot and his hired gunmen; the building of a farm together with developing a waterwheel driven grist mill and later a very large electric powered mill in the now fair sized town. An account of how an honest farmer rose from a beginning with little to great wealth. There is a thrilling account of moving a herd of cattle from Texas to Montana through fierce thunderstorms, fighting hostile Indians, a constant search for water for thirsty men and cattle and the privations of life in the wilderness. There are four love stories beginning on the wagon trail west and later taking place on the farms, ranches and in the village settled by the people. A vivid description of the operation of a one room country school with a single teacher and all eight grades in attendance provides the reader with the way in which our ancestors obtained an education in eight grades that, in many ways, exceeded that provided by the present day graduation from high school. I spent the first four grades of my education in a one room country school and can attest that such an education exceeds anything that can be obtained in our present day schools. The five Civilized Tribes and in particular, a Creek Indian couple, play an important role in this story beginning with providing information of an impending attack on the wagon train to help given to the Patterson family in locating land in eastern Montana.

A short history of the Civilized Tribes during conversations between Frank Patterson and Little Bird provides a grounding for the reader in the manner in which these Indians lived, their governmant and how they were moved from their lands in the East to the wilderness of the Indian Territory.

The story follows two families who continued with the wagon train to settle in the great Sacramento Valley of California and their subsequent visit with the Pattersons resulting in the love and marraige of a second generation couple.

About the Author

Born in 1926, I am a product of the Great Depression, my experiences in WWII and my life’s work as a forest ranger. The stories handed down generation to generation in my family, provided a basis for writing about the pioneers who by moving westward over the decades, built this great nation. How they lived, what they believed in and the manner in which they responded to threats by others to themselves, their loved ones and neighbors is the way in which my ancestors lived, loved, fought and died. My experiences as a forest ranger in the wild lands of California and camping and hiking in the primitive areas, provided an understanding of the unforgiving aspect of nature toward the mistakes made by men who dare to intrude upon her domain.