Voyage To Santa Fe

This is an historical fiction account of a young pioneer couple moving from Three Forks in Indian Territory to Santa Fe in Spanish Territory in 1823. Johnathan (Johnny) and Judith Fowler have been married nearly a year and are still learning to trust each other. The story is told in the third person but primarily through Judith's eyes and with her heart. Johnny Fowler has sold his trading business in Three Folks and is taking his young wife with him to begin a new life on the West Coast. The constant attacks by Native Americans is missing from this "Westward Ho" novel, but the betrayal and mutiny of hired hands makes the tension build in the quest to reach Santa Fe while the bond of kindred spirits and faithful friends is strengthened. Brotherhood between Johnny and one of the Osage Indians provides the opportunity to include information about the movement of Cherokees by the United States government into the Osage grounds and the preferential treatment given Cherokees over Osages. The one-owner train of four wagons includes twenty men and Mrs. Fowler. The diverse make up of the men provides the author the tool to show how the difficulties of the "new" land and westward movement brought out the best and worst in them and how a true western woman had to be strong and willing work beyond conventional limits of women in settled areas. The story also included the presence of faith in family, God, and humanity in general through the practical religious practices of Judith.