Mcdonald Tales — Bill Smith

These 26 episodes of McDonald Tales re-examine the early days of the McDonald family in the Oak Creek valley of the Southern Missouri Ozarks with an eye toward better understanding the strong commitment the family had to “The Homeplace” over more than a century and how the land was accumulated and consolidated into the farm that was the subject of “Back to the Homeplace,” the first novel of The Homeplace Saga.

Daniel McDonald married Jane Truesdale, a strong and independent woman, and the stories here are told from their perspective and that of their son, William, the grandfather of Mildred (McDonald) Bevins who created the “Back to the Homeplace” novel's infamous ‘video will.' We examine their little family closely and share how they related to extended family members as well as members of their community. Along the way, these episodes in their lives add depth to the overall Homeplace Saga series of family saga, historical fiction stories.