Tame the Wild Land — Patrick Shannon

In the year 1700, a young French Army Captain sets foot on the Gulf Coast of our continent, trudges off into the wilderness and becomes one of this country's overlooked Founding Fathers. Warrior, explorer, intimate friend of the Indian nations, imprisoned twice for smuggling, Louis Juchereau de St. Denis was the driving force in the settlement of French Louisiana and Spanish Texas. In the Novel, "Tame the Wild Land," the drama of his remarkable life is portrayed. After enduring extreme hardships and risking his life for the King of France, he becomes disillusioned and dedicates the rest of his life to his two remaining loves: Louisiana and the beautiful Manuela. But the impetus that repeatedly places him in harm's way is the dilemma his colony faces: to keep Louisiana French, he must insure that Texas remains in the hands of his Spanish adversaries. The book is a fictional treatment of a period in our history that is somewhat neglected: the roles played by France and Spain in the taming of wild America.