The Burning Wolf — Robert M. Johnson

In every generation, certain people personify the great trends that move the hearts and minds of the population. In 1803, America was still seeking its identity and its President had a vision for the country. Thomas Jefferson, the third American President, saw this new country, which he had helped to found and whose declaration he had written, as one country from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, coast to coast! The first novel of this historical series was named, “GRIT AND GLORY” and told the story of the origins of the expedition that would open the far western lands of the Louisiana Purchase. The men of the expedition, with the help of a Shoshone Indian woman, Sacagawea, would travel thousands of miles to claim the west for the American people. The second volume, “RAGE OF THE GRIZZLY,” recounts the first 1600 miles of their journey up the Missouri River into Mandan Indian Territory. This third novel, “THE BURNING WOLF,” tells the story of Caleb Stuart's important role in procuring meat for the men of the Expedition, the Corps of Discovery. The winter of 1805 brought new and dangerous challenges to the young Virginian. His teacher, George Drouillard, a man born of French and Shawnee parentage, was born to this frontier of the West. Soon, he and young Caleb became a hunting team, given the task of providing hundreds of pounds of meat to the hard working men of the Expedition. “THE BURNING WOLF,” follows their encounters with predators and prey in the wild unchartered territory of the northern plains. It was a time when herds of bison and elk numbered in the hundreds of thousands, feeding on the rich prairie grass. But, these same grass-eaters were preyed upon by large numbers of meat-eaters: Grizzly Bears, Wolves, Mountain Lions and Coyotes. The human hunters had to fit into this natural dance of death if they wanted to feed their fellow explorers. The stage was set for fierce conflict, daily.