New historical novel presents a spellbinding tale about the horses of the West and the many varied people that loved them.
WHERE THE RIVERS RUN NORTH
By Sam Morton
For the millions of our earth's people who love horses, western history, or just a great read, Sam Morton's epic novel WHERE THE RIVERS RUN NORTH is just the ticket! It is the story of horses, the colorful and widely diverse people who raised, used, and sold them, and the land that shaped them all. Author Sam Morton has taken on a theme which he knows and loves. He is no outsider to the people he depicts. He could fit, easily, as a character in his own book.
WHERE THE RIVERS RUN NORTH skillfully weaves together history of the horse with that of the people, beginning in the mid 1800s with the young Indian boy Curly, who would grow up to be the legendary Lakota Warrior, Crazy Horse. Morton takes us from the Indian warriors and the U.S. Cavalry, to the Remount, providing tens of thousands of horses for overseas wars. His characters are warriors, soldiers, cowboys, and ranchers. They also include horse breeders, trainers and traders; polo players, and a myriad of others, as diverse in their origins as an Indian warrior may be from a learned and sophisticated Easterner and even to English nobility, sharing a common bond growing from their love of the animal and the land.
Fortunes were made and lost in the horse business, and ranchers living through tragically hard winters, sometimes losing most of their herds. But the spirit of these horse people reverberates throughout, taking the bad with the good and moving forward. By book's end, Morton is telling of these people's descendants and the thread still holds. They are, through all the generations, a special breed-these people who live in the lands where the rivers run north.
WHERE THE RIVERS RUN NORTH skillfully weaves together history of the horse with that of the people, beginning in the mid 1800s with the young Indian boy Curly, who would grow up to be the legendary Lakota Warrior, Crazy Horse. Morton takes us from the Indian warriors and the U.S. Cavalry, to the Remount, providing tens of thousands of horses for overseas wars. His characters are warriors, soldiers, cowboys, and ranchers. They also include horse breeders, trainers and traders; polo players, and a myriad of others, as diverse in their origins as an Indian warrior may be from a learned and sophisticated Easterner and even to English nobility, sharing a common bond growing from their love of the animal and the land.
Fortunes were made and lost in the horse business, and ranchers living through tragically hard winters, sometimes losing most of their herds. But the spirit of these horse people reverberates throughout, taking the bad with the good and moving forward. By book's end, Morton is telling of these people's descendants and the thread still holds. They are, through all the generations, a special breed-these people who live in the lands where the rivers run north.
About the Author:
Sam Morton, a native of Southern Pines, North Carolina, has worked as a horse trainer in northern Wyoming and southern Florida for over thirty years. He received a BA in history from Guilford College in 1981 and has written for several publications, including American Cowboy, Polo Players Edition, Sidelines, and Pine Straw Magazine. He resides in Big Horn, Wyoming, during the summer and Wellington, Florida, during the winter.Book Excerpt-Preface, by Sam Morton
The common thread through the generations was the area's horses. As horses elevate the human spirit, there is no place on earth where the human spirit has burned brighter than in the warriors, cowboys, and horsemen from Absaraka. The warriors were fiercer, the cowboys wilder, and the wealthy horsemen had more spark. Epic battles were fought, fortunes were made, and fortunes were lost. Marriages and friendships that crossed socioeconomic barriers all tied together through a passion for one animal---the horse. From the earliest horse to the present day, the area and people have distinguished themselves through their relationship with horses.
What People Are Saying
"Sam did massive research for this project, but he did not let the forest of facts block out the fun and legends that are the spirit of the people, animals, and the land itself."
--Sonny Reisch, Curator, Fort Phil Kearny SHS, National Historic Landmark
--Sonny Reisch, Curator, Fort Phil Kearny SHS, National Historic Landmark
Available for Purchase:
In Sheridan Wyoming at:
- Sheridan County Museum
- Sheridan Area Bookstores
- Big Horn County Historical Society
Nationwide:
About the Book:
| WHERE THE RIVERS RUN NORTH Published by Sheridan County Historical Society Press Fiction/Historical Hardcover |
By Sam Morton ISBN: 978-0-9790841-0-2 $ 24.95 6" x 9", 581 page |
Available to the trade:
IngramBaker & Taylor
Directly via Greenleaf Book Group, (800-932-5420),
orders@greenleafbookgroup.com
Copyright © 2004 - 2007
Sheridan County Historical Society
P.O. Box 73
Sheridan, WY 82801
Sheridan County Historical Society
P.O. Box 73
Sheridan, WY 82801
Sheridan County Museum
850 Sibley Circle
(5th Street Exit I-90)
Sheridan, WY 82801
Phone 307.673.0644
Email schs@actaccess.net
850 Sibley Circle
(5th Street Exit I-90)
Sheridan, WY 82801
Phone 307.673.0644
Email schs@actaccess.net
