This historical fiction is about a man named Walter. Like many in his generation, he transcended more changes in society than ever in the history of the world. Walter was born in the late 1800s, just before a new century, which would create extraordinary opportunities and hardships. Walter was enveloped in both. He went from driving a horse and buggy to a gasoline vehicle. Walter witnessed the introduction of the nuclear age and its devastation. He experienced significant floods, tornados, the Great Depression, and a dust bowl that changed history and many people’s lives. He participated in a culture that plummeted to the deepest in a depression, only to rise again to be the wealthiest country the world has ever known.
Walter was anchored to the earth, in part due to his Indian heritage, his love for the soil, and all that it could create. Walter was a modern renaissance man who could play the fiddle for a barn dance in the evening and negotiate with businessmen the next day. He endured the hardships of a pandemic, witnessed the carnage of two world wars, and watched oil gush just beneath the soil of a land he dearly loved.
As you will discover in this story, Walter never seemed to struggle with his identity. He could have been so many things but chose to be a farmer, “a gentleman farmer,” he might say. Even though he was almost full-blood Cherokee and the relative of a famous Cherokee, he did not participate in the Native ways. Occasionally, he would go to powwows or participate in some of the Native rituals, but he saw himself as an independent, self-sufficient man of the land.
He was not particularly religious in the white man ways or the Native but was committed to honesty, integrity, and awareness that there was something greater than him. This spiritual presence would guide him through difficulties, heartaches, and special moments that gave life meaning and emboldened him when he was most broken.
The characters in this story are real. The names have been changed, and the adventures embellished to highlight the personalities. Walter and those around him left a footprint in their culture, enriching life itself. Walter was on the hunt for a meaningful life, enhanced by the struggle to survive. There was not much time to thrive because the focus was mostly centered on overcoming the calamities of nature and the foolishness of humans. Some would say the period of Walter’s life was a simpler time but not an easier time, as you will read in the adventures ahead.
It is hoped that you will immerse yourself in this time period, captured by the story, entertained, and enriched by a man named Walter. Approximately 7,350 people died in Oklahoma from the Spanish Flu around 1918, where our story begins
