Lance a white slave escapes St. Louis and heads west. He meets up with courageous friends who must confront Indians, death, disease, and renegades on the way to the gold fields.
The discovery of gold in California launched a stampede of fortune-seekers across the continent in search of wealth. Willing to face any hardship – outlaws, hostile Indians, bad weather, thirst, starvation, and the horrors of disease – they battled fiercely to overcome these challenges and seize their destiny. But sometimes the treasures they found were not the ones they were expecting . . . THE FORTY-NINERS is the fifth novel in the exciting West of the Big River series from the Western Fictioneers. Charlie Steel's story of courage, romance, and danger is based on historical incidents and vividly illustrates a compelling chapter in American history, recreating a lawless era that exemplifies both the best and the worst in a vital young nation!
Excerpt
THE FORTY-NINERS
Slavery, the harsh, cruel, and meanest kind, existed since the beginning of man. In 1772, St. Louis, Missouri recorded 198 slaves—by 1849, nearly 6000. Decades of relations with Indian, Spanish and Negro slaves produced children who looked more like their white masters than the original slaves. It was only strict laws and documented births that kept these white-skinned children slaves. Once escaped into the populace, no one was aware what blood coursed through the veins of those individuals. And, since the outside appearance of man was judged, and blood could not be, no one knew—except for the escaped slave.
Profit was the motive for subjugation, and it had been so since the beginning of mankind. Slavery, enforced by laws of those in power, made it possible to give authority of ownership of one man over the other. It was not only chattel slavery; it was economic slavery—the few ruling over the many, a situation that will never change, no matter the place or the time.
Lance, a white-skinned, young man, had all he could take of slavery, and despite the penalty of death, was ready to run. The hovel that Lance escaped from could be compared to that of a rat’s nest. Some would say not even a rat would have resided in such a place. Forced up early in the morning, fed a breakfast of dirty half-cooked gruel, he was sent into the fields to work the earth. It was the overseer who wielded the whip, the master in his home was often unaware and unconcerned.
Lance was twenty-one when he ran. He escaped, and the many slave patrols that roamed the city, those ruthless men who enforced the slave laws, ran after him—chasing him down like the dog they considered him to be. In fact, it was with dogs that he was tracked. His description went out: twenty-one, muscular, over six feet tall, light skinned with green eyes, and a crown of curling straw-colored hair. How a splendid product of humanity could be produced from a slave hovel with such little food was a miracle of nature. For Lance towered above most men, his scarred back a glorious construction of muscle and sinew. Lance was a living example of what Greek statues were meant to represent, a perfect reflection of the very best attributes of man.
There was only one place Lance could run to escape the noses of the dogs and the slave patrols—the Mississippi River. As he ran, the young man passed by one of the many well-displayed slave signs:
By order of the City of St. Louis, all Slaves are forbidden to do the following:
Ride in a carriage—without permission
Walk with a cane
Make seditious speeches
Meet in church without white observers
Smoke in public
Read or Write
The State of Missouri does not recognize marriage between slaves.
All Slaves and Free Blacks must possess a pass at all times.
Violators face penalty of capture, whippings, or death.
Lance could not read, but he knew what the sign said, that because he was a slave he had no rights or freedom—not even the freedom of a free-roaming mongrel dog. Today, he chose to gain the right of a human being, he would run and fight to be allowed to live without another man having ownership over him. He decided that he would rather die than exist another day in captivity.
Professional Reviews
You feel as if you were there!
By Keith Souter on May 21, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel in the West of the Big River series. It is meticulously researched and beautifully written, so you are drawn into the story. I really loved the ending.
I can't wait to get started on Charlie Steel's collection of short stories.
All the gold in California...
By Disorderly Words on February 10, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
The California gold rush in the mid-1800s probably killed more people than it enriched. For a brief but intense few years, though, claims of easy wealth spurred America’s great western migration. Charlie Steel’s WEST OF THE BIG RIVER: THE FORTY-NINERS brings to vivid life the horrors, hardships, and little blessings faced by three groups of California-bound pioneers.
Each group has its own reason for heading west. One man’s obsession with escaping the drudgery of subsistence farming dooms his extended family. A St. Louis merchant cartel’s reckless greed breeds a myopic dash that proves unwise. For the third group, an escaped slave and the drifter he befriends during his run for freedom, the trip provides hard lessons that leave the ex-slave scarred but wiser.
Even at only 128 pages, the book is something of a slow read because many characters must be tracked and a veritable encyclopedia of knowledge must be digested. As usual, Steel’s research appears to have been exhaustive. Should readers ever find themselves in the thick of a bare-knuckles boxing contest, possessed of a desire to skin buffalo, or faced with the need to treat cholera victims, they’ll be well prepared. Fair warning to the squeamish: Some of the lessons, particularly about killing and skinning buffalo, are quite detailed. Steele doesn’t sugarcoat sights, sounds, or smells.
Vaguely reminiscent of John Steinbeck’s THE GRAPES OF WRATH in tone, THE FORTY-NINERS pits characters — and readers — against a series of misfortunes that seems destined never to end. Independently, the three groups struggle through inclement weather, attacks by opportunistic outsiders, and internal strife before converging in the middle of the vast Great Plains and confronting even bigger problems. Death stalks the travelers at every turn, and sometimes the bad guys win a round, but the pioneers’ hope for the future remains undaunted — perhaps only because they have little choice but to sojourn onward. For some, their pot of gold is mere survival.
At its heart, THE FORTY-NINERS presents a tale about the relentless perseverance of the human spirit despite all odds. The journey is neither pretty nor easy for characters or readers, but once begun, it’s inescapable.
Real old west drama
By Jerry Guin on December 14, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition
Lots of tense moments for big Lance and fast Eddy on their westward journey but the two are fast learners and up to any situation that stands in their way. Charlie Steel has done a magnificent job of showing how the greed for gold drives men; some to their deaths. The Forty-Niners is a good read, well researched and realistic.
Jerry Guin
Killer With Three Heads is the second book in the Killer series. Bulletproof Morris ‘Mojo’ Johnson returns to New York as John Morrison after a 10 years’ absence to find the people responsible for kidnapping his daughter, Maria.
Assistant County Attorney Ken Anderson spends his weekends drinking and running around. After waking up with another hangover, Ken decides not to drink so much anymore. Ken and his buddy, Tony, go out to eat and see Mia Correa and Faye Kincaid at the
