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Overview
It's 1825, and St. Louis marks the outer edge of civilization. But a city - no matter how rough and tumble - can limit a young man's dreams. So it is from here that young Titus Bass sets out. A vast, unexplored continent west of the great Mississippi beckons, awaiting those with the courage and resourcefulness to conquer it. And Titus Bass will be one of the first white men to stake his claim. In Buffalo Palace, Titus turns his back on all he's ever known and travels alone into the thick forest, bound for the eastern edge of the high plains. There he encounters a magnificent sight: a dark and thundering herd of buffalo as far as the eye can see. It's a world of beauty and danger - a world where survival depends on a man's willingness to risk death. From the forks of the Platte River to the country of the dreaded Blackfoot and Arapaho, from the foothills into the central Rockies, Titus Bass pushes onward, with only the stars and his own destiny to guide him. Every bend in the river promises new hope and the threat of sudden violence...and every distant campfire signals a new friendship or a new fight. But for Bass no challenge is too great. This is his country, and just as the great buffalo herd will leave its legacy, Titus Bass will leave his.The saga of Carry the Wind hero Titus Bass continues, as Terry C. Johnston's most beloved character develops the skills and courage necessary to survive and thrive in the unforgiving high country of the mountain man. National online publicity from special placement on BDD ONLINE (http: //www.bdd.com).
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
Frontier adventurer Titus Bass is back for a fifth wrangle in Johnston's ongoing saga. In 1825 St. Louis, Titus snaps out of the drunken lethargy he fell into in Dance on the Wind (1995) and finally heads west toward the mountains, plains and buffalo he has always dreamed of. Traveling alone, Titus revels in the quiet solitude and freedom of the open prairie and wide skies, but he is always wary of unknown dangers. Afoot after losing his horses, he is rescued by a trio of rough and tumble beaver trappers who take him in and teach him how to survive in the wild. Titus and his trapper pals wander over the plains and mountains, trapping beaver and hunting game, trying to keep their scalps from being lifted by ferocious Blackfeet and Arapaho. Meeting other trappers and traders at an annual rendezvous, the unwashed mountain men trade their beaver pelts for a bath, whiskey, squaws and supplies, and their solitary lives for a few days of drunken companionship. Through clouds of flint-tipped arrows and black-powder gunsmoke, Titus thrives until treachery spoils his idyll. Rich in historical lore and dramatic description, this is a first-rate addition to a solid series, a rousing tale of one man's search for independence in the unspoiled beauty of the old West. (Oct.)Library Journal
Taking up where he left off in Dance on the Wind (LJ 7/95) Johnston sends Titus Bass from St. Louis up the Missouri and Platte to the Rockies, where he joins a trio of fur trappers. Their sadistic leader initiates the greenhorn into the frontier equivalent of "might makes right," beating him savagely when Titus confronts him about pilfering his beaver pelts. Too inexperienced to go it alone, Titus remains with them until the others raft their pelts downriver, abandoning him. Surviving brushes with hostile Indians, he links up with other trappers. The story ends abruptly when, set upon by Blackfeet Indians, Titus is saved by friendly Shoshones, portending a further installment. For the most part well researched, this novel falters only when Johnston digresses at length to summarize events in Dance on the Wind. Recommended for public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 8/96.]Robert P. Jordan, Univ. of Iowa, Iowa CityBook Details
Published
November 1, 1996
Publisher
New York : Bantam Books, c1996.
Pages
416
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780553090741