Books with author Wiley Blevins

Into a West too unmapped for the explorers, too bad for the badmen, too wild for any white men, came the mountain men. They blazed the trails across the Rocky Mountains, opened the vast country between the Missouri frontier and the Pacific, and rose into legend. Sam Morgan has itchy feet and a hungry spirit. In 1822 life near Pittsburgh is far too hemmed in. He cares nothing for commerce or industry. He nurtures a wild dream of a woodsman's life, a truly free American life.But where? Down the Ohio River? Up the Mississippi? Perhaps the far West. Since Captains Lewis and Clark came back, people are telling stories about the Shining Mountains.Along the way Sam finds companions and adventures. For guidance, a half-breed Delaware Indian and Captain William Clark himself. For friends, a con man, a madam, and an assortment of shaggy men who have tasted the waters of those mountains. Sam first learns the fur trade from Bible-toting Jedediah Smith and Irish Tom Fitzpatrick, both already becoming legends. He also learns from the Indians. At the Ree villages, he comes face to face with treachery and instant death; among the Crows, he learns love of a woman; from the Bois Brules, Snakes, Pawnees, and other tribes, he learns native crafts, lore, and mysticism.But his great teacher is hard-won experience. He makes a grueling seven-hundred-mile trek, alone and on foot, across the Great Plains to Fort Atkinson on the Missouri. On the way he survives a holocaust of a prairie fire and learns the price of survival in the pitiless Western wilds, and something of who he is and wants to become.Not since Frederick Manfred's Lord Grizzly and Vardis Fisher's MountainMan has there been so gripping, authentic, and captivating a story of the menwho matched the mountains of the Great American West.

"Blevins possesses a rare skill in masterfully telling a story-to-paper. He is a true storyteller in the tradition of Native people."--Lee Francis, Professor of Native American Studies, University of New Mexico Into the untamed West came the mountain men. They explored the wilderness, crossed the Rocky Mountains, learned the ways of Indian tribes, trekked to the Pacific, and became the stuff of legends. In SO WILD A DREAM, first book of the Rendezvous series, we meet young Sam Morgan. Sam has a hungry spirit and is pulled by the lure of adventure. In 1822, life in Pennsylvania feels hemmed in, and Sam nurtures the dream of a truly free American life. Since the return of Captains Lewis and Clark, people are bubbling with stories about the far-off Shining Mountains. Sam gets a job on a riverboat, and the adventure begins.Along the way he finds companions and adventures. For guidance, an educated Delaware Indian and Captain William Clark himself. For friends, a con man, a madam, and an assortment of shaggy people who have tasted the waters of those mountains. Sam first learns the fur trade from Bible-toting Jedediah Smith and Irish Tom Fitzpatrick, both already becoming legends. He also learns from the Indians. At the Ree villages, he comes face-to-face with treachery and instant death. Among the Crows, he learns the love of a woman. From the Bois Brules, Snakes, Pawnees, and other tribes, he learns native crafts, lore, and mysticism.But Sam's best teacher is hard-won experience. He makes a grueling seven-hundred-mile trek, alone and on foot, across the Great Plains to Fort Atkinson on the Missouri River. On route, he survives the holocaust of a prairie fire and learns the price of survival in the pitiless Western wilds. Sam also learns something of who he is and of who he wants to become.SO WILD A DREAM was chosen by Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers as novel of the year. It also won the Spur award for best novel of the West.p>“Not since Frederick Manfred’s 'Lord Grizzly' and Vardis Fisher’s 'Mountain Man' has there been so gripping, authentic, and captivating a story of the men who matched the mountains of the Great American West. Win Blevins has long since won his place among the West’s very best.”–Tony Hillerman“No one since the great A. B. Guthrie, Jr, has a better feel for the world of the mountain man.”—Don ColdsmithBlevins’s sweeping vision of the American frontier is just plain irresistible.” —W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear, authors of People of the Owl.

Long ago, the land that is now Iraq was home to some of the earliest human civilizations. Readers will explore the incredible history and rich culture of this Middle Eastern nation alongside local guides Mohammed and Asha. They will also learn fun facts about what life is like for todays Iraqi people, from which kinds of clothing are popular to what typical daily routines are like.