Joe Henry's Journey
Marcia Melton
Paperback
(Raven Pub, May 20, 2014)
When eleven-year-old Joe Henry Grummond and his Pa board a steamboat going up the Big Muddy Missouri River to Fort Benton, Montana, in 1862, they plan to escape the desperation of the Civil War in their home state of Kentucky and make some money in the gold fields of Montana. Little does Joe Henry know that this river trip will lead him to untamed wild places where robberies, claim jumpers, lawless towns, and back-breaking work are the everyday stuff of life in the Bannack, Montana, gold camp. Along the way, Joe Henry learns about all different kinds of people living in the west, finds a best friend, and meets the prettiest girl he s ever seen. He learns much more than how to pan gold. This frontier territory brings lessons in the struggle between law and lawlessness, vigilantism, and the question of what is justice.
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