What began as a 3500-word short story called Shades of Black turned into over 475 thousand words and five novels; thus The Journey to the Whiteclouds series.
A small segment of the magnificent White Cloud Mountains in Idaho
Book I, Carlisle is the story of two brothers, Paul and Matt Steele, in 1850's Nebraska, the frontier of America. Paul struggles to feed his family, while Matt selfishly enjoys the security of the Steele family farm he's inherited. Honesty and loyalty with unconditional love and faith contrast sharply with deceit, treachery and outright hatred as the families try to cope. Fortunes change and consequences, some just and fair, some terribly not, are realized by both families. Paul has a son, Simon, in whom he tries to instill the values that somehow sustain the family. Simon and his best friend, Buell Mace, are developed as characters in a subplot featuring two boys growing toward adulthood.
Book II, Laramie, continues the saga when Simon and Buell are more or less forced to leave their home town. They wind up at Fort Laramie, Wyoming Territory, in 1868, just as the Oregon Trail is falling into decline and the railroads are being built. Outside Fort Laramie, low class saloons and whorehouses are established just beyond the Army's purview. It is in one of these establishments that Simon and Buell find employment, both doing what they do best: Simon running a commercial enterprise and Buell forcing his will on others as a saloon peacekeeper. The story is of their maturing and coming to grips with life as they were prepared for it. Each learns different lessons from the same experiences and eventually they have a falling out and go their own ways.
In Book III, Buell, Buell goes to the gold fields of Idaho Territory. He meets a man who seems to understand his quirky ways and a woman with whom he falls in love. Both have a tremendous impact on him as he battles emotional conflicts that have developed all his life. Violence, so common in Buell’s life, is the catalyst that finally releases him from the demon that has plagued his soul.
Book IV, Slate Creek, follows Simon to an isolated canyon several days ride from the nearest settlement. There, with only his dog and an occasional visit by a packer who supplies prospecting camps in the area, he tries to make sense of his life, from the crushing defeat of his girl rejecting him to the loss of his best friend. Nature and his own stubborn adherence to the values his parents instilled nearly cost him life on several occasions.
Book V, The Devil's Due, sees Simon and Buell reunited again and back home in Nebraska after a seven years absence. But Carlisle has changed along with the people they knew. Simon seems to fit in immediately but Buell has a hard time accepting the differences. His skills are required but many have a low opinion of him and his methods. It is only when their way of life is threatened that they gladly accept Buell and his violent way of settling disputes. The ending turns on how much value people place on loyalty.
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