The South Platte

Rivers West #18

by Jory Sherman

The Van Nelle family settled along the South Platte River in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. They brought with them their indentured servant, Pauline Stewart. Eighteen-years-old and long passed paying off her bond, Pauline is treated as a slave, her beauty hidden by the ravages of life on the farm. Into this bleak, austere world comes the Van Nelle's first contact with the neighboring Arapaho, on whose land they have settled. Resenting the intrusion, but realizing they must trade to stay on the land, the Van Nelles become frequent hosts to the Arapaho. Soon one of the braves decides to offer for Pauline in trade. Struck by the girl's beauty, both the brave and a young trapper want her for their wife. When gold nuggets become part of the brave's barter, greed shine's brightly from the eyes of the Van Nelle's. They will stop at nothing, not even war, to keep from getting what they want. Caught in the middle, Pauline must find her way between two worlds and a war that could claim all that she holds dear.

Genres: Westerns

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

About the author

Jory Sherman was born in Minnesota and grew up in West Texas, Louisiana, and Colorado. He was a magazine editor for a time and had some of his work published, including some poetry, short stories and articles. Sherman had a friend who owned a publishing company and asked him to write a novel for the company. From that offer came five more novels, all written in one year. He wrote the supernatural mystery series, "Chill," which was somewhat revolutionary for the times, but which earned him an eight book contract. He then came up with the idea for "Rivers West," a series which had each book written by a different western author. Then came the "Baron Saga," the first of which was "Grass Kingdom" which earned Sherman a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize in Letters. Sherman has also won the Spur Award for his contribution to Western Literature.

Reviews

[Susie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A western leaning toward historical fiction. I liked it.

[Paul F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"South Platte" by Jory Sherman (copyright 1998) deserves credit for its setting, along the river referenced in the title, an area that is too often neglected by Western writers and historians who tend to concentrate their energies on events near the North Platte. Davey Longworth is a fur trapper who encounters the hateful Hans van de Groot family. The van de Groots, or simply the Groots for short, have a beautiful bondservant, Sheila Stewart (not "Pauline" as is incorrectly stated on the book cover) who has long since been abandoned by her mother to her fate. Davey encounters Sheila and is gradually smitten with her, despite the chip she bears on her shoulder. An Arapaho chief, Eagle Heart, is also smitten with the "Sun Hair" young woman. The problem for the Groots is that they have planted themselves right smack in the heart of a buffalo run, on prime Arapaho and hostile Ute hunting grounds. Not to worry, Hans says several times in different ways. Meanwhile, a despicable man named Cleel has it in for the Utes, getting a group of men together to exterminate the local Ute tribesmen. Except the Utes aren't ready to be exterminated, and Cleel has his own devious plans for the men in his gang.
This was a very good read. The biggest problem with this novel, though, was that at least in my opinion the author, Jory Sherman, tried to do too much, cover too much ground. His narration bounces around from one set of characters to another, never revealing their full stories because there are simply too many of them to detail. I think it would have been more entertaining if Sherman had maintained a tighter focus on the relationship and activities involving Davey Longworth and Sheila Stewart.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always been hooked on western novels of the southwest. Add this one to my bookshelf. An enjoyable story (audiobook...read me a story, please.). Like the others on my shelf it's not too deep and that's a major downside. Forgiving that it is an area of Colorado that now takes a good deal of imagination to conjure up a vision...where the Cache la Poudre flows into the South Platte, near Greeley. The foothills around Fort Collins, and I'm guessing toward what is now Horsetooth Reservoir.

Visions of ignorant European white man encroachment on Indigenous tribes of Arapahoe and Ute (who were already enemies and regularly warred on eachother) and established buffalo trails...trappers and later prospectors who were a mix lot of environmental abusers...though history would record the trappers as often times friends to the Ute, Arapahoe and other tribes.

The more I watch Colorado absorbed by population the more I seek out these visions of early passings.

[Joe Farley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good predictable western that is like watching an old movie. Enjoyed it.