The Smoky Hill

Rivers West #2

by Don Coldsmith

Through the rolling grasslands of Kansas runs the Smoky Hill River, a rich source of opportunity for those bold enough to risk the dream-killing territory. For Gabe, mountain-man and scout, the river means freedom and a chance to map unexplored territory with the Great Pathfinder, John Charles Fremont. For Lem, an Illinois farm boy in pursuit of gold, it is a cruel foe who robs him of his family and his youth. For Jesse, a young Union corporal, this is the country that took his father and uncle and where he must fight warring Indians.

Genres: Westerns

281 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 1989

About the author

Don Coldsmith was an American author of primarily Western fiction. A past president of Western Writers of America, Coldsmith wrote more than 40 books, as well as and hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles. His “Spanish Bit Saga,” a series of related novels, helped to re-define the Western novel by adopting the point of view of the Native Americans, rather than the European immigrants.

Reviews

[Alton Motobu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three novellas involving the Booths: Gabriel explores the headwaters of the Smoky with the Fremont expedition in 1844; Lemuel wants to prospect for gold in Colorado but ends up driving a stage and marrying an Indian girl in 1860; Jesse survives an Indian ambush in 1876 and helps a captive white girl go back to Fort Riley. Standard western fare; nothing special.

[Hazel Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read The Smoky Hill because of the setting and time period. The book is divided into three parts and follows the adventures of four members of the same family. The first part is interesting for the history and setting, but the story line of the main character, Gabe, doesn’t go much beyond being a scout for John Fremont, who is mapping the Smoky Hill area of Kansas Territory. Gabe settles permanently in the west near Denver and loses touch with his Illinois relatives. In part two, the story line picks up with two nephews of Gabe’s who go west in search of gold. Brothers Lem and Sam travel through the Smoky Hill region and part company because of a disagreement over which fork of the river to follow. Whether both or either will survive the harsh climate of the Smoky Hill makes an emotionally wrenching tale. Part 3 focuses on Jesse, who is Sam’s son and Lem’s nephew. A Union corporal, he is stationed in the Smoky Hill and haunted by the fact that his father and uncle came to this area and never returned. Jesse’s story of riding into an ambush by warring Indians also had me turning pages to learn his fate.

[Partridge Public]

Coldsmith, Don PB

[Jim Ogle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this, but It didn't move me. It was just OK.

[DocHolidavid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty fair book about my homeland. Narrator was fair to middlin'.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bunch o' nothin' . . . and the picture on the front is inaccurate: the second guy was riding a MULE, for the reasons stated therein, not a horse.