The Shadows on the Trail Trilogy IS a Matter of Survival!!

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First, a brief update on the status of the Shadows on the Trail Trilogy. All three books are now out! I am working on the fourth book. There is no reason not to add Shadows on the Trail, Ghosts of the Heart, and Winds of Eden to your book list and get ready for the fourth book. You can visit Texas and Colorado about 10,700 years ago without leaving your living room!

For those of you who have already read the Shadows on the Trail Trilogy, I thank you and I appreciate the notes and comments you have sent me in regards to the books. I promise you that the fourth book will not let you down! Now, on with the show!

Figure two - The trappings of modern society. Piled
up luggage at some airport, not a rare occurrence.  

Have you ever noticed how modern-day society has surrounded itself with physical possessions and how many people have become prisoners to their possessions? What would any of us do without the conveniences that surround us? When we are hungry, we go to the refrigerator or a restaurant. When we are bored we watch one of four hundred channels on our high definition plasma televisions. If we want music, we can listen to one of thousands of songs on our iPods or smart phones  The possessions and trappings go on and on. We have become a society that is completely dependent on our modern conveniences. We are spoiled!  
     

To illustrate my point, I am going to cite a recent example from my personal life and compare it to the lives of the Folsom People, the protagonists in the Shadows on the Trail Trilogy. Recently, my wife and I took a four-day trip to California and when we arrived at the airport we each had a suitcase. In addition, I had a stuffed backpack with my laptop, books, and various other electronic gadgetry and essentials. My wife had a laptop roller suitcase with all of her gear. Four days, four suitcases! When we finally boarded the airplane (another amazing transportation convenience), the passengers fought to get their precious possessions stowed in the limited overhead luggage space. I looked around and watched people shoving everything but the kitchen sink into the overhead luggage bins. It gave me pause to reflect about our heroes in the Shadows on the Trail Trilogy, Chayton and the Folsom People.     

Figure three - Dinner time, literally fast food!

Let’s jump into our time machine called the Shadows on the Trail and go back to around 10,700 years ago, the days of Chayton and the Folsom People. They did not have any of the modern conveniences we have today. They couldn't go to a grocery store or a fast food restaurant if they were hungry. If they needed to travel from Point A to B, they did so by walking, there were no cars, buses, planes, or even horses. The Folsom People had to carry everything they owned when they roamed from place to place. All of their possessions were transported by them and their wolf dogs.

                

Below is a passage from the first book of the Shadows on the Trail Trilogy where our hero Chayton was preparing a multi-day crossing of the inhospitable Arid Plains with two other hunters.  The passage describes what Chayton took with him on this difficult journey. He would have to survive an extremely hostile and unpredictable environment with very little. If he and the hunters were going to eat, they would have to find, kill, clean, and cook the food. If they became thirsty, they would have to find water. There were no maps or convenience stores. They would have to hunker down near the safety of their campfire during the night and have to deal with the scorching heat of the Arid Plains during the day.

          Chayton carried a deerskin quiver with five spears on his back and his spear thrower on his left hip. On his right hip, he carried his water pouch and on his back, he carried a hide pouch containing the four remaining inyan wakan or sacred rocks, four spear points, knife blades, a sandstone abrader, a hard wood spindle for fire starting, and several chokecherry patties. On a leather strap around his neck, Chayton carried a stone knife with a handle made from a shortened bison rib. In his hand, he carried a long spear that doubled as a walking staff. Except for a blanket and the hut he was leaving behind, this was all Chayton owned in the world. 

Figure Four - Folsom artifacts from the Author's Collection.

                                                                
            Figure four is a photograph of the stone tools that Chayton might have carried in his deerskin pouch. In the center of the photo, notice the red and gray banded discoidal biface he brought on the journey from his original canyon home in future Texas. To the right of  the discoidal biface are two razor-sharp ultrathin knives used for butchering animals and in the lower left hand corner, an end scraper used for hide work. Resting on top of the discoidal biface are two Folsom projectile points. Add to the hide pouch a tool to create fire and a small amount of dried food and Chayton could survive anywhere. How about you? I know I couldn't.  

Shadows on the Trail Trilogy is not only an action adventure series, it is a testament to human survival. Get your copy now and learn how Chayton and the Folsom People survived!    

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