Bryan McDaniel was young but experienced in the outdoors living. He hunted and trapped with the area with Mohegan Indians, learning their language. Riding point man for his wagon train, he learned to protect wagons from danger and guided them along the fastest and easiest route west. His first week out, he came upon another wagon train destroyed by Indians. Bryan saw death and destruction firsthand. He was a young boy when he started but became a young man after dealing with the aftermath. He was human. He made mistakes. He learned to correct his mistakes before harm came to anyone on his wagon train. Traveling west, Bryan married and made decisions that were a blessing to all their lives. Not many people have a chance to achieve their dreams during a lifetime, especially not on an untamed wilderness where death and danger stalk every mile of the trail west.
About the Author: W. L. Phillips From the time I was a small child until now, I've always been the one to ask, "Why?" Born in Northern Ohio on a dairy farm, I learned what it meant to work. In High School, my English teacher told me if I opened my book I would get a better grade. I asked her how my learning about adjectives, pronouns, and adverbs was going to help me milk the cows any better. They never taught it in school, but I needed to be thinking about tomorrow. When I awoke every morning, I realized that today would soon be yesterday. What would I be doing tomorrow? Writing books now, I wish I had listened to my teacher yesterday. Before I began writing my first book, my jobs took me into the outdoors with people, plants, animals, and equipment. One company had me flying all over the United States and Canada. For another company, I drove an18-wheeler - tractor trailer across the rivers, mountains, and valleys of our great country. I wondered why people needed to travel to Europe when there was so much country around them they've never seen. It was in their own backyard. When I began researching genealogy on my father's family, I found out his ancestors came from Eastern France in the mid-1800s. That started me thinking. In American History, teachers taught us about the Civil War, Lincoln's assassination, The Louisiana Purchase, the Boston Tea Party, and the Revolutionary War. However, they never taught us about the families who loaded their children, along with everything they still owned, and sailed across the ocean to the great unknown, a place called America. They never told us about their struggles to survive their journeys across the trails, rivers, and mountains, always trying to find a better place to live. Stories about their hardships and joys need to be told. What I write is historical fiction. I hope people who read my stories find them as enjoyable as I did while researching and writing the book. I still love being out of doors. I live in the piney woods of East Texas, and today limit my activities to camping, fishing, hunting, and writing. I carry a notepad with me wherever I go. I never know when I'm going to find another story worthy of being told.