It is 1846, the year of the Mexican war. Ray Dobbs, a retired fur trapper and mountain man, has been engaged to guide an English nobleman's party on a hunting expedition in the North American wilderness. Ray is to meet the nobleman, Lord Edwin, and his entourage at the hunting grounds, a large basin deep in the Rocky Mountains known as Bayou Salade, present day South Park, Colorado. Ray's initial task is to bring fifty horses and a wagon load of arms, ammunition and supplies from St. Louis to the Bayou. As they traverse the prairie Ray and his native partner, Crowbait, are blessed with a series of waifs. The first is Dusty, an abused runaway. The second is Moe, an autistic savant orphaned by a massacre. The next orphan is Bluebird, a small Cheyenne girl and the last is Little Weasel, a white boy captured in infancy and raised in the same ill-fated Cheyenne band. The story is told by these youngsters. The prairie crossing is made difficult by an Indian attack, thunderstorms, a sandstorm and a bear attack.
About the Author: Ralph Neighbor, like many Kansas natives, was lured from the summer heat of the plains to cool colorful Colorado. Lots of times. Many family vacations were spent or travelled through Colorado. Other exposures to Colorado include month long summer camp sessions in Estes Park from age eight to fifteen, visits to family friends in Colorado Springs, a honey moon at the BroAdmoor, numerous ski trips to a variety of destinations, dude ranch vacations, narrow gauge railroad excursions, fly fishing trips all have lured returns. All of the various geologic features and ecosystems of Colorado have been personally experienced at one time or another. Ralph attended college at Kansas State University and medical school at Kansas University. He further trained in obstetrics and gynecology at the hospital where he was born. His practice spanned forty years, began in Kansas, and ended in Washington State where he currently lives with his life-long partner Pam. Ralph and Pam have four children and seven grandchildren. Other published works include a series of mystery adventures based on the life of Ralph McConnell, Ralph's uncle, who died at age ten in 1937. In addition to writing Ralph has passion for history, music, fly fishing and the West. Colorado remains his first love in the West.