Death Rattle

With the end of the beaver trade at hand, free trappers like Titus Bass must somehow make their way on a changing frontier. Drawn by the promise of adventure and wealth, Bass joins an expedition to Spanish California, where the ranchos have horses and mules in abundance. Their plan is to steal the livestock and drive it back east across the great Mojave Desert to sell to fur traders for top dollar. But pursuit by formidable Mexican soldiers and an attack by fierce Digger Indians take their toll on Bass and his fellow raiders.

Arriving back in the Rockies, the mountain man discovers that even the famous Jim Bridger has abandoned trapping and settled down to trade with overland immigrants plying the Oregon Trail. Wondering where his own trail will lead him, Bass journeys south for a reunion with an old friend in Taos-only to be caught up in the "Taos Rebellion." And in its tragic aftermath, Titus finds himself once again an outsider in a world he no longer recognizes.

Polish 'Partisans' was created to commemorate the Poles who resisted the Nazis during the German occupation and then proceeded to oppose the communist regime. It was originally sited in Boston Common, where I took this photograph but later moved from there, as this report from the Boston Globe tells. By Ralph Ranalli, Globe Staff | March 29, 2006 It was admired and praised, cursed and maligned, and after an uneasy 23 years among the American iconography of the Boston Common, disassembled and thrown into storage. Now, at last, officials say they have given ''Partisans" a home. The controversial sculpture of haggard horsemen, inspired by Polish freedom fighters, will be displayed near the new Institute of Contemporary Art on the South Boston Waterfront, officials said yesterday. Calling the sculpture ''one of the hallmark pieces of sculpture in this city," General Manager Daniel A. Grabauskas of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority said the new location on the plaza above the Silver Line's World Trade Center Station would be highly visible and a fitting spot. ''By working cooperatively with the City of Boston, the Polish-American community, and the artist, I'm convinced we have identified a superb site for this symbol of freedom," Grabauskas said. Everyone involved seemed relieved by the decision yesterday, including the sculpture's California-based owners and city officials, who had sweated letter campaigns and protests from crowds of angry Polish-Americans since its removal from the Common earlier this year. The artist, Andrew Pitynski of Brooklyn, N.Y., said, ''My heart is on Boston Common. The partisans were freedom fighters, and the Boston Common was the right place for them." But, he said, he feels ''very positive, very good, and very happy" that his work had found a place to be seen. The sculpture has had an unsettled history in Boston. Meant to depict the heavy price that must be paid for liberty, the commemoration of underground fighters who battled the Nazis, the Soviet Army, and then Polish Communists during and after World War II struck a chord with Polish-Americans and others in the city, who successfully lobbied to keep it on the Common for more than two decades, despite the fact that it was only supposed to be there a few months on temporary display. For years, however, historical purists and some Beacon Hill residents agitated for its removal, saying that the Common should be reserved for works that depicted Boston and American history. Its removal in January prompted a small furor, with nearly 150 Polish-Americans descending on City Hall Plaza a short time later, waving red and white Polish flags and shouting their outrage at the Menino administration. MBTA officials stepped in shortly after the city removed the sculpture, saying they would find a home for it, possibly at a subway station.

This cache is named for the historical town of Keystone that was once at the end of this dirt road. With the discovery of silver in the area, this town site was platted in 1887 and was originally named O'Rourke. By 1888 there were 500 inhabitants in the area. In 1890 the town was resurveyed and renamed Carter after Tom Carter, a Montana U.S. Senator who assisted in getting a post office for the town. Silver dropped in price in 1893, resulting in the downfall of the town and the post office closed. A few years later the price of silver rose and the town flourished, renamed Keystone after a mine in the area (by this time there was another town named Carter in Montana). The Keystone Post Office lasted from 1913 to 1925. It was quite a lively spot from the recollection of those who knew it "when". So typical of mining towns, when the ore went, so did the people. Presently, all that is left of this town is the evidence of a few foundations.

An Amazon Breakthrough Novel Quarter Finalist

Quaker women in the eighteenth century were known as the First Women Feminists. Their strength in spite of tremendous adversity has been an inspiration to generations.

Due to traumatic family circumstances, Rebekah Bradford is forced to sign an indentured servant contract to leave her home in London and work for a Philadelphia Quaker family.

Rebekah's journey through life takes her from servanthood to wife and mother and business woman during a period when Quakers were struggling to maintain their identity as the colony attempted to find a place in history that was often in stark conflict with its founder, William Penn.

An Amazon Breakthrough Novel Quarter Finalist

Quaker women in the eighteenth century were known as the First Women Feminists. Their strength in spite of tremendous adversity has been an inspiration to generations.

Due to traumatic family circumstances, Rebekah Bradford is forced to sign an indentured servant contract to leave her home in London and work for a Philadelphia Quaker family.

Rebekah's journey through life takes her from servanthood to wife and mother and business woman during a period when Quakers were struggling to maintain their identity as the colony attempted to find a place in history that was often in stark conflict with its founder, William Penn.