School days.

In recent weeks I’ve had the opportunity to spend time on university campuses at opposite ends of my home state of Utah.

At my alma mater, Utah State University in Logan, I met with a classroom full of journalism students. For more than an hour they peppered me with questions about journalism, advertising, magazine writing, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, Western history, how I go about writing, and all manner of things. Fortunately, after stringing words together over several decades for all manner of reasons I was able to offer some sort of response to most of their queries.

Days later, I spent an equally enjoyable hour with creative writing students at Utah Tech University in St. George. Again, the questions were insightful and the discussion engaging. Later, UT hosted a public event during which I read from several of my books—mostly fiction but also some nonfiction and poetry—answered a few questions, and spent time talking with and signing books for some of the readers kind enough to come out for the event.  A fine local bookseller, The Book Bungalow, handled sales and now has several of my titles on the shelves at their store in St. George.

All in all, the faculty and staff members involved in my visits had everything well in hand to make the experiences enjoyable. And, the students at both universities were impressive. They seemed bright, immersed, and involved—much different from my own time as a college student, if my hazy memories are to be trusted.

“Father” goes to college.

The latest issue of Utah State magazine, the alumni publication from Utah State University, features my new novel, Father unto Many Sons. Included is a brief excerpt from the book—the Preface—and a brief bio about yours truly.

Although it has been a long, long, long time since I graduated from USU, I still have a lot of fond memories of my years going to school and working in Cache Valley, and am always on the lookout for an excuse to visit. (One such excuse takes me there October 10 to address the Cache Valley Historical Society; more on that later.)

Take advantage of this opportunity to increase your education. Take a look at Father unto Many Sons in Utah State magazine.   

      

New news (sort of) about the Bear River Massacre.

According to recent news reports, archeologists from the state of Idaho and Utah State University have pinpointed the site of the 1863 massacre at Bear River. Which is not really big news, as the site has always been known, if not down to the square inch, by Shoshoni descendants and historians.

But farming, floods, railroad and road building, and a shifting river course have altered the terrain beyond recognition of its appearance in 1863. A map by a soldier—whose account also cemented the fact that it was a massacre rather than a battle as official army accounts claimed—helped in locating the Shoshoni village site, along with “modern technology.”

The massacre at Bear River was the first massacre of Indians by the military in the Old West, as well as the worst, with a body count surpassing Wounded Knee and Sand Creek and other better-known tragedies. While 400 to 500 Shoshoni deaths are often reported nowadays, those numbers are inflated and based on accounts with little credibility. Still, the more realistic number of 250 to 350 Shoshoni deaths at soldiers’ hands remains unsurpassed in Old West history.

Still, it is largely forgotten. Few people—even historians—know much, if anything, about the massacre. And that’s unfortunate. You can learn more about it in a chapter of my book The Lost Frontier: Momentous Moments in the Old West You May Have Missed, and in greater detail in my book Massacre at Bear River: First, Worst, Forgotten.

Poems, by George.

About as many decades ago as the fingers on one hand can count (not counting the thumb) I studied journalism at Utah State University. George Rhoades was one of my professors. After USU, he taught at the University of Texas-Arlington then retired to raise hay in Oklahoma.

After the Chisholm, from Outskirts Press ( www.outskirtspress.com ), is his second book of poetry. The first part of the book features poems about cowboys and rodeo, the second part is reminiscences about hardscrabble farm life, and part three includes poems on a variety of subjects.

There’s a lot to like in this collection of poems by George. But my favorite thing might be this stanza from “Class of ’53,” which says just about everything a poet can say about life:

They went to set the world on fire
With their youth and dreams,

But now the fires are dying down,
They sail in shallow streams.

Cache Valley, here we come.

Logan, Utah, has held a special place in my heart ever since my years living and working there way back when I attended Utah State University. It is always a pleasure to revisit all the memories of Rounder Houses, rodeo teams, radio stations, and other memories that have lasted a lifetime—including some best forgotten.

I’ll be back in Logan May 9. The Book Table, at 29 South Main Street, is hosting a book signing from 2:00 to 6:00 that afternoon and I’ve been invited. The Sassafras Folk String Band will bend the wires on banjos, guitars, and other instruments to keep things lively. I’ve been asked to share a few poems. And I’ll be signing books along with Cache Valley authors Janet Jensen, JoLynne Lyon, and Carole Thayne Warburton.

I’ll have copies of several of my books, along with the brand-new, hot-off-the-press The Lost Frontier: Momentous Moments in the Old West You May Have Missed.

If you’re anywhere near northern Utah on May 9, come to the party.