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Black Wolf's Return
It is 1740 and Black Wolf, an aged warrior, has a dying vision: The wolves will leave the prairie, and so will the Nez Perce Indians. The vision promises his descendants will only return when the wolves do. In the 20th century, his descendant, Emma Wolf Alone follows her baby's father to California where she forms a lifelong friendship with Tessie, and their children, Tom and Seesee, find trials and tribulations of their own. When Tom and his daughter, Sara, search for the black wolf in and around Hell's Canyon, their journey leads to the fruition of Black Wolf's vision, bringing a three hundred year tale of struggle and survival, love and loss, bound by common dreams, to a conclusion.
328 pages, Paperback
First published June 20, 2013
4 people want to read
About the author
Dan Strawn
17 books10 followersAbout Dan Strawn
Dan Strawn took up writing after retiring from dual careers in business and education. He lives in Vancouver, Washington with his wife, Sandi. In addition to his novels, he is a published short story, memoir, and essay writer. His work has appeared in various editions of Idaho Magazine and in Trail Blazer Magazine.
In April of 2014, his short story, “Son” was awarded first place in the Adult Division of Idaho Magazine’s annual short fiction contest.
In 2005, Everyman’s Small Town, his essay about Moscow, Idaho, made the finalist list in the University of Oregon’s Northwest Perspective’s Essay Contest.
He is the author of four novels and one novella.:
“Black Wolf’s Return”
Nominated for a 2014 Book Award by the
Pacific Northwest Book Sellers Association
“Lame Bird’s Legacy”
“Isaac’s Gun—An American Tale”
“The Dead Possum Gang,”
"The Haunting of Josef Fleischer"
On occasion, he teaches for the mature learning division of Clark Community College, Vancouver, Washington. In 2008, he took mature learning students to eastern Oregon and Idaho to experience first-hand the Nez Perce land and people they had studied in class.
He also volunteers with the Nez Perce National Historic Park as an interpreter of the Nez Perce experience at Park sites, at elementary, intermediate, and high schools, senior living facilities, and other venues..
He is an active member of the Western Writers of America, a life member of the AT&T Telephone Pioneers, and a member and past board of directors member of the Nez Perce Trail Foundation.
Dan Strawn took up writing after retiring from dual careers in business and education. He lives in Vancouver, Washington with his wife, Sandi. In addition to his novels, he is a published short story, memoir, and essay writer. His work has appeared in various editions of Idaho Magazine and in Trail Blazer Magazine.
In April of 2014, his short story, “Son” was awarded first place in the Adult Division of Idaho Magazine’s annual short fiction contest.
In 2005, Everyman’s Small Town, his essay about Moscow, Idaho, made the finalist list in the University of Oregon’s Northwest Perspective’s Essay Contest.
He is the author of four novels and one novella.:
“Black Wolf’s Return”
Nominated for a 2014 Book Award by the
Pacific Northwest Book Sellers Association
“Lame Bird’s Legacy”
“Isaac’s Gun—An American Tale”
“The Dead Possum Gang,”
"The Haunting of Josef Fleischer"
On occasion, he teaches for the mature learning division of Clark Community College, Vancouver, Washington. In 2008, he took mature learning students to eastern Oregon and Idaho to experience first-hand the Nez Perce land and people they had studied in class.
He also volunteers with the Nez Perce National Historic Park as an interpreter of the Nez Perce experience at Park sites, at elementary, intermediate, and high schools, senior living facilities, and other venues..
He is an active member of the Western Writers of America, a life member of the AT&T Telephone Pioneers, and a member and past board of directors member of the Nez Perce Trail Foundation.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 20, 2015
BLACK WOLF’S RETURN is an ambitious retelling of a historical story, exploring a nearly lost culture, respecting it and evoking it over a vast span of time. The book opens with a mythological tale of the creation of the world, casting a prophesy of its future. “A day would come when the prairie’s stability would suffer, a little at first, then, like a twirling top accentuates its wobble when it loses its center, increasing numbers of animals would disappear.”
The story is structured in six layers of time, mining its meaning by looking through the depth of all of them, as if it were an archeological exploration. Part I focuses on Seventeenth Century AD, when we are introduced to the ancestor of the family, Black Wolf, hefting a dead deer across the withers of his skittish horse.
Then the story goes to the next levels: Part II—Eighteenth Century, Part III—1901,to1904, Part IV—1961, 1962, Part V and VI: 2002, and Part VII—2009, with the character at each era giving a nod to their ancestor. In the Twenty-first century, Tom says, “Black Wolf brought me back…. we need to return here on occasion to remember this summer of searching for the wolf. In the interim? In the interim, we have the memories.”
The pipe works its way around the circle to the young woman with the dark skin and the black hair. Sara Fitzpatrick. who has just graduated from the Air Force Academy, speaks out. “I’ve wanted to come here every year since my father and I first looked for the wolves… I have come to honor my ancestors, Black Wolf’s descendants, who were here when the Army attacked.”
It is so rewarding to watch these characters honoring the dreams of their ancestor, which holds the promise of the future in the dreams of the past.
Five stars.
This book was sent to me gratis for an unbiased review.
The story is structured in six layers of time, mining its meaning by looking through the depth of all of them, as if it were an archeological exploration. Part I focuses on Seventeenth Century AD, when we are introduced to the ancestor of the family, Black Wolf, hefting a dead deer across the withers of his skittish horse.
Then the story goes to the next levels: Part II—Eighteenth Century, Part III—1901,to1904, Part IV—1961, 1962, Part V and VI: 2002, and Part VII—2009, with the character at each era giving a nod to their ancestor. In the Twenty-first century, Tom says, “Black Wolf brought me back…. we need to return here on occasion to remember this summer of searching for the wolf. In the interim? In the interim, we have the memories.”
The pipe works its way around the circle to the young woman with the dark skin and the black hair. Sara Fitzpatrick. who has just graduated from the Air Force Academy, speaks out. “I’ve wanted to come here every year since my father and I first looked for the wolves… I have come to honor my ancestors, Black Wolf’s descendants, who were here when the Army attacked.”
It is so rewarding to watch these characters honoring the dreams of their ancestor, which holds the promise of the future in the dreams of the past.
Five stars.
This book was sent to me gratis for an unbiased review.
March 21, 2021
I can't remember who recommended this book, perhaps it was someone here on GR. Thanks. This book was unique in so many wonderful ways, it had pieces of Native American lore, family situations, racial issues that are very much part of today, and so much more. The ending brought tears to my eyes. One thing that makes it different is that is covers several hundred years and shows the reader the lives of one generation after another. Mr. Strawn, great story.
August 6, 2016
Black Wolf's Return was an amazing end to a beautiful collection of books. Tom and his daughter on on their jurney was beautiful and powerful. I dare anyone to read this and not have it touch your heart. I myself had tears running down my face at the end of this book.
February 25, 2021
The warrior Black Wolf has visions. As the life he knew changes and progress arrives, his world will never be the same. His descendants continue the journey to find the black wolf in a more modern world. The author takes readers on a grand journey and life. This well-written is a book that will make you think about different ways of life and gives meaning to other cultures.
May 3, 2014
Historical fiction at its best, Black Wolf’s Return is a saga spanning 300 years, following the departure of the Nez Perce Indians, the Real People, from the lands where they grew out of the earth, created from the blood of the sea monster’s heart, tricked by Itsi-Yay-Yay the coyote who ate him from the inside out. It tells how they were chased from the banks of the Koos-Koos-Kai-Kai river, from the prairies and the hunting grounds, to reservations far away. And it tells how generations later, as the great warrior Black Wolf had foreseen, the destiny of the Nez Perce is linked irrevocably to the black wolf.
Prize-winning writer Dan Strawn begins his stories with legend and prophecy, which he weaves together with historical characters and events, then stitches on fictional characters with their own agendas. The result, is a seamless, warming narrative that is so plausible, so real, it is hard to draw the line between what is imagined and what is not. Instead, I gave myself up to the story, allowing myself to be carried along with Black Wolf’s descendants as each successive generation strives to hold on to their heritage, and ultimately to return to their homelands. Startlingly ordinary, Strawn’s prose is brutally accurate. The beauty here is not in long-winded descriptions, but the scarcity and accuracy of his observations:
“Mid-autumn, in the moon when the elks bugle: survivors, a handful.”
“Tessie and Emma sat on the couch with the stuffing coming out.”
“A faint promise of sunrise crept over the lip of the east edge of Hells Canyon.”
The ending is a surprise. Strawn could have been tempted to stage a show-down, but no musket-bearing hero rides in on horseback to reclaim what was stolen from the Nez Perce. Instead, Strawn offers readers a strong, yet quiet conclusion, and a sense of hope that the People’s heritage will live on. A story of belonging and of home, I recommend Black Wolf’s Return to all Americans, and indeed to anyone who values the ties of friendship and family. Lee Murray, author of Misplaced, Conclave: A Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy and award-winning children's title Battle of the Birds.
Prize-winning writer Dan Strawn begins his stories with legend and prophecy, which he weaves together with historical characters and events, then stitches on fictional characters with their own agendas. The result, is a seamless, warming narrative that is so plausible, so real, it is hard to draw the line between what is imagined and what is not. Instead, I gave myself up to the story, allowing myself to be carried along with Black Wolf’s descendants as each successive generation strives to hold on to their heritage, and ultimately to return to their homelands. Startlingly ordinary, Strawn’s prose is brutally accurate. The beauty here is not in long-winded descriptions, but the scarcity and accuracy of his observations:
“Mid-autumn, in the moon when the elks bugle: survivors, a handful.”
“Tessie and Emma sat on the couch with the stuffing coming out.”
“A faint promise of sunrise crept over the lip of the east edge of Hells Canyon.”
The ending is a surprise. Strawn could have been tempted to stage a show-down, but no musket-bearing hero rides in on horseback to reclaim what was stolen from the Nez Perce. Instead, Strawn offers readers a strong, yet quiet conclusion, and a sense of hope that the People’s heritage will live on. A story of belonging and of home, I recommend Black Wolf’s Return to all Americans, and indeed to anyone who values the ties of friendship and family. Lee Murray, author of Misplaced, Conclave: A Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy and award-winning children's title Battle of the Birds.
July 26, 2015
This story deals with several ethnicities of people, and the forgiveness, and lack of prejudice that marks it, as it does Strawn’s previous book Isaac’s Gun, makes for easy reading, and easy visualising the characters and the happenings. A lack of bias as to who is right and who is wrong during the 300 years the story covers, ensures the reader is not distracted from the story being told. It allows us to think about it for ourselves, to imagine what it might have been like to be Black Wolf, Emma Wolf Alone, or even Tom Fitzpatrick. To ponder why they made the decisions they did, the circumstances that forced them, and at times enabled them, to be the people they were. This goes a long way toward establishing the congruity of the characters.
Do not however, confuse ‘easy-to-read’ with dull and uninteresting. As in Isaac’s Gun, Strawn doesn’t employ fancy language, choosing instead a simple flow of words and phrases to tell his story, to round out his characters, and to keep the story moving. The writer knows his subject and the people he is writing about. Perhaps it is this that enables him to take a reader through the seasons of life on the prairie, woven alongside the seasons of human life, through 300 years of history, a history that many of us know little about. As a Kiwi, the phrase ‘cowboys and Indians’ probably means something very different to perhaps an American reader; I will never hear it again without thinking about this story and the truths it tells. A reread is not out of the question, so very poignant is it at times.
A thinking reader will enjoy Strawn’s blend of historical and fictitious figures. The attitudes of rancher John Cantrell and some of his neighbours, along with some of the remembered names of the United States Army, as well as those of some of the Indian people, reminds me that we are all a product of our generations, of our upbringings, and it is why I find this thread of forgiveness so intriguing. Oh that we could all take hold of it and learn from it.
In time, the maladies returned: fevers, sores, spots, racking coughs. Death. Mourning. Hot summer days and cold winter nights in tule reed homes heated by fire. Healing. Spring and autumn migrations.
…they learned to leave grief in their yesterdays.
Do not however, confuse ‘easy-to-read’ with dull and uninteresting. As in Isaac’s Gun, Strawn doesn’t employ fancy language, choosing instead a simple flow of words and phrases to tell his story, to round out his characters, and to keep the story moving. The writer knows his subject and the people he is writing about. Perhaps it is this that enables him to take a reader through the seasons of life on the prairie, woven alongside the seasons of human life, through 300 years of history, a history that many of us know little about. As a Kiwi, the phrase ‘cowboys and Indians’ probably means something very different to perhaps an American reader; I will never hear it again without thinking about this story and the truths it tells. A reread is not out of the question, so very poignant is it at times.
A thinking reader will enjoy Strawn’s blend of historical and fictitious figures. The attitudes of rancher John Cantrell and some of his neighbours, along with some of the remembered names of the United States Army, as well as those of some of the Indian people, reminds me that we are all a product of our generations, of our upbringings, and it is why I find this thread of forgiveness so intriguing. Oh that we could all take hold of it and learn from it.
In time, the maladies returned: fevers, sores, spots, racking coughs. Death. Mourning. Hot summer days and cold winter nights in tule reed homes heated by fire. Healing. Spring and autumn migrations.
…they learned to leave grief in their yesterdays.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews