Dancing with the Golden Bear

Rendezvous #3

by Win Blevins

Young Sam Morgan, the Pennsylvania runaway and now a seasoned Rocky Mountain trapper, joins a brigade led by Jedediah Smith, greatest mountain man of them all, heading west for the Mexican province of Alta California.

With Sam on this dangerous mission into unexplored territory are his beloved Crow wife Meadowlark and a polyglot host of multi-national fur hunters, Ute and Shoshone Indians. The journey south to the Colorado River and across the Mojave Desert is game rare or nonexistent, water a rarity, strange bands of naked Indians, the hammering sun, all in a godforsaken land of sand and scrub.

Sam Morgan's life changed unalterably when the pregnant Meadowlark falls ill as the brigade makes its way through Mojave country. In an emergency push west he is able to bring her safely into the California coastal town of Monterey but there faces the greatest crisis of his life - the death of the only woman he has ever loved.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Westerns, Historical, Fiction

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Winfred Blevins

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third book in the Rendezvous series I've read all in a row, which I don't recommend to anyone. (It came in a box set of three.) They got increasingly repetitive, as the author felt he had to re-explain everything that happened in the earlier volumes. In fact, in this book three, probably half the book was repeat material from the first two books! They are decent yarns about the adventures of a fictional young man exploring the American west. The author proudly describes how many of the characters and events are true to life as taken from journals of the period. Personally, I think this detracted from making the stories better. Give me well-written fiction any time! I probably won't bother to read any more books by Win Blevins.

[Mikel Rhodes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series brings the lives and times of the Mountain Men alive.

I have read a lot of books about the Mountain Men and the books in this series by Win Blevins is at the top. If you are interested in the history of the Mountain Men then I highly recommend that you read all of the books be Win Blevins.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating

This book kept me interested from beginning to end! Knowing it was based on fact was truly captivity but Sam's heartfelt personal life was woven into the book very cleverly! I recommend the book!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good historical fiction built around the true story of Jedidiah Smith and other fur trappers.