Sacred Ground, by D.A. Galloway

SACRED GROUND is the fourth installment in D.A. Galloway’s FRONTIER TRAVELER series, and it delivers everything readers have come to expect from this meticulously researched saga. The author has a gift for placing a fully realized fictional character, Graham Davidson, at the crossroads of some of the most consequential moments in the history of the American West.

At the heart of SACRED GROUND is a man still bogged down by the weight of grief. Our hero carries it with him everywhere. Perhaps he always will. That sorrow gives the novel its deep undercurrent, surfacing most powerfully in the poignant moments when Graham briefly reconnects with his children. There is a persistent sense that Graham’s adventures, for all their sweep and drama, have not yet come full circle.

On one stage is Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. It’s a traveling circus of thrilling western shows, pageantry, and sheer spectacle that draws crowds on both sides of the Atlantic, including the Queen of England herself. The feast of historical details includes the outsized personalities and excesses of the era’s greatest celebrities. What keeps the spectacle from becoming mere entertainment is the presence of Sitting Bull.

On the second stage is the spread of the Ghost Dance religion from reservation to reservation. The prophecy carries with it a promise that the old ways will be restored. As a reader, I felt the weight of what was coming and then the tragedy of what had happened, just like I did when I read Wounded Knee decades ago. Instead of renewal, the prophecy leads to ruin, and it is treated on the pages with the solemnity it deserves.

I highly recommend SACRED GROUND. It is another wonderfully crafted installment in a splendid series.