Monarch of the Prairie
New novel follows wagon trains to the West
Monarch of the Prairie by Daniel L. Moots shares the stories of three families seeking new beginnings on the western frontier of 1849
Monarch of the Prairie by Daniel L. Moots is a novel of western migration in the mid-19th century that focuses on three families as they journey to northern California and southern Oregon. When game to feed his family grows scarce in southwest Missouri, Daniel Sooter decides to claim new land in the West. Ambition drives Dr. Charles Winfield to move his wife and children from Massachusetts to open a hospital in California Territory, while the Nordstrams of Minnesota seek to escape the harsh winters of prairie. All three families face a perilous journey to reach the land of their dreams, while each step carries them farther away from loved ones left behind.
EXCERPT
“I wanted to tell the story in such a way that the reader would think about all that these folks had to leave in order to do this,” Moots says. “In some cases, parents were elderly or too sick to make the journey, leading to heart-rending goodbyes where it was clear that loved ones may never see each other again.”
The book follows each family at various stages of the journey, chronicling the hardships of a long trek by wagon train. The families face American Indian attacks, outlaws, hunger, dangerous weather and the numbing length of the vast distance to travel. In addition, all three must cope with the memories of those left behind.
Monarch of the Prairie is available for sale online at Amazon.com and other channels.
About the Author
Daniel L. Moots is a technical analyst for a financial software company and part-time farmer. A husband and father, Moots is active at a 200-acre cattle farm in southwest Missouri. Monarch of the Prairie is his first published novel, inspired by family ties to the Oregon Trail.
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