OLE FREEDOM

Wjhen a fifteen-year-old African American boy goes fishing on the banks of the Mississippi river in 1877, his plan is to help feed his church congregation. Instead, he is accused of murder and becomes the object of a manhunt no one doubted would end in an unceremonious lynching.


After hiding in the bowels of a riverboat, then proving to the captain he could read, the boy finds himself facing a desperate life in central Montana on the upper reaches of the Missouri river. Based on a true story, the historical novel Ole Freedom chronicles this young man's fascinating life as he stumbles across a kindly benefactor, then pursues a life as a farmer, a mule skinner and, finally, a soldier who plays a key role in the evolution of American mechanized military tactics only to find himself dishonorably discharged solely because of his color. Ole Freedom is also a tale of unrequited love, courage, faith and values that hold fast despite an era of primitive racial attitudes, behaviors and beliefs.