Al & Joanna Lacy, The Land of Promise

The Land of Promise

Al & Joanna Lacy

Multnomah, January 2007,

ISBN: 1590525647

Five decades since the Trail of Tears killed many of them (see CHEROKEE ROSE), the Cherokee people are overall happy with their land in Indian Territory. However, to the chagrin of Indian Territory Police Chief Brit Claiborne, a quarter Cherokee, President Harrison has decided to move the People again this time onto "reservations" in a small relatively useless part of the Oklahoma Territory. Brit knows that this forced mini Trail of Tars will cause major trouble, because as the Indians are pushed out, white settlers will come in a land rush, each claiming 160 acres in the unassigned lands.

He explains his fears to his beloved wife Cherokee Rose (see BRIGHT ARE THE STARS). Though many of the displaced Indians go peacefully, some are outraged, such as the Osage who attack a wagon train that includes three generations of Bakers; the military arrive in time to save the party. Brit tries to keep everyone safe regardless of ethnicity, and because of this becomes a target from both sides, as some Cherokee claim he sold them out, while the whites demand he do his job to hunt down the renegades. The southwest has become a hot spot of injustice, as neither side's moderates can be heard above the noise of the extremists willing to commit ethnic cleansing, because the Oklahoma District has become THE LAND OF PROMISE for the whites and the land of sorrow for the Indians.

The final tale in the Lacey's "A Place to call Home" trilogy is a superb historical fiction story that looks at the late ninetieth century land rush that caused heartbreak for both races. The key to this saga is that Indians and whites are treated with respect by the authors, who also do not hide from the atrocities that occurred. This is a deep, inspirational historical that shows even at life's darkest; hope and faith in the promise of the Lord, enabling people to seek the light of salvation.