B o o k R e v i e w s River of Red Qold. By Naida West. Rancho Murieta, Calif.: Bridge House Books, 1996. 626 pages, $18.49. Reviewed by Barbara Howard Meldrum University of Idaho The close of the millenium is also the 150th anniversary period for sev eral key events in western American history: the Donner party tragedy, the discovery of gold in California and the subsequent gold rush, and California statehood. Appropriately, the Western Literature Association’s annual con ference will be held in Sacramento, October 1999. One of the Saturday afternoon tours will be led by Naida West, author of the novel reviewed here. Those participating in the tour will have the opportunity to visit sites important in the novel and to visit with the author. River of Red Gold is a fascinating, gripping story that is firmly rooted in historical research yet reads with the power of good fiction. The setting is California gold country, from 1844 to 1853. The characters are all histori cal figures, though those about whom little is known are fleshed out through the writer’s imagination. The story moves from one documented event to another, with shifting points of view, but the primary voice is that of Howchia, or Maria, an Indian woman whose values overlay the narrative John Frost. ARTIST'S WIFE. 1924. Oil on board. 18" x 22". Courtesy of the Personal Collection of Peter and Gail Ochs. • Son of the well-known illustrator Arthur B. Frost, Frost was a landscape painter of mountains, deserts, and small towns of Southern California. B o o k r e v i e w s 2 5 5 and whose destiny ultimately affirms hope in the midst of terrible loss. In the context of John Sutter’s fort, the first section of the novel, “Pedro and Maria,” establishes the primary story thread in the developing relationship between Maria, a Miwok Indian, and Pedro Valdez, a Mexican soldier, part Spanish and part Indian. The second section of the novel focuses on Elitha Donner, a fourteen-year-old survivor of the ill-fated Donner party, and her unfortunate marriage to Perry McCoon. The lives of these characters and many others are intertwined and persuasively por trayed in a sprawling narrative that draws the reader into the suspenseful drama and the very human experiences of individuals who were living what has become California history. I found the book addictive— I had to keep reading but was sorry to finish it because I didn’t want to leave these char acters I had come to know and care about. This is truly a multicultural, multiethnic portrayal of the California gold rush period. Yet I would not label it “politically correct.” Rather, it seems that the author’s vision was bom of a personal experience with the land, the places, the artifacts, with details then provided through historical research and interviews with descendants of the novel’s characters. The result is a work with the ring of truth, peopled with characters who come alive from the page. The author explores power in many forms. Ultimately, it is the power per sonified in Indian mythology which frames the narrative and inspires hope. Readers wanting to delve into California’s gold rush legacy have many choices, including Michael Kowalewski’s excellent collection of historical accounts in Gold Rush: A Literary Exploration (reviewed in WAL 33.3: 308-9). Naida West’s novel not only brings life to authentic historical accounts but imaginatively gives voice to those who have left no written record but whose story is equally important and must be heard. If not available through local booksellers, copies can be obtained ($23.00 postpaid) from the publisher at P.O. Box 809, Rancho Murieta, CA 95683. The First Eagle. By Tony Hillerman. New York: HarperCollins, 1998. 278 pages, $25.00. Bad Medicine. By Ron Querry. New York: Bantam, 1998. 368 pages, $23.95/$ 10.95. Reviewed by Robert Murray Davis University of Oklahoma Most people who read Tony Hillerman’s novel— and that will be a great many—will have done so long before this review appears, and most of those will be familiar with the...