Author Hopes to Raise Awareness About Blacks in the West

Jan. 14, 2012 - PRLog -- Helena, Montana

On Promised Land is a story about the blacks who lived with, fought with, and, in the early nineteenth century, were moved West  with the Seminoles of what is now Florida.
"These people weren't simply runaway, plantation slaves or Native Americans," University of Florida graduate student Terry Weik said in a 2001 article in The Palm Beach Post (http://www.jupiter.fl.us/History/Seminoles.cfm). "They were distinct groups that created new cultures under stressful conditions."

It was earlier than 2001 when Kae Cheatham picked up on this unique history.

"I became interested in the history of Black-Seminoles many years ago when I was traveling to a Western Writers of America (WWA) convention. I stopped in Wewoka, Oklahoma, the capitol for Western Seminoles and visited the museum. It was orderly and informative, and I realized that the blacks, free and slaved, who lived with the Seminoles had a fascinating history in Indian Territory as well as in Florida."

For more than a decade, Kae collected information, did research, and then, induced by unfulfilled interest from a New York publisher, she developed the extended family of Tru and Tall Deer Campos, caught in the turmoil of the Second Seminole War.
"It was difficult. Up until then most of my published books were for young readers. I attempted a story from that angle, but the more I read and studied, the more I wanted to write an adult novel for this subject."


On Promised Land (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0041VXTSY) begins in 1841 in the Everglades.  Tru and Tall Deer, their extended families, and Seminole friends and neighbors are on the run when the American forces extend their pursuit of Seminoles. The Treaty of Camp Moultrie (1823) had promised that the land south of Okeechobee would forever be for the Seminole people—a reservation. Tru and Tall Deer lived south, on the reservation land. But the Indian Removal Act in 1830, stated that all Indian people would be removed from the eastern states and settled in the West. The reservation land in Florida was finally negotiated away with the Treaty of Payne's Landing (1832). This treaty allowed only three years for all the Seminoles to relocate.

The isolated people in the "everglades" knew little about this, and fought to remain in the land they knew and loved. The blacks, some free some slaved, who lived along side the Seminoles also fought with them. Many owned property, had farms and livestock. And mostly, they had a freedom that was being threatened by the forced move West, and also by slavers who considered any black a runaway.

After evasion, and skirmishes, Tru, Tall Deer, their extended families and Seminole friends and neighbors are captured, and moved West to Indian Territory. During the hardships at Fort Gibson, the young couple don't lose their belief for each other or their culture and, in 1842, find a place to settle away from the turmoil of the fort.

That is where the novella ends, but the history doesn't reach a moderate conclusion until 1865. Kae has written more of the story--into the 1850s. "Occasionally I look at the historical data and I'm overwhelmed," she says. "I like to write about people first, and set them into an historical landscape. The events of those years, particularly 1850 – 1862 are so volatile and convoluted, I cannot yet make it become background and not overshadow my characters."

Although the story isn't finished, Kae  felt a need to get the story out, and so has published  the novella On Promised Land. Her story is bracketed with annotated history timelines that give testimony to the depth of her research. She has also added a selected bibliography.

"I'm really hoping," Kae says, "that this free offering of the book will provide some feedback to aide me in completing the saga. And mostly, I want people to know this history."

On Promised Land is available as a Kindle ebook and is free to Kindle Prime members. The ebook will be free on 15 and 16 January to all Kindle users. These dates were chosen as a way to celebrate Martin Luther King Day.
Let Freedom Ring.

About Author:
Author of twelve published titles, Kae Cheatham's history novels involve compelling characters with a backdrop of accurately drawn history. Kae lives in Montana and, as a speaker, she travels to various locations to share her history and writing knowledge. Read more about Kae in Contemporary Authors New Revision, by Gale Group. Visit her Web site at http://www.kaios.com

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