B. J. Scott's book, Light on a Distant Hill, is one of those books we've wanted for a very long time, a novel of American history from the point of view of indigenous peoples. In my opinion, it's author Scott's ingenious plot that rescues a story that could have been too complicated to tell. Picture this: in order to have a sympathetic white woman protagonist to elicit the energy needed to draw the reader to the side of the native Americans, Scott has a lovely young woman (in fact, still a teenager) head west as a mail order bride for an equally attractive military officer in a western fort.
When a bridge washes out and the train's passengers must decamp to cross the river and meet a second train sent to carry the passengers from the other side of the bridge, the travelers are attacked by an Indian band.
Ellen, the young bride, is captured by Shoshone Indians and taken back to their village where she is nursed back to health. In that process, she discovers the beauty and humanitarian nature of Native Americans in their spiritual connections and deeply humane impulses. And, as you can guess, she falls in love with a powerful young Chief, Bear Paws, who has all those wonderful characteristics as well as the purely physical attributes of a star-quality Hollywood romantic lead. Bear Paws and Ellen soon realize that their attraction is mutual and the novel is then enhanced by the tensions of race and multiple Army attacks upon Indian settlements throughout the west. These attacks (aka massacres) draw the reader into the story, cheering the good Indians who are innocent victims set upon by blood thirsty army troops, and land hungry settlers who want their territory.
As she learns the customs and culture of Native Americans, with its deeply spiritual qualities, Ellen adopts the Shoshone as her family, and marries Bear Paws, the brave young chief. For her many good works, the tribe accepts her, indeed reveres her as a courageous figure with iconic stature.
This story could not be told without a great deal of suffering, the blood and gore of armed conflict and fields littered with bodies. Author Scott's style is not heavily embroidered, thus his often rather reportorial prose carries more impact with its lean, direct sentences. That style is partially responsible for the tension that Scott maintains throughout the book as the conflict between white man and red, suspicious and double dealing, continues with disastrous consequences for the indigenous people who lose their hunting grounds, their land, even their culture.
At last, Ellen herself is arrested and charged with murder for having killed a white soldier in defending her husband. Scott's development of believable characters and his attention to historical detail are awesome in "Light on a Distant Hill" which keeps us engrossed in this nail biting plot. The characters are made more sympathetic by his inclusion of details of culture, health and healing, women's work, marriage ceremony, etc. In all, this is a book that will leave you richer for the emotional experience as well as what you learn inside the story about the people who were after all our true American forefathers.
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