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| Category: Fiction |
(requires Adobe Reader)
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| About the Book | |
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When 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.
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| About the Author | |
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Pferron Doss is a University of Montana graduate who taught the history of the 25 Infantry Bicycle Corps in the Black Studies Dept. there. He led a 1974 reenactment of the 1900-mile bicycle Trip from Missoula, Montana to St. Louis, MIssouri that is chronicled in Ole Freedom. He also interviewed the sole survivor of the 25th Infantry, Dorsie Willis, in addition to being a guest speaker for the PBS movie The Bicycle Corps America's Black Army on Wheels. |