Buffalo Dreamers

Buffalo Dreamers

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by John Newman

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5.5” x 8”, 248 pages, softcover perfect bound

ISBN: 978-1-59152-312-3

$19.95

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For Sam Comstock, a young Iraq war vet with PTSD, the need to find a way to heal his wounded soul is a matter of life or death. His Marine sniper skills lead him to Montana on a mission to help manage an infamous wildlife challenge: killing migratory buffalo outside Yellowstone Park that are presumed to carry an infectious disease for cattle. This places Sam seriously at odds with a renegade band of Indian warrior-dreamers who are determined to save the buffalo from slaughter. Thrown together and isolated in the Montana wilderness, meanwhile relentlessly pursued by the combined forces of military, law enforcement, and the battle industry, Sam and his native compatriots must depend upon one another for survival. Along the way, Sam becomes enmeshed in the way of the buffalo, confronting his suicidal pain and emerging from a long trail of suffering.

Through Sam, we come to understand that we have much to learn from our native neighbors. We may even discover our own inner buffalo spirit.

About the Author

John Newman grew up in rural northern California. He worked in agriculture and later owned a working cattle and wheat ranch near Harlowton, Montana, about which he wrote a history, Tipi Ring Ranch, Before and After the Buffalo Years. He studied creative writing and biology at Stanford, worked as a river guide on the great rivers of North America, and for over a decade has been a fire lookout. His interest in native affairs and culture began at an early age when he helped construct the Ishi trail to honor the last surviving member of the Yahi tribe. He also studied the Washoe language with the tribe near Lake Tahoe, their ancestral home, and for many years served as Chairman of the Museum of the American Indian in Marin County, California. While ranching in Montana he became acquainted with the neighboring Cheyenne tribe, sweated with families, and was invited to participate in the 400-mile Ft Robinson break-out run from Nebraska through Pine Ridge and back to the reservation in Lame Deer. His goal as a writer is to create character-based stories set principally in Montana and the west, where natives and anglos confront a spiritually infused world in which predators and prey uneasily coexist, and humans are on equal terms with other creatures; a present-day that is primordial on every level. In the process, his characters learn from one another and overcome personal demons and historical trauma. Married and the father of four, John divides his time between Melville, Montana, and northern California.