Mid-Nineteenth Century Oregon

Some folks say that things happen and cannot be explained. Others say that most things happen because of luck or fate. And there are those who claim all occurrences are divinely planned. Yet, like the eleven-year-old runaway slave called Mattie, many of the people who came to Oregon believed that they made their own destiny. She walked into the lives of two retired fur trappers –story-telling Joe Meek and Shakespeare-quoting Robert Newell – as well as the authoress, Margaret Bailey, and other Black Pioneers – fiddle-playing Black Saul and the blacksmithing Albert Bayless. Just as these people became entwined and connected in deep friendships – POOF – Mattie disappeared.

Time waits for no one! And events wove an unlikely but true story of struggle and community. The turbulence of those times and strength of the people were reflected during the Lash Law against Negroes; the Cayuse Wars, Rogue River War and Mexican War; the Gold Rush; the slaughter of missionaries in the Whitman Massacre; and the making of Beaver Coins.

But time marches on! And unbeknownst to Mattie's friends, her secret was tucked in the back of a drawer for years. At an unexpected moment among friends, a small tinderbox was pulled from the drawer and Mattie's fate was revealed.