For centuries, some of the best stories have been handed down from generation to generation as the family sat beside a cheery fire on a cold day. The tradition has kept personal family history alive, allowing the young to relive the adventures of their forefathers and relatives that endured the hardships of life in early America. Watch for the Raven is one such tale, the adventure of personal growth through the hardship of great-great uncle, Joshua Avery, as shared by a grandmother.

Josh has no idea that when he goes out into the snowy Colorado day that he won’t see home again for many weeks. In search of acorn nuts for repairs to wooden false teeth and willow bark to ease his pa's pain, Josh stomps along, blinded by anger that leads him farther away from home than he realizes. He doesn’t know that he’ll grow to be a responsible young man before he can lay eyes on his pa again. After seeing an Indian, he panics, running blindly through the dark. He falls headlong down a cliff breaking his ankle and cutting his head open on a rock. Dragging himself up the hill, he is confronted once more by the Indian, sure that he has come face to face with his death.

Eagleman befriends Josh, taking him to his home where his wife and two children help to nurse Josh back to health. Josh learns the ways of the Southern Ute and, over the following weeks, to deal with the responsibilities that even six-year-old Little Bear already carries. As Josh heals, he comes to understand how good he has it at home, how much his pa takes care of what he, Josh, should be helping with and grows to be the young man he should have been all along.

Watch for the Raven is well researched and well written. It is perhaps a bit too truthful in the losses that occur throughout the story but it is true to life as it was lived in the Colorado Mountains in 1835. The relationship between Josh and Eagleman becomes like a father and son, a relationship made especially poignant with a shocking turn of events. The whole experience brings an older and wiser son back to his father, making the hardships worthwhile in the end.

Much may be learned from Watch for the Raven about the hardships for both the white man and Indian living in the Colorado Mountains of early America. Billie A. Williams shares many customs and beliefs of the Southern Ute Indians through the eyes of Joshua Avery and how the white man reacted, how ever unkind, to the Native American. A recommended read for young and old.

Reviewed by MargeAnna Conrad
© January 2006