One of the last frontiersmen of the Southwest.
Front cover
Back jacket
Tales of a Tracker: The Saga of Jacob Bartlett is a historical fiction novel that follows the life of Jacob Bartlett, one of the last frontiersmen of the Southwest — tracker, scout, soldier, and lawman in the Arizona Territory in the 1800s and early 1900s.
Caught up in the transition from untamed frontier to a settled land of opportunity, Jacob Bartlett is a character that history did not record. It is a story that can be characterized as Lonesome Dove’s Gus McCrae living much like Winston Groom’s Forrest Gump, where he is quietly involved in many of the major events of his time. His fictional biography is set in a time when outlaws, lawmen, cowboys, pioneers, railroaders, miners, soldiers, and Native Americans fill the narrative of Western history.
The son of Indian Agent parents, Jacob was raised on the Apache Reservation during the early 1880s. He developed empathy for Native peoples and a strong sense of justice from a mixture of Apache beliefs and the teachings of his parents and their Christian society.
Taught to hunt, track, and shoot in the ways of the Apache by the aging warrior and chief Talkalai-tin.
Employed as an army scout on the hunt for Geronimo.
Serves as a soldier, forging connections with Teddy Roosevelt and Black Jack Pershing.
Old Rough Rider ties take him far from the desert.
On the trail of escaped federal prisoners, hunting down train robbers and bandits.
Ultimately leading the hunt south into Mexico.
Jacob Bartlett is a tracker at heart, drawn to the challenge of the chase. But he is also a pragmatic man who fights for what he believes to be just. Understanding that the men he pursues rarely surrender without a fight, Jacob knows that patience, stealth, and a bit of luck are what keep a tracker alive.