The Long Trail Home by Stephen A. Bly
"The Long Trail Home" by Stephen A. Bly is the third installment in the *Fortunes of the Black Hills* series and received the Christy Award in 2002. Set in the late 19th century, the narrative follows Sam Fortune, a legendary outlaw recently released from prison. Upon his return to society, Sam finds himself estranged from family and friends, prompting a desire for change and redemption. His journey unfolds as he reconnects with old acquaintances, including Ladosa McKay and Piney Burleson, both of whom have faced significant hardships.
Throughout the story, Sam grapples with his past while making morally responsible choices that reflect a transformative awakening of faith. The novel explores themes of grace, reconciliation, and community, illustrating how Sam’s actions lead him toward a more fulfilling life. As he builds new relationships, including with Abigail Gordon, he ultimately reconciles with his family and finds a sense of belonging. "The Long Trail Home" intricately weaves elements of the Western genre with evangelical Christian themes, emphasizing the potential for personal growth and the impact of kindness.
The Long Trail Home by Stephen A. Bly
First published: Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman & Holman, 2001
Genre(s): Novel
Subgenre(s): Evangelical fiction; Western
Core issue(s): Acceptance; alienation from God; awakening; faith; redemption
Principal characters
Sam Fortune , the protagonistKiowa Fox , Sam’s sidekickLadosa McKay , a former girlfriend of SamPiney Burleson , another former girlfriend of SamRocklin , Sam’s employerBrazos Fortune , Sam’s fatherAbigail Gordon , the woman Sam marriesDacee June , Sam’s sisterTodd Fortune , Sam’s older brother
Overview
Awarded the Christy Award in 2002, The Long Trail Home is the third book in the Fortunes of the Black Hills series, which includes Beneath a Dakota Cross (1999), Shadow of Legends (2000), Friends and Enemies (2002), Last of the Texas Camp (2002), and The Next Roundup (2003). The book tells the story of Sam Fortune, a legendary outlaw just released from prison near Dry Fork, in Indian Territory, on June 17, 1885. When Sam tries to pick up where he left off, he discovers that he no longer has much in the way of family or friends. Sam has had little to do with his family since his mother died in Coreyell County, Texas, thirteen years earlier, and his father and siblings moved to the Black Hills of South Dakota. Sam’s sidekick, Kiowa Fox, points out that aside from some former girlfriends, all Sam’s old companions are either dead or in prison. This observation serves as an awakening for Sam, who longs to change directions. Despite a reputation as a gunslinger that accompanies him into every small town and saloon he enters, Sam manages to make choices that effect a transformation in his life.
The first opportunity presents itself when Sam connects with an old girlfriend, Ladosa McKay, in a dirty, dreary saloon near Dry Fork. When he knew her in more pleasant and profitable times, she was a popular hostess, but she is now stuck in this godforsaken place. She has suffered much abuse in her line of work, but she welcomes Sam because they once cared for each other. She provides Sam and Kiowa with the means to get out of town in exchange for their escorting her to Dodge City. With her mules and wagon, they have the means to head away from trouble and grief.
On the way to Dodge City, the travelers swing by Antelope Flats to get supplies and to pick up a mysterious package from another old girlfriend, Piney Burleson. When Sam finds Piney, he sees that she also has been injured by abusive men. Piney has been kicked in the head by two scoundrels, McDermitt and Burns, and she often wanders the streets, lost and confused. Her condition provokes Sam to pray for her, something he has not done in years. The package she has for him contains the .50 caliber Sharps carbine that belonged to Brazos Fortune, Sam’s father. Piney had been sent this package to keep for Sam without a word of explanation. Receiving the carbine makes him determined to find his father and reconcile with him. Ladosa, who has been longing for meaning in her life, sees Piney’s condition and concludes that caring for Piney is God’s plan for her, and she decides to stay with Piney. All these events rekindle in Sam a faith that life can be different. He cannot leave before punishing the scoundrels who hurt Piney, but his mind is open to new possibilities.
The next indication that a better life awaits Sam comes in the form of an opportunity to do honest work. A decent man, Rocklin, offers him the job of breaking horses. Sam and Kiowa head to Rocklin’s ranch on the San Francisco Creek in the public land along the Oklahoma panhandle. They work like the skilled cowboys they are. Rocklin joins them, confiding his dream of reconnecting with his estranged daughter and sharing this place with her. He elicits a promise from Sam to see that she inherits this place if something happens to him in this dangerous territory. This responsibility contributes to Sam’s new destiny.
When both his new friend and his old sidekick die, he sets out to keep his promise. On the way, Sam resists the temptation to mete out vengeance, and once again he benefits from kindness shown to a woman from his former life. When he finds Rocklin’s daughter, he arrives just in time to save her and her husband from bankruptcy and help her with the delivery of her baby. His charitable action, which benefits Rocklin’s daughter and her husband, marks another step in the new direction Sam pursues.
Rocklin’s daughter and her husband give Sam money in gratitude for his efforts, which have saved their home and livelihood, and they invite him to develop their innovative telephone business in South Dakota. Sam sets off for South Dakota with the mission of setting up a telephone line and finding out why he possesses his father’s carbine.
Life seems charmed for Sam. He meets Amber Gordon and then her widowed mother, Abigail Gordon, a woman for whom he feels immediate attraction. Abigail is able to connect him with his family. Coincidentally, he has arrived just in time to attend the wedding of his beloved little sister, Dacee June. Her wedding becomes a double celebration as his father and his siblings welcome him back into the family as their beloved son and brother.
After he marries Abigail and successfully introduces the telephone business to town, his life still presents challenges. The two men he whipped for injuring Piney come to kill him. However, now he has help to face them. In addition to feeling the sense of love and belonging to family and community, he now has family and friends who help him overcome these enemies.
Christian Themes
The Long Trail Home explores evangelical Christian themes using the Western genre. In this work, Stephen A. Bly, a prolific author of Christian fiction in several genres and inspirational works, presents Sam as a person of kindness and potential goodness who rejects his Christian upbringing and lives his life as an outlaw. Then through the power of grace, he regains his faith, direction in life, home, and Christian community. The transformation is described as an awakening, clearly presented as the grace of God. Grace provokes Sam to open himself to new possibilities and put his trust in the life that God has planned for him. Through Sam, Bly presents the results of recognizing grace, accepting God’s plan, and reconciling oneself with God and others.
While Sam is fully open to the grace acting in his life, he performs a good and kind act. He is repaid for this by developing an awareness that life can be different for him. An old girlfriend says she now believes that God has a plan for her. This observation and the mysterious and treasured gift to him from his father enable him to consider that God may be calling him as well.
Sam reinforces one good behavior with another, and he consciously refuses to act in the ways he once would have as a gunslinger and outlaw. He seeks out honest work, and he accepts the friendship and confidence of a good man, agreeing to fulfill his wishes if and when the opportunity presents itself. As he acts in these morally and socially responsible ways, he finds that he can pray as he once had. He longs to be reconciled with his father, a feeling that reflects a desire to be reconciled with his heavenly father as well.
Reconciliation with God and a determination to effect reconciliation with the parent and siblings he abandoned years earlier form the next steps in his transformation. With each action, the next step of a new life miraculously unfolds for him. When he returns to his family, he is received as was the prodigal son but with no resentful brothers. All members of his family welcome him. He is rewarded with the happiness of married love and a supportive community as well.
Sources for Further Study
Bly, Stephen A. Help! My Adult Child Won’t Leave Home. Carol Stream, Ill.: Tyndale House, 2006. Nonfiction work by this prolific author examines the relationship between parents and adult children. Provides insights into his fiction.
Bly, Stephen A. Quality Living in a Complicated Age. San Bernardino, Calif.: Here’s Life, 1984. This nonfiction work describes Bly’s views on how to live a Christian life and sheds light on the philosophy evident in his many works of fiction.
Bly, Stephen A. The Surprising Side of Grace: Appreciating God’s Loving Anger. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Discovery House, 1994. This nonfiction work by this prolific author describes the author’s view of grace, which is evident in The Long Trail Home.
“Bly Books.” http://www.blybooks.com. Stephen A. Bly’s official Web site describes his life, his current work, and his collaboration with his wife; site offers e-mail connection with the author.
“Stephen A(rthur) Bly.” Contemporary Authors Online. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale, 2007. This overview of Bly’s life and extensive writing includes a list of books he has published alone and with his wife, Janet Bly.