Shawnee: The Adventure Continues: The Treasure Trilogy, #2

By C.C. Wills

This story is a continuation of Dean's adventures into the unknown. He finds himself once again in the hands of danger while pursuing yet another treasure. Contacted by an unknown relative from southern Illinois, he is drawn back into the same area where he found the gold 10 years earlier, this time in search of a family treasure. Is there really more treasure or could there be something else on his relative's mind? We will learn some of Dean's ancestral history, his roots into the Cherokee bloodline! What lies in store for Dean and his buddy Jack as they enter again into the Shawnee Hills?

• Language: English
• Publisher: C.C. Wills
• Release date: Jul 28, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476428048

C.C. Wills

I am a retired factory worker. I worked for Kraft Foods for 35 years and retired at 55 in 2009. My wife and I live on 23 acres in Central Illinos in the the home town of Dick and Jerry Van Dyke, Gene Hackman, Donald O'Conner, Bobby Short, Astronaut Tanner, and several other celebs including several well known writers and Congressman Uncle Jo Cannon. I now have three books published through FriesenPress and four books published through my own publishing company -Grape Creek Publishing. If you go to my web page I have several links to retailers for my books. You can also purchase an autographed copy from me directly. My Fourth book - "Memories" is published through my own publishing company as well as my fifth and sixth books - "A Collection of Short Stories by C.C. Wills" and "Solitude: Portraits of the Lonely". My seventh book is another collection of short stories known as "Grandpa Tell Us A Story". I now have 22 short stories and I'm working on a Western Book known as The McAllister Saga.

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SHAWNEE:

The Adventure Continues

by C.C. Wills

Copyright © 2012 by C.C. Wills

First Edition – April 2012

Smashwords Edition

ISBN

978-1-77097-711-2 (Hardcover)

978-1-77097-712-9 (Paperback)

978-1-47642-804-8 (eBook)

All rights reserved.

Photo used in the first chapter provided by Cathy Loeppke; close friend and photographer. Source of legal charges against villian provided by Marc Tennill; close friend and legal consultant.

This is a work of fiction. All the names, places, characters, and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is purely coincidental. Exceptions would be the following towns and places: Champaign, IL, Harrisburg, IL, Equality, IL, Garden of the Gods, Champaign Post Office, Harrisburg Library & Dahlonega Mint. Also, the Trail of Tears was a true event. In the first chapter there were some actual historical places mentioned such as Golconda, Lusk’s Ferry, etc.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information browsing, storage, or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published by Smashwords Inc

Published at Smashwords

Author’s Websites:

http://www.treasureintheshawneehills.com

http://www.shawneetheadventurecontinues.com

Table of Contents

Dedication

Notes from the Author

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Bibliography

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my very good friend Debbie Knudsen. Her encouragement, support, and actual idea/suggestion made my first book possible, Thanks Deb!

I also dedicate this book to my Grandma Flossie Mae Logsdon Rollins Wright who loved to read and I believe would have loved to be a writer. My Grandma is probably thrilled and proud that she has grandsons who have written books. She is the source of my Cherokee heritage. Love and miss you very much, Grandma!

~ Notes from the Author ~

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The Cherokee Rose as shown in (Wikipedia)

Rosa laevigata is an evergreen climbing shrub reaching heights from 16 – 33 feet. The leaves range from 1.2 – 3.9 inches long and can have from 3 to 5 leaflets, bright glossy green and glabrous.

The flower known as The Cherokee Rose is fragrant with pure white pedals and yellow stamens, followed by bright red and bristly hips 2 – 4 centimeters in diameter. They also have a very bristly stem. The rose was native to southern China and Taiwan, south to Laos and Vietnam, and can be found in the U.S. but invasive.

Introduced to southeastern United States around 1780, it was soon naturalized and given the English name of Cherokee Rose, becoming the state flower of Georgia.

The Legend of the Cherokee Rose

There can be no better symbol to express the pain and suffering of the Trail Where They Cried (Indian language translation) than represented by the Cherokee Rose. The Cherokee mothers grieved so much that the chiefs prayed for a sign that would lift their spirits and give them the strength to care for their children. Moving forward from that point, a beautiful rose grew whenever a mother’s tear fell to the ground. Representing the mother’s tears the rose is white, with a gold center for the gold taken from the Cherokee lands. The seven leaves on each stem representative of the seven Cherokee clans that made the journey. The Cherokee Rose can be found to this day along the route of the Trail of Tears and has become the official flower of the State of Georgia.

Chapter 1

Early 1800’s — Georgia

The year is 1814 and it’s a sweltering mid-summer morning. The sun was already burning and there was not a breeze to be had.

As usual James is working his fields of cotton and tobacco. Like many of the Cherokee in the area, James Robert Smith acquired a fair amount of the Georgia farm ground and worked it very hard. His ground was surrounded by vast rolling hills covered by mature healthy timberland, a land owner’s dream come true. It also contained one of the nicest streams in the area with plenty of fresh water straight out of the hills.

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James, like the majority of the other tribal members wanting to blend in, changed to white man names and ways to incorporate themselves into the established American society. Unlike many of his neighbors though, James was one of the Cherokee chiefs known by the tribe as Chief Bold Eagle…an honored chief among the Cherokee Nation. He acquired many acres of land to farm being a chief, as well as a small orange grove. His plantation was well known in the State of Georgia, the last of the original thirteen colonies. It was the envy of many of the Georgians no matter from what nationality they came from.

His farm would have been a handful to manage for James, his son Thomas Allen and daughter Susanne Cosby, had they not had the help of their slaves. Like their white counterparts, most of the Cherokee land owners had slaves to work their fields, and James was no exception…although he had strong feelings against owning another human being. He actually established a reward system for his slaves. This was his way of paying them for their labors and made him feel better about the relationship he had with them. Many of the other slave owners were not happy with his practices, afraid that it might encourage rebellion among their slaves.

His wife Martha Jane died shortly after giving birth to their daughter Susanne. She was ill throughout much of her pregnancy and giving birth weakened her, being more than her then frail body could handle. Susanne struggled for years with her own health as the result of her mother’s illness but gradually was strengthened by forcing herself to complete her duties around the plantation. Even though James never pushed Susanne for fear she would end up like her mother, he knew it was her strong Cherokee blood that drove her on…her natural will to survive.

James was very proud of his two children. He had a son and daughter that any man would cherish. They were both hard workers and even though their father owned the plantation, they worked right along with everyone…and treated everyone fairly and with respect. He had hope and expectations that someday they would have families of their own and give him grandkids. He knew he would love that very much and looked forward to it.

It was during a trip down to the creek that ran through their plantation that her brother found what was to eventually become their demise, as well as the downfall of the rest of the Cherokee Nation…gold! He brought it back to their home to show his father James, although at the time they neither one had any idea what they really had. It wasn’t until early in 1815 when others made similar discoveries that it was made known that the yellow rock was in fact gold. By the time it was made public, James and his son Thomas had worked the stream and found a sizable amount of the gold nuggets.

Once it became known that gold was found on the Cherokee lands, many of the whites in the area would sneak on to the private property hoping to find their own fortunes. Of course this continued trespassing soon established strained relations between the Cherokee and the offenders. James tried to seek legal help several times with the ongoing problem but it was soon apparent which side the law was going to favor.

For the next two years, the confrontations between the Cherokee land owners and the trespassers invading their lands only grew. James continued to pursue help through proper channels to deal with this white man invasion, but it was only too clear that this was to be the beginning of many struggles for his people. Late into the fall, just before the onset of winter, the trouble escaladed to near war proportions. Even though there were many confrontations, no one as of yet had been seriously injured…but that was about to change.

James was out hunting for deer when he discovered several whites on their property. He yelled at them to leave, when all of a sudden one pulled a rifle and fired. He missed James, to which he returned fire and fatally wounded the trespasser. The other two returned shots at James, one slug tearing flesh in his left shoulder and lodged in the bone. Another one grazed his forehead as it passed by. Pulling his pistol from its leather holster with his right hand, James took careful aim and again hit his target with practiced accuracy…and another white man dropped from his horse and into the creek. Finally, the third white man charged at the waiting Cherokee chief and once again Bold Eagle showed what he was known for…his unfailing bravery. He stood up and took aim once more. Again his flesh was burning, this time in his right leg. Just as he pulled the trigger, his opponent did the same. James’ bullet hit its mark right between the eyes, and the third white man dropped. Unfortunately, the last slug caught James right in the chest, passing through one of his lungs and exiting through his back.

James managed to get on his horse and make his way back to his family before anyone else arrived. Thomas saw his father on the horse and realized something was wrong. He rushed to his father’s aid but he knew that the wounds his father had sustained would be fatal as he had already lost an enormous amount of blood. Helping him down from his horse, they headed to the house before anyone could see that James had been injured. This episode was not going to end well for his family and James knew that, so he asked Thomas to get him writing materials so he could take care of business before he was gone.

The chief had no doubt that he was not going to survive, for Thomas and Susanne there was only one chance to make it…and that would be to leave the area…and soon. He began to write his Last Will and Testament which he dated. This was not easy for him to do with his wounds, but necessary. He first wrote of his confrontation with the three whites by the creek and then about fatally wounding each of the three. James wrote of knowing that he himself would die from injuries he sustained in the battle. And finally that he was advising his children to leave the plantation, as he was convinced these ill relations between his people and the whites would only worsen. In his last paragraph, James turned over complete ownership of his plantation to Eli…the elder among his slaves and a man with a good head on his shoulders. James had complete trust in Eli’s abilities to manage the plantation.

He then asked Thomas for one more sheet of writing paper. After Thomas handed it to him, James proceeded to write once again. This time he struggled but managed to put down just a few necessary words releasing all of his slaves from their bondage…he gave them complete freedom. His last words were incomplete as he passed while wishing them safe journeys.

Thomas knew he had to move quickly as he sent for Eli to come to them. Eli quickly responded and was saddened by the loss of James. Even