The Westward Wagon Train

By Bob A. Jackson

The Clark Family was living in St. Louis, Missouri in the year of 1849. Joseph the father, had heard that people were finding gold in the state of California. Joe, as he liked to be call, summoned his family to meet and discuss a possible move to California. Surprisingly, the idea was well received and they started packing to make the trip. Little did they know that this trip was going to be a very special one. When they got to Colorado and where the Continental Divide was located. One morning they hiked to the top of the Divide and were approached by an angel. This angel gave them two choices in time to live. They discussed what time periods in which to live. One was moving ahead one hundred years to experience the time period of 1959. The other was to move ahead fifty years to live in the year 2009.

A thorough discussion of living in these two time periods is explained. There is a stark difference of experiences and living during these two times. The author’s personal experiences of living during the 1959 and 2009 time periods is discussed in depth of these times in American History. His purpose in doing so is to show how American life and standards had gone downhill to the year 2009. These were subtle changes that people living in that time did not recognize or realize was happening to them. Society started accepting abortion, same-sex marriage, couples living together without marrying, abuse toward women and children, child pornography, just to name a few of the evils that we live with today.

There still one part of the Clark’s story to be told. After they had lived and experienced these two time periods the angel reappears before them on one of their vacation trips back to the Continental Divide. The angel gave them a choice to go and live permanently during any of the three (their original 1849 included) periods. The family discussed the pros and cons of living in each period. It was a difficult decision. To discover which time period they chose to return, you will learn.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Nov 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9781532097171

Bob A. Jackson

Bob A. Jackson was born on April 2, 1948 in Clinton, OK. His family moved to Borger, TX. in 1950. He lived there for twenty years growing up in a carefree lifestyle. He has many fond memories of those days. It was a great time in our nation’s history. The war was over, jobs were plentiful, and families were growing in leaps and bounds. Bob’s educational experiences include Borger H.S. graduation in 1966, Frank Phillips College graduation A.A. degree in 1968, West Texas A & M University-Canyon, TX. B.S. degree in Industrial Technology Education-1970, Texas A & M University-Commerce, TX. M.S. degree in Guidance & Counseling-1975. Bob taught “at risk” students in Pampa I.S.D. for three years. This experience led him into wanting to be a high school counselor. A friend told him about a “Graduate Research Assistant” job in Commerce. This allowed him to work and go to college full time to get his Master of Science degree in Guidance and Counseling. When he graduated, he heard about a Vocational Counselor job in Plano I.S.D. He interviewed and was offered that job. He became a License Professional Counselor (L.P.C.) in May of 1982. This allowed him to open a part-time private practice while continuing his work full-time as a high school counselor in the Plano ISD school district. He was a counselor in Plano for 28 yrs. before he retired. His private practice specialties included drug counseling, adolescent behavior, and career counseling for all age levels. On December 30, 1970, he married Gwen Cargo. This coming December 30, they will celebrate 50 years of marriage. They have two grown children Samuel and Sara. Both Bob and Gwen are retired now. They have lived in Plano for 45 years.

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Copyright © 2020 Bob A. Jackson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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ISBN: 978-1-5320-9716-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-9717-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020922233

iUniverse rev. date: 11/06/2020

Contents

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1 Wayward Adventures

Chapter 2 The Dilemma in Colorado

Chapter 3 Life in America - 1959

Chapter 4 Second Dilemma in Colorado

Chapter 5 Life in America - 2009

Chapter 6 Third Dilemma in Colorado

Chapter 7 The Final Decision

Epilogue

About the Author

Acknowledgements

Gwen, my wife who puts up with my craziness and supports me and keeps me on tract. Thank You for marrying me. It’s been a wonderful 45 years. I would not want to go through this life with anyone else but you.

Judy Lynn, for helping me to do the first edit and for being a great Christian friend for so many years.

Brian Smith, my writing instructor and writer mentor for sharing your writing knowledge and putting forth the challenge to publish.

To those people who read the story and encouraged me to move forward with its message.

CHAPTER 1

Wayward Adventures

It was a special time in American history. The year was 1849 and people were heading west to find new experiences and adventures awaiting them. Some were going to find their fortune in a river stream. Others were just searching for a new lifestyle. A typical wagon train might have as many as two hundred men, women, and children traveling together on their west ward journey. Sometimes several families would stay in an area after stopping for the night. They would experience that certain place inviting them to stay. And they did stay. They stuck together with commitment, faith, hope, and love being their common bonds.

Others would continue their journey and anticipated what was ahead of them. They were a God respecting group of individuals and truly believed that God would be with them throughout their journey. Many times they saw this promise played out before their very eyes. Several times their path would cross with large groups of Native American Indians.

By this time in history, most of these Native Americans were tired of killing and mutilating other human beings. What good had it done for them anyway? The people kept coming and would continue for a long time to come. They were only passing through on their way to further destinations.

What they learned to fear the most were themselves and Mother Nature. Accidental firearms discharging killed and injured more people than any of the incidents with Indians. Men had to have some method of protecting their families and smart men would teach their wives and children how to use a firearm safely. However, accidents still happened and those were always sad occasions that had to be faced. Mother Nature kept them on