A Fort on the Chenoa

In the waning days of the Revolutionary War, Kike Stuart leads his family from North Carolina over the Wilderness Road blazed by Daniel Boone and into the Great Meadow of the Bluegrass Country. Far to the north of the other settlements, on the river the frontiersmen have named the Kentucky but the Shawnee call Chenoa, they establish their station. They are few in number to face the hostility of the Indians and the hardships of the land, lush though it may be. Luke Stuart has followed his brother and supports him, although he retains his love for the girl that Kike has married. While harboring illusions of romantic valor and accomplishment, Luke must face up to his lack of moral fiber and cowardice. He quails at the dangers that confront them and that will lead them inexorably to the fateful Battle of Blue Licks and its aftermath when Luke must prove his mettle. Charles L. Roe has crafted an extraordinarily realistic portrait of life on the Kentucky frontier. It is a time of heroes - Boone, Kenton, Logan, and Clark. Roe plays his story against the historical dramas of Bryan's Station, Boones- borough, Lee's Town, and the fledgling village of Lexington. He recounts the shattering tragedies that befall the settlers at Ruddle's Fort, Hoy's, Tanner's, and finally, Blue Licks. With frontiersman and Indian locked in brutal struggle to possess this bountiful land, how are the two brothers and the woman they both love to realize their vision for the country and their dreams of the future?