Title: Beyond the Rio Gila
Author: Scott G. Hibbard
Publisher: Five Star Publishing
ISBN: 978-1432866136
Pages: 376
Genre: Historical Fiction
Reviewed By: Susan Brown
Pacific Book Review
The westward expansion that launched the settling of the entire North American continent is a definitive facet of the history of the U.S. America, an enormous, untamed land, was ripe for populating by newcomers to the continent. As trailblazers pushed farther west, encroaching on land under the authority of indigenous people and other countries, conflicts ensued.
This historical narrative is the account of a conflict which brought two disparate groups together and united them towards an outcome that was advantageous to both. It’s also a coming-of-age story, a chronicle of religious persecution and an exposition on the U.S. military’s fight to annex territory from Mexico during the Mexican-American War, waged from 1846 to 1848.
The book’s protagonist, 17-year-old Moses Cole, runs away from his Virginia farm and abusive father, walks all the way to Pennsylvania and enlists in the U.S. Army’s First Dragoons. There, he meets and is mentored by Private Abner Black, a former professor and sanguine philosopher, plagued by alcoholism and reminisces of his former life.
With a year’s worth of training under him, Moses and the rest of his troop, is sent to Ft. Leavenworth, the starting point for the southward march to California and engagement with the Mexican army. The U.S. Army enlists the help of Latter-day Saints fleeing Missouri from religious persecution. The contingent of Mormons, known as the Mormon Battalion, includes a myriad of industrious men and women volunteers who march in lock-step with the army in a grueling and tortuous 2,100-mile round-trip journey to the California coast and back.
Beyond the Rio Gila is a scrupulously researched book that showcases a significant historical event that resulted in the expansion of U.S. territory all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Mr. Hibbard’s attention to detail is meticulously thorough. Additionally, included at the end are brief biographies of the historical characters written about in this novel.
His prose is vivid, from his description of a soldier’s uniform — “blue tunics trimmed in ochre gold at collar and cuff, brass buttons in double rows, stripes of muffled yellow accent to the outside pant leg. The captain’s sash, firelight orange and draped to his knee, swayed with his saber” — to the difficulty of the journey, “Moses had learned indifference to all but food, water, and rest, no talk or thought, as if he’d slipped in a hole and hidden there, prey to a land empty of trees and greenery and the vibrancy of life, a prairie plain as a clock face.”
Yes, some of this book is fictional, but the profusion of factual information brings the activities and events that unfolded in this not-so-widely-known time in history to life. Some of the participants excelled, some died and some returned to civilian life, reborn with new perspectives. As an enthusiastic history buff, I was captivated by the retelling of this epic military expedition and its significance in the unfolding formation of the United States.
