The Bunkhouse Boys of Fort Bison

This is the totally fictitious tale of several teenagers who were. bound by their mutual interest in horses and achievement at school. It is the tale of their lives from February 1979 to November 1979. They live in the small city of Catvile, population 9 500, in the Oklahoma Panhandle, which the reader will find on the road atlas as Boise City, population 1 500. Catville had experienced a growth boom after WW 2, which brought in the Hi-Tec Hawthorne Corporation with Research and Production facilities. The expansion of the UofO system resulted in the founding of the 7ligh Plains Liberal Arts College A new 300 bed Regional Hospital, finally, was the cause of a massive influx of a medium and high-level workforce, who congregated from all over the US, mainly from both, the East and the West Coast as well as the southeast region of Texas. Many of these people brought children with them, who were used to English riding, perhaps bad even their own horses. This factor contributed to the decision to organize a riding stable that could cater to the needs of these children and teenagers, eventually even an approved Pony Club. All this took place in a land that was traditionally referred to as the heartland of Western riding and rodeo, in short of Western Culture. By nature of their background, the protagonists of the tale are considered accelerated students with high academic achievement. They are liberal, yet disciplined The tale takes them through the months of 1979, as occurrences on the way have a maturing effect. Their Pony Club training makes them conversant in dealing with people and animals as they are taught to handle adverse situations competently. An early sign of future leadership is observed and peers and superiors encourage such trend. Part II takes four of the boys to a cattle ranch south of Fort Bison Military Training Area (on the road map: Rita Blanca National Grasslands) to team up with twins of the same age, who are cousins of one of the protagonists. Here they get involved with the daily work of a cattle ranch and where they participate. English and Western riding find a symbiosis. At one of their outings they encounter a severely injured soldier on survival training. They successfully instigate rescue operations, prepared for such action by their previous Pony Club training. At the same time, Red Cross and FEMA select girls of their group for a pilot program where they undergo a six-week intensive training as certified First Aid Providers. In Part III the training is put to the test after a horrible avalanche of tornados hits the west part of Catville and outlying ranches. One of the girls is dispatched to a remote ranch, to which all power and communication had been interrupted, to check on the status of a woman who is presumed pregnant and two weeks before parturition. She finds the womans labors in progress. The nine months of this story show the maturing effect on the teenagers, how they grow, but also how they stay youngsters with spirit and full of joie de vivre. Shown is a world of teenagers that still is wholesome, yet, full of demands, of tribulations and earnest striving for accomplishment. Remarkable are numerous dialogues where the teenagers, all high achieving students, convert their observation into well thought of and formulated questions. Especially the Powwows in the summer evenings on the bunkhouse porch foster lively discussions. An old Cherokee farmhand is faced with inquisitive youngsters and able to respond. He turns out to be a retired High School teacher and former Captain in the National Guard. A befriended young Lieutenant from Fort Bison opens the understanding of the function of a modern Army and those who represent it. The tale culminates in the commitment of a lifetime friendship of two boys and girls. The Prologue and the Epilogue, playing 12 years later, disclose that one is married to her teenage friend, the other lost her friend, the leading prot