Across the Cimarron is a fine, fine novel, that deserves a broad readership—of those interested in the history of the American West—and of lovers of powerfully engaging fiction. Like the great novels in the realist tradition whose ranks it deserves to join, Across the Cimarron displays a strong social conscience, especially with regard to the Cheyenne and Arapaho people on whose ancestral land the Land Run settlers made their lives—and the Black settlers, who almost immediately experienced discrimination and segregation that barred their children from the little log-framed school they had helped build. What brings the story to life is the beautiful, effective use of historical and geographical detail—and language. This is a gripping, compelling work of historical fiction.
—David Gross, Professor Emeritus of English, University of Oklahoma
