Love Finds You in Lonesome Prairie, Montana

Summerside Press, Inc.
Minneapolis 55438
www.summersidepress.com

Love Finds You in Lonesome Prairie, Montana

© 2009 by Tricia Goyer and Ocieanna Fleiss

ISBN 978-1-935416-29-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without permission in writing from the publisher.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the The Holy Bible, King James Version (
KJV
). Scripture quotations marked
ESV
are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version
^®
(
ESV
), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission.

The town depicted in this book is a real place, but all characters are fictional. Any resemblances to actual people or events are purely coincidental.

Cover and interior design by Müllerhaus Publishing Group
www.mullerhaus.net
.

Back cover photo of Bear’s Paw Mountains taken by John Wickland,
www.johnwickland.blogspot.com
.

Published in association with the Books & Such Literary Agency, Janet Kobobel Grant, 52 Mission Circle, Suite 122, PMB 170, Santa Rosa, CA 95409-5370,
www.booksandsuch.biz
.

Fall in love with Summerside.

Printed in USA.

Dedication

For John, whose love for God first caught my eye
and touched my heart.
Tricia Goyer

For my Michael, who shows me the love of Christ every day.
Ocieanna Fleiss

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Keith Edwards from Big Sandy, Montana, who opened up his home to us and shared his stories. To Hank in Fort Benton, who cracked open the historical archives for our research. What wonderful help we received! Also thanks to Amy Lathrop for all the reading, input, and help, as well as Annette Irby, Dawn Kinzer, and Veronica McCann, who saved us from several blunders and challenged us to strive for excellence.

Thanks to our wonderful agent, Janet Grant, and the awesome Summerside staff: Carlton Garborg, Rachel Meisel, Jason Rovenstine, and Connie Troyer.
Tricia Goyer and Ocieanna Fleiss

Acknowledgments

Thank you to my amazing family: John, Cory, Leslie, Nathan, Andrea. And Grandma too. Thanks for loving me and supporting me on this journey.
Tricia Goyer

I want to add an extra thanks to my old friend Carlton Garborg, who contacted me on Facebook and set this dream in motion. I’d like to thank my mother-in-law, librarian Nellie Fleiss, who made herself available to seek out my toughest research questions. And to our church intern, Matt Barker, for his help with Isaac’s sermon—substitutionary atonement’s a good thing to remember! I don’t know if I could’ve finished this book if it weren’t for Rosalyn Kay introducing me to Kangen water, which annihilated my migraines. Also I’m incredibly grateful for my friends at Emmanuel Orthodox Presbyterian Church and HIS Co-op (especially Lorena) as well as others who supported, encouraged, and prayed unceasingly for me. Thanks to my mom, who would’ve been so proud of me. For my sweet kids, Benjamin, Gabrielle, Christian, and Abigail, who put up with Mama being busy, and especially to my husband, who sacrificed more than seemed humanly possible for me to finish this book. Finally, to my faithful savior Jesus Christ, who fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood.
Ocieanna Fleiss

Not to us, O L
ORD
, not to us,
but to your name give glory.

PSALM 115:1
ESV

A
T ONE POINT IN
L
ONESOME
P
RAIRIE
’
S HISTORY, A DEBATE
arose between locals about changing the name of the vast cattle and sheep land to Paradise Prairie. The country grass spreading out limitlessly toward the horizon and the glassy lake may have seemed paradise-like to some. And it was certainly a more pleasant name. But an old homesteader named Hard Scrabble Ole wrote to the
Bear Paw Mountaineer
saying anyone who wanted to change the name to Paradise was foolish. “I find it purty lonesome out har,” he wrote, “twenty mile from any place in a 10 x14 shack that just got tar paper on outside and an ol’ cook stov. It Lonesome Prairie alright.” His argument won, and the name Lonesome Prairie stuck. Although Lonesome Prairie no longer exists as a town, we found a wealth of information from the enthusiastic locals, proud of their area’s homesteading and ranching history. If you trek to north central Montana today, you’ll find it much as Hard Scrabble Ole described it, “purty lonesome.”

Tricia Goyer and Ocieanna Fleiss

“Feels like I’m sleeping in a covered wagon with all this shaking.” Nineteen-year-old Julia Cavanaugh forced her eyes open. “At least that’s what I think it would feel like.” She spied one of the orphans under her charge—twelve-year-old Shelby—shaking her flimsy mattress. Her iron-framed bed squawked as it shook.