Cottonwood, an Observation is based on the lifetime of a cottonwood tree and the things seen by him over an eighty-five-year period from 1842 until the end of WWI. He watches the development of the country around him, from pristine prairie, the time of the Buffalo and the Indian, through the settlement and development of a city nearly under his branches. Cottonwood becomes intimately involved in the lives of the main characters of the book from what he sees and hears from his point of observation above the Sweetwater River, in the developing state of Wyoming. He observes the wars of the era, the medical developments of those years, the passing of the Indian, the coming and the passing of the Pony Express. He watches as the telegraph, telephone, and the railroad come into his part of the world. He becomes intimately involved in the stories of those passing his post. He inspires introspection into our personal lives by his constant attempt to analyze the actions of human beings, their sometimes peaceful and sometimes deadly interactions with one another. He records the stories of the lives of those fleeing the confusion and discord of Europe as they search for opportunity in the New World. We watch, through the eyes of Cottonwood, as a woman in Appalachia struggles, with an iron will, to break the bonds and stereotyping of ignorant mountain women. Cottonwood observes as the love of two men bring salvation to an incorrigible Indian warrior. He watches as love heals the broken lives of two WWI survivors and catalogs those things he has seen, felt, and questioned. The fact that freedom, dreams, love, and courage overcome every obstacle is the true conclusion of Cottonwood’s narrative. Cottonwood, the observer, makes us take a critical look at ourselves, our actions, our motives, and why we are here. Cottonwood, the book, makes us look at our nation and why this unique place called America and its God-given freedoms are here. He leaves us with the fervent hope that we will continue to deserve and appreciate those blessings and benefits that only Americans enjoy.
