Thunder Over the Ochoco Volume V-And The Juniper Trees Bore Fruit
Mix together equal portions of the intellectual curiosity  and organizational abilities of Benjamin Franklin and the steely  determination of Ulysses S. Grant, let simmer in the Ochocos of  Central Oregon for nearly seven decades and the product is Gale Ontko,  the writer of Thunder Over the Ochoco.In most respects this is a man who became an author because of  circumstances rather than desire. He grew up in the Ochoco Valley area  east of Prineville and unlike most Oregonians has spent his life on  the land. His employment as a BLM fire management supervisor took him  into back country for long stretches of time and the Indians of the  area got to know him so well they finally gave him an Indian name of  his own.It all began innocently enough when he realized that native  Americans—except for brief reports of an encounter on the Little  Big Horn—had been ignored in the writing of American history as  totally as our other non-European minorities. He began to talk with  Indians, take notes and enter the world of historical research until  one day he felt he was able to add something to what had been written  about early days in the Northwest. His other motivation was an  increasing belief that the rather desolate land mass of the Ochoco had  itself profoundly influenced the history of the region and had an  interesting story of its own to be told, if someone was willing to do  the work of putting it in proper order.To a greater extent than is usually the case his writing is a  mirror reflection of the man himself. It is said that only the very  rich and/or those who live alone can afford the luxury of very strong  attitudes and convictions. Gale has lived by himself for many years  and the two special gifts of that experience which he brings to his  writing are an iron-willed determination to be sure that he has the  facts right and an incredible degree of patience. The first has led  him to an extraordinary depth of research. There was no solid backlog  of Indian data, because the Shoshoni had no written language. So he  listened carefully to the oral histories of all the principal tribes  and then sought verification by crosschecking contemporary written  materials. He has known that his writing breaks new ground and has  been determined that regardless of the amount of research required  that it stand solid against all inquiry. His remarkable patience has  let him continue for years the assembling of his facts before doing  the writing.His book has the refreshing directness and, when necessary, the  bluntness that back country people still retain and which their urban  cousins have largely abandoned. He has made every effort possible to  learn the truth about the people who made the history about which he  writes and then to state it. Hudson’s Bay Company is not likely to  send him a thank-you note, genteel readers may feel they could get  along with fewer details of the way the trapper brigades lived and any  descendants of Protestant missionaries to Oregon might well consider  putting out a contract on this man. The good news is that when most  readers finish this book they are very likely to say, “I had no  idea non-fiction could be so interesting.”