A Panther Crosses Over
Book One in The American Trilogy
Pictured above from left to right: Tecumseh, “Mad” Anthony Wayne, William Henry Harrison, Tensk
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Two hours before dawn, on a very cold morning in early March 1768, a brilliant meteor streaked across the sky, rushing down from Canada along the Scioto River valley. It was the Panther, a meteor legendary among the Shawnee. Every morning the Panther raced south, seeking a hole in the southern sky where it could rest. The Panther took a different route every night, and so was seldom seen, but whatever the path the Panther chose would shower good luck upon the people below. Pucksinwah, war chief of the Shawnee, hunkered before a dying fire, watched the Panther fly over. He had been up all night waiting for his wife, Methotasa, to deliver their third child. This one was coming slowly, but just as the Panther disappeared into the southern sky, Pucksinwah heard the fierce cry of his newborn son. What his name would be was instantly apparent. He was Tecumseh, “A Panther Crosses Over”.
A clash of civilizations, two powerful leaders, and a dramatic outcome that ripples through generations.
Following the French and Indian War, white settlers pour over the Appalachians and down the Ohio River. But native tribes of the Northwest Territory have long inhabited this land—and they are willing to fight to remain. Leading the Shawnee is Tecumseh—courageous, discerning, and capable of assembling fifty thousand warriors to rise together to chase the white settlers back east when he commands. How will warriors from Florida to Canada know when the command has come? For twenty years his answer has been the same: “I will stomp my foot.”
Against Tecumseh stands an equally talented, implacable, and gifted opponent, William Henry Harrison. The decades-long struggle between cultures, and men, comes to a dramatic head at the Battle of Tippecanoe, with history-shaping consequences.
A Panther Crosses Over is the first book of The American Trilogy series, three novels that reframe the epic legacy of the fight for the American Midwest.
What readers are saying
“Foster is a brilliant writer of historical fiction, covering times and places less well known than many others. A Panther Crosses Over is the latest and first of a trilogy that will cover a unique period of American historical life not so fully reported, involving characters we come to find fascinating and love . . . I was so deeply involved from the first pages that I stayed up all weekend to consume this wonderful tale of the Midwest’s founding.” —Jay Weston, film producer of the Academy Award–nominated Lady Sings the Blues and Billy Wilder’s final comedy, Buddy Buddy
“Absolutely stunning. A Panther Crosses Over is either time travel or reincarnation, a tactile trip of immense believability.” —Charlie Newton, award-winning author of Traitor’s Gate, Privateers, and Canaryville
“The author does an excellent job of staying true to historical detail while making his characters fully realized individuals who drive the plot to an emotionally satisfying conclusion. Foster deftly presents the conflict from an Indigenous perspective . . . a solid tale with a firm historical grounding that examines early American conflicts.” —Kirkus Reviews
“In A Panther Crosses Over, book one of his American Trilogy, Foster tells the epic story of a clash of civilizations in the vast Northwest Territory bounded to the north by the Great Lakes. Decades of war and shifting alliances of tribes, confederations, and empires culminate in the historic Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. By then, Tecumseh, the great Shawnee warrior and statesman, has assembled a coalition of Native tribes to drive white settlers from the territory once and for all. William Henry Harrison, governor of the Indiana Territory, has other ideas. Foster has written a work of fiction that brings the history to life and enriches and fills in the gaps with the novelist’s art and insight. The tale he tells is Homeric, not just in the savage grandeur of the subject and the complex nobility of the heroes but in the poetry of the smallest details and the hidden mysteries of the hearts and minds of its great cast of (real) characters.” —Chris Flannery, host of The American Story podcast, senior fellow at the Claremont Institute
“Foster’s research and ability to create a excellent group of believable characters builds a fascinating and compelling history lesson!” —NetGalley reader review
Available in the Ingram catalog