The Erie Canal Curse

A historical frontier fiction set in Ulster County, New York during the 1840s. A raw, unvarnished tale of survival.

Born to Dutch parents in Ulster County, New York in 1838, Jacobus Vandemark endures a brutal childhood as a factory worker under his cruel stepfather John Rucker. Escaping to the Erie Canal as a young boy, he finds temporary freedom with Captain Sproule but faces new dangers driving canal boats. After the Civil War, he settles in Monterey County, Iowa, where he must overcome the legacy of his mother's disappearance and the harsh realities of pioneer life. Now a man, he faces the challenge of building a life on the prairie while navigating the complexities of a new community and a love that defies social boundaries. The winter of 1863 brings a life-threatening blizzard that tests his courage and reshapes his future in ways he never anticipated.