THE DEVIL ATOP CAULDRON PEAK

September 19th in the year of our Lord 1891, late afternoon, and the autumn sun is already casting long, elongated shadows upon the arid parched earth. George Dunn and his wife Grace stand together taking stock of this year's disappointing crop of barley and dry peas. They'll manage to scrape through the winter, but won't have enough money to afford spring seeding or see them through summer until fall's harvest. Now with their first child on the way, George feels pressured to take on any honest venture to earn money.

When an opportunity to trap furs along the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains appears, George jumps at the chance to partner up with an experience trapper, Ned Appleton. Together the men trudge westward through the snow and often inclement weather while pulling heavily loaded sleds behind them. Arriving in a prime trapping area, George and Ned set up their main camp at the trailhead. Within weeks, the men are pleased to find their traps full and their efforts well rewarded. George has high hopes to arrive home as early as late January bringing with him a bounty of furs that will guarantee the survival of their farm and family.

Meanwhile, a very pregnant Grace greets her younger sister Erma; together she and her sister will tend to the farm and animals until George's return. Christmas comes and goes and New Year finds everything is going well enough at the farm, yet Grace finds herself plagued by an inexplicably vague fear and worry for her husband's welfare - she has every right to be. A fierce and cunning beast has become aware of the men's trespass on her range, and Iska is not one to share. As the days and weeks pass, Grace's dreams become nightmares in which she envisions a maniacal creature stalking her husband!

Soon George is puzzled to discover his carefully laid traps and snares methodically looted, hidden, or destroyed. Whatever seems bent to follow some vengeful course, he's quite certain it's not human. When George finally catches a glimpse of the strange creature, the animal is of a kind he's never before laid eyes upon. He decides to continue to follow the trap line as it winds back to the trailhead camp. Surely, Ned will know how to deal with this beast, but as George will discover, Ned is facing a challenge to his own survival.

The stage is set for a life and death struggle that will take place among the rugged peaks and valleys of the Rocky Mountains. The stakes could not be higher for George or the legendary beast he faces, the Kwekwatshew - and there are no guarantees as to who may prevail.

Kirk's book accurately depicts the hardships and challenges facing settlers seeking a life in the often dry, windswept plains of Southern Alberta. A stickler for historical fact rather than fiction, the reader will find themselves glimpsing life as it was back in the 19th century and becoming fully acquainted with the Devil atop Cauldron Peak.