Black Eagle, Oregon

About the Book

The town of Black Eagle, Oregon sits on the banks of the Columbia River at the foot of  snow covered Mt. Hood.  It is home to church going citizens, windsurfers and orchard workers.  But when real estate prices start to boom, an influx of newcomers arrive and the cultural divide between Whites, Natives, and Hispanic workers create tensions that brew just below the surface in this pretty Pacific Northwest town.

     Based on real events in the early 1990s, this fast paced novel reveals how the lives of four very different Black Eagle characters intertwine when a fishing platform is deliberately destroyed at an ancient Native site. 

     Richard Sherwood is the real estate developer from Back East who has arrived in Black Eagle to make his fortune, who will stop at nothing to reach his goal of becoming a millionaire before he's forty.  Jim Hawks is the Native who lives a quiet life on the river with his grandfather, but ever since college harbors deep political unrest that he doesn't know what to do with.  Tawny is the church going wife who thought her life would remain perfect when she "married up" to Charles Spotts, but taking care of her new house and two teen-age sons can't contain her restlessness.  And Anna Kingston, the single woman who changed her life from Boston businesswoman to Black Eagle high school teacher, struggles with more than she bargained for in her new life.

     The protest against the Richard Sherwood's real estate development turns into a full-time encampment -including tipis and a sacred flame – and each character his forced to deal with the unfolding events in their own way.

About the Author

Caroline Spear has lived in Oregon for sixteen years, some of that time in the Columbia River Gorge where the Black Eagle, Oregon story takes place.  She participated in several of the "occupation" potluck ceremonies and followed the unfolding events in the local newspaper carefully. 

     She has written over twenty short stories, a memoir, and a collection of poetry.  Her work has appeared in numerous publications; her writing has won awards and national recognition.  She earned an MBA from Clark University and worked in high-tech corporations around Boston for fifteen years.  Then she earned an MAT from Boston College and began to teach high school in Oregon in the early 1990s. 

     Currently, she lives in Southern Oregon with her husband and two cats and a large garden.    

     This is her second novel.