In 1848, gold was discovered in the mountains of California. It is a little known fact that the Cherokees of Indian Territory were excited by the news and they quickly formed a company. But what trail would they take? It was said that the Santa Fe Trail, leaving from Independence, Missouri was full of cholera and death. The southern route was beset with marauding Indians. How would they get to the goldfields?The Cherokees were among the first to form a company of men and women who planned on traversing the land from the east to grab their share of the gold. Yet, there was safety in numbers and the group joined with another group of white settlers calling the combined group the Cherokee/Evans Company. However, almost immediately there was trouble between the two groups.Sasa, a young Cherokee woman, and Coyote, a Lakota/Blackfoot man, accompany the wagon train and bring with them their faithful friends, Wheezer, a Jack Russell Terrier and Yellow Eyes, a wild coyote. But all is not well on the wagon train. There is a murderer in disguise among the travelers as well as much racial tension.The search for the murderer puts Sasa and Coyote's lives in danger. Would they make it to California? Only those with courage and endurance stood a chance. "In Wheezer and the Painted Frog Kitty Sutton has penned the first of a delightful series of novels set against the Cherokee removal. Orphaned and exploited in a new land, a young Cherokee girl seeks justice for the murder of her brother and to her aid comes Wheezer, a small white dog with the charm and sensibility to both ferret out the bad guys and bring a sparkling cast of character together. We consider Kitty Sutton's novels a tantalizing hook to reel young readers into the magic and enjoyment of our nation's history." -W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear - New York Times bestselling authors of People of the Morning Star. Once again Kitty Sutton has spun a magical tale in Wheezer and the Shy Coyote. New villians are preying on the Native peoples struggling to build new homes in Oklhoma (Indian Territory). Wheezer's beloved 'People' are drawn inexorably into a dangerous web of intrigue as they struggle to stop the insidious whiskey trade. With 'his 'people's' lives on the line, it's up to Wheezer and his curious new firend 'Yellow Eyes', a shy coyote, to break the case open. Steeped in Native American history and lore, Wheezer And The Shy Coyote is a worthy successor in the 'Mystery From The Trail of Tears' series." -Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear - New York Times bestselling authors of PEOPLE OF THE SONGTRAIL. "Wheezer and the Painted Frog is at once joyous and heartbreaking. You will ache for the suffering, be outraged by the wrongs, facinated by the way of life, identify with Sasa and above all you will love Wheezer. You will look for his spirit in every dog you meet!" -Anne Perry, Author of Acceptable Loss Kitty Sutton was born Kathleen Kelley to an Osage/Irish family of professional musicians in Kansas City, Missouri, where Kitty was trained from an early age in dance, vocal, art and musical instruments. Her father was a Naval band leader. During the Great Depression, her mother helped to support her family by tap dancing in the speakeasys even though she was just a child; she was very tall for her age but made up like an adult. Kitty had music and art on all sides of her family which ultimately helped to feed her imaginative mind and desire to succeed. Kitty married a wonderful Cherokee artist from Oklahoma, in fact the very area that she writes about in her Wheezer series of novels. After raising her family, Kitty came to Branson, Missouri and performed in her own one-woman show there for twelve years. To honor her father, she performed under the name Kitty Kelley. She has three music albums and several original songs to her credit and is best known for her comical, feel good song called It Ain't Over Till The Fat Lady Sings. Kitty has been writing for many years and in 2011 Inknbeans Press accepted her manuscript of an historical Native American murder mystery. It was the first in a series of stories featuring Wheezer, a Jack Russell Terrier and his friend, Sasa, it is called, Wheezer And The Painted Frog. Kitty lives in the southwestern corner of Missouri near Branson with her husband of 46 years and her three Jack Russell Terriers, one of which is the real and wonderful Wheezer.