Book Review: ‘Burning Ground': A Time Traveler’s Escape From Tragedy Into Romance and Yellowstone History

The lower part of Yellowstone Falls. Much of the novel is set in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. (Scott Catron/CC BY 2.5)

“Burning Ground” by D.A. Galloway is part time-travel adventure, part travelogue, part historical fiction, part romance, and part survival guide. The book is many things and therein lies its positives and its negatives.

The book begins in 1971 with an immensely tragic moment for the protagonist Graham Davidson and his family. Tragedy multiplied becomes the basis of the novel for the first number of chapters. Davidson finds himself lost within his own family as he continues to blame himself for the mounting tragic events. The author provides an honest take on the toll that tragedies take on a family, and the threads that hold the Davidson family together become quite bare.

As Davidson grows up and tries to deal with his tragic existence, he befriends a Crow Indian by the name of Redfield. It is this relationship that catapults the story. Davidson is given the opportunity to go on a vision quest, a sacred Native American spiritual journey. The protagonist has little to lose, as almost everything he held dear has already been taken.

Travelogue Meets Time Travel

When Davidson secures a summer job at Yellowstone National Park, he finds not only the opportunity to venture through America’s first national park, but also the perfect time and place to attempt his vision quest.

The author proves his knowledge of the great national park by providing extensive detail. From the hot springs to the geysers to the lakes to mountainous terrain, Galloway leaves almost no stone unturned. It is this knowledge that enables him to describe the park accurately even before it ever became a national park. This attention to detail, however, is often given too much attention.

Davidson succeeds in the first step of his vision quest and is taken back 100 years to 1871 but remains in Yellowstone. It is the year the federal government sanctioned a team to explore the area. Davidson, with his knowledge of the future Yellowstone, is able to assist in what is known to history as the Hayden Expedition.

The protagonist helps the team of explorers and gets to venture through Yellowstone in a way he would never have before. Galloway hits on all cylinders when it comes to the travelogue aspect of comparing what was before and what is now at the park.

Readers will find the novel helpful if they ever plan to visit the park, by learning what to visit and also learning how to visit. In the novel, the author includes a quasi-survival guide, or at least a guide on what to do and what not to do at the park (for instance, how to deal with bears, among other things).

The author ensures the protagonist practices self-restraint in order to not give himself away as a time traveler. The reader gets the sense that, for the most part, Davidson is simply happy to be thrown into the past, especially during such a momentous occasion. There are still various dangers that surround the survey team and Davidson, like bears, hot springs, and possible Indian attacks.

These dangers, much like the tragedies, are rarely in the background. They often happen to the protagonist or right in front of him, and often predictably.

History and Romance

As there is plenty to learn from “Burning Ground” regarding Yellowstone, there is plenty to learn about the Hayden Expedition. The reader will learn about what it took to take soundings of Yellowstone Lake, how difficult it was trekking through the mountains, and how the initial paintings and photographs of the park came to be.

The author provides introductions to each member of the expedition, though not all of them are likable. (The historical accuracy of their personalities I can’t speak to.) Ultimately, these figures play secondary roles to give way to the relationship focused on.

Davidson meets Makawee, a beautiful young Crow woman who is the guide for the expedition. It is this relationship that competes with the landscape for the reader’s attention. We are caught between the author’s love of Yellowstone and the protagonist’s love for Makawee. It is not a bad place to be caught, though, as the author often utilizes the landscape to bring the two together.

Davidson’s pursuit of Makawee is the pinnacle of the story, but I wish the author had gotten to it sooner. Galloway creates an alluring love story, but the reader must work to get there and, even then, it is rather short-lived.

There are plenty of moments to enjoy in “Burning Ground,” but it is often a struggle to get to them. When it comes to following the course of the book, the opening tragedies seem practically unnecessary, as they don’t drive the story well. With that, the time-travel aspect proves unnecessary. Ultimately, had the story started in 1871 with the Hayden Expedition, it still could have included the travelogue, survival guide, historical fiction, and romance features. A more concise work would have been more accommodating to the author’s extensive detail and thematic maneuvering.

‘Burning Ground’ By D.A. Galloway Independently published, released July 6, 2021 Hardcover: 492 pages