From an award-winning author and Choctaw storyteller comes a riveting tale set in turn-of-the-century Indian Territory.

Who would show up for their own execution?

1892, Indian Territory. A war brews in the Choctaw Nation as two political parties grapple between old tradition and evolving issues—with eighteen-year-old Choctaw Ruth Ann Teller caught in the middle.

In a small but booming pre-statehood town, Ruth Ann’s mixed blood family owns a controversial newspaper, the Choctaw Tribune, infamous for its dedication to unbiased truth. Ruth Ann wants to help spread the word about critical issues, but there is danger for a female reporter on all fronts—socially, politically, even physically.

But is the truth worth dying for? When this quest leads Ruth Ann and her brother Matthew, the stubborn editor of the fledgling Choctaw Tribune, to the farm of a condemned murderer, it also brings them to head on clashes with leading townsmen who want their reports about what really happened silenced no matter what.

With the execution fast approaching, truth itself is on the line. When the dust has settled, who will survive to know the truth? And can the truth itself survive when all else is lost?

The Executions is a story of friendship, faith, and family in a gritty western setting with characters that fight for truth against all odds.

“Among the many pleasures of Sarah Elisabeth’s writing are her attention to character, language, and period detail. In The Executions, a story grounded in history and the complexities of pre-statehood Oklahoma, she brings to life, with great heart, the compelling mix of cultures, faith, and political intrigue in the old Choctaw Nation. An intriguing read.”—Rilla Askew, author of The Mercy Seat

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About the Choctaw Tribune Historical Fiction series:

These books let you explore the old Choctaw Nation with Matthew and Ruth Ann Teller, a Choctaw brother and sister pair who own a newspaper, the Choctaw Tribune. They're in the midst of shootouts and tribal upheavals with the coming Dawes Commission in the 1890s. The changes in Indian Territory threaten everything they've known and force them to decide if they are going to take a stand for truth, even in the face of death.

A clean historical fiction series with a Western flair, the Choctaw Tribune explores racial, political, spiritual, and social issues in the old Choctaw Nation—and beyond.

Books in the series:

The Executions (Book 1)

Traitors (Book 2)

Shaft of Truth (Book 3)

Sovereign Justice (Book 4)

Fire and Ink (Book 5) (Coming August 2023)

Choctaw Tribune Boxset (Books 1 -3)

***#1 AMAZON BESTSELLER***

“Someone’s going to be king in this territory. No reason it can’t be me. It sure won’t be you.”

Betrayed.

Someone is tearing at the fabric of the Choctaw Nation while political turmoil, assassinations, and feuds threaten the sovereignty of the tribe, which stands under the U.S. government’s scrutiny.

When heated words turn to hot lead, Ruth Ann Teller—a young Choctaw woman—fears losing her brother, who won’t settle for anything but the truth. Matthew is determined to use his newspaper, the Choctaw Tribune, to uncover the scheme behind Mayor Thaddeus Warren’s claim to the townsite of Dickens. Matthew is willing to risk his newspaper—and his life—to uncover a traitor among their people.

But when Ruth Ann tries to help, she causes more harm than good—especially after the mayor brings in Lance Fuller, a schoolteacher from New York, to provide a rare educational opportunity for white children. How does this charming yet aloof young man fit into the mayor’s scheme?

When attacks against the newspaper strike and bullets fly, a trip to the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 is the key to saving the Choctaw Tribune and Matthew’s investigation. But Ruth Ann must find the courage to face a journey to the White City—without her brother.

“Sarah introduces many issues: race relations, the presence of Jews in the Choctaw Nation, the Lighthorsemen, the educated and civilized Choctaw, a few greedy white people, the struggle for women to have equal rights and be able to pursue careers, the political issues of the Nationals and the Progressives, the confusion and separation of the two tiered system for lawbreakers for the white man and the Indian in Indian Territory, morality, integrity, doing what is right and the Gospel message. These issues are all woven into the story of the Teller family. So much intrigue and mystery.” -Beverly Hardy Allen, author of Back Then: A Choctaw Family’s Noble Legacy of Perseverance

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About the Choctaw Tribune Historical Fiction series:

These books let you explore the old Choctaw Nation with Matthew and Ruth Ann Teller, a Choctaw brother and sister pair who own a newspaper, the Choctaw Tribune. They're in the midst of shootouts and tribal upheavals with the coming Dawes Commission in the 1890s. The changes in Indian Territory threaten everything they've known and force them to decide if they are going to take a stand for truth, even in the face of death.

A clean historical fiction series with a Western flair, the Choctaw Tribune explores racial, political, spiritual, and social issues in the old Choctaw Nation—and beyond.

Books in the series:

The Executions (Book 1)

Traitors (Book 2)

Shaft of Truth (Book 3)

Sovereign Justice (Book 4)

Fire and Ink (Book 5) (Coming August 2023)

Choctaw Tribune Boxset (Books 1 -3)

“Nothing to it but a stout heart.”

On a mission to bring justice to the outlaw gang that murdered his father and brother, Matthew Teller leaves the Choctaw Tribune newspaper for his sister to operate and plunges into an unfamiliar world of darkness and danger. Working inside the coal mines of the Choctaw Nation—one of the most dangerous places in the country—he searches for a man who may have the answers to this six-year-old mystery. But after Matthew uncovers an earth-shattering truth that rocks him to his core, he must decide what right is, and what price he is willing to pay for it.

Ruth Ann Teller knows she can handle publishing the Choctaw Tribune—until she loses their biggest advertiser. Now, with Matthew miles away and the future of the newspaper resting squarely on her shoulders, Ruth Ann must make a bold move to keep the newspaper afloat in her brother’s absence. She sets it on a course for new success or total disaster.

Striking coal miners. Outlaw gangs. An unsolved crime. And a Choctaw family that fights for one another, and for truth.

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About the Choctaw Tribune Historical Fiction series:

These books let you explore the old Choctaw Nation with Matthew and Ruth Ann Teller, a Choctaw brother and sister pair who own a newspaper, the Choctaw Tribune. They're in the midst of shootouts and tribal upheavals with the coming Dawes Commission in the 1890s. The changes in Indian Territory threaten everything they've known and force them to decide if they are going to take a stand for truth, even in the face of death.

A clean historical fiction series with a Western flair, the Choctaw Tribune explores racial, political, spiritual, and social issues in the old Choctaw Nation—and beyond.

Books in the series:

The Executions (Book 1)

Traitors (Book 2)

Shaft of Truth (Book 3)

Sovereign Justice (Book 4)

Fire and Ink (Book 5) (Coming August 2023)

Choctaw Tribune Boxset (Books 1 -3)

Ruth Ann wondered if she and her brother would ever fully trust each other again.

When Ruth Ann Teller learns the shocking truth her brother Matthew brings back from the coal mines in Choctaw Nation, she is devastated beyond words. Determined to piece her family back together, Ruth Ann resolves to find and hire the best lawyer in Indian Territory. But the best lawyer happens to be the Teller family’s opposition: Tecumseh Shoemaker, who is determined to bring justice by pitting the family against one another.

Broken trust with her brother pushes Ruth Ann to an unlikely alliance with the one person who promises to help her—Pepper Barnes. But Pepper harbors his own agenda, one that includes wrangling Ruth Ann into traveling to Washington, D.C. with a political delegation from the Choctaw Nation, serving as a reporter for the Choctaw Tribune.

In D.C., Ruth Ann’s hope turns to full-blood Choctaw lawyer Benjamin Nakishi, a man on the cusp of greatness—and who has his own troubled past and reasons not to return with her to Indian Territory.

With a wounded heart and the future of her family hanging in the balance, Ruth Ann is caught in the swirl of politics, historical injustices, and romance in a bustling city full of its own stories and secrets.

A judgment is coming that will affect the Teller family forever—but will justice truly be served?

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About the Choctaw Tribune Historical Fiction series:

These books let you explore the old Choctaw Nation with Matthew and Ruth Ann Teller, a Choctaw brother and sister pair who own a newspaper, the Choctaw Tribune. They're in the midst of shootouts and tribal upheavals with the coming Dawes Commission in the 1890s. The changes in Indian Territory threaten everything they've known and force them to decide if they are going to take a stand for truth, even in the face of death.

A clean historical fiction series with a Western flair, the Choctaw Tribune explores racial, political, spiritual, and social issues in the old Choctaw Nation—and beyond.

Books in the series:

The Executions (Book 1)

Traitors (Book 2)

Shaft of Truth (Book 3)

Sovereign Justice (Book 4)

Fire and Ink (Book 5) (Coming August 2023)

Choctaw Tribune Boxset (Books 1 -3)

“You sure ask an unhealthy amount of questions.”

When rival newspaperman Christopher Maxwell files to annex the townsite of Dickens and remove it from the Choctaw Nation, Matthew Teller resolves to stop him.

Armed with little more than his gut instinct, Matthew is propelled on a desperate hunt through court records and newspaper accounts from Indian Territory, to Hot Springs, Arkansas, St. Louis, Missouri, and even Washington, D.C. for the hard evidence he needs. But the investigation is jeopardized by the shadowy man who threatened to kill him—and by the burden of family responsibility.

An upcoming wedding, a tiny new member of the family, and dangerous secrets—not to mention Ruth Ann’s wild venture to grow the influence of the Choctaw Tribune—brew at home as Matthew struggles to piece together the case against Maxwell. Above it all, a talented young Chickasaw woman working for the Tribune may prove to be Matthew’s greatest ally…or biggest distraction.

A trail of threats and death follow as he risks everything he’s built to bring long-awaited justice on the man who wants to wreck Dickens and the Choctaw Tribune—but only if Matthew can outrun his own reckoning first.

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About the Choctaw Tribune Historical Fiction series:

These books let you explore the old Choctaw Nation with Matthew and Ruth Ann Teller, a Choctaw brother and sister pair who own a newspaper, the Choctaw Tribune. They're in the midst of shootouts and tribal upheavals with the coming Dawes Commission in the 1890s. The changes in Indian Territory threaten everything they've known and force them to decide if they are going to take a stand for truth, even in the face of death.

A historical fiction series with a Western flair, the Choctaw Tribune explores racial, political, spiritual, and social issues in the old Choctaw Nation—and beyond.

Books in the series:

The Executions (Book 1)

Traitors (Book 2)

Shaft of Truth (Book 3)

Sovereign Justice (Book 4)

Fire and Ink (Book 5)

Choctaw Tribune Boxset (Books 1 -3)