Click on the cover to find out more about Layton and his work.
I met Layton at the Surrey International Writers Conference a few years ago. Since then I've had the pleasure of working with him to complete his first full length novel, Kola. The book just released on Feb 16, 2019. As you can see the cover is amazing. The story takes place during the US Civil War and then moves British COlumbia in Canada's beautiful Okanagan Valley. The story includes historical figures and events from which Layton drew inspiration. The character of Kola is loosely based on one of Layton's ancestors. The story touches on the early gold miners in the Okanagan Valley and touches on the tensions between the Chinese community and the population at large. Kola, with his half Chinese-half Irish heritage, is caught between them. Not to mention he's also pretending to be First Nations, a left over from his days riding with Frank and Jesse James.
A bit about Layton:
Layton grew up in the shadows of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, near Rocky Mountain House, the most westerly fur trading post in a bye-gone era.
He spent his early years on ranches and farms in the area and developed an interest in his family history. In the mid-1800s a neighbour murdered Harrison Caton, Layton's great-grandfather, near Bates County Missouri. Following the murder, his grandfather, with his two brothers and two sisters, headed for western Canada where they homesteaded in 1903, and where one cousin still farms. Park was inspired to capture and preserve his ancestor’s experiences and began researching the family history. After moving to Vernon, BC, in the course of that research, Layton discovered the story of a Chinese miner who murdered Aeneas Dewar, a tax collector. When he dug deeper, Layton was amazed at the treatment of Chinese miners at the time and had the brilliant notion to combine the two stories. Kola, his first historical novel, is the result.
Layton enjoys writing in Kelowna, BC, and has written many other books and short stories which you can explore on his website.
Back Cover BLurb for Kola:
Northern Soldiers killed Liam’s parents and left the half white, half Chinese boy for dead. The feared Quantrill’s raiders, rescued him to fight for the racially intolerant south. To hide his Chinese roots, he changed his name and posed as an Indian scout. After the war, all Quantrill’s men were to be rounded up and hung so he joined a horse drive to Canada. Someone among the Chinese miners murdered the tax collector pitting the Chinese against the white community. Kola is forced to decide which side he will support.
All events are historically accurate including the tax man’s murder, only the main characters are fictional as they weave their way through this historical western.
Below is an excerpt from Kola:
One evening the talk turned to gold mines and miners. Tingley said, “A lot of the miners are jealous of the Chinese who are only allowed into an area after the white miners are through with a claim. Then they seem to take more gold out of the tailings than the white men did out of the original dig.”
“There are Chinese miners?” It was the first Kola had heard of this and he was intrigued. “Do they live among the whites or separately?” Kola’s heart quickened remembering what Carson said about all races living together peacefully in Canada.
“No, they keep pretty much keep to themselves. Most live on their claims, but in Priest Valley there is a large Chinatown where three to four thousand live. The only time white folks go there is to smoke opium, get their laundry done, or gamble.”
“Opium is legal there?”
“It is to smoke, but you can’t sell it unless you pay twenty-five dollars for a permit. If you don’t, it’s illegal.”
“Sounds like a government thing?” Kola said.
“It is, but I don’t recommend you try it. I tried it once and it scrambled my brain. Folks that do go there regularly seem to crave it all the time. I think it messes up their thinking, but maybe that’s just me. Some folks think I’m a little old fashioned.”
“So, other than living in separate area’s the white and Chinese people get along good?” Kola asked.
“Hell no! Well, they don’t fight exactly, but they don’t trust or like each other. It makes no never mind to me because I have little to do with them,” Tingly said.
“So, what sort of thing goes on between them if they don’t fight?” Kola was surprised and disappointed with the information.
“The newspaper claims the Chinks are suspected of smuggling gold out of the country, which causes many of the whites to be upset with them.”
“Wait. The newspapers call them Chinks?” Kola frowned.
“Oh, hell yeah, and worse! They get called Celestials, yellow men, Mongolians, heathen, semi-barbarous, and filthy people.”
“Not in the newspaper?” Kola’s dream of living in a friendly Canada was evaporating.
“Of course, the folks on the street have worse names for them. Can’t say as they’ve done me any harm, but some folks just can’t stand them.”
“Do they try to hurt them?” Kola persisted.
“Just before I set out on this trip, I read a story in the Colonist newspaper, on how a few drunken white guys caught a couple of Celestials down at the docks in Victoria. Seems they tied their pig tails together, threw them into the bay, then they gambled on how long they could swim back to back.”
“What! Were they hurt?”
“Hell no! The poor bastards drowned.”
“And were the men charged?”
“Naw… there’s lots more Chinks where they came from. The boys had to pay the owner of the boat what was owed him for bringing the poor yellow bastards to Canada. Once the boat owner was paid out, then all was forgiven.”
Kola rocked back and forth in his saddle for a long time thinking about this new country he was headed to and remembering the stories his mother told him. They may not have slaves, but it didn’t sound like the Chinese were treated any better than the blacks in the South. His mind churned; would he ever find a place where he could fit in? Perhaps coming to Canada wasn’t such a good idea after all.
Kola couldn’t get the conversation out of his mind and the next day he spent most of the day thinking about it, riding alone and silent. That night after supper he lay on this bed roll off to one side of the fire when Carson came and sat next to him.
“What’s bothering you?”
“Nothing, I’m just tired Carson.”
“I’ve been watching you all day and I can tell when something’s bothering you. This is the worst I’ve seen you, it’s worse than when you shot that man in New Mexico.” He paused but Kola didn’t say anything. “Something bad has a hold on you. What is it?”
“Carson, I may have made a mistake.” Kola told him of the conversation he had with Tingley the night before.
“So, what’s the problem? You’ve faced that before… just stay Kola, half Indian, half gun fighter and no one will bother you.” Carson’s attempt at humor fell flat.
“Carson, did you ever hear the story of my mother?”
“Only that your pa got her in California, but I’d like to hear it?”
Kola could sense that Carson’s interest was genuine.
“Pa wouldn’t say much about how they met, and he got mad at me once when I suggested he paid for her. Later when Pa was in town Ma told me why he got so mad and what had really happened.”
He paused to gather his thought.
Carson said, “Go on.”
“Normally Ma’s brothers went to the village well for water in China, but one day when she was about fourteen her father told her to take a pail and go fetch it.
She never saw the men who grabbed her at the well. They came up from behind as she was pulling the bucket up, and the next thing she knew, she was bound, gagged, had a hood over her head, and was locked in a cage with three other girls. They were scared and had no idea what was happening. The three huddled together as they bounced along in a wagon for a very long time. At night, they were fed and told to sleep in the bed of the wagon, then they continued for two more days. The girls cried the whole time.
Along the way, they stopped at other villages and by the time they finally got to the end of the trip there was about a dozen young women crowded into the cage. Ma said it was then she decided that she would rely on the inner strength of her ancestors to help her. She would make what choices she could that would see her through it all.” Kola sat up and leaned against a stump searching his memory for all the details of her story.
“Wow, I knew your mother had a hard life, but I can’t imagine being taken from her family at such a young age then hauled away to a foreign land. She must have been terrorized.”
“She was. A few days later Ma was loaded into the cramped hold of a ship where she heard them say they were headed to Gold Mountain. She didn’t even know where that was. She found a spot in the belly of the ship where she could lie on the wooden floorboards, her back against the outside wall. The ship rocked back and forth for weeks. The people in the hold were given small rations of rice and water. Sometimes they had to fight the rats off. Many of them became sick and threw up on the floor and that’s where it stayed until it dried into a stinking yellow stain.”
“Didn’t someone wash it down. There would have been lots of water?” Carson interjected.
“The hold of the ship was sealed tight, so water wouldn’t wash in and no one was allowed on deck. Just a little fresh sea air came in from the trap doors above mixing with the putrid stench of body odor, vomit, sweat and urine. She said it was unimaginable.” He paused again.
“Several girls died, and when they did, the others stripped their bodies of any possessions or clothes and fought over them. Extra clothes were coveted because there were no blankets and it was cold. The bodies were taken onto the deck and thrown overboard. Ma said she just kept saying, I will survive because the strength of my ancestors are with me.”
“So, were there men prisoners on board as well?” Carson asked.
“Not prisoners. Most the men volunteered in order get to Gold Mountain.”
“Gold Mountain?”
“Ma said that was the name for America. They thought they would make lots of money and return to their families rich. Later, they would discover most could never earn enough money to repay the boat owners or their new bosses for the cost they agreed to pay for the voyage. A lot of the men ended up working like slaves for nothing.”
And here's a bit from later in the book:
Over the next few months Kola continued to explore the Cherry Creek area searching for a claim on his days off. Carson was granted permission to court Amy and he spent most of his free time with her.
Kola heard of a miner that was thinking of moving up to the Caribou, so on his next trip over to Cherryville he tracked the fellow down to discuss buying his claim.
“It still produces a little yellow,” the man said, “but I want to go looking for a bigger claim and I am getting tired of my neighbors. Most of the small white miners have moved on and this field is overrun with them filthy yellow people.”
Kola cringed inwardly but chose to ignore the statement. “How much do you want?”
“Two hundred, but you’ll make that back in no time,” the miner assured him.
“Why don’t you continue to mine it for half of no-time then, and then you can sell it to me for a hundred?” Kola could tell his twisted logic was lost on the stranger as he screwed up his face trying to figure out exactly what Kola meant.
The miner shook his head. “I don’t think so. There’s still gold here and if I can’t get a good price, I’ll just keep working it.”
“Suit yourself.” Kola shrugged.
He and the miner engaged in small talk about the mine and the area before Kola headed back to the BX. A week later he was in the area again when he ran into the same miner.
“Well young fellah, I took another hundred dollars out of that mine, so I’ll let you have it for your offer of one hundred dollars.” The miner spit tobacco to one side.
“That means the mine is now worth a hundred less than it was when I made my last offer?”
“I suppose so. That’s why I lowered my asking price,” the miner replied.
“But now I have to lower my offer.” Kola thought for a moment. “I’ll tell you what, I won’t deduct the whole hundred, say I only lower it by fifty dollars. That means an offer of fifty dollars is really fifty dollars more than my last offer.” He waited while the miner screwed up his face again following the twisted logic.
“I don’t think I can accept that,” the miner finally said.
“Suit yourself.” Kola turned to leave.
“Wait! Fifty dollars cash, right?”
“Fifty dollars cash!” Kola confirmed.
“I’ll come to town day after tomorrow. You get the fifty dollars and we’ll go to the claims office to change the deed.”
“I’ll be at the hardware store at noon,” Kola said.
Kola figured the claim was probably overworked and it wasn’t a great deal on his part, but he was anxious to start mining, and at last have a place of his own. The claim hadn’t been hydraulically mined, so it was pristine. The tall pine trees ran right down to the water’s edge. It was on a bend in the creek with many larger rocks disturbing the flow and providing a constant background sound that would sooth any soul. Kola hoped to recover his investment by panning some gold, but for the most part he just wanted a bit of heaven where he could find some peace, this seemed to be the place.
The following day Kola was at breakfast early and told Tingley of his plans to prospect part time. He asked if he could have the next day off to meet the miner. They talked a little longer about his plans, coming to an agreement he would work round-ups and when they were short-handed which would allow him time at the claim. Early the next morning Kola left for Priest Valley.
As soon as he rode into town, he stopped by the hardware store, told Carson he was meeting a man there about noon and asked if Carson would join him for lunch after. Carson agreed.
The man showed up as promised and the whole deal was done quickly. He shook the fellow’s hand and told him he would be out later in the week to move in. The man assured him the place would be empty. At lunch Kola was so happy he was almost bouncing with excitement.
Carson leaned back in his chair and grinned. “What’s got you so excited? You look like you just hit the motherlode.”
“Well, in a way I just did.” Kola didn’t stop talking the whole lunch hour. “By the weekend, I’ll have it set up, maybe you could ride up on your day off and have a look?”
Carson agreed, “I’m looking forward to it.”
After lunch, they went their separate ways. Kola picked up some supplies in preparation to head up to Cherryville the next day and begin putting his new property in order.
On the weekend, he was inside cleaning up the cabin when he was interrupted. “Hello! Kola!”
Kola recognized Carson’s voice and immediately turned to greet him. Carson smiled as Kola showed him around the property pointing out things he was going to build. He was like a kid with a new toy.
They spent the day laughing and talking, then Kola served up a pot of chili. After dinner, they relaxed and talked about their future in this new land. Carson helped clean up and as it grew late, he headed back for town.
A couple of weeks later Kola had cleaned and organized his new home. The first few days Kola didn’t even try to find gold, he just sat on the small veranda outside the cabin in the warm sun and gazed at the heavily treed hills across the creek. Most the trees were giant spruce and pine with some aspen and birch. Blue Jays often flew right into his camp to take what the squirrels left behind. Before long he had trained a couple to take food from his hand as he talked to them. He couldn’t remember a time in his life where he was happier.
Occasionally an eagle would soar silently overhead looking for food along the creek. Other times a deer would step quietly from the forest to sample the lush grass by the water. Kola enjoyed their silent company. He was beginning to believe that this was as close to heaven as a body could get. In fact, it reminded him of the hills of home in so many ways, or at least how the hills must have been before all the fighting began. He knew it was the right decision to make this peaceful valley his home. Perhaps he would finally find the peace he had been searching for, for so long.
I hope you've found this brief visit into Kola's world enjoyable. The book is available at all the regualar outlets: Kobo, Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble etc. Print copies are available from Chapters and Amazon.com
