Fables of the West

Old Shatterhand and Fred Harton part company in Santa Fe after the profitable gold-mining venture, and Charles brings about a happy ending to the young German woman’s odyssey through the wilds of Mexico and beyond. Shortly after departing from Santa Fe, he crosses paths with an English lord, Emery Bothwell. The two men discover common interests, and soon are riding west together, and towards California. Along the way they team up with a group of young German adventurers intent on not getting involved in the Civil War, which is still raging around them. The riders are successful in evading the turmoil, and along the way uncover a number of threads that connect the young Germans to Old Shatterhand’s own homeland of Saxony. As they are making their way north to San Francisco after crossing the Rio Colorado, two strangers join them at camp; while telling tales around the fire, Emery Bothwell hears to his amazement that he might be closer than he thought to finding the answer to a murder case and a vanished treasure, which had in the first place necessitated his ride to California.

Winnetou and Old Shatterhand say farewell to their friends when The Wind docks in San Francisco. It is January, and there is no getting over the Sierra Madre in winter; the two blood-brothers ride south, towards the Mexican border where they cross the Rio Colorado, and then turn east. This far south, temperatures are milder, and the ride promises to be long and uneventful; however, the spectre of the Reservations is looming large. Winnetou rides a detour to visit Tatellah-Satah; he returns to Sharlih with news of trouble that overshadows their journey. While crossing the Llano Estacado, those troubles materialize. When they reach Omaha, after many long weeks on the trail, they receive a telegram which forces Winnetou to return to Tatellah-Satah.

Old Shatterhand plans to visit family in Germany, but on the Missouri steamer, which takes him to St. Louis, he meets a long-lost school friend, Fred Sommer. Instead of Germany, Mexico is now his destination where a secret spanning several generations is at last unravelled.