Books by Rickey Butch Walker

Today, many of the names of local residents can be clearly traced to some of these planters and slaves. Walker has listed planters and the number of their slaves from 1820 through the 1860 census records. He has provided agricultural information, land records, census records, pictures, family members, birth and death information, and stories to make history come alive. This is a great book for those seeking individual profiles and local family information. I am honored to recommend "Cotton Was King" Volume 3. "Cotton Was King" Volume 3 begins with a review of Chief Doublehead and other important Indians who owned these lands before the Turkey Town Treaty of 1816. The author, Rickey Butch Walker, raised in Lawrence County, has always had a love for his Indian heritage and the history of his home county. The book is a historical record of early cotton planters and slave owners who were the first settlers to move into the Indian Territory after the treaty was signed and covers what is now Lawrence and Colbert Counties. There is not another book that compares to the historical account of the earliest days of the area. As we travel through this time capsule of the past, many hidden stories of planters and their slaves are brought to light. It is a compelling read for all who love history and want to get to the truth of the historical roots of Lawrence County.

In, "Cotton Was King Franklin-Colbert Counties" Rickey Butch Walker gives a wonderful account of Chickasaw Chief George Colbert as a cotton planter and the role of the Chickasaw Colbert's prior to the first white planters who moved with their slaves to claim the fertile lands of the Tennessee River Valley. After the Indian claims to the land were abolished by the 1816 treaty. The United States government transferred land titles to white settlers through federal land sales beginning in 1817. From the nutritionally deprived soil of cotton farms in the east, slave-owning planters poured into early Franklin County, Alabama, most of which is now present-day Colbert County. Rickey Butch Walker gives profiles of many of these wealthy plantation owners prior to the Civil War. This is the first detailed narrative of some of the white families of Franklin- Colbert County who helped develop the cotton industry of northwest Alabama. Some of the affluent planters, their plantations, land holding, property locations, and numbers of black slaves are discussed in detail. These early planters were dependent on black slave labor to become very wealthy and control vast tracts of land. This is a valuable read for anyone interested in the local history of cotton barons who came to North Alabama from North Carolina and Virginia.

Soldier's Wife is a straightforward biography of Katie Lucille (Lucy) Walker, a devoted wife and mother, who with her children followed her husband Asa (Ace) Francis Walker, Jr. to Alaska, Japan, Guam, Germany, and other faraway places as he served in the military. Living in foreign countries and cultures presented challenges that were nothing like those Lucy had known as a poverty stricken country girl growing up in the foothills of Appalachia. Although she was born in the mist of the Great Depression and grew up during World War II, she never allowed herself to be bogged down by poverty. Lucy was brave enough to leave the confines of a small rural community to live in foreign countries. Dedicated to God,family, and country, Lucy was a strong, self-reliant southern woman who embraced life and faced the trials it presented with courage, faith, and love. Historically, military wives have made contributions and sacrifices that contributed to their husband's success, and Lucy was no exception. As a patriotic American woman, her pivotal role was just as important to her husband and his career as the soldiers who were actively serving with him in the United States armed forces. As part of the Security Service, much of Asa's work was classified top secret for reasons of national security. Sometimes, he was in covert situations requiring him to go underground, and he would not be heard from for days. With Asa's whereabouts unknown, Lucy was left alone to care for her children and her home in a foreign country where she could not speak the language; there were no relatives to call on for help. Soldier's Wife tells about Lucy's American Indian heritage, humble childhood, young adult years as the wife of a career airman, and life after returning to her ancestral home. It highlights poignant accounts of her tumultuous and often painful journey from the cotton fields of North Alabama to some of the most politically turbulent places in the world during the Cold War. Lucy lived the chaos of the Soviet Communists building the Berlin Wall and faced the terror of a life threatening incident at the beginning of a revolution in Tripoli, Libya. The compelling narrative of the courage that she displayed in the face of adversity and in a near death experience commands attention. Lucy's story provides insight into the often overlooked life of a soldier's wife.