The Great Turkey Walk

Kathleen Karr’s The Great Turkey Walk (1998) is a historical adventure novel for middle grade readers. Set in 1860, the story follows 15-year-old Simon Green, who decides to herd 1,000 turkeys nearly a thousand miles from his home in Missouri to the boomtown of Denver, where he believes he can sell them for a fortune. Assembling an unconventional group of companions, Simon embarks on an epic journey across the American West. The novel explores themes such as Redefining Intelligence Beyond Book Smarts, The Strengths of Found Family, and The Journey as a Catalyst for Coming of Age.

Karr is the author of numerous works of historical fiction for young readers, including the Golden Kite Award-winning novel The Boxer. The Great Turkey Walk received several honors, including being named a Best Book of the Year by both Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal and being recognized as a Notable Children’s Book by the National Council of Teachers of English and the National Council for the Social Studies.

This guide refers to the 2012 Square Fish e-book edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of illness, death, child death, child abuse, bullying, racism, addiction, suicidal ideation, and animal death.

Plot Summary

In 1860 Missouri, 15-year-old Simon Green is “graduated” from the third grade after his fourth year by his teacher, Miss Rogers, who encourages him to find his way in the world. Considered a burden by his aunt, uncle, and cousins, Simon hatches an ambitious plan after learning from a neighbor that turkeys worth 25 cents in Missouri sell for $5 a head in the boomtown of Denver (in what is now Colorado). He negotiates with his uncle for a wagon and four mules as his inheritance and persuades Miss Rogers to invest her life savings of $250 in purchasing 1,000 bronze turkeys. Realizing that he needs a drover, Simon seeks out Bidwell Peece, a renowned mule skinner who has an alcohol addiction. After sobering Mr. Peece up, Simon recruits him for a percentage of the birds’ selling price. Accompanied by Peece and his dog, Emmett, Simon begins the great turkey walk.

The group’s first major obstacle is the Gasconade River. Unable to afford the ferry for the entire flock, Simon and Emmett startle the birds, causing them to fly across the water. Shortly after, they encounter Jabeth Ballou, a starving 15-year-old who is fleeing enslavement and heading for freedom in the Kansas Territory. Simon invites Jabeth to join them, but Jabeth proves to be a poor turkey herder. However, he reveals a talent for hunting and foraging, becoming the group’s official provisioner.

Near Jefferson City, Simon decides to attend a traveling circus alone. There, he is swindled in a shell game by a man named Cleaver. In the ensuing confrontation, Simon discovers that the circus strongman, Samson, is his long-lost father, who abandoned him 10 years earlier. His father shows a sudden, intense interest in the turkey enterprise after learning of its potential profit and offers to join, but Simon, suspicious of his motives, rejects the offer.

The next day, Samson and Cleaver, riding stolen Arabian horses from the circus, ambush the group, tie up Simon and Mr. Peece, and steal the wagon and the entire flock. Jabeth, who hid during the attack, frees them. The three, along with Emmett, pursue the rustlers, recovering dozens of stray turkeys along the way. They ambush the camp at night, overpower Samson and Cleaver, and leave them with disgruntled villagers. They decide to keep the valuable Arabian horses.

The group resupplies and continues into the Kansas Territory, where Jabeth celebrates his freedom. On Pottawatomie reservation land, their shooting practice attracts the attention of a group led by John Winter Prairie, who accepts their breakfast as restitution for trespassing. Days later, Samson and Cleaver attack again, this time riding stolen circus camels. As a standoff ensues, John and his men intervene and capture the rustlers. Simon gives the Pottawatomie 14 turkeys to start a new flock, as well as the camels, on the condition that they also keep his father and Cleaver.

Near Fort Riley, a platoon of US Cavalry soldiers begins shooting at the turkeys for sport, killing one. An enraged Simon fights and defeats a soldier before an officer arrives to restore order. Further into the desolate prairie, they discover a sod dugout and a young woman, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Hardwick, suffering from “prairie madness.” She is the sole survivor of her family. A massive swarm of grasshoppers descends, but the turkeys save the group by devouring the entire plague.

Simon decides that they cannot leave Lizzie behind, and she joins their journey. He becomes overprotective of her and is secretly troubled by the fact that he has romantic feelings for her, even though she is 16 and he is only 15. As they near the Rocky Mountains, Lizzie confronts Simon, who confesses his insecurity. She laughs, tells him that the age difference does not matter, and admits that she likes him.

The group arrives on the outskirts of Denver. Simon arranges for handbills to be printed, advertising a public auction for the “Great Turkeys of the Great Turkey Walk.” They parade the flock into the city, where Mr. Peece acts as auctioneer, skillfully driving the price up to $6 per bird. Just as the sale is about to close, Samson and Cleaver, having escaped, burst in and claim ownership. The standoff descends into chaos until Simon produces the original bill of sale, which Miss Rogers had insisted he keep safe in his boot. The rustlers are arrested, and the sale is completed.

Now a rich man, Simon divides the profits, but Mr. Peece, Jabeth, and Lizzie all reinvest their shares with him. Simon reveals his new plan to use their collective earnings to establish “The Great Turkey Five Ranch” (196). The story concludes with a letter that Simon sends to Miss Rogers, detailing their success and their new life building the ranch together.