On the Far Side of the Mountain

Jean Craighead George’s On the Far Side of the Mountain is a middle-grade novel that tells the story of Sam Gribley, who has been living in the Catskill Mountains for two years when his peaceful lifestyle is interrupted by a conservation officer who confiscates his peregrine falcon, Frightful, just as his younger sister Alice disappears from their mountaintop home. George draws on her upbringing in a family of naturalists and personal love of animals and the outdoors to bring Sam’s mountain to life. The novel is a sequel to George’s Newberry Medal winning My Side of the Mountain, and is followed by a third novel in the series, Frightful’s Mountain. On the Far Side of the Mountain was published in 1990, and this guide refers to the 2001 paperback edition.

Plot Summary

Sam Gribley ran away from his home in New York two years ago and has been living in the Catskill Mountains ever since. Now 13 or 14 years old, he loves the simple mountaintop home where he lives at peace with his environment and cares for his peregrine falcon, Frightful. Sam’s younger sister, Alice, came to live with him on the mountain a year ago, and since her arrival, the two have made several improvements to their camp, including building a treehouse for Alice and a working water mill.

On a humid and hazy day in June, a conservation officer named Leon Longbridge arrives on Sam’s mountain and confiscates Frightful, saying that because peregrine falcons are an endangered species, only a licensed falconer can legally keep the bird. The conservation officer says that because Sam raised Frightful from infancy, she imprinted on him and is unable to mate with her own kind. Longbridge intends to take her to the university where she will produce young through artificial insemination; her young will eventually be released to freedom in a falconry practice known as “hacking,” in which falcons are trained and prepared to become self-sufficient hunters.

Sam is devastated when Frightful is taken from him, but a day later, he realizes he did not check the officer’s identification. He leaves a note for Alice, explaining that Frightful has been taken, and journeys down the mountain and into the nearby town of Delhi, New York. At the sheriff’s office, the receptionist verifies that the conservation officer’s name is indeed Leon Longbridge, and Sam disappointedly returns home. His friend Bando comes to visit from his nearby cabin and listens to Sam’s story about Frightful’s confiscation.

After not seeing his sister for several days, Sam heads to Alice’s treehouse but finds it empty. He then finds her note stating her intentions to leave—he sees that she’s taken enough supplies to be gone for a while, and he resolves to find out where she went. In the morning, Sam talks to his friend and neighbor Mrs. Strawberry. He learns that Alice left the day after Frightful was confiscated and that she took her pig, Crystal, which will make her much easier to track. When Sam finds Alice’s homemade compass and deduces her direction of travel, he studies Bando’s maps to find out where she might be headed. Bando’s wife, Zella, reminds Sam and Bando that Alice loves waterfalls, and upon looking at the map and Alice’s plotted direction, they conclude that Alice is likely headed for the Helderberg Mountains and stopping at waterfalls along the way. Although Sam doesn’t want to interfere in Alice’s journey, he and Bando decide to follow her because they know that she has a penchant for mischief.

Bando and Sam start out at once, pausing often to consult their maps and read clues. After finding pig tracks (presumably Crystal’s) and one of Alice’s compasses, they predict she is headed to Manorkill Falls. Upon reaching Manorkill Falls, however, Sam and Bando find that Alice has already moved on. They decide to part ways temporarily; Sam will go to a nearby farm to inquire about Alice, and Bando will go to the nearby town of West Conesville to phone Zella. Sam learns that Alice stayed at the farm for a few days with Crystal before leaving with the farmer’s daughter, Hanni, for a fair in another town. Sam catches up to Bando, and the two of them set out again.

Upon reaching the fair in the town of Rensselaerville, Sam meets Hanni and learns that Alice has already left. However, Alice left Crystal at the show, which indicates that she plans to return to fetch her pig. Sam deduces that Alice must have gone to a nearby waterfall. He decides to go there, while Bando wants to investigate an ad they saw in the town newspaper; the ad was for a falcon hacking happening that night, but Bando suspects this was a coded message and that the hacking might be a cover-up for something else.

When Sam reaches the waterfall, he finds Alice’s camp, but Alice is not there. He also sees signs of the falcon hacking, but no people or birds of prey are present. Upon reuniting with Bando in town, Sam learns that men in the area may be illegally selling birds of prey and that the hacking was moved to Beaver Corners at dawn the next day. While in town, Sam spots the man who confiscated Frightful. However, Bando knows Leon Longbridge personally, and states that this man is not the real Leon Longbridge but an imposter; Sam realizes this imposter must have taken Frightful to sell her at a high price. Bando and Sam quickly make a plan: Sam will go to find Alice (who may have been spotted by the illegal falconers and could be in danger), while Bando will find the town conservation officer and head to Beaver Corners to catch the falcon seller, Bate, and the buyer, Skri.

Upon returning to Alice’s camp, Sam finds a note from her stating she saw the falconers and is heading to the Helderberg Escarpment. Relieved to know Alice is safe, Sam walks through the night to Beaver Corners, hoping that Bate will be caught with Frightful. Sam reaches Beaver Corners at dawn, the appointed meeting time for Bate and Skri, and discovers a hidden tunnel that leads to the basement of the town church. From his hiding place, he can see Bate, Skri, and one other man with a prairie falcon, but Frightful is nowhere to be found. Sam exits the cave and finds Bando and the conservation officer, Sean Conklin. Thanks to Sam’s quick thinking when he runs to the cave entrance to catch Skri red-handed with the prairie falcon, Bando and Officer Conklin are able to deliver the bird safely to the nearest university. Meanwhile, Sam hurriedly sets out for the Helderberg Escarpment; a pair of goshawks live there, and now at the end of June, the goshawks may have young. He knows that Alice will want to see the baby birds and could get hurt by the parent goshawks.

When Sam reaches the Helderberg Escarpment, he finds Alice already halfway up a tree, attempting to reach the goshawk nest and capture a fledgling. Ignoring Sam’s warnings to stop, she eventually climbs down safely with a baby goshawk in her backpack and gives it to Sam. Although her brother is amazed and appreciative of her mission to replace his beloved Frightful, he knows that he cannot keep the bird. However, Alice has one more surprise. When she saw the falconers in the woods, she also saw Frightful and was able to set her free. Sam hears Frightful’s familiar call and sees her soaring through the air nearby. Although he could easily call her to him, he decides instead to set her free, believing that she can mate successfully and contribute to the continuation of her species in the wild. Seeing Frightful leave is simultaneously difficult and joyous for Sam, and he knows he is doing the right thing. After treasuring the baby goshawk for a few hours, Sam returns the baby bird to its nest at nightfall when the parents cannot see. Sam considers becoming a licensed falconer; now that he knows how wonderful it feels to set a falcon free, he knows he could enjoy such a role.