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The Frontiersmen by Allan W. Eckert

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fljustice
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The Frontiersmen by Allan W. Eckert

Post by fljustice » Thu December 13th, 2012, 10:37 pm

The author calls this a novel about the settling of whites beyond the Allegheny Mountains, primarily in Kentucky and Ohio, but also a bit beyond to Indiana, Tennessee and Missouri. It reads like non-fiction--straightforward narrative with chapter notes. The author imputes emotions to the characters in a novelistic way. The dialog is supposedly taken from diaries and published accounts. I found the writing plain but the history fascinating, especially since I grew up in Ohio and was somewhat familiar with many of the characters. And there are a lot of characters. Allan W. Eckert deals with all the leading Native Americans, U.S. and British military leaders, frontiersmen, settlers, merchants and con-men that lived or visited Kentucky and the Northwest Territory. He covers the establishment of nearly every city and village (native or settler) in the area; every raid and murder (again on both sides) and military actions. It sometimes became a bit overwhelming, but his "touchstone" characters were the famous frontiersman Simon Kenton and legendary Shawnee chief Tecumseh. He filled in the background on their parents, siblings and lives from birth to death. Eckert began and ended the book with Kenton's story and regularly returned to him during the narrative.

In general, I enjoyed the book. The middle sagged a bit and, as I mentioned, the detail could get overwhelming. I would give it three stars for reading pleasure and a fourth for the great research. I will be reading the sequel. One chapter note struck me. According to Eckert, Andrew Jackson (the US 7th president) was likely born at sea and ineligible for the Presidency. He presents some compelling firsthand accounts (one, a woman who claimed to have delivered him on the boat) and muddy dates (Simon Kenton mentioned meeting Jackson leading a gang of men in Kentucky when, according to the official biography, Jackson would have only been twelve years old.) Our first birther controversy! I recommend this book for those serious about early US expansion history. If you're looking for a romantic story or more traditional HF, this isn't the book for you.
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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Fri December 14th, 2012, 12:33 am

Thanks Faith, I have a copy of this languishing somewhere.
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Antoine Vanner
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The Frontiersmen: Warning

Post by Antoine Vanner » Sun December 16th, 2012, 9:23 pm

[QUOTE=fljustice;106965]The author calls this a novel about the settling of whites beyond the Allegheny Mountains, primarily in Kentucky and Ohio, but also a bit beyond to Indiana, Tennessee and Missouri. It reads like non-fiction...

I read this book some 40 years ago and it gave me a lasting impression of just how violent and unromantic the frontier actually was.

Readers should however be warned that it includes several detailed accounts of the most sickening tortures that the human mind can devise. Nothing is left to your imagination and even after so long my mind recoils from the memory. The "noble savage" emerges from these accounts as anything but noble and many of the settlers proved to be little better. For this reason, though the book comes across as honest and clear-eyed in its depiction of frontier life, readers of a sensitive disposition as strongly recommended to avoid it. On the other hand, if you are attracted to the "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" school of history this deserves to be read for reasons of balance.

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Post by Ludmilla » Mon December 17th, 2012, 3:22 pm

I have his NF, Wilderness Empire, somewhere at home. It's a great big doorstopper, too.

I really enjoyed Richard Morgan's biography of Daniel Boone, which covers some of this same territory and is very engaging rather than dry history.

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fljustice
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Post by fljustice » Mon December 17th, 2012, 3:42 pm

Readers should however be warned that it includes several detailed accounts of the most sickening tortures that the human mind can devise. Nothing is left to your imagination and even after so long my mind recoils from the memory. The "noble savage" emerges from these accounts as anything but noble and many of the settlers proved to be little better. For this reason, though the book comes across as honest and clear-eyed in its depiction of frontier life, readers of a sensitive disposition as strongly recommended to avoid it. On the other hand, if you are attracted to the "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" school of history this deserves to be read for reasons of balance.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for pointing that out, Antoine. I should have mentioned it in my review, but my eyes tend to slide over those kinds of descriptions rather than dwell on them, so they don't stick with me. :o
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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Mon December 17th, 2012, 7:14 pm

[quote=""fljustice""]Readers should however be warned that it includes several detailed accounts of the most sickening tortures that the human mind can devise. Nothing is left to your imagination and even after so long my mind recoils from the memory. The "noble savage" emerges from these accounts as anything but noble and many of the settlers proved to be little better. For this reason, though the book comes across as honest and clear-eyed in its depiction of frontier life, readers of a sensitive disposition as strongly recommended to avoid it. On the other hand, if you are attracted to the "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" school of history this deserves to be read for reasons of balance.[/quote]

Thanks for pointing that out, Antoine. I should have mentioned it in my review, but my eyes tend to slide over those kinds of descriptions rather than dwell on them, so they don't stick with me. :o [/QUOTE]

I really, really appreciate these kinds of warnings, and not just for violence. I got my big girl panties on, but then for other readers YMMV. I've seen a reviewer get a slap down for mentioning that the sex in a book was a bit much for her tastes, acting like she was being a meanie reviewer for mentioning it. Now all these older romances are coming back out as ebooks, and the more *politically correct* readers are freaking out at the tropes (like rape/forced seduction) that were quite common in the 70s and 80s. Then I look at all those same readers thinking Christian Grey is the greatest male evar and roll my eyes.
At home with a good book and the cat...
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