A Frontier Life: Jacob Hamblin, Explorer and Indian Missionary - Hardcover

Compton, Todd M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1607812347 ISBN 13: 9781607812340

Publisher: University of Utah Press, 2013

Synopsis

Winner of the Juanita Brooks Prize in Mormon Studies

Frontiersman, colonizer, missionary to the Indians, and explorer of the American West, Jacob Hamblin has long been one of the most enigmatic figures in Mormon history. In this defining biography, Todd Compton examines and disentangles many of the myths and controversies surrounding Hamblin. His Grand Canyon adventures and explorations as a guide alongside John Wesley Powell are well documented, as are his roles as a missionary, cultural liaison, and negotiator to the Indian tribes of southern Utah and Arizona. Hamblin struggled in this latter role, sometimes unable to bridge the gulf between Mormonism and Indian culture. He disavowed violent conflict and ceaselessly sought peaceful resolutions where others resorted to punitive action. He strove above all for mutual understanding in the absence of conversion.

A Frontier Life provides a rich narrative that fleshes out a picture of a sometimes vilified figure, particularly in regard to his connection to the infamous Mountain Meadows Massacre, where Compton provides nuanced discussion clarifying Hamblin’s post-massacre role—he was not present at the massacre, but reported on it to both Brigham Young and military investigators. Compton’s engagement with Mormon historiography and previous Hamblin portrayals will make this work of particular interest to both scholars and students. The casual reader will take pleasure in learning of a true pioneer who lived life at the geographical, cultural, and spiritual boundaries of his era. This dramatic, entertaining biography is a truly significant contribution to Mormon history.
Winner of the Evans Biography Award, the John Whitmer Historical Society Best Biography Award, and the Francis Armstrong Madsen Best Book Award. 
 

About this title

Book Description

This comprehensive and scholarly study of a key Mormon frontiersman unveils new details of Hamblin’s explorations and missions to American Indians

About the Author

Todd M. Compton specializes in Mormon history and the classics and has published numerous articles and five books in these areas, including In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith and Fire and Sword: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Northern Missouri (coauthored with Leland H. Gentry.)

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Utah Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1607812347
• ISBN 13: 9781607812340
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 666