Synopsis
They came on foot and by horseback, in wagons and on rafts, singly and by the score, restless, adventurous, enterprising, relentless, seeking a foothold on the future. European immigrants and American colonists, settlers and speculators, soldiers and missionaries, fugitives from justice and from despair - pioneers all, in the great and inexorable westward expansion defined at its heart by the majestic flow of the Ohio River. This is their story, a chronicle of monumental dimension, of resounding drama and impact set during a pivotal era in our history: the birth and growth of a nation.
Drawing on a wealth of research, both scholarly and anecdotal - including letters, diaries, and journals of the era - Allan W. Eckert has delivered a landmark of historical authenticity, unprecedented in scope and detail.
Reviews
The Ohio River, a principal route for pioneers pushing westward along its 981-mile course from Pennsylvania through Kentucky and Indiana to Illinois, was the scene of fierce battles among warring Indian tribes?Shawnee, Miami, Cherokee, Iroquois, etc.?and between Native Americans and white settlers. Tapping journals, letters, diaries and government memoranda from 1768 to 1799, and fleshing out his panoramic chronicle with reconstructed dialogue adapted from primary sources, historian-novelist Eckert has fashioned an epic narrative history of the struggle for dominance of the Ohio River Valley that makes compelling reading. The lives of notable pioneer families (Zanes, Bradys, Wetzels), incursions of traders, explorers, colonists, adventurers and the historic exploits of George Washington, Daniel Boone, George Rogers Clark and others intersect. A biographer of Shawnee chief Tecumseh (A Sorrow in Our Heart), Eckert emphasizes the sudden, overwhelming movement of whites into Native American lands and the Indians' initial restraint and tolerance, followed by furious raids, wars and expulsions. Maps.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
In the middle of the eighteenth century, English colonists began drifting into the trans-Allegheny valley of the Ohio River, the first spasmodic thrust of the westward movement. They inserted themselves into a volatile milieu; Frenchmen and a seemingly endless variety of Native American tribes traded, competed, and frequently warred with one another. To paraphrase Trotsky, those looking for tranquillity picked the wrong place and time to be born. Eckert's gift for connecting the lives of scores of obscure characters with a broader context provides the same masterful mix that made Evan Connell's Son of the Morning Star a delight for both the scholar and the general reader. Although the famous (e.g., Mad Anthony Wayne) and the near famous (e.g., Arthur St. Clair) are given their due, Eckert is at his best in chronicling the lives and fates of ordinary people who ferociously struggled with nature and with one another to hold their piece of ground. An eloquent and often heartrending portrayal of a fascinating and pivotal epoch in American history. Jay Freeman
Eckert (A Sorrow in Our Heart, LJ 2/15/92) stands on an uncommon ground between academic and popular writers. His use of the "hidden dialog" as a means of writing history had been termed "documentary fiction." Here, he takes on the long and varied history of the Ohio River valley, engendered by indigenous Americans and settlers from European powers?French, Dutch, English, and Spanish. Eckert introduces a considerable number of Indians into the Ohio environment, utilizing a variety of fascinating primary resources to tell the history of the region and its people from 1768 to 1795. The final product, readable and rich in history, nevertheless will create problems for the historian and concern for the general reader. Those looking for a thorough history of the valley will be disappointed, and book selectors need to be aware of the type of history this book represents.?Boyd Childress, Auburn Univ. Lib., Ala.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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