The Frontiersmen: A Narrative Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
The frontiersmen were a remarkable breed of men. They were often rough and illiterate, sometimes brutal and vicious, often seeking an escape in the wilderness of mid-America from crimes committed back east. In the beautiful but deadly country which would one day come to be known as West Virginia, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, more often than not they left their bones to bleach beside forest paths or on the banks of the Ohio River, victims of Indians who claimed the vast virgin territory and strove to turn back the growing tide of whites. These frontiersmen are the subjects of Allan Eckert's dramatic history. Against the background of such names as George Rogers Clark, Daniel Boone, Arthur St. Clair, Anthony Wayne, Simon Girty and William Henry Harrison, Eckert has recreated the life of one of America's most outstanding heroes, Simon Kenton. Kenton's role in opening the Northwest Territory to settlement more than rivaled that of his friend Daniel Boone. By his eighteenth birthday, Kenton had already won frontier renown as woodsman, fighter and scout. His incredible physical strength and endurance, his great dignity and innate kindness made him the ideal prototype of the frontier hero. Yet there is another story to The Frontiersmen. It is equally the story of one of history's greatest leaders, whose misfortune was to be born to a doomed cause and a dying race. Tecumseh, the brilliant Shawnee chief, welded together by the sheer force of his intellect and charisma an incredible Indian confederacy that came desperately close to breaking the thrust of the white man's westward expansion. Like Kenton, Tecumseh was the paragon of his people's virtues, and the story of his life, in Allan Eckert's hands, reveals most profoundly the grandeur and the tragedy of the American Indian. No less importantly, The Frontiersmen is the story of wilderness America itself, its penetration and settlement, and it is Eckert's particular grace to be able to evoke life and meaning from the raw facts of this story. In The Frontiersmen not only do we care about our long-forgotten fathers, we live again with them. Researched for seven years, The Frontiersmen is the first in Mr. Eckert's "The Winning of America" series.
Paperback: 626 pages
Publisher: Jesse Stuart Foundation; First Edition edition (May 1, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0945084919
ISBN-13: 978-0945084914
Product Dimensions: 2 x 6 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (555 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #60,401 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #20 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Regional U.S. > Midwest #128 in Books > History > Americas > Native American #1392 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical
I love this book! Eckert's classic tale of Simon Kenton and settlement of the Ohio Valley is a must read for anyone interested in the history of the United States. This book was recommended to me after reading Eckert's "Dark and Bloody River". It is exciting, highly engaging, and historically detailed. The notes at the end of the book are a novel by themselves. The story of Kenton, Boone, and the Kentucky settlers is truly amazing. It has often been said that this should be required reading in high school and I can't help but agree. Eckert's books take place in a time and place nearly forgotten by modern Americans. Children raised on the old "Cowboys and Indians" westerns never learn that there was a whole other "West" on the Eastern frontier and the Northwest Territory. I grew up in Ohio, and I never learned about many of the events that happened in my own back yeard until I began reading Eckert! Many people are surprised to learn that there were a number of very bloody and significant battles during the Revolutionary War west of the Appalaichans, right here in Ohio in fact. A whole chapter of our history is being forgotten, but luckily, Eckert's books help to prevent that.
I have read all of Eckert's colonial and early American novels about the Indian nations and wars that raged for almost two hundred years. He is one of the best story tellers you will find.In this novel, the Frontiersman, in the company of such notable and famous names as George Rogers Clark, Daniel Boone, William Henry Harrison, and Anthony Wayne, Eckert tells the story of Simon Kenton, perhaps the most compelling frontiersman of that time, despite his more famous protoges.The savagry and commitment by both sides to the fight for Kentucky and the Ohio River Valley are brought to life by Eckert. You would think you were reading a finely told fictional thriller, when in fact you are being presented with very well documented fact, woven together to read better than any fictional novel you could find.If you want to delve into the real history of the taming of America...read Eckert.
Like many of the others in this space, The Frontiersman was required reading in an Ohio History course I was taking in college several years ago! I am not an avid reader by any means but this book, as well as the other Winning of America series books was one I couldn't put down! I am fortunate to have been born in Chillicothe Ohio and currently live near Circleville Ohio in Pickaway County. This area is the main focus of the Frontiersman book where Simon Kenton and Tecumseh once roamed. This book gave me goose-bumps when I read of some of the atrocities that occurred so close to home. I also had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Eckart. I was visiting the Outdoor Drama at Sugarloaf Mountain, near Chillicothe. Tecumseh was being portrayed on the outdoor stage there. For a truly exciting experience, read this book, then see many of the stories acted out, on or very near the actual spot. You feel like you living it all over again!
I am the type that likes Tolkein, Frank Herbert, Terry Brooks, C.S Lewis, Terry Goodkind, and other SF/Fantasy writers. I was absolutely enthralled by this book. At first I found it slow, but when I got to chapter two I had a hard time putting the book down. Simon Kenton is amazing and his true story is better than most fiction novels I have read. I suppose because I kept saying to myself, "this story is true" and "this man is amazing." There were several times that reading this book gave me that feeling that causes the hairs on your back to stand on end. Chills up the spine! And there were several times I couldn't put down the book until I knew that Simon would be alright. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that many fiction writers have used portions of this and added elements of magic and fairy to make their stories more interesting.I love characters that are built up the the author to be someone who can be looked up to. Eckert has done this by simply telling a true story of a very interesting man who I had never heard of before reading this book. Eckert descriptions are detailed and his style of writing is easy to read. Simon is my latest hero. What an amazing individual.
THE FRONTIERSMEN, by Allan W. Eckert, is the first of the six NARRATIVES OF AMERICA series books. These books were initially published in hardcover under the generic series title, "THE WINNING OF AMERICA." It is a fascinating true historical narrative of frontier activities and life from the middle 1700's to the early 1800's. It revolves around a prominent frontiersman, Simon Kenton, who, although not as well-known in historical annals as Daniel Boone (who was a friend of Kenton's), nevertheless was every bit as instrumental if not more so in opening up the West.It should be noted that Eckert has done extensive research on these narratives, and states that all characters in the narratives are real, and that even the conversations are documented. Eckert states in The Author's Note that "It should be borne in mind . . . that where dialogue takes place in this book, it is the actual quoted conversation from another source . . . or, in a few scattered instances, historical fact utilized in the form of conversation to maintain the dramatic narrative pace, but not at the expense of historical accuracy."Through Eckert's gifted writing, we get as close as is humanly possible to reliving the actual events of the narrative. The Frontiersmen is history at its best--this is history alive.
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