- Paperback: 264 pages
- Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press; New edition edition (Dec 15 1980)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0806115556
- ISBN-13: 978-0806115559
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 13.8 x 2.1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 372 g
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#2,005,558 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #55 in Books > Travel > United States > States > Missouri
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
Dismissed as a “gaudy liar” by most historians and often discredited by writers who deprecated his mixed blood, James Pierson Beckwourth was one of the giants of the early West, certainly deserving to rank alongside Kit Carson, Bill Williams, Louis Vasquez, and Jim Bridger.
Sometime around 1800 James Beckwourth was born a slave in Frederick County, Virginia, the natural son of Sir Jennings Beckwith and a slave girl. In 1810 Sir Jennings moved with his family to the wilderness of St. Louis, Missouri, where Jim was educated and eventually apprenticed to a blacksmith. His father recorded a Deed of Emancipation in his name on three different occasions, sending young Jim out into the world with his blessings.
Jim Beckwourth’s apprenticeship as a fur trapper was served with General William Ashley’s grueling 1824 winter expedition to the Rocky Mountains. Except for a short stint as an army scout during the Seminole campaign, Jim spent the remainder of his long, eventful life in the West, dying among the Crow Indians whom he loved. He was fur trapper, trader, scout war chief of the Crow Nation, explorer, hotelkeeper, dispatch carrier, storekeeper, prospector, Indian agent for the Cheyennes—in short, a mountain man extraordinaire.
In his old age Beckwourth dictated an autobiography to T.D. Bonner, a man more interested in making money with Jim’s adventures than in accurately recording his life. Beckwourth was later disparaged because of the inaccuracies that crept into Bonner’s account.
About the Author
Elinor Wilson, who grew up in Trinidad, Colorado, ?at the foot of the equestrian statue of Kit Carson,? searched out every scrap of information available to her to prove that Jim Beckwourth was certainly no liar, but was, instead, a man of towering physical strength, indomitable courage, excellent judgment, and without peer in his knowledge of Indian ways. Mr. Wilson, a professional writer, was a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Admirable biography of western trailblazer, Nov 29 2004
By William J Higgins III - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Jim Beckwourth: Black Mountain Man and War Chief of the Crows (Paperback)
Elinor Wilson renders honorable credit to legendary frontiersman Jim Beckwourth. Always recognized in early western history literature, the general consensus is that Beckwourth's word was worthless. The author justifiably debates this issue by including many other documented reports of the times to support and verify his accounts for the most part. One can almost agree that early western tales were, well, tales with twists to them. Events did get exaggerated by everyone at one time or another, still do.A member of Ashley's 1824 fur trapping brigade, living with and becoming a Crow Indian chief for several years, exploring many parts of the west, locating a pass into California for emigrants, trading endeavors, shopkeeper in several western locations, etc.
An energetic and entertaining glimpse into a forgotten hero of the west.
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