Tales Of The Northwest Or Sketches Of Indian Life And Character Classic Reprint

Excerpt from Tales of the Northwest, or Sketches of Indian Life and Character They have as many of the vices and follies of human nature as other people, and it is believed no more. An Indian may be dishonest as well as a white, and is about as likely to forgive an injury; if it be not such, as according to the customs of his tribe, must be expi ated with blood. Heart of man beats neither slower nor faster un a blanket than beneath a coat and waistcoat. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1830 Edition.

This is a reprint of a book that is now extremely rare in collections of early American literature. Published anonymously in 1830, these "Sketches of Indian Life and Character" constituted one of the first collections of short tales to be brought out in the United States and also the first appearance in American Literature of the plains Indians. Fewer than a dozen copies of the Tales have been found after a careful search of American libraries. William Joseph Snelling, the author, wandered through the mid-western country in the 1820's, fraternizing with the Indians and penetrating their dark barriers as few other white men have ever done. His stories consequently bring to life real Indian-neither the "noble savages" of romantic fiction nor the bloodthirsty sadists of popular imagination. Snelling knew his Indian, and his writing about them, though fictional, is forthright and sincere. "In 1830 no American save Cooper wrote better narrative than Snelling at his peak," says John T. Flanagan, who has made an extensive study of the life and writings of Snelling and who writes the Introduction to this second edition of Tales of the Northwest. Seven of the ten tales deal with the relations between men and white. The other three are tales of Indians. All are written with a keen eye for the unique Indian psychology-the craving for justice inherent in an almost religious devotion to revenge, the scorn of pain and hardship, and the deep-seated oriental despair that more than anything else made the Indian incomprehensible to the insurgent whites. These traits Snelling brings out admirably in his stories, which tingle with the freshness and vigor of the Upper Mississippi country, where the author spent some of the richest years of his life. Son of Colonel Josiah Snelling, for whom Fort Snelling was named, young Joseph lived among the Indians or stayed with his father at the fort until in 1823 he joined Major Long's expedition to Lake Winnipeg, as interpreter between the explorers and the various Indian tribes they encountered. Returning to his native Boston in 1828, Snelling became the militantly outspoken editor of the Boston Herald, where he brought his crusading zeal into play against city grafters and gamblers and became an ardent member of the New England Anti-Slavery Society. He never went back to the Northwest, but immortalized the region and its peoples in his Tales of the Northwest, published under the modest pseudonym of "A Resident beyond the Frontier."

Excerpt from White and Red: A Narrative of Life Among the Northwest Indians You will die before you get there said Aunt Margaret. The most reck less undertaking I ever heard of! All the wild animals together, are not as bad as one Indian. Think of willfully risking your life, and that precious boy's. It's wicked and grandma lay back in her chair, and shut her eyes. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

"First published anonymously in 1830, these "Sketches of Indian Life and Character" constituted one of the frist collections of short tales to be brought out in the United States and also the first appearance in American literature of the Plains Indians. ... Seven of the ten tales deal with the relations between red men and white. The other three are tales of Indians." -- book jacket.

One of the first collections of short tales to be brought out in the United States and also the first appearance in American literature of the Plains Indians.