Biographies of the old American West figures

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Biographies of the old American West figures

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1Lynxear
jun 1, 2017, 2:10 am

I cannot find this as a group so I decided to start one.

I love yard sales and used book stores. I found a copy of Last of the Great Scouts in a box of old books in a small town yard sale last week. It was in pretty good shape all things considered, the spine was not cracked, no ripped pages and the only damage was some discoloration of the spine probably due to water but the water did not penetrate the rest of the book and just left the book with a mottled spine. No dust jacket and it was a Grosset and Dunlap edition.... not a first edition of 1899... now that would have been a real find!!! But as it was this was a pretty worthwhile find for $5.00

I started reading it today and have found it to be a well written biography of Wild Bill Cody written by his sister Helen Cody Wetmore and describes his life starting when he was about 8 years old.

I know really little of this man and most of what I do know is his famous wild west show. This book traces his development and it is fascinating. Obviously his sister adores him... it drips from this writing. I cannot put this thing down... I'll be finished the book in 2 more days at this rate.

2Lynxear
jun 3, 2017, 7:53 pm

well I have finished this book and have mixed feeling. Most of those mixed feelings come from our perception of the times when the west was being conquered and settled by the white man. Ms. Cody Wetmore is certainly proud of her brother Buffalo Bill she touts the praises of him at every page. It is interesting to see him progress fro a young boy of 8 years old to a showman carrying his shows of American West to Europe.

The descriptions of the "red man" are mixed... she shows respect for several chiefs and even suggests that much of the problems between white and red were caused by the American government of the time not honoring their treaties. But then she discusses the slaughter of hostiles. and praises General Custer as a family friend... so it is mixed... but then we are not living in those times and have the benefit of historical hindsight.

A decent read, You gain a different insight into Buffalo Bill Cody but also Wild Bill Hickok and other notables of the west... indian and white.... you also gain an insight of white America spreading civilization into a savage land... or that is how they see it anyway

3Vic33
jul 23, 2017, 10:22 pm

I picked up a couple of American West books at a library sale. They are both in my To Be Read pile. Maybe I'll move them closer to the top.

They are: Buffalo Bill: His Family, Friends, Fame, Failures and Fortunes by Nellie Snyder Yost and Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West by Hampton Sides.

4Vic33
nov 21, 2017, 2:17 pm

Lynxear - I did move Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West by Hampton Sides to the top of my TBR list and boy am I glad I did. It is an excellent book; part Kit Carson bio, part conquest of the West and part history of the Navajo Indians. Carson was quite a character and it is not surprising we still know his name today. Sides did a lot of research in order to separate fact from legend. Even without the "legends," Carson was an amazing person. Another thread that runs through the book is about Americans moving West and encountering the Navajo Indians. This story line is truly heartbreaking. I will definitely be looking for more books on the American West and American Indians.

5LynnB
dec 1, 2017, 2:50 pm

I haven't read many such biographies, but one that comes to mind is The Blue Tattoo: The Life of Olive Oatman by Margot Miffin.

Margot Mifflin has done a good job of researching the story of Olive Oatman. Ms. Oatman's family was killed by Indians in the 1850s, and the teenaged Olive and her younger sister were kidnapped. They were later traded to another tribe where they were accepted and adopted into a family. Ms. Mifflin has tried to get to the truth of the story by using documents Olive herself wrote, and early interviews -- before biographers with their own agenda took control.

What struck me about the biography was that the truth is so hard to uncover. It seems that Olive was reasonably happy with her adopted family, but white society could not accept this. Her story was written by a man who portrayed her time with the Mohave as miserable. Similarly, when Olive began lecturing, she could not show much affinity for the "savages" who held her captive. Doing so would have led to being shunned by whites.

It is also a sign of the past that Olive's story was appropriated -- and largely told by -- men. Even her husband edited her obituary to ensure no mention was made of her time with the Indians.

Olive was a brave person who did the best she could in whatever circumstances she found herself in. It is unfortunate that she was unable -- because of society's views of women and of Indians -- to serve as a bridge between two cultures. As as result, her real self remained in the shadows of both worlds.

6Lynxear
dec 10, 2017, 10:37 am

>4 Vic33: Yeah... I often feel disgusted with my white heritage