Apache Agent: The Story of John P. Clum

Book Description

"He held up his right hand to show how his third finger was bent back from being struck by a bullet. Then he thumped his palm against his chest, his shoulder, his thigh, touching places where bullets and knives had pierced his flesh...where scars showed how hard it was to kill Geronimo..." After years of standing against the U.S. government, the great warrior and spiritual leader Geronimo's life is coming to an end, as his grandson visits him where he is imprisoned, in Fort Sill, OK in 1908.

Customer Reviews:

A Gentle Read.......2007-09-21

Okay, call me easy to please. I loved this book. I love historical fiction anyway. I loved the chapter headings which were excerpts from historical documents. I loved the point of view --grandchildren tend to love their grandparents unconditionally. The feeling of the great respect that the author has for Geronimo comes through loud and clear. How can reading about a people being forced into exile be boring? It was heartbreaking. For me, there was a sense of relief once Geronimo was reunited with some of his wives and children. The telling of this story taught me a few of the more obscure facts of the "Indian Wars" such as the fact that Chiricahua Apaches "prisoners of war" were encouraged to join the Army but upon their honorable discharges, they weren't allowed back into the prisoner of war camps (relocation centers such as Mount Vernon, Alabama) because as former soldiers, they were no longer prisoners of war and then unable rejoin their families. The book was a tender view of a man the world likes to see in anything but a tender way.

Five Stars.

Waiting For A Memory..........2006-08-01

Geronimo was a legendary figure in American culture, and during the last half of his lifetime, a tourist attraction wherever he went. And while Joseph Bruchac's novel GERONIMO describes this vividly, he also paints a portrait of a real man. Told through the eyes of "Little Foot" or "Willie" this fictional grandchild of Geronimo is responsible for passing on his legacy through the stories he shares.

"Remember That is what I now do. I tell the story as best I can. With each line of my tale I will place a kernel of corn on the ground. Then, when I am done, that corn will be there for you to pick up. Eat it and this story may stay with you as it has stayed with me. Do not fall asleep, or the story may be broken, as were our lives. Listen" (5).

While it doesn't follow strictly chronological guidelines, the main story takes place between 1883 and 1908. The heart of the story is the imprisonment of the Apache Indians--yes, I know there is a more descriptive, more accurate name, and their exile from their land in Arizona. They were deported by train, under guard, to camps and forts in Alabamba and Florida. The train carrying Geronimo became a tourist attraction at every stop along the way, and a money-making venture.

"'They are waiting for a memory,' Wratten said to me as we passed slowly by yet another great crowd of waving, shouting people. 'They want to be able to tell their children they saw Geronimo.'" (78)

The memories they make for themselves in their new homes were anything but pleasant. Full of hard work, sadness, depression, and disease--their camps were prone to malaria--they were often separated from their families...wives from husbands, and children from parents. Many children were sent to a school in Pennsylvania where many became sick with tuberculosis and died.

Woven into the stories of hardships and broken promises, are stories of the past both pleasant and bittersweet. Their days of peace and contentment, and their days of battle fighting the Mexicans and Americans.

Beautifully written, I hope this book finds its audience because it is a truly memorable book.

They call you again and again.......2006-03-15

By and large, you shouldn't start a review of a book by saying that you, the reviewer, are an idiot. Just the same, I am an idiot. Why am I an idiot? Because I'm fairly certain that I've been walking around as a full-fledged children's librarian, all my credentials in place, while thinking that Joseph Bruchac was Michael Dorris. This is a pretty good litmus test of idiocy. Just now, JUST now, I went to Amazon.com to confirm that Bruchac had written, "Sees Behind Trees". Imagine my shock when I discovered that for years now I've been giving credit to the wrong danged guy. Now I did read and enjoy Bruchac's, "A Boy Called Slow" years and years ago, but that does little to offset my embarrassment. In any case, I've read a Bruchac book now and I've come away with it with mixed feelings. Telling the tale of the great Geronimo's life through the eyes of a fictional grandson, Bruchac has meticulously researched and lovingly drawn a portrait of this impressive figure. His book is full of factual information and heartbreaking detail and life. Unfortunately, the first half makes for a very dry read. If kids can get through it and proceed on to the second, they'll find themselves more than adequately rewarded by the tale's end. A great but mixed read.

Little Foot was adopted as a kind of grandson to the great warrior Geronimo when his parents were killed in a Mexican raid many years ago. Over time he has stood by his Apache people, finally standing down to the American army when Geronimo surrenders with the feeling that they should fight no more. En masse the Apaches are taken from their homes in Arizona and sent by train to Florida as prisoners of war. Through Little Foot's eyes we see the history and betrayal of the Apache people. Their inordinate trust in a white government bent on their destruction. How they watched as their children were sent far far away to the infamous Carlisle Indian School (and subsequently killed by the school's diseases). Finally, we view Geronimo's life in Fort Sill, Oklahoma and his constant yearning to return home. Jumping backwards and forwards in time, readers get a well-rounded view of Geronimo's life and a better understanding of the circumstances surrounding the lies people told (and still tell) about him.

The book is an excellent antidote to such ill-prepared Native American titles as, "My Heart Is On the Ground" and its ilk. With Bruchac you are in safe hands. Well-researched and fairly bursting with an overabundance of factual information, the story is fiction but it reads like fact. The author knows enough to write some humor, even in the bleakest of moments, into the tale. Better still, you really do come to care for Geronimo and Little Foot. Even the magical realism, which is a bit off-putting in such a realistic novel, is handled with grace. Now there are problems with this book, but they aren't simple mistakes. I dare say Bruchac never puts a word out of place or a sentence out of alignment. What he says is always the best way OF saying something. Unfortunately, I didn't think it all needed to be said. Put in plain English, the book bored me sometimes. We're watching a story that begins when Geronimo and his people step onto a train that is taking them far far from their home. It ends when his grandson returns to his tribe and Geronimo at long last. In between, however, Bruchac has a hard time with continuity. That's facetious of me to say. Of course he knows exactly what he's doing. It just doesn't happen to work. What the book does, right from the beginning, is engage in constant shifts between the present, the past, and the future (if you deem the train time "the present"). Not only is this confusing but it draws out a story that could be more fascinating than it's presented. The train details are great. The stories of Geronimo's life are great. But when you get to page 174 and the characters are STILL on the train, you begin to worry that the action will remain permanently bogged down. It doesn't, of course. Halfway through the book it picks up and makes for a great read. It's just that first half that's the difficult slog.

Also, it's very difficult to care for a book when after every happy moment you have to deal with a chapter that closes with a variation on, "What they did ended up sending us all on this endless train journey toward the dawn, a journey that would have no destination for many of us other than disease, despair, and death". Even when it looks like things are perking up or that the Apache might have a little happiness in store, that hope is swiftly crushed with lines like, "I did not know how wrong I was". Obviously this isn't a happy-go-lucky tale and Bruchac DOES balance his woe with as much cheer as he can honestly muster. Though some Indians were sent to Florida in trains without even so much as bathroom facilities (a fact Little Foot is careful to mention), Bruchac mentions this and then gives his own characters slightly better fare. There are funny stories here and amusing anecdotes and jokes. I just wish a little more care could have been taken with the countless bleak chapter closing sentences.

But in the end the book rises above such flaws. I would certainly not hand it to any reluctant readers and you should not purchase this title under the mistaken apprehension that it's a non-fiction biography. Bruchac notes right there on the cover that it's a novel. It's often painful, often heartbreaking, and always interesting. It takes an especially skilled author to bring together a story based on real life that has as great a sense of closure as "Geronimo". Bruchac is so skilled. And then some.

Once They Moved Like The Wind : Cochise, Geronimo, And The Apache Wars

Average customer rating:

Details on specific events and personalities given misleading interpretations.
Wonderful
Objective, Insightful and Entertaining Book from Cochise to Geronimo
once they moved like the wind
Phenomenal Read

Once They Moved Like The Wind : Cochise, Geronimo, And The Apache Wars
David Roberts
Manufacturer: Touchstone
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0671885561

Book Description

Using first-person accounts in historical archives, David Roberts presents many sides of the Indian rebellion that began in the mid-1800s. Here is the epic and tragic story of Indian heroes--men and women--fighting for their land, their lives, and their freedom. 16 pages of photographs.

Customer Reviews:

Details on specific events and personalities given misleading interpretations........2007-06-25

Books such as this one are all guilty of the same thing, and in terms of educating the reader on the subject they deal with, this thing is significant. What I mean is, the author gives the reader HIS interpretations, conclusions, fantasies, etc. as if they are historic fact.

People like David Roberts, Dan L. Thrapp, Ed Sweeney, and others who write about AmerIndians of yesteryear take long-known details concerning the activities of various individual Indians, and in some cases, their bands in general, and use these details as a kind of framework upon which to hang their own notions, whims, and many imaginary attributes they personally WISH these Indians had. As a result, the reader is provided with a completely misleading perspective on the subject matter being dealt with.

In contrast to the highly biased and totally erroneous work of Roberts, Thrapp, and Sweeney, I offer T.R. Fehrenbach's Comanches (Pimlico Wild West). This book is a classic example of what a work on past history and a specific people should be, because Fehrenbach does not attempt to sway the reader with information that has literally been pulled out of thin air, or out of his imagination. He does not focus on individual Indians in a manner where he writes about them as if he knew them, their intentions, their thoughts and feelings, person-to-person...as though he was present during their lifetimes. Instead, Fahrenbach offers the reader a clear, logically-presented set of known facts which provide truthful details about the people he is focused on.

Now, on the other hand, Roberts, Thrapp, and Sweeney go a different route - which is to embark on STORY TELLING generated from their imaginations and wishful thinking. Be aware that the formula which Roberts, Thrapp, Sweeney, and others follow is to assemble any and all sorts of tidbits of information from any and all SECOND HAND sources ( Indian informants speaking to anthropologists; statements made or written by various officials and Army officers; Government Indian Agents; etc. ) and then to ASSUME these tidbits to be utterly reliable, and after that, to piece them together in order to offer the reader THEIR ( Roberts', Thrapp's, Sweeney's ) interpretation of events and personalities of long passed history.

Consider the absurdity of this for a moment. How can any of these tidbits be verified in terms of authenticity or accuracy any way or sense? People can ( and do ) say anything for many reasons. Can Roberts, Thrapp, or Sweeney somehow know the motivations of the people who offered the various descriptions of these Indians, or provided descriptions about their activities? Can these authors accurately peg the thinking of the sources of all this SECOND HAND information in even the remotest way? Yet in books like this one, this sort of erroneous information forms the base upon which the author wants the reader to understand history!

It is one thing to write about some period in history and a specific people connected to it according to what is fact, but the content of this book of Roberts' ( or the books by Thrapp and Sweeney ) have an enormous amount of material that is simply the author's personal interpretation of SECOND HAND information that is impossible to corroborate. Equally absurd is the fact that the author is living NOW, not in the days of the people he is writing about, therefore he cannot possible make even a remotely accurate guess or interpretation of the thoughts, feelings, intelligence, hopes/fears, or anything else connected to these long deceased Indians.

Here is one perfect example of what I mean:
On page 185, Roberts utilizes material from Thrapp's "Victorio and the Mimbres Apaches". He terms Thrapp "Victorio's Biographer".

"From his breakout in 1879 until now Victorio had never been trapped, never been clearly defeated. But from this time forward his star was in decline. Although he would win his other engagements, until the final one, they would more and more resemble rear-guard actions of a force growing gradually weaker. Victorio was discovering what Cochise had learned before him; you could whip the soldiers time and again, but they were too many and so well supplied and reinforced the they would wear you out."

It is rather incredible to ponder the absolutely false elements contained in this one quote used by Roberts from Thrapp's book. First, how does Thrapp know what Victorio "discovered"? Or if this Indian actually discovered anything at all at anytime in his career? How does Thrapp know what this Indian's motivations were for taking the actions he did? Or what Cochise "discovered" at anytime either? Thrapp is offering as FACT his own conclusions, not facts! He cannot prove anything about Victorio's "discoveries" or thoughts or anything else. There is nothing hard and fast to validate anything Thrapp had DECIDED is true about this Indian or his life. Therefore, Thrapp is involved in mere STORY TELLING.

This is what I mean by "writing in" what the AUTHOR FEELS is appropriate, not what is verifiable or historically accurate. Also, there is blatantly false and very biased statements in this quote concerning supposed "victories" by Victorio over the US Army ( which never happened - and this IS verifiable! ). Also there is a certain "slant" a certain "flavor" offered to the reader in order to sway him/her into percieving Victorio in a specifically desired way - a way that Thrapp desires and is fond of, not a way that is historically accurate by any means.
This book of Roberts is filled with conclusions based on unverifiable, second-hand information from sources possibly having any and all kinds of motivations behind their statements. But the reader takes it all in as FACT, not the fantasy which it actually is.

Contrast this to Fehrenbach, who writes about the Comanche in a manner that offers the reader only what is truly known about them. Fehrenbach does not focus on specific individuals at any point in Comanche history because to do so would be utterly illogical. To offer the reader any sort of personality profile of long-dead individual Indians based on highly suspect and completely unverifiable information from sources which had little to no direct connection with them is not writing about history, it is offering speculation - telling a STORY! Instead, Fehrenbach tells the reader that the Comanche did "A" and this led to "B" and "C" as a result. This is clear, historically accurate writing, not STORY TELLING. He does not seek to glorify specific chiefs or attribute any sort of qualities to their personalities, nor does he try to make the reader believe that he can see inside their minds and hearts and has pulled all sorts of feelings and motives out for the reader to see. No STORY, only HISTORY in Fehrenbach's book!

But the reader of this review must also be aware that Roberts ( as well as Sweeney and Thrapp ) seek to minimize anything which castes their Apache Indian subjects in a light that is less than is favorable to the fantasy which these authors wish to construct about them. For example; in this book, Roberts mentions that "the Chiricahua fought the Comanche to the east" and leaves the reader with this more than bland piece of information, offering no further details. Yes, it is true, these Apaches did fight the Comanche in the east, but there's a lot more to it than that!
The Apaches originally occupied the central and southern plains from the Dismal River of what became Nebraska all the way south into northern Mexico and west to the mountains of what became western New Mexico. The Comanche eventually appeared and anihilated the Apaches root and branch, exterminating entire tribal groups and destroying others to such a point that they were mere fragments of what they once were and forced to flee the plains and hide in the mountains to the west. The Chiricahuas - all their bands - were not "tribes" or "tribal groups" at all, but merely fragments - bands which contained the survivors of the Comanche slaughter. These "fragment bands" are what most people think of as Apache "Tribes" in the days of Mangas Coloradas, Cochise, Victorio, Juh, Delgadito, etc. And, by not relating this information on the Comanche slaughter of Apaches to the reader, it is possible for Roberts, Thrapp, and Sweeney to offer the erroneous concept holding that the Apaches lived in the dessert mountains FOR AGES, and were valliantly defending their homeland against European invaders.
This is false. The truth is, the Apaches were in the mountains because the Comanches chased them there, and they stayed hidden and dared not venture east out onto the game-rich plains because the Comanche and Kiowa killed them on sight! So, the Apaches participated in raids on small settlements in order to obtain supplies and foodstuffs. They didn't want to live where they were, they had no choice! They weren't "defending" any homelands at all, they were holed up, hiding from Comanche and Kiowa enemies and raiding European settlements on both sides of the border while they were at it.

This is just one of the many inaccurate slants offered by authors like Roberts, Thrapp, and Sweeney. The list is too long to properly deal with in a review like this, but if you want to know what an accurate book on the history of an Indian tribe is, read Comanches (Pimlico Wild West) which will not only provide you with a very interesting look into the history of the Comanches, but also into the history of the Apaches! Read it and then read this one by Roberts, or any of the books by Thrapp or Sweeney, and you'll immediately see what I mean here by one being a true history book and the others being mere STORY BOOKS based on second-hand tidbits, slanted conclusions lacking proper detail, etc.

Wonderful.......2007-01-28

I can't say enough how much I enjoyed this look at the final days of the Apache. I grew up in southern Arizona and am familiar with many of the places the book details. It brough the environment to life in a way I never had dreamed imaginable. A must read for anyone who loves the southwest.

Objective, Insightful and Entertaining Book from Cochise to Geronimo .......2007-01-21

This is a fascinating and well written account of the Apache and their war against whites and Mexico from the 1860's to their total loss of freedom that ends with Geronimo and his final band's surrender and incarceration. Roberts writes in a very readable and flowing style providing insights and first hand quotes from both sides of the conflicts. He also gives you both sides of any controversy, particularly letting the reader know the veracity of individuals with conflicting statements, which is very refreshing. Roberts is able to clearly differentiate between the different tribes that were identified generically as Apache and he presents a fascinating history involving the many chiefs that led their people during the conflict. The author covers extraordinary well the different chiefs and their roles, such as the great Cochise (Chokonen), Mangas Colorado (Chihenne), Victoria (Chihenne), Juh (Nednhi), Nana (Chihenne) and of course the infamous warrior Geronimo (Bedonkohe). The biographies and retelling of events are so descriptive and thorough that you get a genuine feel for the main characters, the conditions of the mountains and deserts and the people, white, Mexican and Indian. The first chapter starts with Lt. Bascom's ill-fated effort to retrieve a child by holding hostages from the wrong tribe, Cochise's, which sets up a violent war against the whites and a distrust that lasts for decades. That, among several failures such as consolidating reservations and the killing of a medicine man (similar to the killing of Sitting Bull just a few years later), substantiates the Apache distrust of whites. The brutality between parties is evenly told by Roberts as women and children suffer during American and Mexican attacks on Apache villages while the violence towards whites, particularly Mexicans who the Apache loathe, is hard to fathom particularly towards the isolated ranchers and their young children. And the killing and torture is in extreme brutal fashion fueling hatred and fear among the Arizona population. One Apache explains the violence as emanating from a deep hated associated with the violent deaths of their own people by their enemies. Perhaps the best example of this is by when a chief eats lunch with his best white friend and then calmly executes him after dinner demonstrating his severance from trusting whites. Besides the Apache, Roberts covers the agents from the successful but slighted Jeffords to the young egocentric Clum called "strutting turkey" by the Apache to the various Generals that tried their hand in subduing the "renegade Apache", Stoneman, Howard, Crook and Miles. The eccentric Crook is most successful utilizing Apache scouts to go deep into the mountains of the difficult and isolated Sierre Madre to track Geronimo but he is finally undermined publicly by Geronimo's frequent escapes and changes of heart. Thankfully, Roberts recognizes the role of Lt. Gatewood who finally brings Geronimo's band in as the self centered General Miles provides Gatewood no record of accomplishment. At the end, Roberts provides details on the Chirichua's long imprisonment and isolation and Geronimo's post capture history, he with withstood numerous bullets living to an amazing 85. This is the best book on the Apache fight for independence, it is an exciting book to read and one of my all time favorites.

once they moved like the wind.......2007-01-10

very much to the point , well written , loved it.........thank you very much

Phenomenal Read.......2003-12-29

This book affected me deeply. David Roberts wrote one incredible work here.

He was extremley precise and his description of the Apache way of life was excellent. A very good read.

Average customer rating:

Outstanding balanced heartfelt story worth 10 stars!

A colorful Texas Hill Country history

A truely amazing achievement

interesting

Very Good Read

The Captured: A True Story of Abduction by Indians on the Texas Frontier
Scott Zesch
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0312317875
Release Date: 2004-10-21

Book Description

On New Year's Day in 1870, ten-year-old Adolph Korn was kidnapped by an Apache raiding party. Traded to Comaches, he thrived in the rough, nomadic existence, quickly becoming one of the tribe's fiercest warriors. Forcibly returned to his parents after three years, Korn never adjusted to life in white society. He spent his last years in a cave, all but forgotten by his family.

That is, until Scott Zesch stumbled over his own great-great-great uncle's grave. Determined to understand how such a "good boy" could have become Indianized so completely, Zesch travels across the west, digging through archives, speaking with Comanche elders, and tracking eight other child captives from the region with hauntingly similar experiences. With a historians rigor and a novelists eye, Zesch paints a vivid portrait of life on the Texas frontier, offering a rare account of captivity.

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding balanced heartfelt story worth 10 stars!.......2007-07-29

I agree with the other reviewers that this book was a pleasant surprise. Moreso, I believe this book should be nominated for a Pulitzer and a Nobel - and I am certain this will become a blockbuster movie!

Hey, take a gander and read my other 100-plus reviews. For me, Bill Anderson, to be uttering such rave exclamations about a historical account, this must be a treasure! It is. Mr. Scott Zesch has provided a book that really gets into the souls of the abducted children and their captors. He somehow does so with balance and sensitivity and refrains from cliches.

I listened to the audio version twice (bought through audible.com, back-to-back, on my iPOD while driving between job sites in Egypt. The first hearing was problematic due to traffic conditions here.

Hey, dodging microbuses and women drivers here is a bit similar to evading arrows and bullets in the old west! Anyhow, I wanted to listen again so I could commit to my soul my new realization of something I think so many researchers have failed to grasp.

Stockholm Syndrome is perhaps only part of the issue. Just as stem cells seem to adopt the particulars of their surroundings, and just as many wild critters can be raised by other species (and occasionally will suffer a confusion as to their own species), so, too, do human beings adopt those existences (sorry for a bad choice of words here) and become as their custodians, captors, siblings or peers. I realize this seems a bit, "duh, no kidding" but the import goes beyond the obvious. Further, it would seem, that any particular species is apt to more fundamentally accept, or accomodate, that which is least hampered or complicated by rules or regulations. In other words, transitioning toward simplicity is more pleasant than is adjusting to more and more complex organizations or societies.

Precisely such a lesson may be of fundamental importance when establishing any system or organization. Perhaps too much regulation or too complex the controlling body makes routine operation (especially at the commencement) will lead to seeming chaos, disorder and thence lead to revolt and to eventual failure or destruction.

And, too abrupt a change before communication to and fro could shortcut any hopes or dreams of adjustment or transition from the simple state towards the complex state.

Although these observations result from a book about Indian captives, the observations, I submit, apply as well to Iraq, Egypt, (or politics in general) but, more important, to formations of clubs, associations and corporations.

General Motors and Ford seem now to be suffering, partly, from the complexities they created while transitioning from the Great Depression through the New Deal and into the Great Society. all the while, upstart, less complex carmakers in Japan challenged from a simpler standpoint using a simpler vehicle.

And, now that Toyota et al have evolved, they may well be in danger from Hyundai and others.

Anyway, back to Captured. This is probably the best book ever authored about life among Native Americans as lived by children taken by force but who adopted the lifestyle out of love for those with whom they lived. I experienced tears of empathy in listening to Scott's discussion of visiting the cave of his distant uncle or when hearing of the reunion one 'white Indian describe his memory of the demise of his adopted 'brother' brutally massacred by a Texas Ranger.

That, alone, is a significant achievement by Scott Zesch - Bill Anderson.

A colorful Texas Hill Country history.......2007-06-22

Texas Hill Country author Scott Zesch began writing "The Captured" after finding the lonely grave of one of his reclusive and little-known relatives. His great-great-great-Uncle Adolph Korn had been kidnapped as a youth by Indians, but Zesch knew little of the details surrounding this incident. His search for answers would prove to be truly enlightening.

It was not uncommon for Indians to integrate child captives into the tribe, and Adolph spent a number of years with the Comanches living his life as a full member of the Indian community. Eventually he was released and returned to his family, although his return to white society was anything but smooth. Adolph was never able to re-adapt to civilization and he ended up living in a cave in the Texas Hill Country, a willing recluse and outcast from the environment that he had been born into.

Zesch not only chronicles his ancestor's life, but also the lives of several other Indian abductees, all of whom had strikingly similar experiences.

The book is an amazing piece of work on several levels. Author Zesch does a tremendous job of researching his work, and his source material is first-rate. The book has excellent pictures that help to add depth and reinforce the stories told between the pages.

Be aware that there are some very graphic battle and abduction scenes depicted in the book. These are definitely not for the squeamish.

Overall, this is a wonderful Texas Hill Country history that will keep you entertained for hours. Zesch is careful to treat all of his subjects with humanity. He is neither an Indian apologist nor does he demonize them. He simply states the facts as told to him by his sources and then lets the reader come to their own conclusions and judgements about the events at hand.

Highly recommeneded for anyone interested in Texana or Hill Country history.

A truely amazing achievement.......2007-06-13

Zesch's wonderful book manages to entertain & inform with equal excellence. For a history book I found it suprisingly heartbreaking.

interesting.......2007-05-14

This is a great read. I like the way the author opens up and tells his story along with the captives. He includes pictures (which is always nice). If you are interested in Native American history and/or Texas History you will like this book.

Very Good Read.......2007-01-14

Very interest information, well written. Highly recommended for the western history buff.

Average customer rating:

cGnyons by Gary Paulsen
Canyons.......Cool!
Good book....but teachers, beware of books on cassette!!!
A book With Interesting Legend to Tell
Skull Spirit

Canyons
Gary Paulsen
Manufacturer: Laurel Leaf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0440210232
Release Date: 1991-08-01

Book Description

Two boys, separated by the canyons of time and two vastly different cultures, face the challenges by which they become men.

Coyote Runs, an Apache boy, takes part in his first raid--the one that will usher him into manhood. He is to be a man for but a short time...

More than a hundred years later, while camping near Dog Canyon, fifteen-year-old Brennan Cole becomes obsessed with a skull that he finds, pierced by a bullet. He learns that it was the skull of an Apache boy executed by soldiers in 1864. A mystical link joins Brennan and Coyote Runs, and Brennan knows that neither boy will find any peace until Coyote Runs' skull is retumed to an ancient sacred place. In a grueling run through the canyon to retum the skull, Brennan faces the challenge of his life.

Customer Reviews:

cGnyons by Gary Paulsen.......2006-10-04

Written by Joey
Canyons by: Gary Paulsen
I liked this book because it is interesting and long.

An Apache boy named Coyote Runs, goes on a raid that will make him a man. But on that same raid his friend Magpie is killed. Will he be the next one killed by the soldiers? More than 100 years later while camping at Dog Canyon, a fifteen-year-old boy named Brennan finds that same Apache boy's skull. Brennan asks his friend Homesley for help and they go to Homesley's friend's work place. Tibbet's tells them later whose skull it is. The skull is returned to a sacred place. He hears Coyote Runs voice in his every step he takes. This will be the challenge of Brennan's life. by Joey

Canyons.......Cool!.......2006-09-22

This book is thrilling....but, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone under 9;too much violence. A psychic link between two 15 year old boys; one, almost a man, one a school kid struggling through adolescence. A young indian boy's spirit guides the kid to the place of spirits to release his restless soul.

Good book....but teachers, beware of books on cassette!!!.......2006-06-27

Canyons was a good book, but I wouldn't say it was fantastic. The narration on the tape was very nice - not dull like many I've heard before. However, although the one I ordered was "unabridged," it did skip whole paragraphs in the book (my students followed along with the tape). This was confusing at times.

I suggest that any TEACHER using the tape to supplement their own classroom reading look for a CD version!!!!

A book With Interesting Legend to Tell.......2006-05-15

Brennan enjoys the wilderness of the canyons near Mexico. Only on one of his camping expiditions, his life changes forever. He discoved something that could change his fate, a skull. Now he reserches the legend of this skull and finds out he must do something. Brennan must return the skull. But will the police get in his way? Read the book to find out.

Skull Spirit.......2006-04-24

I think Canyons was an ok book. I mean that I have read more books by Gary Paulsen and they have been a lot better. But the thing is that I liked the book and it was ok. This book was about two boys and they get split up in the canyons. Then like 100 years later the one boy finds the other boys skull and it was lying by a rifle bullet. The boy knows that he won't find peace until he returns the skull to the ancient sacred place. The kid faces the challenge of his life. Then on the way something happens to the boy and you will have to read it to find out.
I liked this book because it was interesting once I got farther into it and understood it. I also read it because other students have read it and they also liked it. But it was a great book. What I never liked was it was kind of boring in some places and when the kid arrived at the sacred place it never worked because he was late so then he got shot. So after that it really wasn't that great because it left out the ending.
Other kids that like adventure or like the outdoors would probably like this book. It has guns in it and it you don't like blood then don't read this book.

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The best dog book ever
Savage Sam the son of old yeller
Savage Sam
11 year old Sadie's Review
10 yr. old Kaleh's review

Savage Sam (Perennial Library)
Fred Gipson
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060803770

Book Description

"Gipson again has given us a purely wonderful trunk of Americana, and one of those rare books to be enjoyed on many latitudes of brow elevation."--Chicago Sunday Tribune

Customer Reviews:

The best dog book ever.......2006-05-02

I have read and re-read this book nearly a hundred times. It makes you cry and laugh and cheer for the boy and his dog. Expertly written, you can visualize the early western frontier in all of it's glory. A must read for all animal lovers young and old.

Savage Sam the son of old yeller.......2005-11-09

Did you like the book old yeller? If yes then you will love this book about his son Savage Sam. Sam is a lot like his father. He would fight the cats just for some fresh milk. When Sam and Little arliss go out hunting with out the knowledge of the raiding Indians. When Travis and lisbeth go out looking for them and find Sam and little arliss in a hole fighting with a bobcat. They forget about that until after the fight when the get captured by the Comanche. Will Savage Sam be able to save them read and find out.

Savage Sam.......2005-10-05

This is a really good book. If you like Old Yeller and other adventure/dog stories (Sounder, Jim Kjlgaard books like Stormy and Big Red, ect.) this is a book for you. It has all the excitingness of Old Yeller, and is (nearly) as good.

11 year old Sadie's Review.......2004-02-12

Savage Sam is an exciting and adventurous book. It takes place in the foothills of Texas in the past. Travis, the oldest son of 2, is working out in the field when he hears the Indians coming. Rounding up all the horses, Travis, his brother, Little Arliss, and another girl, Lisbeth, the Indians try to fight off Savage Sam, viciously fighting for his master's life. Finally the Indians kick him off and ride off into the prairie with their loot. Over hill and dale, river and stream, the horses run at a death pace. Their riders are clinging to their bare backs, and Savage Sam is chasing after them, though far away. Travis tries to devise a plan to escape but is rounded up again. Will Travis, Little Arliss, and Lisbeth ever escape or be rescued? Still, Savage Sam is following tirelessly. He is getting closer now, though! The Indians are getting a little riled up, too. They keep going faster and faster! In addition, Sam is getting closer and closer! This is a wonderful cook but a little violent. I recommend this book to older elementary (5th grade) and young adults. It is an action-packed book full of love and tragedy. You'll find out when you read this amazing book.

10 yr. old Kaleh's review.......2004-02-12

Mr.Popper is a house painter in Stillwater in the past. He is a very absentminded person, because he is always dreaming about far away countries. He wants to travel, but his family doesn't have enough money to do so. He receives a gift in the mail. It is a penguin! After having the penguin for a week, it gets sick. They take it to the vet. The veterinarian says it is lonely, so they get another penguin. The penguins have 10 babies. The Poppers are running out of money to buy food for themselves and the penguins. Will they figure out a way to feed 12 penguins, their family, and catch up on their taxes? Mr. Popper has an ice machine put in their basement for the penguins. They become more behind than before. Then one night Mr. Popper has an idea that will get their money back. I recommend this book to anyone who likes funny and educating books, because it is really funny. You also learn about penguins.

Lt. Charles Gatewood and His Apache Wars Memoir

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RECOGNITION AT LAST
Well Done

Lt. Charles Gatewood and His Apache Wars Memoir
Charles B. Gatewood
Manufacturer: University of Nebraska Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0803227728

Book Description

Lt. Charles B. Gatewood (1853–1896), an educated Virginian, served in the Sixth U.S. Cavalry as the commander of Indian scouts. Gatewood was largely accepted by the Native peoples with whom he worked because of his efforts to understand their cultures. It was this connection that Gatewood formed with the Indians, and with Geronimo and Naiche in particular, that led to his involvement in the last Apache war and his work for Indian rights.

Realizing that he had more experience dealing with Native peoples than other lieutenants serving on the frontier, Gatewood decided to record his experiences. Although he died before he completed his project, the work he left behind remains an important firsthand account of his life as a commander of Apache scouts and as a military commandant of the White Mountain Indian Reservation. Louis Kraft presents Gatewood’s previously unpublished account, punctuating it with an introduction, additional text that fills in the gaps in Gatewood’s narrative, detailed notes, and an epilogue. Kraft’s work offers new background information on Gatewood and discusses the manuscript as a fresh account of how Gatewood viewed the events in which he took part.

Customer Reviews:

RECOGNITION AT LAST.......2006-10-12

Louis Kraft writes sensational books, my first knowledge of him came from GATEWOOD AND GERONIMO (New Mexico Press, 2000), which was also a History Book Club selection. And for being an "independant historian" he has turned out several very good books of history, this being a notable one.

Unless one has read on the Apache wars in Arizona Territory, 1878-1886, the name Charles B. Gatewood may have very little meaning. But finally due this book and the efforts of Mr. Kraft, Lt. Gatewood is at last receiving some well deserved historical attention.

Within a couple years of being posted to Arizona, Lt. Gatewood was in charge of the Apache Scouts and pretty much the key man concerning operational relations with the Apaches. Now, from Mr. Kraft and the University of Nebraska we can read Lt. Gatewood's 'recorded experiences', but only up to a point, for Lt. Gatewood died before he could complete them. What we receive here though is a valuable primary source printed for the first time.

Have interest in the Indian Fighting Army in late Arizona Territory Apache Wars? Then you cannot pass this book up.

Recommended.

Semper Fi.

Well Done.......2006-07-04

Louis Kraft does exactly what you're supposed to do with a memoir--he illuminates Gatewood's own words and Gatewood's life. Gatewood's description of meetings with the Apache, of life trying to manage the reservation, is absolutely priceless but Kraft puts the lieutenant into the broader context of his time and circumstance. Gatewood is a man worth knowing, and Kraft does an excellent job of introducing him to us. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
Deb Goodrich,
Publisher
Kansas Journal of Military History

Average customer rating:

Laugh-out-loud funny!
Best book I've read in years
A MIRACLE OF A READ ~~~~~~~~~~~
The BEST yet!!
Innocence and Courage Help Edgar to Rise Above Tragedy

The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint: A Novel
Brady Udall
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0375719180
Release Date: 2002-05-21

Book Description

If I could tell you only one thing about my life it would be this: when I was seven years old the mailman ran over my head. As formative events go, nothing else comes close.

With these words Edgar Mint, half-Apache and mostly orphaned, makes his unshakable claim on our attention. In the course of Brady Udall’s high-spirited, inexhaustibly inventive novel, Edgar survives not just this bizarre accident, but a hellish boarding school for Native American orphans, a well-meaning but wildly dysfunctional Mormon foster-family, and the loss of most of the illusions that are supposed to make life bearable.

What persists is Edgar’s innate goodness, his belief in the redeeming power of language, and his determination to find and forgive the man who almost killed him. The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint is a miracle of storytelling, bursting with heartache and hilarity and inhabited by characters as outsized as the landscape of the American West.

Customer Reviews:

Laugh-out-loud funny!.......2007-09-21

This is one of those books that, if the first sentence hooks you, you'll be hooked until the end....but if it doesn't hook you, you might find it kind of painful to get through. Happily, I count myself in the former category. This book made me HOWL with laughter in some places, cringe in terror at others, and overall just root for Edgar Mint to come out unscathed - as if such a thing is possible.

One of the things I took away from this book is how none of us escape life unscathed, but that it is possible, nonetheless, to go through life bearing our scars in such a way that we are still capable of love and compassion. Many of the people Edgar careens into along his journey are unable to do so, yet somehow, despite the many, many horrors of his life, he manages to retrain a measure of grace towards others. Yet he is no naif, blindly believing the best of everyone even in the face of contradictory evidence. Indeed, his replusion/fascination with Barry is proof that he knows the depth of humankind's capacity for evil.

This was a very enjoyable read!

** To clear up a misconception some other reviewers have had: it's not a Catholic Church where he plays bingo, but an ORTHODOX church (Russian, I presume), where the priests are permitted to marry and have children.

Best book I've read in years.......2007-09-02

I devoured this book. It was very easy to become engrossed in this story. I've thought on it for the past week since I've read it. You know a book is great when you feel genuinely impacted by the tale. Thank you Mr. Udall. I can only hope you continue a long and prosperous writing career.

A MIRACLE OF A READ ~~~~~~~~~~~.......2007-08-04

THE MIRACLE LIFE OF EDGAR MINT

I am so happy I found this book! What a treasure! What a different type of writing and story line. I have never read a book such as this. YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK.

Edgar Mint narrates his story starting at the age of seven when he is injured drastically in a freak accident. The book is broken down into four different phases of Edgar's life -- his time spent in St. Divine hospital, his time spent at Willie Sherman, a horrible, horrible school where they send delinquent Indian kids, his somewhat happy time in Richland with a "real" family, and his final destination, Stony Run, where Edgar's story comes to an end.

This book is written so well and in such a unique way. In one sentence, Edgar is telling the story in the first person, the next, the story carries on in the third person. I found this endearing and different and PERFECT for this book. It was a fun way to read this wonderful story.

Edgar's story is mind-boggling. In his short life he meets so many different types of people, some good, some bad. Edgar has a tough life, but he keeps on keepin' on. He survives an accident that should have killed him. While at St. Divine he befriends the men who are in his room and some of them are a part of his life in the future. He is called the "miracle boy" and everyone at the hospital looks out for Edgar and cares for him.

Once he leaves the hospital he is sent to Willie Sherman, a school for JD Indian kids. This phase of the book was probably my favorite, although Edgar is treated brutally by the other students there. These kids are mean, rough, and alone in the world, no one cares about them. They pick on Edgar constantly and the living conditions are awful. Edgar turns into an accomplished thief and turns hard himself just to survive. However, deep down, you know he is still a good person.

The book goes on to Edgar's stay with a Mormon family in a community called Richland. Their way of life -- a normal, loving family -- is so hard for Edgar to imagine and believe. He is awed by everything in the home, from the family, their friends, their family meals, the pink rugs in the bathrooms -- he didn't know a world such as this existed.

The final phase of the book, Stony Run, is the end of the story and I do not want to spoil that, so I will not comment.

You simply must read this book. It is a winner, one of the best books I have read in a long time. You will fall in love with Edgar Presley Mint, just as I did. It is a different type of book, great story line, wonderful and different characters, excellent writing. You will appreciate your life and be thankful you got the opportunity to visit Edgar's mixed-up, sad, funny, warm, horrible, sweet life. ENJOY! And then tell all your friends and family about this winner.

Thank you!

Pam

The BEST yet!!.......2007-07-02

The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint has been easily the best book we have read for the book club. It combines an amazing story with the deep thoughts of life. The ending is outstanding and made me realize that I actually loved Edgar. I emotionally hoped and prayed for Edgar to get what he needed and wanted. When he did finally find his needs, I was overwhelmed. I can only think of a few books that pulled me in emotionally to the story and characters. 'The Miracle Life Edgar Mint' is a testament to written word. I still ponder why the author broke traditional style by adding third and first person writing in places. It tripped me up in the beginning, but soon I was able to follow the flow of Edgar being himself and Edgar viewing himself from outside. There isn't a single book like it.

Innocence and Courage Help Edgar to Rise Above Tragedy.......2007-05-03

This sharply funny, often deeply tragic novel is narrated by a remarkable young man: Edgar Presley Mint whose extraordinary tumultuous life summons up the epic novels of Dickens. Born on an Arizona reservation to an alcoholic Apache girl and her cowardly white cowboy wanna-be boyfriend, Edgar's life is already on a course for disaster. At the age of seven, the course of Edgar's life is changed when the mailman's jeep accidentally runs over his head, leaving Edgar on the verge of death. But his miraculous survival propels Edgar on a journey that will not end for almost thirteen years. Abandoned by his alcoholic mother, without family and friends, Edgar slowly recovers in the hospital. As he regains his strength, Edgar is befriended by his fellow patients, Ray, an alcoholic mourning the death of his wife and sons and Jeffrey, a drug addict. But eventually Edgar becomes healthy enough that he must leave the hospital. Shunted to a boarding school for delinquent Indians, Edgar is thrust into a Darwinian environment where the biggest and the strongest kids torture the weaker children. Edgar becomes the favorite victim of Nelson, a hulking teenager who runs a mini-empire of thugs who rob and torment other kids on Nelson's whim. Edgar survives only through his wits and quickness, becoming Nelson's most successful thief to forestall torments. Eventually, Edgar escapes to a Mormon foster home which holds new terrors and torments. Through all his experiences, Edgar retains an innocence and strength of character that amazes the reader. His matter-of-fact accounts of even the most horrible events are touching.

Dateline Fort Bowie: Charles Fletcher Lummis Reports on an Apache War

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Dateline Fort Bowie: Charles Fletcher Lummis Reports on an Apache War
Charles F. Lummis
Manufacturer: Univ of Oklahoma Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

The Oatman Massacre: A Tale Of Desert Captivity And Survival

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Fascinating
Good factual book
A BOOK TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT
The historical study of the killing and capturing of the Oatman family at the hands of Native Americans
Makes History Read Like a Novel

The Oatman Massacre: A Tale Of Desert Captivity And Survival
Brian McGinty
Manufacturer: University of Oklahoma Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0806136677

Book Description

The Oatman Massacre is among the most famous and dramatic captivity stories in the history of the Southwest. In this riveting account, Brian McGinty explores the background, development, and aftermath of the tragedy, in which all but three members of a Mormon family were murdered by southwestern Indians. The attackers took thirteen-year-old Olive and eight-year-old Mary Ann captive and left their wounded fourteen-year-old brother Lorenzo for dead. After about a year, Olive and Mary Ann were traded to a Mohave Indian community, but only Olive lived to be rescued and reunited with her brother at Fort Yuma five years later.

Using diaries, letters, and other firsthand accounts, as well as recent studies of nineteenth-century southwestern Indian peoples, McGinty dispels myths and corrects omissions in earlier sensationalized versions of the story.

Customer Reviews:

Fascinating.......2007-03-21

I love books that review actual accounts of the people that were there. This book does a good job of that. It's only weakness is that the author goes a little too in depth into trivial things. The story line was great.

Good factual book.......2006-10-20

While this book was very factually accurate in its description of the events which shaped Olive Oatman's life forever, at times it was a very slow read. Don't get me wrong, it was very well written and researched but it just didn't have that kind of gripping energy that keeps you up late reading. It is an excellent account and definitely worth the read though so please don't let me discourage you from reading it, I just felt that it at times, dwelled too much on the factual correctness of Royal Strattons original account of the incidents and not enough on being the kind of compelling read that keeps you coming back for more. But hey, that's just me...

A BOOK TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT.......2006-10-12

For those of us who read on the history of the west, this book has long been waited for. Before this study the most accepted history of that event was one published in the late 1800s which omitted much, and made up as much, with much bias against Indians in general. This book page by page, passage by passage, should now become the standard text of our times.

The author allows the book to progress as if it were an investigation into all things historical and cultural that focus on that event of 1851. One of the more revealing aspects of the book is his focus on the fervor of the religous climate of the day, especially the turmoil of the Mormons seeking a person to replace Joseph Smith. Many things become clear as to why the Oatman family from Vermont, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, ended up alone on the Gila River the day the Indians struck. That Olive and Lorenzo did not perish with the other members of the family is a small miracle.

As usual the University of Oklahoma has issued a valuable addition to our western history in general and one family in specific.

Well done.

Semper Fi.

The historical study of the killing and capturing of the Oatman family at the hands of Native Americans.......2006-05-07

The Oatman Massacre: A Tale Of Desert Captivity And Survival by Brian McGinty is the historical study of the killing and capturing of the Oatman family at the hands of Native Americans. Motivated by his religious beliefs as a dissident Mormon, Roys Oatman set off for Gila and Colorado rivers' intersection with his family of nine and followers seeking to settle in a fertile country he called the "Land of Bashan". The Oatman Massacre is the descriptive story of what came to be called the "Oatman Massacre" in the mid-nineteenth century when all members of that doomed family were killed except for eight-year-old Mary Ann and thirteen-year-old Olive Oatman, and their wounded fourteen-year-old brother Lorenzo Oatman. The young women's captivity amidst the Mohaves tribe, and the experiences of Olive throughout the eight years prior to her rescue is ably recounted. The Oatman Massacre is a remarkable account and a welcome contribution to understanding the Mohaves culture, Mormon history, and a particularly harrowing event on the American frontier.

Makes History Read Like a Novel.......2005-08-30

Mr. McGinty's book is a must read for anyone interested in American history and the complex relationship between whites and Native Americans in the 19th Century. The author has a talent for writing that makes for an easy read, and has obviously spent years researching the subject. I would also highly recommend this book to those who normally read fiction because Olive Oatman's life fits into the category of a life that is more fascinating than fiction.

Interesting information is provided about the Oatmans' trek west, the early Mormon church, and the Native Americans of the Southwest. The portions of the book dealing with Olive's life among the Indians and the speculation that she probably had children while among the Mohave Indians were particularly interesting. Equally remarkable is how Olive delt with her return to white society. The underlying issues of the clash between cultures, the role of women, religion, and popular culture prompt the reader to think critically about these issues.

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