Winds of Change

The Winds of Change –by Orland Ned Eddins

Novel, Historical

336 Pages

Footnotes / Endnotes: Yes

Suitable for eReaders: Yes

4 Stars

This is the sequel to Mountains of Stone, which was a delightful surprise. The story goes to page 255, the rest of the pages are interesting little statements of trivia for the Oregon Trail, Mormon Trail, Mountain Men, etc.

Winds of Change is about the end of life as The People new it, how the white man would come, and came, to change their way of life forever.

Broken Knife is the protagonist, and learns through a vision from his deceased Indian father, Lame Bear, that great change is coming, and he must help The People. He does not specify tribe, and Broken Knife and his wife, Whispering Wind, befriend many of The People from different tribes.

Broken Knife's paternal grandfather, a Marquis in France, died and left him a title and fortune, which he uses to benefit The People as much as he can. There is a lot of history packed into this novel, and at times it becomes difficult to read. A bit like trying to drink champagne from a fire hose. It tastes great, but is almost too much too fast.

Mr. Eddins uses footnotes liberally, which I appreciate not end. (I hate endnotes with a passion!) The footnotes are used for short, informative explanations of things such as place names. He uses the old names in the story, and tells us in a footnote what/where it is today. Since I am planning a road trip through much of that territory next month, I found the footnotes of particular interest.

I do with the Addenda had been placed at the end of the book rather than at the ends of the chapters. Although very interesting, they often were of a later time, and tended to throw me out of the narrative somewhat. I also wish he had used the services of a good Copy Editor. The placement of the Addenda and lack of copy editing is what brought this from a 5 Star to a 4 Star. Still, I highly recommend the book, especially if you are interested in the history of 1811-1812 in the Far West.

One note about both of the books I've read by Mr. Eddins that is, in my opinion, worthy of note, is that he treats The People (Indians) with a great deal of respect and empathy but does not make them victims of the times.

Like Mountains of Stone, if you buy this book from the author, you will receive a DVD of magnificent photography of the area in the story.

Rocky Mountain High

Mountains of Stone –by Orland Ned Eddins

Novel, Historical

276 Pages

Footnotes/Endnotes: No

Suitable for eReaders: Yes

Illustrations: Yes

5 Stars

While researching the Wilson Price Hunt expedition of 1811, I came upon The Fur Trapper site, by O.N. Eddins, DVM. Dr. Eddins is a student of history of the Mountain Man and that era, and I found a lot of good information on his site. He also has a book, Mountains of Stone, which I bought.

Mountains of Stone is a novel of a young white man, who came to this country as a young boy with his mother and step father. They decided to homestead out in Ohio, and as they camped, he witnessed the murder of his mother and father by a Shawnee warrior. A boy of about 4 or 5, he had nothing but a broken knife, but he was going to get revenge. Before he could make the attempt the Shawnee was killed, and a Delaware picked up the boy and took him to his village, where he grew into the warrior known as Lame Dear's son, Broken Knife. The only thing taken by them from the campsite, which had been burned, was a metal box and its contents.

As Broken Knife grew and became a warrior the memories of his white parents faded. When Lame Dear was killed, and his village raided by white men in Indian clothing who killed his mother and Uncle, he went after his revenge, and then headed west.

He met a white couple, befriended them, and they took him into their lives and home, where old memories of his white family began to emerge. He learned to speak English again, and he learned the trade of blacksmith and gun repairer. And he became confused. Was he Indian? Or was he White? Where did he fit in?

He was in Saint Louis when the Lewis and Clark expedition came through, and signed on to help at least for a while, as a hunter. When one of the founders of Saint Louis asked his help to rescue his niece from the Indians, he did so, and realized he was more Indian than white. When he returns with the girl, her uncle wanted to pay him, but Broken Knife has little use for the money, so it is invested. Broken Knife shows him the box, and the papers, and asks him to keep them, and to pay a debt his (step) father incurred.

Broken Knife goes back among the Indians, makes friends of many from disparate tribes, and prefers not to kill, but will if he needs to. He marries an Indian woman who wants to learn English and 'white man ways'.

When word comes that his benefactor is looking for him, he takes his wife and adopted daughter to Saint Louis where learns who he really is, and is once again faced with a life-decision. Will he and his family remain, or travel to France?

As a young girl, my heroes were the Mountain Men, especially Hugh Glass, Jim Bridger, John Colter, and Joe Meek. I've read what I could about them through the years; I've traveled some of the same areas they have. At times, it's been hard to unlearn what I learned, and relearn the facts. This book has done nothing to disparage the Mountain Man; in fact, it makes him more human, more alive.

My one quibble (and believe me, it's small, and personal preference only) is I'm not fond of the few places where the character speaks in dialect. For me, it interrupted the smooth flow of the story. Fortunately, those places were few, far apart, and short, so I give this 5 Stars for the story, the writing, and the history.

It's a great read, and I highly recommend it! This book has also received acceptance by Native Americans on the Council for Indian Education Editorial Board. I can't think of a better reason to buy and read this book.

Addendum 2 Aug 13

I was so excited when I finished the book to get the review up, I had not yet seen the DVD that came with the book. There are, I believe, about a hundred photos that illustrate the mountains and prairies that Broken Knife saw. Also there is a Power Point slide show of several of the old Anasazi pueblos. This disc is free when you order the book from Dr. Eddins. It, by itself, is worth the price of the book. The photography is stunning. So please, go to the site above and order this book, and check the box where he asks if you want the DVD. You'll be glad you did!