Forth to the Wilderness: The First American Frontier, 1754-1774

The Frontier People of America #1

by Dale Van Every

The story of the complete opposition faced by the struggling settlers who first crossed the barrier of the Appalachian Mountains.

Genres: History, American History, Nonfiction

369 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Born in 1896, American author Dale Van Every turned out a number of volumes on American history, including a biography of Charles Lindbergh. Van Every was also a busy playwright in the 1920s; his Broadway offering Telling the World was filmed in 1929, whereupon the writer set up shop in Hollywood. His screenplays include the literary adaptations Trader Horn (1931) and Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932). In 1937, he shared an Oscar nomination for the film version of Kipling's Captains Courageous. In 1940, Dale Van Every produced the Paramount actioner Rangers of Fortunes, then returned to screenwriting, remaining in this field until 1957. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Reviews

[Clay Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book about I have read about America's colonial period.

[Bram Pinkley · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite era of American history, this is an older book but feels like a balanced recounting of the events along the western frontier just prior to the revolution. The frontier personality had to be a unique soul and I loved the description of the evolution of those folks. I believe that scrappy independence lives on in the mountains. Great if you love the interplay of geography and history.

[Koit · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book I picked up primarily to satisfy my interest in the American frontier. Unsurprisingly, it only met some of these goals. Why unsurprisingly? We're dealing with a book first published in the early '60's, and as such both some of the views the author might have are repudiated by more recent historiography but also much of the prose was inestimably bad. That being said, a critical mind and a willingness to drudge through some less-than-ideal narrative does give a fairly good account of the pre-Revolutionary War years.

A lot of this book also touches upon 'character building' and many other intangibles. While it is not doubt true that Britain's decisions on how to interact with the nations on the borders of their colonies played a great role in what those colonists thought, I found the author's willingness to qualify these very thoughts and actions as too fanciful. It is easy to build a castle in the sky and if we really want to see something in the past, we can find it there. Also, the way Mr van Every's statements often relied on 'spirit' over other more tangible quantities allowed him to write the narrative he wanted while ignoring other causalities.

However, there is also some good in this -- the structure of the book is character-based, meaning that the reader follows one of the great movers for a chapter before being allowed to catch up with what one of the other guys was doing. It should also be stated that while much of the narrative is dull, Mr van Every did try to enliven all of the 'action scenes'. The skirmishes he describes, therefore, are considerably more fun to read than the rest of the book and this period in history does have plenty of skirmishes.

This review was originally posted on my blog.

[Jerome Otte · Rating 4 out of 5]

An accessible and insightful history of the American frontier from 1754 to 1774, emphasizing the contingency of the time.

Most of the book covers political and military aspects, dealing with the French and Indian War, Pontiac’s War, the proclamation of 1763, Dunmore’s War, and how Britain’s financial problems made it all but impossible for them to maintain peace with the Indians or convince the colonists to refrain from moving west. The style is colorful and dramatic.

There are only a few problems here and there: Washington is called a “member” of the Ohio Company, and the author claims that children on the frontier were taught how to scalp at a young age (they were?) He also writes that the 1758 campaign for Ticonderoga was led by Amherst.

A well-researched but often confusing and poorly organized work.

[Denzel Struchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

Really good account of the pre revolution Indian wars and thier causes. How a lack of care by Governors, English Parliament and religious views all played there part in this bloody period.

[Ronda Wian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great

Reading this book brought back this time . Since the Allen W. Eckert books the frontiermans series. A great book to read.

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable story about a period in US history I knew little of.

[Matthew William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introduction to early America.