Frequently, I read books long after they have fallen from the public view and I have no problem with that. I also frequently find that one of these books is something I, and every other American reader, should have read long ago. I have just done that once again having just completed "Johnny Osage" by Janice Holt Giles. This novel was published by Houghton Miflin in 1960 but it is still a wonderful read today with high quality writing on every page, an interesting and engaging plot, and gives a highly fictional, but historically rooted, examination of the Osage-Cherokee War which took place in what was then the Missouri Territory along the Arkansas River in the 1820's. I had just recently read "Killers of the Flower Moon" which is about a different period in the history of the Osage tribe. I had read that book a few weeks ago and never wrote about it on this blog. I probably also owe my readers a post on that book.
Giles was born in Arkansas but lived most of her life in Kentucky in several locations including Frankfort, Louisville, and Knifley in Adair County where she is buried with her husband, Henry Giles. She has been inducted into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame at the Carnegie Center in Lexington, Kentucky, in 2014. Because I primarily read Appalachian Literature and Appalachian authors, I had never read her work until this book. But, I can assure you that, based on this book, I am highly likely to read the rest of her works. It is an interesting novel for many reasons. It is set in the early 19th century in the Arkansas River country but Giles also blended much of her knowledge about Kentucky into the book by having more than one character in the book with Kentucky ties. She has a character who was also one of the first women in Kentucky to divorce her husband because he was a member of the Shaker religious sect. It is also a love story between a pioneer trading post operator, Johnny Fowler, also known as Johnny Osage, who is deeply connected to the Osage tribe, and a missionary woman named Judith who has come with a mission group to the Osage country to try to convert the local Native Americans, both Osage and Cherokee. This inclusion of a missionary group and several characters who are missionaries had to have arisen from the fact that Giles worked several years for missionary groups. But Johnny Osage is deeply opposed to the predominant religion of his fellow whites and much more aligned with the spiritual beliefs of the Osage which I suspect could be a reflection of some misgivings which led Giles to leave her employment among missionary groups. While Giles, in the foreword to the book, claims no prejudice against either tribe or open support of the Osage against the Cherokee, the primary villain in the book is a purely fictional character named Scammon or The Blade who is the primary chief of the local Cherokee. The Blade, in an earlier period before the Osage-Cherokee War, was responsible for a raid against the Osage which resulted in the deaths of several Osage including the previous Osage wife of Johnny Fowler. Johnny has always been close to the Osage and even fought in previous skirmishes between them and their historical enemies, the Pawnee. His Osage name is Man Not Afraid Of The Pawnee which arose due to his success in those skirmishes against the Pawnee.
The conflict in the book includes the enmity between the two tribes, Johnny's dislike of organized religion and Judith's deep religious beliefs, and Johnny's animosity toward The Blade based on the death of his previous wife. Giles did a tremendous job of weaving enough actual history and fictional depictions of several actual historical figures including the governor of the territory and the commander of the fort at Three Forks. The book builds steadily toward a conclusion which brings all the conflicts to a head simultaneously and it is a fine piece of work. Find a copy of this fine old novel and read it as soon as you can.
No comments:
Post a Comment