This is a major historical biography of the great Indian figure from the Revolutionary War period. Kelsay calls Joseph Brant the "most famous American Indian who ever lived"—a claim which she supports with her book. The result of some thirty years of research and writing, Joseph Brant provides a total picture of Indian life in northeast and mid-America at the end of the 18th century. Kelsay presents the reader with a wealth of characters and recreates in rich detail the historical period, its mood, and atmosphere. Educated into European culture, Brant belonged everywhere—and nowhere. Born in a bark hut, he died in a mansion. A "common Indian" among an aristocracy-ridden people, he married power (his wife was the head woman of the Mohawks) and came to be resented as "too great a man." He built churches, befriended missionaries, translated a prayer book into Mohawk—and voiced scandalous doubts about the Christian religion. Though he was called the "Monster Brant," he was merciful in warfare. He worked all his life for the good of his people. His position and prominence brought him into contact with most of the major figures of the period, including George Washington, George Ill, Aaron Burr, Sir William Johnson, even a traveling James Boswell. His best friend was an English duke. His enemies were legion. Washington tried to bribe him, his own son tried to kill him, and many of the Indians hated him. It was his tragedy to preach an unattainable unity to tribes torn by jealousies and ancient feuds.

Joseph Brant was a promising but undistinguished Mohawk warrior living in upper New York State. He became an innovative, influential leader and spokesperson for First Nations, whose support for Britain during the American Revolution led to their resettlement in Upper Canada along the Grand River. Their descendants live today on the large Six Nations Reserve alongside the Grand, south of Brantford in southwestern Ontario. This new, illustrated biography of Brant reflects recent research into the political, social and cultural background of his life. Author James Paxton rejects the interpretation of earlier biographers, who depicted Brant as a man who belonged neither to the "Indian" or the "white" world. Paxton shows that Brant was fully Mohawk, with Iroquoian values that stressed the interdependence of people. He stands as the product of a unique, multicultural 18th-century community in the Mohawk Valley, New York. Using skill and diplomacy and his dense network of relationships and alliances, Brant attempted to ensure the ongoing social, economic and political autonomy of the Six Nations in their new Canadian territory. The events of Brant's day impinge directly on our own. It would be hard to imagine the standoff at Caledonia had Brant not led the Six Nations to the Grand River area and then invited Loyalists to settle among them. Yet, in 1784, Mohawks and Loyalists envisioned a different sort of community, one bound by history, common interest and shared practices. At a time when First Nations' claims against the government promise to become more numerous and confrontational, this book encourages us to consider the inclusive and multicultural legacy of Joseph Brant.

William Johnson was among the most powerful and romantic figures in early American history. Beginning as an impoverished eighteenth century Irish immigrant, he became the wealthiest and most influential Indian leader on the North American continent. Married to Molly Brant, sister of the celebrated Mohawk Joseph Brant, Johnson served as a mediator in the evolving clash of the European and Native American cultures. This new edition brings back into print a classic work that will be welcomed reading for all those interested in early American history and American-Indian relations.

This fascinating multivolume set provides a unique resource for learning about early American history, including thematic essays, topical entries, and an invaluable collection of primary source documents. In 1783, just months after the United States achieved independence from Great Britain, General George Washington was compelled to convince his officers not to undertake a military coup of the Congress of Confederation. Had the planned mutinous coup of the Newburgh Conspiracy gone forward, the American experiment may have ended before it even began. The pre-colonial and colonial periods of early American history are filled with accounts of key events that established the course of our nation's development. This expansive three-volume set provides entries on a wide variety of topics and themes in early American history to elucidate how the United States came to be. Written in straightforward language, the encyclopedic entries on social, political, cultural, and military subjects from the pre-Columbian period through the creation of the Constitution (roughly 1400–1790) will be useful for anyone wishing to deeply investigate the who, what, where, when, and why of early America. Additionally, the breadth of primary documents—including personal diaries, letters, poems, images, treaties, and other legal documents—provides readers with firsthand sources written by the men and women who shaped American history, both the famous and the less well known. Each of the three volumes also presents thematic essays on highlighted topics to fully place the individual entries within their proper historical context and heighten readers' comprehension.

Freemasonry in the Wild West is an accessible account of the role played by Freemasonry and its adherents during the westward expansion of the United States. Starting with the foundation of American colonization on the west coast at Astoria, Oregon, this book traces the Masons who were directly involved in developing the West.

The Haudenosaunee, more commonly known as the Iroquois or Six Nations, have been one of the most widely written-about Indigenous groups in the United States and Canada. But seldom have the voices emerging from this community been drawn on in order to understand its enduring intellectual traditions. Rick Monture’s We Share Our Matters offers the first comprehensive portrait of how the Haudenosaunee of the Grand River region have expressed their long struggle for sovereignty in Canada. Drawing from individualsas diverse as Joseph Brant, Pauline Johnson and Robbie Robertson, Monture illuminates a unique Haudenosaunee world view comprised of three distinct features: a spiritual belief about their role and responsibility to the earth; a firm understanding of their sovereign status as a confederacy of independant nations; and their responsibility to maintain those relations for future generations. After more than two centuries of political struggle Haudenosaunee thought has avoided stagnant conservatism and continues to inspire ways to address current social and political realities.

An analysis of how Freemasonry has shaped American religious history.

In the mid-nineteenth century the Wisconsin Historical Society's first director, Lyman C. Draper, gathered outstanding materials such as the Daniel Boone papers, which include Draper's interviews with Boone's son, and the papers of Revolutionary War hero George Rogers Clark. These two collections alone are of vast significance to frontier history before 1830, but the full collection comprises nearly five hundred volumes of records, including military and government records, interviews, Draper's own research notes, and rare personal letters. For scholars, genealogists, and local historians, the Draper papers offer a wealth of information on the social, economic, and cultural conditions experienced by our frontier forebears. The 180-page index lists thousands of names and is an indispensable guide for all who wish to use the collection, which is available in libraries across the country on microfilm.

A Mohawk Memoir from the War of 1812 presents the story of John Norton, or Teyoninhokarawen, an important war chief and political figure among the Grand River Haudenosaunee (or Iroquois) in Upper Canada. Norton saw more action during the conflict than almost anyone else, being present at the fall of Detroit; the capture of Fort Niagara; the battles of Queenston Heights, Fort George, Stoney Creek, Chippawa, and Lundy’s Lane; the blockades of Fort George and Fort Erie; and a large number of skirmishes and front-line patrols. His memoir describes the fighting, the stresses suffered by indigenous peoples, and the complex relationships between the Haudenosaunee and both their British allies and other First Nations communities. Norton’s account, written in 1815 and 1816, provides nearly one-third of the book’s content, with the remainder consisting of Carl Benn’s introductions and annotations, which enable readers to understand Norton’s fascinating autobiography within its historical contexts. With the assistance of modern scholarship, A Mohawk Memoir presents an exceptional opportunity to explore the War of 1812 and native-newcomer issues not only through Teyoninhokarawen’s Mohawk perspective but in his own words.

"The Eternal Maiden" is a novel by T. Everett Harré, set in the lands of the far North. The story follows an ancient Eskimo legend about eh beginning of life on the Earth and the first people who had a gift to love and kill. This novel offers romance developed in the complex conditions of the lands of eternal snow and frost and the charm of the Eskimo attitude to life, where the mystic closely borders the real.