Black Frontiersman: The Memoirs of Henry O. Flipper, First Black Graduate of West Point [Hardcover]

Henry O. Flipper (Author), Theodore D. Harris (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1997

Black Frontiersman is Flipper's autobiographical account of his service with the Tenth U.S. Cavalry in Texas and Oklahoma and his years as a civilian that followed - one of only a handful of such accounts by a black American. Although Flipper's years on the western frontier have been well documented by historians, this revised and updated volume of Theodore D. Harris' Negro Frontiersman includes a new introduction, expanded endnotes and little known and previously unpublished materials. Flipper's memoirs detail his time spent on the U.S.-Mexican border, his adventures in Sonora and Chihuahua before the Mexican Revolution, his time as an aide to U.S. Senator Albert Bacon Fall, and his later recollections on race and politics in the 1930s.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YA?Henry Flipper, the first black West Point graduate, was a prolific writer who left detailed accounts of his life as an army officer, mining engineer, surveyor, and Senate aide. Commissioned in 1877, he was posted out West, where he served for five years as a cavalry officer. There he ran afoul of his commanding officer, was court-martialed, and dismissed from the Army on trumped-up charges. Rather than letting this setback ruin his life, Flipper stayed in the West and worked at a variety of jobs. He was a keen observer and provided detailed descriptions of the people he met and life in the American Southwest from 1870-1910. Harris has taken the best of Flipper's writings and divided them thematically. The selections are easy to read and are enhanced with annotations by the editor about the people Flipper mentioned, the places he visited, and the events in which he played a key role. The end product is a remarkable book of what life was like for a black man in the post-Civil War American West and during the Depression Era.?Robert Burnham, R. E. Lee High School, Springfield, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Born into slavery, Henry Ossian Flipper (1877-1940) went on to become the U.S. Military Academy's first black graduate in 1877. He served with the 10th U.S. Cavalry in the Indian Territories until he was charged with embezzlement, court-martialed, and subsequently dismissed from the service for a lesser charge in 1882. Undeterred, Flipper later served as a mining engineer, surveyor, legal expert, and linguist for U.S. companies holding land in southern Arizona and northern Mexico. Harris includes an excellent overview of his subject's life, a chapter incorporating Flipper's 1916 unpublished autobiographical memoir, a section devoted to Flipper's historical scholarship, and sections on Flipper's later years of growing conservatism. The strength of this book is its documentation; its weakness is disjointed organization. Still, this volume is recommended for African American collections in public and academic libraries.?John Carver Edwards, Univ. of Georgia Libs., Athens
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Texas Christian University Press; Subsequent edition (May 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875651712
• ISBN-13: 978-0875651712
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #513,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HOW AMAZING!, January 31, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Black Frontiersman: The Memoirs of Henry O. Flipper, First Black Graduate of West Point (Hardcover)

MY HUSBAND HAS SERVICED IN THE ARMY FOR 23 YEARS...IT WAS SO WONDERFUL TO FIND OUT ABOUT THIS BRAVE SOUL.

1 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not For Me, November 16, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Black Frontiersman: The Memoirs of Henry O. Flipper, First Black Graduate of West Point (Hardcover)

I thought we were all trying very hard to be color blind! This is not for me!