Customer Reviews

Finn Burnett, Frontiersman (Frontier Classics)

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This is a reprint edition of the 1937 first edition, published by the Arthur H. Clark Company. It tells the life of Fincelius G. Burnett, better known as Finn, who became a much-traveled frontiersman and Indian fighter and later a true friend of the peoples he skirmished so often with.

Finn left his home state of Missouri for the West in an attempt to avoid getting drafted into the Union army. He became a teamster on the 1865 Connor Powder River expedition, witnessing the hanging of Oglala chiefs Two Face and Black Foot at Ft. Laramie, which set off a rash of white-Sioux hostilities. The expedition reached the Powder River country of Wyoming, where Ft. Connor (later Reno) was established. He participated in a number of skirmishes with the Sioux, usually as a member of Frank North's Pawnee Scouts throughout the summer and fall of 1865. In 1866 he helped build Ft. Kearny on the Bozeman Trail, and was there during the Fetterman massacre (he was on the detail that retrieved the dead bodies). He participated in the Hayfield Fight near Ft. C.F. Smith in 1867, and then changed hats from Indian fighter to gold miner during the South Pass gold rush. It was during this time that he forged a friendship with the Shoshone chief Washakie, becoming the agricultural agent at Ft. Washakie; it was also here that he befriended Sacajawea, the famous woman who was with Lewis and Clark (some dispute this was the same Sacajawea). He settled on a ranch west of Lander, WY, a gift from Washakie, and died at the age of 90 in 1934.

Beebe's account of Burnett's life is robust and (to use a term that would've been perfectly acceptable back in 1937 when the book was published) "manly." It's straightforward and concerned with getting the facts right and allowing them to speak for themselves. Anyone interested in affairs of the High Plains West, especially during the 1860s-80s, should find this book worthwhile.

I bought this book to learn a little more about life on the early western frontier. The book fullfilled that goal. It's not a book that gives a wide perspective of historical events during the last half of the 1800's, but rather provides a personal account of everyday life and events of Finn Burnett which can then be connected to a broader view of history. It's easy and enjoyable reading, and worth the time. Recommended.

Biographer Robert Beebe David provides the reader with a straightforwardly narrated account in Finn Burnett, Frontiersman, the biography of an extraordinary pioneer of the American frontier. In the upper Plains and northern Rockies, Finn Burnett was at first a staunch battler against Indians, but later befriended them, including famous individuals such as Washakie, the Shoshone chief, and Sacajawea, known for her role in the Lewis and Clark expedition. Part of the Stackpole Books "Frontier Classics Series", Finn Burnett, Frontiersman is very highly recommended reading for students of American frontier history.