Eckert???

[ButlerFord]

Just picked up "The Court Martial of Daniel Boone", but know nothing about Allan Eckert. Should I take this as just a novel about an event or does he do pretty accurate research?

 

[gak]

The book you mentioned is a great read. Could hardly put it down. Don't know about how accurate his research is but all of his books have an extensive bibliography and :imo: footnotes in the back. Everyone of them is excellent reading and I learned a lot from them about a time and era I had little interest in before finding his books.

 

[davidthered]

Eckert is great, you should read The Frontiersman by him, it's the life story of Simon Keton, another great man from the past, and a friend of Kentucky.
:redthumb:

 

Eckerts books are well written and generally well researched, but I would hesitate to use them as history books. The Simon Kenton novel, The Frontiersman, is a case in point. For example, Eckert gives young Simon a rifle by a maker that did not make guns until a much later period. I have not read his version of Boone's court marshall, but such an incident did take place. See Farragher's account in his Boone bio. Boone's wife's family were Tories and there was suspicion cast on Boone's allegiance early on--that and the fact he carried a King's commission. I think he was probably more or less neutral and was just trying to survive and protect his family and invested time/work in the wilderness. :m2c:

 

[Ridge]

Eckertt is great......my favorite is "That Dark and Bloody River".

When I'm looking for documentation, my favorite is the Draper Manuscripts.

 

[ButlerFord]

We visited Cumberland Gap Sunday afternoon and the Visitor Center had a pretty good bookstore with Kentucky history and Kentucky authors. The only two I expected to see and didn't were Jessie Stewart and Janice Holt Giles.

I'm aware of Boone's court martial and some of the circumstances around the incident. Daniel Trabue is the Founder of our fair city and his house is an historical site and the ladies of the local historical society do a good job of keeping open to the public, so his life is pretty well known around here.

As an aside, Janice Holt Giles is a hometown girl as well.

I had narrowed my choices between a biography of Keton, "The Frontiersmen" by Eckert, or "The Hunters of Kentucky" A Narrative History of America's First Far West, 1750-1792 by Ted Franklin Belue. I chose the latter, so far I'm pleased.


B. Ford

 

[ButlerFord]

......When I'm looking for documentation, my favorite is the Draper Manuscripts.

What is it? Where can it be found? Do I really want it? Is it one I could afford!!??


B. Ford

 

[Bill L]

I have read the four book series on the eastern frontier plus the book on Tecumseh and parts of the Dark and Bloody River.I really enjoy his books and I consider them to be accurate although anyone can make a mistake and use faulty research.I am presently reading The Conspiracy of Pontiac by Parkman and I am seeing much the same info that Echert stated in his books,Parkman is a very interesting and informative writer and I like his book very much.I will be reading more of his works.I know Draper's Manuscripts are at a university in the northern midwest can't remember which.The fact that he spoke to many of the participants of early history make them special.It would be great if they were on the internet. :m2c:

 

[Okwaho]

The Draper papers are in the collections f the Wisconsin Historical society along with a guide. Click on Draper papers on Google.

 

[brdurbin]

If you are lucky a university library in your area may have the Draper papers. I read a microfilm version at West Virginia University -- very cool stuff. Just a note, a lot of local historians from Draper's era saw his research as "stealing" from their turf. Some things never change. The way I see it Draper did us all a favor collecting those stories.
Eckert's historical novels are the simply the best.
I'm enjoying the forum!

 

Alot of the Draper material is in Belue's (editor) Daniel Boone bio....a tougher read than the other Boone bios, but has much of the original Draper stuff...

......When I'm looking for documentation, my favorite is the Draper Manuscripts.

What is it? Where can it be found? Do I really want it? Is it one I could afford!!??


B. Ford

 

[dlemaster]

The Draper Manuscripts are THE source material for most of what we know about the frontier in the 18th century. They are very extensive. I'm reading the Simon Kenton Papers now.
Many small stories are available from them. For instance in the Daniel Boone Papers there is reference to Boone's daughter Susanna being a notorious prostitute who said she thought every man should try her gate since she was the first white woman born in Kentucky. Also when Clinkenbeard came to Boone and told him he wanted to marry Susanna Boone said it would not do, you can't handle her. Clinkenbeard argued that he could handle her and the thing was accomplished. Six months later Clinkenbeard complained to Boone about Susanna's indiscretions, Boone said Trot Father, Trot Mother, can you expect a pacing mare!
These are the kind of things you can find buried in the Draper Manuscripts
Draper was no penman but with practice you can figure out what he wrote.
You can purchase the Draper Manuscripts but they are very expensive. I think the Kenton Papers alone are about $500.00 on microfilm. The Kenton Papers alone are in 5 volumes with over a hundred or more pages to a volume.
I think they are available through inter-library loan.
Eckert's books are based a large part on the Draper Manuscripts and while he made some mistakes in "The Frontiersmen" he did try and make the corrections in "The Dark and Bloody River".
Sorry to run on, and hope this helps.

Regards, Dave

 

The Draper papers are in the collections f the Wisconsin Historical society along with a guide. Click on Draper papers on Google.

One may also find a listing of all the institutions that have copies available on the WHS site.

Be prepared to spend many hours in the library, we are talking heavy research (thousands of pages) that can not be taken home. Just the parts you decide you cannot live without will be a pretty stiff hit on the credit card for microfilm copies!

Even with these first person accounts, remember they are oral histories (considered the least accurate documentation)and subject to flaws in memory, demensia, senility and nostolgia.

:hmm:

Not trying to be a party pooper, just stating the facts from a historian's perspective. They sure beat pure speculation and offer some great information on day to day life!
:imo:

 

[Ridge]

Ok, now if you aren't scared off......

Dale Payne has been putting them into volumes. There are 3 available right now and he seems to be publishing a new one about every 2 years. That would mean that a new one will be out in '06 (Pleeease!)

The 3 current volumes are available from;

Dale Payne
Rt.3 Box 75
Fayetteville, WV 25840
(304) 574-3354

Price is $16 each.......$2.50 shipping for the first book and $1 for each additional book.

Smoke and Fire should have them too. I can't imagine that the Log Cabin Shop wouldn't have them as well.

You want these books. They are a drop in the bucket compared to the complete manuscripts, but these are extremely cheap for the amount of information you are going to get out of them.

 

[DanWalker]

Eckert is my favorite writer! That Dark and Bloody River is an outstanding read. If I recall, The Court Martial of Daniel Boone was more "novelized" than his other books and was essentially written for youth, thus a little more simple and definitely not as in depth as his Winning of America Series, Dark and Bloody River, or the Tecumseh book.