Rainy Lake House : twilight of empire on the northern frontier / Theodore Catton.
Material type: TextPublisher: Baltimore, Maryland : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017Copyright date: ©2017Description: xiii, 406 pages : maps ; 24 cmContent type:- text
- cartographic image
- unmediated
- volume
- 9781421422923
- 1421422921
- 9781421422930
- 142142293X
- Tanner, John, 1780?-1847
- McLoughlin, John, 1784-1857
- Long, Stephen H. (Stephen Harriman), 1784-1864
- Hudson's Bay Company -- History -- 19th century
- Frontier and pioneer life -- Rainy River Region (Minn. and Ont.)
- Pioneers -- Family relationships -- Rainy River Region (Minn. and Ont.) -- History -- 19th century
- Missing children -- Rainy River Region (Minn. and Ont.) -- History -- 19th century
- Indians of North America -- Rainy River Region (Minn. and Ont.) -- History -- 19th century
- Fur trade -- Rainy River Region (Minn. and Ont.) -- History -- 19th century
- Rainy River (Minn. and Ont.) -- Ethnic relations -- History -- 19th century
Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book | Dr. James Carlson Library | NonFiction | 977.679 C369 | Available | 33111008973832 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
A fateful encounter between three backwoodsmen on the British-American-Indian frontier leads to the pursuit of wealth--and tragedy.
In September 1823, three men met at Rainy Lake House, a Hudson's Bay Company trading post near the Boundary Waters. Dr. John McLoughlin, the proprietor of Rainy Lake House, was in charge of the borderlands west of Lake Superior, where he was tasked with opposing the petty traders who operated out of US territory. Major Stephen H. Long, an officer in the US Army Topographical Engineers, was on an expedition to explore the wooded borderlands west of Lake Superior and the northern prairies from the upper Mississippi to the forty-ninth parallel. John Tanner, a "white Indian" living among the Ojibwa nation, arrived in search of his missing daughters, who, Tanner believed, were at risk of being raped by the white traders holding them captive at a nearby fort.
Rainy Lake House weaves together the captivating stories of these men who cast their fortunes in different ways with the western fur trade. Drawing on their combined experiences, Theodore Catton creates a vivid depiction of the beautiful and dangerous northern frontier from a collision of vantage points: American, British, and Indian; imperial, capital, and labor; explorer, trader, and hunter. At the center of this history is the deeply personal story of John Tanner's search for kinship: first among his adopted Ojibwa nation; then in the search for his white family of origin; and finally in his quest for custody of his half-Indian children.
Rainy Lake House is a character-driven narrative about ambition, adventure, alienation, and revenge. Catton deftly crafts one grand narrative out of three and reveals the perilous lives of the white adventurers and their Indian families, who lived on the fringe of empire.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 355-395) and index.
"In September 1823, three men met at Rainy Lake House, a Hudson's Bay Company trading post near the Boundary Waters. Dr. John McLoughlin, the proprietor of Rainy Lake House, was in charge of the borderlands west of Lake Superior, where he was tasked with opposing the petty traders who operated out of US territory. Major Stephen H. Long, an officer in the US Army Topographical Engineers, was there on an expedition to explore the wooded borderlands west of Lake Superior and the northern prairies from the upper Mississippi to the forty-ninth parallel. John Tanner, a 'white Indian' living among the Ojibwa nation, arrived at the post in search of his missing daughters who, Tanner believed, were at risk of being raped by the white traders holding them captive at a nearby fort. Rainy Lake House weaves together the captivating stories of these three men, who cast their fortunes in different ways with the western fur trade. Drawing on their combined experiences, Theodore Catton creates a vivid depiction of the beautiful and dangerous northern frontier from a collision of vantage points: American, British, and Indian; imperial, capital, and labor; explorer, trader, and hunter"--From publisher description.