Sky Walker: Tehawennihárhos and the Battle of Vinegar Hill

by S. Minsos

Mohawk hero Tehawennihárhos, aka Squire Davis, aka Sky Walker, rides through the turbulent and lawless days of 1845 Upper Canada. As he longs for the love of the Scotchwoman Jennet Ferguson, he finds himself at the heart of the divide between Mohawk tradition and new Christian mores putting down roots in communities across Canada West (Ontario). As Tehawennihárhos contemplates marrying the white woman he wants, he faces prejudice on both sides of the racial divide and realizes that neither the Six Nations tribes nor the Presbyterian elite of Uxbridge and Brantford will accept him and Jennet. Meanwhile, Tehawennihárhos becomes involved in a manhunt for a Mohawk cousin and his violent English accomplice, who are wanted for the assault on a woman who runs a tavern on Vinegar Hill. The chase takes him and his compatriots along the Grand River and the byways of the frontier as he clashes with land jobbers, robber barons and disgruntled British regulars. En route, we discover the wildness of the Canadian frontier through social customs, politics, scandals, criminal activities and economic tensions. Plots and subplots make for a riveting adventure through the early days of our nation, bringing our history alive as never before.

496 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2012

About the author

S. Minsos, PhD, is the former coordinator of the Canadian Studies Program at the University of Alberta, and Writer in Residence at MacEwan University in 2014.


She is a Canadian Author who has written seven published novels and academic works including The Grand River Saga and the Culture Club Series, with its most recent addition to the series, and her newly released book, Culture Clubs: The Real Fate of Societies.

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S. Minsos models her fiction on true incidents and history derived from the adventures of her great grandparents, Mohawk Tehawennihárhos (Squire Davis) and Scottish immigrant Jennet Ferguson. All times and places mentioned in her books are based on historical fact and real and imagined events in her family's history.

Reviews

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is book #2 of Minsos’s Mohawk Trilogy. The exploits and adventures of the numerous characters introduced in Sky Walker: Tehawennihárhos continue in book #2, with a couple of additions. This is all done with the back drop of what was happening in Upper Canada in the 1840s, which was pretty complex! You’ve got the British loyalists, robber barons, land speculators, the Scots, farmers, the starving Irish, Reformers, Mohawks, Oneida, French, African French, et al all vying for something, usually land. The main protagonist, Tehawennihárhos, aka Squire Davis, aka Sky Walker, is navigating through the reality that Indians are being squeezed out. (“They are Indians, eh, and they starve to death…Indians die and are doing what we are supposed to do and white people get land. They starve us. Or chase us away…It is chaos in our territory. Dangerous as hell.”) Meanwhile Sky Walker has fallen in love with a Scotswoman and is considering being with her, and all that that entails for a Mohawk in 1845.

I really enjoy Minsos’s sophisticated writing. She painstakingly distinguishes slang, accents, and dialects across all of her characters. She applies a great deal of period humor (“News travels fast. Bad news has a first-class ticket.”) She clearly has done an extraordinary amount of research to give this historical fiction a real sense of authenticity.

[Elly Buck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend!
Being born in this particular part of the country, I thought I knew much of our local history. But this book took me back to a time and place I found fascinating. The writer somehow lets you live and breathe the events of that time in a perfect blend of historical facts and fictional characters. You find yourself wrapped up in the complex lives of those characters, you feel the frustration of the racial tension, political intrigue, the hope of youth, and see the amazing blending of the cultures which truly shape our country.
Although this second book builds beautifully on the first of the series, it also stands alone.
The style is rich in detail, yet humorous and witty.
Looking forward to the further adventures of Vinegar Hill and Squire Davis.

[Sally Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Eventually she went west to the village of Brantford and expressly to Vinegar Hill, a notorious, ramshackle, inclusive but small community known for moonshine, manners (none) and mayhem (plenty)." You don't have to be from Ontario to love this fascinating, entertaining romp through our history. Love, politics, manners_ The Battle of Vinegar Hill is a great story that easily shines light on important events and actions in our history that matter today as much as they did then. The present day 'idle no more' mood is part and parcel with some of the reminders and perspectives that surface from the nineteenth century, in this novel.
Highly recommend!

[Faye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! The setting of this book is alive with so much rich detail that I felt I was right there in Upper Canada. The characters are lively, and you feel as though you know them. Minsos has really captured that era. It's a page-turner.

[Ken Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Susan Minsos is a sophisticated, mature writer with a great sense of humour and the ability to keep the plot twisting and turning in a manner that keeps the tale fresh right to the last page. A fine read.