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A Country Between: The Upper Ohio Valley and Its Peoples, 1724-1774
The Ohio Country in the eighteenth century was a zone of international strife, and the Delawares, Shawnees, Iroquois, and other natives who had taken refuge there were caught between the territorial ambitions of the French and British. A Country Between is unique in assuming the perspective of the Indians who struggled to maintain their autonomy in a geographical tinderbox.
- GenresHistory
359 pages, Paperback
First published July 28, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 26, 2018
A concise, well-organized and very readable work.
McConnell does a great job describing the challenges faced by the French, the British and the Indians in the region, and how the tribes formed alliances with settlers, foreign powers, and each other. McConnell does cover the various colonial figures (most of whom will probably be well-known), along with the significance of some of the lesser-known figures on the Indian side. He does a fine job describing the Indians’ primary goal of maintaining autonomy.
McConnell also describes how Indians migrated from and to the valley; how the French became interested; how British traders and land speculators came to the area, the reluctance with which the Ohio Indians both allied with the French and withdrew from the war, and the general weakness of the British position throughout the Seven Years’ War. McConnell in particular covers the Ohio Indians’ desire to stay independent from the British, the French and the Iroquois.
Still,there is little coverage of religion, or the effect of colonial missionaries in the area (or Indian prophets like Pontiac) There is also little on the Indians’ culture. And at one point McConnell accepts the story of Edward Braddock telling Shingas that "No Savage Should Inherit the Land" and that this cost him Delaware support. The eyewitness accounts, however, do not support this, and Braddock's orders from the king explicitly told him to cultivate good relations with the Indians. The account of this story comes from Shingas, but it was written years later.
Still, a clear, well-researched work overall.
McConnell does a great job describing the challenges faced by the French, the British and the Indians in the region, and how the tribes formed alliances with settlers, foreign powers, and each other. McConnell does cover the various colonial figures (most of whom will probably be well-known), along with the significance of some of the lesser-known figures on the Indian side. He does a fine job describing the Indians’ primary goal of maintaining autonomy.
McConnell also describes how Indians migrated from and to the valley; how the French became interested; how British traders and land speculators came to the area, the reluctance with which the Ohio Indians both allied with the French and withdrew from the war, and the general weakness of the British position throughout the Seven Years’ War. McConnell in particular covers the Ohio Indians’ desire to stay independent from the British, the French and the Iroquois.
Still,there is little coverage of religion, or the effect of colonial missionaries in the area (or Indian prophets like Pontiac) There is also little on the Indians’ culture. And at one point McConnell accepts the story of Edward Braddock telling Shingas that "No Savage Should Inherit the Land" and that this cost him Delaware support. The eyewitness accounts, however, do not support this, and Braddock's orders from the king explicitly told him to cultivate good relations with the Indians. The account of this story comes from Shingas, but it was written years later.
Still, a clear, well-researched work overall.
April 4, 2023
Michael McConnell's "A Country Between: The Upper Ohio Valley and Its Peoples 1724-1774" is kind of a misnomer for this decent book which deals with the native peoples primarily west of the Susquehanna Valley and their migration slowly into Ohio country and the consequences of those moves not only for them but also of the Iroquois peoples in New York state as well as the Mohawk in the Hudson Valley. No matter how though you title the book this 50-year period is a transformative one for those peoples as well as for the North American continent as settlers continued their march into these lands as well as the seeing the politics of the age come into play through the various wars that would break out including the French and Indian War. While the book stops with essentially the beginnings of the American Revolution what to me as a reader is fascinating is to see the various iterations of these tribes which are basically household names in the history of Ohio. Overall, though, this is still a book worth reading for anyone with an interest in the Native Americans who once populated this area.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews