Shoshone Mike

by Frank Bergon

In 1911 a posse chased an itinerant Shoshone family across 200 hundred miles of Nevada desert and slaughtered them. Shoshone Mike re-creates this final chapter in the Old West through the eyes of an anachronistic sheriff.

Genres: Fiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1989

Reviews

[Lauren Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This doesn’t read like a first novel, though it is. It is a lean, spare novel that speaks without preaching. There are plain unlikeable characters but mostly there are characters of their time with prejudices and yearnings that mark them as ours will us in two hundred years. It gives a good feeling for the old west.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story takes place in 1911 in Northern Nevada. A fictional account of historical events, but kept close to the history. Most Native Americans have been sent to reservations and their old way of life has died. One man and his family attempt to live a little like the old ways, but it is difficult as the “white” man is everywhere and the animals they used to hunt to sustain their life has been replaced with cattle.

The clash between this one family and the other Nevadan residents is one of the last battles between cultures as the native peoples way of life dies. Although it is a sympathetic view to side with a dying culture, the author takes every side to this story and relates that view point well. You are in the mind of the county sheriff’s wife and the county sheriff, the son of one of the murdered Basque men, a vigilante on the posse hunting down the killers, and you have view of the daughter of old Shoshone Mike, and a catholic priest.

Although there are many different views it is written well enough that it isn’t confusing. The only confusion I had was near the beginning when the time line wasn’t direct. This shifting around did give me pause once or twice trying to figure out where the story was. A minor flaw in an otherwise well written story bringing to life details of an unfortunate past.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The prose is clean and spare and descriptive. The plot clear, the point-of-view focused. Says a great deal about the way our country treated Native Americans.

[Marilyn Lagier · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have no idea where I got this book--but probably from a museum or historical gallery somewhere here in Northern California. I was looking for something to read, saw it on my shelves, decided to read. It's not bad. The novel essentially tells the story of some murders that happened in Nevada around 1911, near Winnemucca. While some of the story is fictionalized, the events that did happen were real. The author, whose family came to Nevada in the 19th century, interviewed not only the last two survivors of the 1911 event, but the families of many of the other persons involved in the deaths, chases, last battle that resulted in deaths of several Shoshone Indians. Worth a look-see for anyone interested in the history of our two states here in the West.

[Rick Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up in a free pile, and it has been hanging around for a few years...I finally got around to picking it up. The author creates a riveting reconstruction of what is billed as the 'last Indian massacre', when the world was moving fast into a modern age.

It's a nuanced, thoughtful bookend to so many other chapters in indigenous/white relations. Clearly the struggle for sovereignty and basic human rights is ongoing, but this episode in 1911 could be viewed as the final blow to a people accustomed to self-determination.

[Daniel Montero · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would probably give more like 3.5 stars, but I really enjoyed this more than I expected (I also read it for a writing project), it is engrossing, well-written and not too preachy. But I really was not sure why it is structured like it is and nothing really happened with some plot lines (like the wife, and I didn't like the priest subplot). Still, a good book about a very interesting story.