Mighty Mountain

by Archie Binns

The story of a New England yankee who settles into pioneer life in Oregon.

440 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1940

Reviews

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Mighty Mountain" was published in 1940, so its strong proNative and environmental stance took me by surprise. While literarily it reads much like a romantic prudish nanny novel, the facts of its historical plot and description of the pristine natural setting of the 1850s are riveting. Told from the eyes of fictional young settler Elmer, it relays the story of the life and times of the famous Nisqually chieftain, Leschi. The somewhat-distant third person choice of an unremarkable hero was a good one for the reinterpretation of a disputed historical record. Reading it, I went from "ho hum" to "o my." A rare find for lovers of the PacNW.