The Bones of Kekionga

by Jim Pickett

What really happened during the 1790 Battle of Kekionga that took place in pre-Fort Wayne, Indiana? Was Harmar's Defeat really a failure? What led the militias from Pennsylvania and Kentucky to join the first American army after the Revolutionary War, to venture deep into Native American territory? Follow the adventures of E.J. and his Uncle Isaac along with General Harmar, Little Turtle, and others. Hear the insights, feel the emotions, and experience the drama that few people know about.

Genres: History

99 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 19, 2018

Reviews

[Jake Pickett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well researched story that keeps you turning pages. This book is a great opportunity to learn about some relatively obscure history and be entertained at the same time.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm currently working my way through Jim Pickett's Historical Fiction Series.

Book One in the series begins with a pair of construction brothers digging in the spring of 1912 in Fort Wayne, Indiana and they hit some damaged bones in what used to be an old Indian village.

What happens thereafter is we travel back in time to 1790. We learn flatboats filled with militia, directed by the adventuresome Mike Fink, are approached by canoes filled with war-painted Shawnee Indians.

Against the elaborate backdrop that Jim Pickett re-creates, we follow new Americans and the Native Americans led by General Josiah Harmar and Miami Chief Little Turtle inside the Old Northwest Territory.

The way this series begins readers get the human face and voice which affords an essence of presence and a sensory experience.

Themes of love, tradition, and sacrifice are paralleled with a good bit of dialog and readers have a dual perspective of Native Americans and New Americans.

This is a fast-paced read! I got caught up in the mood and intensity and was drawn in by the description of Mid-West locations I frequent.

The Harmar Campaign ended in the defeat of U.S. Army General Josiah Harmar and Colonel John Hardin by the Western Confederacy of Indians, which were led by Chief Mihšihkinaahkwa (Little Turtle) of the Miami tribe and Weyapiersenwah ( Blue Jacket) of the Shawnee at Kekionga - now Fort Wayne, Indiana.

[Paul McAfee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jim Pickett portrays the 1790 Battle of Kekionga in a historical fiction manner. He creates some characters; soldiers, families, warriors; and mixes them with historical generals, majors, and tribal leaders, to give a real life view of the battle and events surrounding it.

I like this sort of history since it gives a feel for what it was like at the time. It’s not just a bunch of dates and names, but rather a sense of being there. In fact, he creates a second story set in 1912 of people digging up the bones from the battle, hence the title of the book.

Most of the writing is dialogue between the characters. However, the dialogue is a bit stilted and the characters aren’t well developed enough to really get a sense of who’s who. It’s hard to tell who’s talking sometimes without looking at the “he said”/”she declares” part of the quotes. This book would be much better if it were easy to know who was talking just by the way they talked.

That said, this book was a bit of a page turner and it gets better in the second half of the book, perhaps because I could finally figure out who was who.

All in all, it is definitely a book worth reading if you are interested in the history of the Fort Wayne area.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story follows a militia unit traveling down the Ohio River to Cincinatti to join a regular attachment to attack the Maimi at Kekionga at what would later become Fort Wayne.
I enjoy local history and thought this would be an interesting way to become more familiar with the areas stories.


I found the book hard to stay engaged with. After I finished I did some quick research on books written in the present tense. I immediately recognized that I am with the majority of people who find reading fiction in the present tense to be awkward. So... lesson learend from me..avoid books written in the present tense.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best if read at a conversational pace. Intended for young readers (middle school) on up to senior citizens who enjoy accurate history based on journals, diaries, college professor's research and post battle military court inquiries.
This book is a precursor to 'The March to Kekionga' and 'The Siege at Kekionga:Tecumseh's Uprising'. I think the readers will find the characters are developed more as the trilogy unfolds.

[Paul Nieto · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good historical novel that makes the history of the 1790s, little turtle, Fort Wayne, and more very interesting. I looked up all the historical referecnes as I read and found the setting to be very very historically accurate. In my opinion and would make a good homeschool book as well.

I will edit this soon and add more infromaton.

[Frank Day · Rating 3 out of 5]

I live in Ohio. Ohio is rich in stories about Native Americans.
So reading this book meant for younger people was a historical fiction of many people I know about from that period.

At the site of the Battle Timbers is a rock Little Turtle gave a speech to excite the tribe. I leave Little Turtle a little gift when I visit on this rock.

Good read. Easy read.

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little book brings the historical characters both Indian and American during the frontier of the old northwest in what is present day Ohio. Specifically during Little Turtles War and Harmar’s defeat.

[Nicholas Wilhelm · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating page turner filled with historical accounts that keeps to the main plot. This book answered a lot of the questions I had about Kekionga, the where and the why, and I'm glad I read it and now I cannot wait to pick up the sequel.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love local history and I think there are a couple inaccuracies in this book. If you prefer your history fictionalized, this book will walk you through Harmar's defeat and explain the tensions between the native American Indians and the American settlers and army.

[Jacob Schall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-researched

[Ricky Orr · Rating 2 out of 5]

fictionalized account of Harmar's defeat around Kekionga.