Rebel Chief
The Motley Life of Colonel William Holland Thomas, C.S.A.
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- 10,99 €
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- 10,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
After the phenomenal success of his first novel Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier described his next novel as being based on the life of a white man who was made an Indian chief, served in the government in Washington D.C., fought on the side of the South in the Civil War by leading a band of guerilla warriors, and eventually wound up dying in a mental institution.
That man was William Holland Thomas.
Thomas, a Southerner, has a story that embodies much of the dark side of the American dream in the 19th century. At an early age he was adopted by a local Cherokee tribe as he engaged in trade to support himself and his mother. As the "frontier" moved further west, he acted on behalf of the tribe in their negotiations with the U.S.government. Part Indian agent, part politician he negotiated their treaties and was named a chief. During the Civil War he organized them into a fierce counterinsurgent guerilla band responsible for protecting the mountain passes of North Carolina from Union infestation.
And then after the war it was all down hill.
The government continued its enforced debilitation of the Indian nations, reneged on their previously negotiated treaties, leaving the tribe no choice but to hold Thomas legally responsible. His own business holdings "went south", and pressed by debts and personal hardships he was committed to an asylum until his death years later.
His life serves as a perfect backdrop to the government actions around the border states of the Civil War as well as the programs involved against the American Indian.
It is indeed a fascinating and unseemly part of the American story.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Charles Frazier, author of the bestseller Cold Mountain, uses Colonel Thomas as a model for the protagonist of his next novel, so there may soon be a demand for knowledge about the man, knowledge which this book adequately supplies. Thomas was born in frontier North Carolina in 1805, lost his father at an early age and became a prominent trader to both whites and Cherokee Indians. By the time Andrew Jackson set out to expel the Cherokees from the East, Thomas had also been admitted to the bar. He fought a successful legal battle to allow the secessionist Eastern Band Cherokees to retain their land, was adopted by their chief and in due course succeeded his adoptive father as chief of the Eastern Band. Thomas continued to trade, plead cases and try to raise a family until the Civil War broke out, which put him and the Cherokees in an awkward position, as he himself owned slaves but was opposed to secession. During the war, Thomas commanded the motley regiment raised from the Eastern Cherokees, while trying to keep his business interests afloat. After the war, he again succeeded in helping the Cherokees retain their land before retiring to the asylum where he eventually died of syphilis. Frequently convoluted prose makes this book a tough read, and the author makes many assumptions about Thomas's motives, but Frazier fans eager to get a peek at his next subject will find the extra work worth it.
